Bram Stoker (1847-1912) Dublin Angela Carter (1940 – 1992 (aged 51)) London, England
Dracula - 1897 The Bloody Chamber - 1979
Married Florence in Dublin 1879. She married twice, first in 1960 to Paul Carter, divorcing in 1972. In
1969, she used the proceeds of her Somerset Maugham Award to
Abraham "Bram" Stoker was an Irish author, best known today leave her husband and relocate for two years to Tokyo, where she
for his 1897 Gothic novel Dracula. During his lifetime, he was claims in Nothing Sacred (1982) that she "learnt what it is to be a
better known as the personal assistant of actor Henry Irving woman and became radicalised."
and business manager of the Lyceum Theatre in London, which In 1977, Carter married Mark Pearce, with whom she had one son.
Irving owned
English novelist, short story writer and journalist, known for her
feminist, magical realism, and picaresque works.
Influences: Influences:
>Brother Thornley – Physician (advised on the medical aspects > French civil servant Charles Perrault, who played a crucial, and
in the writing of Dracula). often overlooked, role in Carter's development.
>According to some critics – Henry Irving1 is the inspiration > In 1977, almost three centuries after Perrault published his
behind Dracula. However, it is more complicated and reciprocal versions of Red Riding Hood and Cinderella, Carter translated 10 of
than that. (Irving’s close relationship of over 20 years with his tales. That same year she began work on what many consider her
Stoker has been well documented. It changed from a loving masterpiece, The Bloody Chamber, feminist reworking of these
intimacy to something far more distant and controlling on classic fairy tales.
Irving’s part, over time). > Carter was impressed by the concise style and humanity of
Perrault's parables. But, determined to invert the tales' hierarchies,
>Irving excelled in horror parts and champion the underdogs and female characters, she made
– Faust (most financially successful production), use of subtle modifications, frequently distorting Perrault's intended
novel electric flashes. morals.
- Extravagant and highly creative play – typical of Irving
and the Lyceum’s Oeuvre. >Despite their economy of language, Carter's translations are
- Stoker – immersed in this world of theatre – all fed his contemporary: Red Riding Hood's wolves 'pursue young girls in the
imagination and realisation of his novel Dracula. street'; Cinderella's vain sisters buy only 'the best cosmetics'; and
Sleeping Beauty's prince sniffs at her 'out of fashion' attire. #Carter
> Lyceum’s Oeuvre- conservative place - chose not to perform conjures up the concerns of today's Grazia-reading, appearance-
new writing that came from the newer, more avant garde obsessed women one moment and depicts a magical realm of
movements such as the Naturalism of George Moore, or talking cats and seven-league boots the next’ (Imogen Carter).
Realism of socialist George Bernard Sham
= for many contemporary critics, Dracula similarly straddled > All of the stories from The Bloody Chamber share a common
that divide, and was considered both of literary value and of a theme of being closely based upon fairytales or folk tales. However,
melodramatic nature, while adhering to moral values. Angela Carter has stated:
My intention was not to do 'versions' or, as the American edition of
the book said, horribly, 'adult' fairy tales, but to extract the latent
‘The answer to the novels remarkable power… lies in the subtle content from the traditional stories. [2]
ways in which Stoker exploits the traditions of Dracula himself
and the mysteries and latent implications that surrounded
him’.
Direct influences on the writing of The Bloody Chamber:
Direct influences on the writing of Dracula: >Her interests in medieval literature influence The Bloody Chamber
>Knowledge of vampire superstition came from a good deal of in two important and definitive ways.
