Hope in the inevitability of change

The following analysis is an exploration of how social change is inevitable despite Victorian society’s desperate attempts to enforce its morals and gender code. I will refer to Bram Stoker’s Dracula as the primary text of my analysis of the themes of homoeroticism and sexual aggression that clearly outline the fears of Victorian society. In my analysis of Dracula I will relate to the The Castle of Otranto and Carmilla and I will highlight the similarities between the texts. In exploring the themes mentioned, I will highlight the threat of the feminist movement and gender roles that went against the social norms of a patriarchal society that wasn’t ready to concede to change.

     Victorian society was repulsed at the thought of same sex eroticism and viewed sex as necessary solely for reproduction purposes. In Dracula homosexual references are constantly made throughout the text “[t]his man belongs to me” (Stoker 43), but seem to be deflected to heterosexual encounters as “only through women may men touch” (Craft 448). I think Stoker was hiding homosexual references within the text as he himself was part of the later stages of Victorian society and feared he would be publicly slandered for such a publication or worse- jailed. “Dracula’s daughters offer Harker a feminine form but a masculine penetration” (Craft 446) where “the hard dents of the two sharp teeth, just touching and pausing there” (Stoker 43), suggesting an “explicit representation of a male’s desire to be penetrated” (Craft 447).

     This homoerotic undertone can also be observed within the text of Carmilla. Carmilla “would press me more closely in her trembling embrace, and her lips in soft kisses gently glow upon my cheek” (Ryan 89). Laura experiences homosexual encounters which she enjoyed but also disgusted her: “I experienced a strange tumultuous excitement that was pleasurable, ever and anon, mingled with a vague sense of fear and disgust” (90), just as Jonathon did in ‘Dracula’ in his encounter with the weird sisters: “[t]here was a deliberate voluptuousness which was both thrilling and repulsive, and as she arched her neck she actually licked her lips like an animal” (Stoker 42).

     These gothic horror tales highlight all that was disdained by Victorian society and just as we see homoerotic undercurrents in these texts, we can also see incestuous relations. Two of the weird sisters in Dracula “were dark and had high aquiline noses, like the Count, and great dark, piercing eyes” (42), suggesting they may be Dracula’s sisters or relations. In Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto, we are subject to the same incestuous references. Manfred offers himself to Isabella in a desperate attempt to spawn a new heir to the thrown after the demise of his son who was supposed to marry Isabella. She is disgusted by the incestuous nature of the offer: “What do I hear! You, my lord! You! My father-in-law! The father of Conrad” (Walpole 34). Both texts reveal recurring incestuous references throughout and both also show strong representations of the moral code enforced through the sacred. Isabella “knew even Manfred’s violence would not dare to profane the sacredness of the place” (35), referring to the church. Similarly in ‘Dracula’ when the Count sees the crucifix, “[i]t made an instant change in him, for the fury passed so quickly that I could hardly believe that it was ever there” (Stoker 31).

          Victorian society was very constraining on its people suppressing anything that was different. The dominant forces in society tried desperately to enforce its moral code but times are always changing and Dracula clearly shows this. What appealed to me the most were the strictly enforced gender codes and the initial struggles of the feminist movement. The ‘new woman’ represented as sexually aggressive vampires “indirectly acknowledges woman’s dangerous potential” in society (Craft 452). I feel this is related to a patriarchal society’s fears of a strengthening feminist movement and this ‘new woman’ may be something terrible. “The sexualisation of Lucy, metamorphosing woman’s ‘sweetness’ to ‘adamantine, heartless cruelty, and [her] purity to voluptuous wantonness” (452) horrified Victorian audiences as it represents a sexually aggressive woman which completely goes against gender roles and it magnified the fear of the ‘new woman.’ This is symbolic of the social change that was strong in Victorian times through the nascent feminist movement. Women were becoming more outspoken and gaining more recognition in society.

     Dracula highlights society’s attempts to stamp out this change illustrated in the punishment of Lucy who suffers a ferocious death “for her transgression of Van Helsing’s gender code” (455). In the moment of Lucy’s death Arthur seems to represent society’s “untrembling arm..... driving deeper and deeper the mercy-bearing stake, whilst the blood from the pierced heart welled and spurted up around it” (Stoker 192). His arm is untrembling and his face is set as he is serving a higher purpose, to rid Lucy of sin as “[a] woman is better still than mobile, better dead than sexual” (Craft 455). However change is inevitable and we see this in the conclusion where Little Quincey goes on to represent homoeroticism and the struggles of the feminist movement being partially conceived in the veins of Lucy who passed the blood to Dracula who in turn made Mina drink his blood: “[h]is bundle of names links all our little band of men together” (Stoker 326).

