It is in the spirit of a ＂new family unit＂ that Dracula attempts vampire procreation in Bram Stoker＇s Dracula （2000） The themes of proper lineage and procreation juxtaposed with archaic late Victorian ideas invit...It is in the spirit of a ＂new family unit＂ that Dracula attempts vampire procreation in Bram Stoker＇s Dracula （2000） The themes of proper lineage and procreation juxtaposed with archaic late Victorian ideas invite exploration in this timeless novel. The novel is considered Gothic, yet it meets the cultural milieu of the fin de sikcle contemporary London of the 1890s. As the novel is considered fairly contemporary for its time, it is important to note that given new scientific theories such as eugenics, it is possible that Stoker was attempting to show a new kind of family unit---one that is not begot of the actual sex-act, but rather one that is propagated through the mingling of blood as a replacement for semen. There is much evidence in the novel to suggest that he not only wants to continue his family, but also that he is a true Renaissance ＂man＂ in his knowledge of other cultures, his pleasure and decadence in the finer material possessions, and his consumption of private property to continue his lineage in comfort and safety. It is clear in the novel that a brief analysis of the concepts of progeny and eugenics that the character of Dracula can be read as a ＂regular guy＂ simply trying to continue his lineage in an unforgiving and judgmental world. Dracula is violent in his preservation of his lineage, but he only does so to ensure he will not have to be a night-dweller on his own for eternity. He is a kind of demonic cupid with piercing fangs instead of angelic arrows He has to kill the human soul to obtain this obsessive dream of hearth and home展开更多
文摘It is in the spirit of a ＂new family unit＂ that Dracula attempts vampire procreation in Bram Stoker＇s Dracula （2000） The themes of proper lineage and procreation juxtaposed with archaic late Victorian ideas invite exploration in this timeless novel. The novel is considered Gothic, yet it meets the cultural milieu of the fin de sikcle contemporary London of the 1890s. As the novel is considered fairly contemporary for its time, it is important to note that given new scientific theories such as eugenics, it is possible that Stoker was attempting to show a new kind of family unit---one that is not begot of the actual sex-act, but rather one that is propagated through the mingling of blood as a replacement for semen. There is much evidence in the novel to suggest that he not only wants to continue his family, but also that he is a true Renaissance ＂man＂ in his knowledge of other cultures, his pleasure and decadence in the finer material possessions, and his consumption of private property to continue his lineage in comfort and safety. It is clear in the novel that a brief analysis of the concepts of progeny and eugenics that the character of Dracula can be read as a ＂regular guy＂ simply trying to continue his lineage in an unforgiving and judgmental world. Dracula is violent in his preservation of his lineage, but he only does so to ensure he will not have to be a night-dweller on his own for eternity. He is a kind of demonic cupid with piercing fangs instead of angelic arrows He has to kill the human soul to obtain this obsessive dream of hearth and home