1
Sir Henry Irving (6 February 1838 – 13 October 1905) was an English stage actor in the Victorian era, known as an actor-manager
because he took complete responsibility (supervision of sets, lighting, direction, casting, as well as playing the leading roles) for season after
season at the Lyceum Theatre, establishing himself and his company as representative of English classical theatre. In 1895 he became the
first actor to be awarded a knighthood, indicating full acceptance into the higher circles of British society.[1]
Irving was the inspiration for the title character in Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula.[2]
, miscellaneous reading, but especially Emily Gerard’s ‘Essays on Medieval writers were conscious that they were writing for an
Romanian Superstitions’ first published in 1885, and Sabine audience that would hear their tales rather than read them. The
Baring-Gould’s Warewolves (1865). element of the human voice in the narrative is something Carter
Stoker also took notes from Isabella Bird’s book on Malay strives to achieve.
superstitions, “Golden Chersonese” (1883), the tales in which She is always present as the storyteller, even when the narrative
had imagery in common with Dracula, with its witches who voice is given to a character within the story.
feed on human blood.
In the Middle Ages, illiteracy was the norm. Visual imagery was,
therefore, second only to the spoken word in its power to
>Dracula is a narrative about the vampire Count from Romania
communicate. Carter is a highly visual writer, and her use of symbol,
who invaded London.
metaphor and allegory harks back to that time.
> Stoker often researched his subjects carefully and included
Allegory – where the story has a deeper, hidden meaning – is a
descriptions of real places and people in his stories. Dracula is
significant narrative device in medieval literature and works in a
no exception.
variety of ways to speak to the reader.
Medieval texts were written to be read aloud to non-readers, and
>Stoker was inspired by folktales from Eastern Europe about allegory is another way of showing to the reader the meanings
vampires and incorporated many of these legends into the within the story. Carter uses her characters in a similar way to that
novel. He had almost completed his book under the original in which Everyman is used in medieval morality plays.
title of The Un-Dead when he came across a historical figure Just as Everyman is both a character in the drama, and a device
that changed both the label of the book and the name of the representing not only mankind but every individual in the audience,
main character. so Carter's readers – female readers in particular – are drawn to
The figure was a 15th century Prince of Wallachia named Vlad sympathise and identify with her characters, their personal
III. Because his father was a member of the Order of the dilemmas and their moral journeys.
Dragon and had taken the name Dracul, Vlad was often
referred to as "the son of Dracul" which in Latin was Dracula. > Carter’s stories are also informed and influenced by her feminist
Because of his preferred method executing his enemies, principles:
however, he was commonly known as "Vlad the Impaler."
> She aims to ‘interpret everyday experience through a system of
imagery derived from subterranean areas behind everyday
For similarities between Vlad and the novel see image on pg. 5.
experience’ (Helen Simpson)
>Carter aims to ‘extract the latent content from the traditional
stories and to use it as the beginnings of new stories’.
> Influenced by sexual libertarianism, Carter unpicked the myths
that compose and sustain western social and sexual relationships.
>In her view, male desire dominated the popular imagination.
Accordingly, female desire got squeezed, denied, warped and
twisted.
>Consequently, ‘The heroines of these stories are struggling out of
the strait jackets of history and ideology and biological essentialism’
(Helen Simpson).
See social and political contexts and The New Woman below for
further information.
Social, political and Historical Contexts Social and political contexts.
>Late 19th century – time of massive social, cultural, and As Alison Easton has noted, it is important that we understand
technological change. Carter’s explorations of gender and female sexuality in The Bloody
Degeneration: The dominant cultural concept in the final Chamber within “the context of the many different, contested
decades of the 19th century. positions that feminism has taken over the past thirty years” (3).
Degeneration as an idea stemmed from scientific, Darwinian
theories of evolution (On the Origin of Species 1859) – which Within this continual feminist debate, issues surrounding
suggested just as there was a progressive evolution towards pornography, sexuality, violence and the representation of women
higher forms, so could there be the reverse: decline, and the intensified in the late 1970s and 80s which would have significantly
movement backwards in to biological, racial, and cultural influenced Carter’s work and prompted critics to readily respond to
degeneracy. Darwin’s theories also caused a degeneration in The Bloody Chamber and The Sadeian Woman, which were both
religion which changed society’s concept of life. published in 1979.