     Similarly I feel Carmilla represents the initial steps of the feminist movement: “[s]he was a person of consequence” (Ryan 81). The first wave of the feminist movement began in the 18^th century continuing on to the early 20^th century. Carmilla was written in 1872 in the later stages of this period. The novel shows how Carmilla exerts power over Laura immediately influencing her life: “[s]he interested and won me; she was so beautiful and so indescribably engaging” (87). Laura is left changed long after Carmilla is gone: “to this hour the image of Carmilla returns to memory” (137). I think this shows how one push is needed for a domino effect to take place in society. This story describes how one person cannot change society but they can leave a crack in its foundations that will widen and break tearing down social barriers and bringing about social change. Society changes over a few generations and we see the beginning of this change in the conclusion of the novel.

     Laura cannot forget about Carmilla. I think she herself is becoming a vampire and is set to carry on what Carmilla started: “[t]hat spectre visits living people in their slumbers; they die, and almost invariably, in the grave, develop into vampires” (137). She doesn’t fulfil her father’s plans of an arranged marriage which is a big shock for that era. I feel this symbolises going against the grain and the first movement against male dominance. In the execution of Carmilla we see the utmost desperate attempt by society to stamp out social change: “a sharp stake driven through the heart .....the head was struck off .....the body and head were.....reduced to ashes, which were thrown upon the river” (134). When someone breaks social norms there is a negative reaction to it and I think the execution represents that reaction where male dominance felt threatened by feminism and lesbian sexuality. But Carmilla has made an impact on society and her legacy lives on: “I heard the light step of Carmilla at the drawing-room door” (137).

     In conclusion I feel each text I’ve explored was closely linked in the evaluation of the themes I highlighted. Homoeroticism and sexual aggression were prevalent throughout all three texts. It seems that these themes are very much related to the lives of the authors, how they perceive Victorian society and its social norms. In Stoker’s Dracula there is an underlying homoerotic tone which is said to be attributed to Stokers good friend Oscar Wilde who was imprisoned in England for homosexual activities. It seems as if by writing about the threats to Victorian society, Stoker is actually highlighting the social constraints that limit the people’s freedom and how they wish to express themselves. Horace Walpole had a strong connection to Victorian society being a politician and son of first British Prime Minister Sir Robert Walpole. His sexuality was questioned. Some biographers have perceived him as asexual. In this way, the homoerotic undercurrents and incestuous relations in The Castle of Otranto may represent society’s intolerance for difference. Le Fanu studied both law and journalism so he had a good understanding of society. He was aware of current issues and social deviance. Le Fanu was able to use his professional life in addressing societal problems and constraints in Victorian society in Carmilla. These texts were representative of a patriarchal Victorian society desperate to enforce its moral code in the face of change but in every society social norms are subject to change. We can see hope among the gory details of these gothic novels in knowing that no matter how constraining a society is, the people always have the power to change it.

Works Cited

Craft, Christopher. "Kiss Me with Those Red Lips": Gender and Inversion in Bram Stoker's Dracula. Critical ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1997. 446-455. Print.

Ryan, Alan. The Penguin Book of Vampire Stories. Penguin Books, 1987. 81-137 Print.

Stoker, Bram. Dracula. Critical ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1997. 31-326. Print.

Walpole, Horace Walpole. The Castle of Otranto. Mineola: Dover Publications, Inc., 2004. 34-35. Print.

Recognition is an endurance battle

     For a lot of writers, recognition is gained after they pass away. Elizabeth Madox Roberts, however, received the opposite effect. Releasing her first novel The Time of Man in 1926 at the age of forty five, she received praise from the New York Times stating there had never been a finer first novel published in the States for many years (Harrison 325). She went on to have a prestigious career especially in the 20’s and 30’s where she received many awards such as the John Reed Memorial Prize in 1928, an O. Henry award in 1930, and the Poetry Society of South Carolina's prize in 1931 ("elizabeth-madox-roberts.co.tv"). Her fame started to fade towards the end of her life and she died in 1941 less recognized than when she released her first novel in 1926. In looking at her writings in her final collection Not by Strange Gods published the year she died, I will examine the reasons I think her fame did not endure. I will explore her writing style, aspects of her personal life, and the timing of her final work’s release, and how all these factors combined to eliminate Roberts from the literary canon over the years. In my analysis of Robert’s final works, I will examine The Haunted Palace.

     Roberts was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease in 1936. I feel this may have contributed to her falling from the spotlight in her final years. She moved to Florida during this period of her life during the winter months as it was warmer. I feel her illness was definitely a contributing factor to her later unrecognized work. I think Roberts stories are very challenging and would be very difficult to construe for the average reader. In The Haunted Palace, it is hard to make any connection between you as the reader and the main character Jess. Robert’s writing style is written in a firm rich-surfaced prose (Norton). Roberts preferred to describe things as if the reader is in the moment and so she pays attention to many small details that make the moment more real: “[u]sually it seems a living movement suited to the patterns that Miss Roberts found in life, intricate patterns sometimes dim to the reader, but, to judge by what he can see of them, designs of truth” (Norton).

