Dracula and The Bloody Chamber

A choice of essays:

- Consider the nature and presentation of desire in Dracula and The Bloody
Chamber
- Write the sort of desires that are experienced in the two books
- Consider how the writers present those desires: are they threatening,
transgressive, forbidden?
- Gothic is a form concerned primarily with transformations. Write about
Dracula and The Bloody Chamber in the light of this view.
- Think about all the things that are transformed in the two texts.
- Think about metaphorical transformations as well as physical transformations
- “All needless matters have been eliminated.” Write about the narrative
techniques of Dracula and The Bloody Chamber and their significance.
- Write about how the stories are told (genre is important here)
- Think about the importance of how this affects us as readers
- Think about why the writers made these choices
- Gothic literature explores experiences in which the integrity of the self is
threatened and even fractured. Consider this view in the light of Dracula and
The Bloody Chamber
- The “self” brings together how we see ourselves, our bodies, our minds and
our places in society
- Think about how each text explores the way Gothic literature picks apart the
old, comforting aspects of our identities and relationships between mind & body

Bear in mind:
- While these are comparative essays, you may write about each one in turn;
- Close analysis of language is key to success;
- Reference to other critics and their views is, of course, to be lauded, but it is
not compulsory;