Dracula - 1897 The Bloody Chamber - 1979
Married Florence in Dublin 1879. She married twice, first in 1960 to Paul Carter, divorcing in 1972. In
1969, she used the proceeds of her Somerset Maugham Award to
Abraham "Bram" Stoker was an Irish author, best known today leave her husband and relocate for two years to Tokyo, where she
for his 1897 Gothic novel Dracula. During his lifetime, he was claims in Nothing Sacred (1982) that she "learnt what it is to be a
better known as the personal assistant of actor Henry Irving woman and became radicalised."
and business manager of the Lyceum Theatre in London, which In 1977, Carter married Mark Pearce, with whom she had one son.
Irving owned
English novelist, short story writer and journalist, known for her
feminist, magical realism, and picaresque works.
Influences: Influences:
>Brother Thornley – Physician (advised on the medical aspects > French civil servant Charles Perrault, who played a crucial, and
in the writing of Dracula). often overlooked, role in Carter's development.
>According to some critics – Henry Irving1 is the inspiration > In 1977, almost three centuries after Perrault published his
behind Dracula. However, it is more complicated and reciprocal versions of Red Riding Hood and Cinderella, Carter translated 10 of
than that. (Irving’s close relationship of over 20 years with his tales. That same year she began work on what many consider her
Stoker has been well documented. It changed from a loving masterpiece, The Bloody Chamber, feminist reworking of these
intimacy to something far more distant and controlling on classic fairy tales.
Irving’s part, over time). > Carter was impressed by the concise style and humanity of
Perrault's parables. But, determined to invert the tales' hierarchies,
>Irving excelled in horror parts and champion the underdogs and female characters, she made
– Faust (most financially successful production), use of subtle modifications, frequently distorting Perrault's intended
novel electric flashes. morals.
- Extravagant and highly creative play – typical of Irving
and the Lyceum’s Oeuvre. >Despite their economy of language, Carter's translations are
- Stoker – immersed in this world of theatre – all fed his contemporary: Red Riding Hood's wolves 'pursue young girls in the
imagination and realisation of his novel Dracula. street'; Cinderella's vain sisters buy only 'the best cosmetics'; and
Sleeping Beauty's prince sniffs at her 'out of fashion' attire. #Carter
> Lyceum’s Oeuvre- conservative place - chose not to perform conjures up the concerns of today's Grazia-reading, appearance-
new writing that came from the newer, more avant garde obsessed women one moment and depicts a magical realm of
movements such as the Naturalism of George Moore, or talking cats and seven-league boots the next’ (Imogen Carter).
Realism of socialist George Bernard Sham
= for many contemporary critics, Dracula similarly straddled > All of the stories from The Bloody Chamber share a common
that divide, and was considered both of literary value and of a theme of being closely based upon fairytales or folk tales. However,
melodramatic nature, while adhering to moral values. Angela Carter has stated:
My intention was not to do 'versions' or, as the American edition of
the book said, horribly, 'adult' fairy tales, but to extract the latent
‘The answer to the novels remarkable power… lies in the subtle content from the traditional stories. [2]
ways in which Stoker exploits the traditions of Dracula himself
and the mysteries and latent implications that surrounded
him’.
Direct influences on the writing of The Bloody Chamber:
Direct influences on the writing of Dracula: >Her interests in medieval literature influence The Bloody Chamber
>Knowledge of vampire superstition came from a good deal of in two important and definitive ways.