     Looking more closely at the text I felt I had a connection with Jess. Just as we get angry and frustrated in trying to understand the story, Jess also gets angry at Fannie Burt’s stories which she doesn’t understand: “a spent pleasure no longer wanted” (Roberts 11). Throughout the story Jess feels insecure and afraid of things she doesn’t understand. When she is fighting the ghost we realize she is fighting her reflection in the mirror: “[s]he and the creature had beaten at the mirror from opposite sides” (33). I feel this signifies Jess fighting her fear and not letting her lack of knowledge get her down anymore: “she beat at the creature with her club while it beat at her with identical blows. Herself and the creature then were one” (33). Just like the main character I think we both reach a liberating feeling in the conclusion of the story as Jess has a better understanding of things and is more at ease in her new home (34), we also have a better understanding of the story. I think it symbolizes how women of this era always felt they were inadequate constantly trying to live up to standards set by their husbands. It may be symbolic of the feminist movement where women were no longer afraid of society and pushed for their rights smashing the mirror that showed them as underachieving and rising above it.

     I feel Roberts described too much just as if you were to describe everyday life. People don’t like reading too much about reality as a lot of it is boring and repetitive. I think people much prefer to read imaginative concise works. In The Haunted Palace there is a lot of irrelevant information that does not contribute to the story or its moral: “[o]ne would be making a drawing of a horse, such a horse as he would be devising. A horse would be sketched on paper before it was so much as foaled” (Roberts 14). Here we have repetition as well as needless information. It is described in a conversational manner highlighting Roberts desire to give a real effect but I feel the repetitive aspect turns readers off.

     I think the time of release of Roberts’s final publications was unlucky with America involved in World War II. There is the theme of fear constantly expressed in The Haunted Palace and I think people had enough fear in their lives to be reading Roberts work and also people may have wanted to forget reality in the texts they read, not be reminded of it through Roberts writing style. Roberts treatment to female and male characters is very different to other female authors I’ve looked at so far. In Marjane Satrapi’s short story Persepolis: The Veil, the main character’s mother is seen as courageous fighting against the veil which suppressed women: “I was really proud of her” (Satrapi 1174).

     In The Haunted Palace, however, Jess can’t nit or tell stories or do things most women were seen as being able to do. She is insecure with a lack of understanding of many things. Unlike the strong feminist character I’ve seen presented by previous authors, Jess is weak until the conclusion where she overcomes her fear and stamps out feelings of inadequacy. The male character Hubert is very much in the background all through the story. Jess still abides by his rules: “‘Get out of the truck,’ he said to her” (Roberts 20) and takes his decisions as final which is similar to male characters presented by other female authors but he plays a smaller role than I would normally see the male character in this kind of text. I think most authors want to show a domineering male presence whereas Roberts focuses mainly on Jess and her experience.

     In conclusion I feel Elizabeth Madox Roberts did not receive the credit she deserved for her life’s work. Her writing style was complicated and some may not have liked the difficulty in interpreting some of her stories but Roberts was a huge inspiration for many writers. I think Roberts thought on a higher level than the average reader which may have lost her a lot of potential readers. I feel she was too intelligent in some of her work for it to be liked and therefore I think her elimination from the literary canon over the years is undeserved and unjustified especially seeing as her early works were such a success with her first novel described as the best to come out of the States in years and one critic describing Roberts herself as “America’s greatest writer” (Harrison 325). Roberts illness sapped her endurance in the literary scene. Her work was affected and some critics look for consistency. Life is unfair sometimes. That is true for Roberts. You can achieve all your goals in your youth but without consistency you may fail to be recognized.

Works Cited

Charters, Ann. The Story and Its Writer An Introduction to Short Fiction. Compact 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2011. 878-904. Print

"Elizabeth Madox Roberts." elizabeth-madox-roberts.co.tv. Belknap Press, 2005. Web. 6 Apr 2011. <http://elizabeth-madox-roberts.co.tv/>.

Harrison, Lowell H. A New History Of Kentucky. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1997. 325. eBook.

Norton, Dan S. "A Fine and Private Place." The Virginia Quarterly Review. The Virginia Quarterly Review, 2011. Web. 6 Apr 2011. <http://www.vqronline.org/articles/1941/autumn/norton-fine-private/>.

Roberts, Elizabeth Madox. Not by Strange Gods. New York: The Viking Press, 1941. 11-34. Print.