Dracula: What To Compare It To (OCR A Level English Literature)
Revision Note
Dracula: What to Compare It To
For Component 2, you will study at least two whole texts from the chosen topic area, and at least one of these must be from the core set text list. For the second text, you can either study the other core set text, or another text from a list of suggested set texts. The two core set texts are Dracula and Angela Carter’s The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories. Given that Dracula explores key themes of gender, the supernatural and science vs religion, there are numerous examples of Gothic fiction that could be used for comparison. A detailed comparison with the first story from other core text, The Bloody Chamber, will be explored here, along with a comparative summary of other texts:
Examiner Tip
The second task in Component 2 is the comparative essay, and it should include an integrated comparative analysis of the relationships between texts. This means that you are required to explore contrasts, connections and comparisons between different literary texts within the topic area of Gothic, including the ways in which the texts relate both to one another and to literary traditions, movements and genres. The best responses pick up on the prompt words within the quotation given in the task and then select material accordingly. In this way, by sustaining a coherent, question-focused argument throughout, comparison becomes a technique through which the texts can be used to shed light on each other.
For the following suggested comparison, you will find:
The comparison in a nutshell
Similarities between the ideas presented in each text
Differences between the ideas presented in each text
Evidence and analysis of these similarities and differences
Examiner Tip
It is better to choose two principal texts to form the basis of your response and to allow references to others to appear briefly as literary context. If you try to write in detail about too many texts you will struggle to produce a coherent, detailed and sustained argument.
Dracula and The Bloody Chamber
Comparison in a nutshell:
This comparison provides the opportunity to compare how the Gothic genre has been used to present female sexuality through different narrative perspectives and in different time periods.
Similarities:
Topic sentence | Both Stoker and Carter present their stories from the perspective of naive narrators who initially appear ignorant to their fate, but later learn of it | |
Evidence and analysis | Dracula | The Bloody Chamber |
Our first narrator, Harker, is oblivious to the danger of the count, even when he is warned | The narrator is a 17 year old girl who has just been married and who is sexually naive | |
The use of multiple narrators is effective as it complicates the narrative further and makes it harder for the reader to understand what is happening – we are as naive as the characters | The narrator is oblivious to the danger that the marquis possesses – she does not think she is in any danger or that her engagement is a risk, even when her mother asks her if she is sure about her marriage | |
Every narrator, especially at the start of the novel, is naive and they do not really understand the danger they are in. This is ironic as they are all highly educated, especially Harker and Dr Seward | She has feelings for the marquis but is unfamiliar with what she is feeling, which reinforces her innocence | |
The naivety of the narrator and their reluctance to accept the supernatural occurrences is a reflection of the impact of the Enlightenment and the limitations of their education and science | When she enters the room, she is forbidden from entering by the marquis; her innocence is shattered as she is confronted by the marquis’ dark secret | |
The reader is on a “journey” with these narrators | The story is written in past tense (hindsight) and by the end of the novel we see that the narrator has now matured and this is a contrast to her innocence at the start of the story |
Topic sentence | Both Stoker and Carter use traditional Gothic settings to create an eerie atmosphere and a sense of suspense | |
Evidence and analysis | Dracula | The Bloody Chamber |
The setting in the first few chapters of the wilderness and Dracula’s castle creates suspense and terror | The story takes place in a Gothic castle that is surrounded by the sea, making the castle isolated from the rest of society at certain points during the day | |
Stoker has removed the narrator from their familiar place to somewhere unfamiliar, which leaves them vulnerable | ||
The labyrinth of the castle could reflect Harker’s internal labyrinth and struggle as he realises he is a prisoner in the castle | The narrator’s bedroom being “surrounded by so many mirrors” adds to the sense of confinement and suppression. The overwhelming sense of isolation that the narrator feels is an essential element of the Gothic genre | |
The ruined abbey at Whitby and the graveyard/tombs also add an eerie Gothic atmosphere | When the narrator locates the “chamber”, she comments on the “absolute darkness”. Darkness is a classic Gothic convention as it symbolises the unknown and the narrator is completely in the dark, literally and figuratively | |
However, Stoker also moves the narrative to London which is a contrast to Transylvania. By doing so, he creates even more terror in the Victorian reader as it implies that Dracula has now infected their homeland, making him all the more threatening and sinister | The chamber is described so gruesomely and vividly that it has all the elements of the Gothic genre – darkness, blood and metaphors such as “the door of hell” |
Differences:
Topic sentence | Whilst both Carter and Stoker use characters who are the heroes of the story, Stoker stays true to the stereotypical image of a hero while Carter subverts it | |
Evidence and analysis | Dracula | The Bloody Chamber |
Stoker mainly presents the classic, stereotypical male hero whose purpose is to save the female in danger (damsel in distress) | The Bloody Chamber is a reimagining of a fairy tale but it does not follow the standard template of one. It does not have a male hero to save the female (the handsome prince) | |
However, he also highlights how the typical educated man is no match for supernatural forces and how a reliance on science will limit understanding | The narrator’s mother is the hero of the story, which changes the typical passive role of the mother or the wicked stepmother into a strong female figure – she carries a gun, kills wild animals and rides on horseback to save her daughter | |
Van Helsing, who is not a typical Gothic hero, embraces religion, superstition and folklore to defeat Dracula, which makes him the real hero. The middle-class Englishmen in the novel do not consider and cannot comprehend anything that science cannot explain | The mother also defies patriarchy and status for love, which means she lives a life of poverty as her family are not accepting | |
Mina is also a hero in her own right as she takes a proactive approach in organising the documents and diary entries in order for the men to be able to track down Dracula | At the end of the story, when the narrator is in trouble, her mother arrives and kills the marquis to save her daughter | |
However, Mina takes a maternal role with the men, which reinforces the Victorian belief that women can be knowledgeable and helpful but only to fulfil their roles as wives and mothers | The narrator’s description of her mother’s actions at the end of the story with “one hand on the reins” of the horse and the other hand “clasped by father’s service revolver” portrays the mother in a very dominant and typically masculine way. She has taken the role of hero |
Topic sentence | While both Stoker and Carter use language that is suggestive and sexual, Carter uses it to liberate women whereas Stoker uses it to suppress women | |
Evidence and analysis | Dracula | The Bloody Chamber |
The sexual language used in Dracula is much more subtle and is only used to reinforce the idea that those desires are unholy, repulsive and transgressive (for example, Harker with the female vampires) | Carter reclaims the male gaze by using a female narrator who does not use subtle language when referring to female sexual parts and desires | |
Any suggestive moment is seen through a male narrator, which reinforces the male gaze | The reader also gets an insight into the narrator’s thoughts and feelings about intercourse and her fears around it | |
The use of male perspective removes the power from the woman and reestablishes patriarchy | The narrator also uses vivid language. For example, when she finds the marquis’ erotic book | |
Lucy states that she wishes to marry as many men as she wants and, as a result, she is punished and infected by a male and no other man can save her | The language that Carter uses helps reclaim female sexuality from men and liberate women. For example when the narrator tries to be “seductive” as a weapon against her husband | |
Blood could also symbolise intercourse and Lucy has four blood transfusions from four different men before she dies. This reinforces the idea that women who stray and are unchaste will ultimately be punished | The female narrator is not punished for her use of sexual/suggestive language, unlike Lucy in Dracula, but is actually saved and liberated at the end |
Comparisons with other texts
The following list is not exhaustive, and the wider you read, the more connections and comparisons you will have to draw upon in the exam. Some of the following examples are taken from the prescribed text list, while others are suggestions for comparison.
Text | Summary | Key comparisons with Dracula |
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (1818) - set text list | This novel explores scientific experimentation and the consequences of playing God by creating and bringing a being to life |
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The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (1890) - set text list | This novel examines the price of eternal youth and the consequences of selling your soul for a hedonistic lifestyle |
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Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier (1938) - set text list *first assessment June 2024 | This novel centres around a young narrator who is haunted by the memories of her husband’s first wife. It delves into the themes of jealousy, the past and identity |
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The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson (1886) | This novel explores the idea of using science for experimentation, the dark depths of the human psyche and the good and evil suppressed in all of us |
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Carmilla by J Sheridan Le Fanu (1872) | Published approximately 25 years before Dracula, this novel explores the relationship between Laura and her strange guest, Carmilla. It explores the supernatural, sexuality and the blurred lines between danger and desire |
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Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte (1847) | The novel explores the idea of revenge, social class and passion in Victorian England as two lovers are unable to marry due to familial and societal pressure |
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