Comparing Stokers 'Acceptance Of Sexuality In Bram Stoker'

Reinterpretations of literary classics profoundly amplify their timeless resonance, with appropriation emerging as an indispensable response to the ever-evolving zeitgeist, thus avoiding a transgressive nature. A study of gothic literature reveals how shifting norms concerning women's sexuality, the flanderization of character, and society's changing context are integrated into appropriation. As time progresses, gothic archetypes such as Bram Stoker’s "Dracula'' undergo metamorphosis to reflect contemporary values and concerns, thereby ensuring their enduring relevance. Angela Carter’s "The Lady of the House of Love'' and Joss Whedon’s "Buffy vs. Dracula'' epitomise this phenomenon, illustrating how reinterpretations can augment the perennial

The Countess's lament “She longed to be human" situates the Countess's entrapment within her sexuality, of which is both her power and her curse resultant of her vampiric nature. Female vampires are often associated with primal desires and "feverish" sexuality and the countess doesn't explicitly replicate this. Carter's sophisticated avant-garde offers critique of the patriarchal representations by adding emotive depth to the countess's character. The travellers' expression that the countess looks as if she's "wearing her mother's wedding dress" evoked empathy within the audience due to her tragic irony. Due to her role as a vampire, the countess will never experience the happiness and celebrations the dress symbolises. The white dress also symbolises her purity as she is chaste and untouched. This contrasts Stoker’s female Vampires who are usually presented in black and rich red colours; Furthermore, expressing the weight of expectations forced onto the countess shoulders. The countess’s emotional stare is described as “unselfconscious sorrow” wherein her true “lonely” and sad nature is expressed. By situating the

Bram Stoker’s Dracula epitomises the Victorian era of xenophobia, fear of degeneration, those who are “strange” and religious devotion, through the way the paranormal is portrayed throughout his novel. Dracula’s transformation from a respected aristocrat to a "bloodthirsty" fiend embodies anxieties regarding degeneration and its threat to morality. Stoker further evolves this theme through the description of Dracula wherein Johnathan acknowledges that "his teeth are peculiarly sharp" and there is a “red light in his eyes.” By portraying Dracula as foreign and abnormal Stoker expresses Victorian xenophobia as a common societal paradigm. By representing the paranormal as a vicious and foreign threat, Stoker also encompasses regard for religious devotion; evident in describing Dracula as " Demoniac". Conversely, Carter's lady of the house of love also expresses the fear of xenophobia while incorporating the fear of uncontrollable fate. This is expressed as the countess is described as "abnormal" yet "unnaturally beautiful". Carter engenders xenophobia while additionally expressing the underlying beauty it fosters. Yet the countess's lament "she longed for the past" interprets the awareness of soon approaching darkness, of which the countess day has no power over. Furthermore, Carters expressions regarding the countess express this as they state "she