Dracula

While reading Dracula, I've come to notice that the novel deals a lot with themes of helplessness and powerlessness. When Jonathan first begins his journal, the reader is given several instances of his struggle to thrive away from his home country of England. At this point, he is not yet helpless, but he lacks the skills necessary to truly interact with his new surroundings. He has a limited understanding of German and has even less knowledge of the culture of the world he has entered. It seems like his broad generalizations about the east, "I had to sit in the carriage for more than an hour before we began to move. It seems to me that the further East you go the more unpunctual are the trains. What ought they to be in China?(11)" are his way of coping with his new environment. Situations like this are the beginning of his loss of power. He's been stripped of the clockwork schedules of England and has in turn been stripped of his control of time. Jonathan is also helpless when he sets off on his journey. He is completely in the dark as the town folk talk about him and he is unable to understand their warnings about his destination and the precarious day on which he is set to arrive there. After Jonathan is picked up by Dracula's coachmen (presumably Dracula himself) the real feeling of helplessness begins to set in. Jonathan is immediately under his host's power, whether he is aware of it at first or not. As they enter the woods, he is subjected to terror when left alone in the carriage and surrounded by wolves. He has no means of defending himself and is only rescued when "he swept his long arms, as though brushing aside some impalpable obstacle, the wolves fell back and back further still. (20)" He is so powerless that he has no choice but to stick with his host. The arrival at the castle does little to increase Jonathan's sense of power. He is given free reign of the house but cannot really go anywhere within it. The doors are locked and there is a real sense of claustrophobia created when he rushes around the castle trying to open each one. He cannot escape the manor and is even more helpless when in Dracula's presence. I think Dracula's iron grip is representative of the grip he has over Jonathan mentally. He may clasp down with vice-like strength during a hand shake but that is nothing compared to the strangle hold he has on Jonathan's mind when he eerily avoids eating, keeps him up all night, and ultimately scales the manor's walls... up side down. The whole purpose of Castle Dracula it seems is to mentally break down and scare its victims into submission all under the guise of old world noble hospitality.

Wuthering Heights

Wuthering Heights seems to me to be a story of missed opportunities and misunderstandings. Most of the problems that arise in the story are the result of confusion and misinformation. Lockwood is laughably good at getting himself into embarrassing situations. He appears to be a bit nervous whenever he is around Heathcliff anyway so it is humorous when he mistakes Heathcliff's daughter-in-law for his wife and when he hears of his mistake, a shabby laborer for her husband.

"We neither of us have the privilege of owning your good fairy, her mate is dead. I said she was my daughter-in-law, therefore she must have married my son."

"And this young man is-"

"Not my son, assuredly!" (Bronte, pg. 11)

The other inhabitants of the novel are not immune to looking stupid either. For example, Mrs. Heathcliff makes Joseph look ignorant and superstitious throughout the beginning of the book by "cursing" him. By believing these curses to be true, Joseph reveals himself as a simple minded peasant and I think perhaps Bronte is commenting on the lower classes and accusing them all of being dim-witted and slow. For some reason when I read the line "I'll show you how far I've progressed in the Black Art" (Bronte, pg. 12) I took it as being tongue in cheek, as if she knew she could trick the simple fool into doing her bidding for fear of being cursed.

Perhaps the most important example of misunderstanding in the first half of the book is Heathcliff overhearing Catherine talk about her engagement. Upset by this he shuffles away, moments before she reveals her true love for him. Much of his bitterness stems from his being spurned by Catherine unaware that she is marrying out of necessity, not love. If Heathcliff had eavesdropped on her for only a few more seconds, he could have saved himself years of anguish.

As I write this, I am realizing that my analysis does not carry much weight past the first five or six chapters. The story, once it shifts almost entirely to Nelly's narrative, it becomes almost a cautionary tale of loving too much. Heathcliff and Catherine are both in pain because they love each other too dearly without being able to pursue their feelings. Bronte seems to warn against the power of love. It can also be inferred that this story carries the message that relationships between members of different classes are doomed from the start.

I am interested in the role ghosts play in Wuthering Heights and will update this blog after Tuesday's discussion.

Frankenstein and Education

I was intrigued by the ideas discussed in class regarding education in Frankenstein so I've decided to explore the concept further. I was most interested in the idea that knowledge is dangerous or in some cases pointless. When Victor first mentions his plans, or rather his parents' plans, for his further education, he describes the events surrounding his departure as ominous. "My departure was therefore fixed at an early date; but before the day resolved upon could arrive, the first misfortune of my life occurred- an omen..." (Shelley, pg. 24). Victor isn't even out the door and unfortunate events begin to dismantle his life. This event, while not directly influenced by education seems to set in motion a string of events that lead to the disastrous effects of Victor's time at Ingolstadt. When he arrives at the university, he avoids any type of social life and goes so far as to "take leave of all my friends (Shelley, pg. 25)." throwing himself into his studies. This could be viewed as Shelley saying that education alienates people and forces them to seek refuge with books rather than people; that too much education can lead to a life of isolation. This alone is not dangerous however. The isolation, coupled with an incomplete understanding and mixing of many different sciences is what truly leads to Victor's demise. He combines the fields of philosophy and physics into a bastardized version of both that he doesn't truly understand which leads him, in turn, to create a monster he cannot understand. If Victor had stopped his education after primary school, he could have had some semblance of a social life, he would not have created the monster, and his brother would still be alive. His relationship with his father could have been better as well if he hadn't spent so much time studying philosophers his father didn't accept.

Shelley also seems to think that knowledge is somewhat meaningless, especially without context. The monster learns at an incredibly fast rate and grows to be an eloquent being. He reads classic literature and observes/copies how a human family interacts with one another but when he uses what he has picked up, it is without real meaning. He may be book smart but he has no idea how to apply what he's read to real life. He has no socialization and cannot interact at a human level. He imitates life without really living. He may know the word love but does he truly understand its meaning? I don't think so. I think the monster watches what the world perceives as normal and copies it to the best of his abilities without actually understanding what he's doing or why he's doing it. Does he want a female companion because he has a desire to feel love and procreate or does he want a female companion because he has observed a "normal" man with a female? The fact that Victor refuses to listen to the monster despite his eloquence is also disheartening. He knows how to talk pretty but his outward appearance drives people away from him so he never gets a chance to converse with them, rendering his knowledge useless. It's as if Shelley is saying there is no reason to gain knowledge if no one will ever allow you to share it with them.