1
Sir Henry Irving (6 February 1838 – 13 October 1905) was an English stage actor in the Victorian era, known as an actor-manager
because he took complete responsibility (supervision of sets, lighting, direction, casting, as well as playing the leading roles) for season after
season at the Lyceum Theatre, establishing himself and his company as representative of English classical theatre. In 1895 he became the
first actor to be awarded a knighthood, indicating full acceptance into the higher circles of British society.[1]
Irving was the inspiration for the title character in Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula.[2]
, miscellaneous reading, but especially Emily Gerard’s ‘Essays on Medieval writers were conscious that they were writing for an
Romanian Superstitions’ first published in 1885, and Sabine audience that would hear their tales rather than read them. The
Baring-Gould’s Warewolves (1865). element of the human voice in the narrative is something Carter
Stoker also took notes from Isabella Bird’s book on Malay strives to achieve.
superstitions, “Golden Chersonese” (1883), the tales in which She is always present as the storyteller, even when the narrative
had imagery in common with Dracula, with its witches who voice is given to a character within the story.
feed on human blood.
In the Middle Ages, illiteracy was the norm. Visual imagery was,
therefore, second only to the spoken word in its power to
>Dracula is a narrative about the vampire Count from Romania
communicate. Carter is a highly visual writer, and her use of symbol,
who invaded London.
metaphor and allegory harks back to that time.
> Stoker often researched his subjects carefully and included
Allegory – where the story has a deeper, hidden meaning – is a
descriptions of real places and people in his stories. Dracula is
significant narrative device in medieval literature and works in a
no exception.
variety of ways to speak to the reader.
Medieval texts were written to be read aloud to non-readers, and
>Stoker was inspired by folktales from Eastern Europe about allegory is another way of showing to the reader the meanings
vampires and incorporated many of these legends into the within the story. Carter uses her characters in a similar way to that
novel. He had almost completed his book under the original in which Everyman is used in medieval morality plays.
title of The Un-Dead when he came across a historical figure Just as Everyman is both a character in the drama, and a device
that changed both the label of the book and the name of the representing not only mankind but every individual in the audience,
main character. so Carter's readers – female readers in particular – are drawn to
The figure was a 15th century Prince of Wallachia named Vlad sympathise and identify with her characters, their personal
III. Because his father was a member of the Order of the dilemmas and their moral journeys.
Dragon and had taken the name Dracul, Vlad was often
referred to as "the son of Dracul" which in Latin was Dracula. > Carter’s stories are also informed and influenced by her feminist
Because of his preferred method executing his enemies, principles:
however, he was commonly known as "Vlad the Impaler."
> She aims to ‘interpret everyday experience through a system of
imagery derived from subterranean areas behind everyday
For similarities between Vlad and the novel see image on pg. 5.
experience’ (Helen Simpson)
>Carter aims to ‘extract the latent content from the traditional
stories and to use it as the beginnings of new stories’.
> Influenced by sexual libertarianism, Carter unpicked the myths
that compose and sustain western social and sexual relationships.
>In her view, male desire dominated the popular imagination.
Accordingly, female desire got squeezed, denied, warped and
twisted.
>Consequently, ‘The heroines of these stories are struggling out of
the strait jackets of history and ideology and biological essentialism’
(Helen Simpson).
See social and political contexts and The New Woman below for
further information.
Social, political and Historical Contexts Social and political contexts.
>Late 19th century – time of massive social, cultural, and As Alison Easton has noted, it is important that we understand
technological change. Carter’s explorations of gender and female sexuality in The Bloody
Degeneration: The dominant cultural concept in the final Chamber within “the context of the many different, contested
decades of the 19th century. positions that feminism has taken over the past thirty years” (3).
Degeneration as an idea stemmed from scientific, Darwinian
theories of evolution (On the Origin of Species 1859) – which Within this continual feminist debate, issues surrounding
suggested just as there was a progressive evolution towards pornography, sexuality, violence and the representation of women
higher forms, so could there be the reverse: decline, and the intensified in the late 1970s and 80s which would have significantly
movement backwards in to biological, racial, and cultural influenced Carter’s work and prompted critics to readily respond to
degeneracy. Darwin’s theories also caused a degeneration in The Bloody Chamber and The Sadeian Woman, which were both
religion which changed society’s concept of life. published in 1979.
