Scholarly Articles
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Nancy Armstrong investigates the intricate interaction between Victorian fiction, feminist theory, and cultural concepts of utopia mirrored in Bram Stoker’s Dracula. She argues Victorian novels encouraged utopian vision by proposing increased individual happiness and concurrently restricted these desires by privileging cultural norms. Dracula embodies Victorian cultural unease, portraying the vampire as an oddity that interrupts family, individualism, and nationhood, embodying the “uncanny” danger of unconventional social structure. Armstrong insists while Victorian fiction and feminist theory emphasize the contradiction of the utopian ideal repressed by social restraint, Dracula offers a perspective for rethinking the Victorian view of identity, community, and political acceptance outside societal norms.
Armstrong, Nancy. “Feminism, Fiction, and the Utopian Promise of Dracula.” Differences: A Journal of Feminist Cultural Studies, vol. 16, no. 1, Mar. 2005, pp. 1–23. EBSCOhost, https://doi-org.ezproxy.waterfield.murraystate.edu/10.1215/10407391-16-1-1.
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Stephen Purcell discusses the complex connection between skepticism and religion in Bram Stoker’s Dracula, proposing the use of Catholic symbolism by the characters does not mean that they have become believers, but rather that they have used these symbols for their own purposes. Purcell asserts that the characters have not become Christians, even though they use Christian practices, yet they have not become Christians by any moral means. Instead, they use religious symbols to defend their violent attacks against Dracula. This, Purcell suggests, may be related to the Victorian anxiety toward Catholics.
Purcell, Stephen. “Not Wholly Communion: Skepticism and the Instrumentalization of Religion in Stoker’s Dracula.” Christianity and Literature, vol. 67, no. 2, 2018, pp. 294–311. JSTOR, https://www-jstor-org.ezproxy.waterfield.murraystate.edu/stable/26390877. Accessed 23 Mar. 2026. -
Yu Eric Kwan-Wai highlights Imperial issues as well as gender dynamics within Stoker's "Dracula". Furthermore, this story explores how Dracula is an embodiment of the fear and anxiety that Victorians had regarding sexuality, colonial expansion, and professionalism. The relationship between labor and fear is underscored within the narrative - thus, through their actions when confronted by Dracula, characters demonstrate extreme anxiety about various aspects of Empire through their actions toward the "New Woman". Additionally, Yu draws on Homi Bhabha's theories of cultural mimicry in exploring the extent to which dependencies are masked by Dracula's identity, as well as his power as an entity, and represents a profoundly disturbing familiarity of vampire characters to late Victorian culture.
Yu, Eric Kwan-Wai. “Productive Fear: Labor, Sexuality, and Mimicry in Bram Stoker’s Dracula.” Texas Studies in Literature and Language, vol. 48, no. 2, 2006, pp. 145–70. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.waterfield.murraystate.edu/stable/40755459. Accessed 23 Mar. 2026.
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Byron examines Bram Stoker’s multifaceted connection with science across his Gothic fiction, concentrating on how scientific knowledge and technology serve to identify and control infringing ideals and to subvert confines of the known and unknown. Through analyses of Stoker’s Dracula, The Lair of the White Worm, and The Jewel of Seven Stars Byron investigates Stoker’s ambiguous perspective: science used for regulation and repression, yet an instrument that reveals disconcerting qualms of character, the body, and the psyche. He asserts Stoker’s novels connect Victorian scientific discussions including criminal and mental sciences while utilizing ancient and occult sciences, exhibiting Victorian concerns about modernization, scientific advancement, and the continuity of the monstrous.
Byron, Glennis. “Bram Stoker’s Gothic and the Resources of Science.” Critical Survey, vol. 19, no. 2, May 2007, pp. 48–62. EBSCOhost, https://doi-org.ezproxy.waterfield.murraystate.edu/10.3167/cs.2007.190204.
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Philip Holden' analyses the connection of the occult, social norms, and literary form in late Victorian England. Holden highlights the tension between the text's alleged instability and its largely favorable acceptance, noting that readers appreciated the narrative methods that confronted social standards. The Gothic revival seen in Dracula reflects societal suppression while promoting conventional masculinity. Holden views the supernatural in Dracula as a means of encouraging social traditionalism and individuality. He notes that spiritualism was a key part of Victorian middle-class life; while acknowledging the opposition of the period's scientific advancement, Stoker's investigation of the occult implies an intricate correlation between occult interests and the broader practices of control in society.
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Holden, Philip. “Castle, Coffin, Stomach: ‘Dracula’ and the Banality of the Occult.” Victorian Literature and Culture, vol. 29, no. 2, 2001, pp. 469–85. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.waterfield.murraystate.edu/stable/25058564. Accessed 23 Mar. 2026. -
Winstead examines Dracula’s connection with the feminist movement through its depiction of the New Woman and traditional gender ideals through his characters. Mina Harker exhibits this entanglement; his positive portrayal of Mina and Lucy while also depicting Mina as an intelligent woman who maintains control over her marriage. Stoker also portrays traditional gender roles favorably, Dr. Van Helsing’s knowledge and ability to overcome Dracula. Winstead asserts that Dracula presents some conservative beliefs yet supports New Woman movements because it criticizes traditional systems that oppress women.
Winstead, Karen A. “Mrs. Harker and Dr. Van Helsing: Dracula, Fin-de-Siècle Feminisms, and the New Wo/Man.” Philological Quarterly, vol. 99, no. 3, June 2020, pp. 315–36. EBSCOhost, research.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=a345f3e8-91db-31de-8c42-352eaea7f5bb.
Alternative Stories
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Desperate for immortality, Count Rodolph makes an alarming deal with the devil. Stimulated with his newfound ability, Rodolph reanimates the corpse of the gorgeous Bertha, a fitting bride, to escort him in his search for eternal life. Using scientific experimentation, reanimation, and the occult, this story reflects early Victorian attitudes related to scientific advancement, the occult, as well as stereotypes related to women and gender roles.
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Matthews is a prominent writer and the owner and editor of his own magazine. His life is typical of an accomplished bachelor until a female author contacts him, asking for his mentorship. They quickly become friends, yet Matthews gradually feels depleted of all artistic skill, even as the young woman now offers inspired stories, he could have written himself. W. L. Alden comments on the Victorian gender roles and fear of women’s educational and occupational pursuits.
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While the speaker is travelling, a storm appears and causes him to take a room at an Inn. The narrator chooses to attend the inn’s play about vampires, in spite of his distress with the subject. In the final scene, when the vampire attacks the female lead, she shouts and an authentic wound is discovered on her throat. The individual who performed on stage is never found; she dies days later from insanity. The truth behind the event is never explained. The story investigates the friction of rational theory and science and superstition and the occult.