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Imperialism In Bram Stoker's Dracula

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When we think about gothic fiction it is hard not to think about Dracula, a renowned novel written by Irish author Bram Stoker. It was published in 1897 and has set the foundation of the vampire villain character, which is still popular today. Although our current popular culture altered vampire-fiction immensely, Bram Stoker’s Dracula still remains the most popular vampire-fiction novel there is.
The plot is set in the late nineteen century and we can say it is written in epistolary form, as a collection of letters and journals of the main characters. It begins with a business trip of a young English lawyer Jonathan Harker, who is traveling to Transylvania to meet with Count Dracula. The Count wishes to purchase a real-estate in London and Harker is hired to help him. On the journey to his destination Harker encounters many unusual people and settings but continues his journey regardless, unaware that his trip is a set-up for Count Dracula’s …show more content…

the East. Through the 18th and 19th century the British Empire reached its peak, forming colonies all around the world. The popular imperialistic opinion was that the white man is responsible for molding the primitive cultures they encountered. The colonized population was viewed as backward, primitive. But these prejudices formed a fear of those “primitive” cultures invading western society. The East became the unwanted Other. In addition, the Irish question was very relevant then and considering that Bram Stoker is of Irish decent, we can see why he chose this problematic. We can then conclude that the fear of Count Dracula invading London is actually the fear of eastern immigrants invading western culture and devastating it. The Count is the Other not only by where he comes from, he is also the Other because of his appearance - he is the racial Other. His vampirism can also be seen as fear of sexuality and sexually transmitted diseases and the decay of western

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