Dracula

These prompts can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before or after reading the novel.

Pre-Reading “Icebreaker”

Take a little time to explore Marquette University's article on fin de siècle, which talks about literature that responded to the anxieties and desires of turn-of-the-century Britain. Read the various informative entries compiled in "Dracula & Vampirism: A History" from Portland Center Stage. What are some of the key points that the authors on this site make about the time period? How does the literature of this time reflect the hopes and fears characteristic of the turn-of-the-century? What has changed about Western society and its literature since then, and what seems to have stayed the same? How might this impact your own reading of Dracula?

Teaching Suggestion: If you ask students to respond in writing, it might be useful to allow them to talk about their findings afterward in small groups or as a class, so that each student gains a broader picture of the time period in which Dracula was written. After students have learned more about the time period, you might introduce some biographical and background information specific to Stoker himself: the Biographics video “Bram Stoker: Resurrecting the Vampire” (24 minutes) is a good source of information.

Post-Reading Analysis

Horror novels, by their very nature, embody the fears of a particular culture at a particular moment in time. Choose a theme from the novel Dracula (Christianity as Salvation; The Old World versus the Modern; The Danger of Female Sexuality; Insanity, Dreams, and Fallibility; or Outsiders as the Other) and show how this theme relates to one of the fears particular to fin de siècle Britain.

• How does the novel use elements of gothic horror to establish and develop this theme?
• What fear characteristic of fin de siècle Britain does this theme respond to?
• What suggestions is the novel making about this fear? Does it reveal anything about causes, offer solutions, or simply validate the fear? How do you know this—what textual evidence supports your ideas?

Teaching Suggestion: This prompt can be answered at length, in the form of an essay, or more briefly, in the form of a paragraph—or even creatively, through visual images. Be sure that students understand the focus of the activity—to analyze how the culture Stoker lived in influenced one of the novel’s themes and to demonstrate understanding of the novel’s messaging, not to simply reiterate what they have already learned about turn-of-the-century Britain.