The Dark Themes of The Picture of Dorian Gray and Dracula

The concerns of Victorian England about the status of faith and manhood have left a deep mark in the literature of the period. The Picture of Dorian Gray and Dracula are good examples of this concern. In both books there is an emphasis in the corruption of the body and of the soul as maladies that haunt the greatness of England. The aristocracy is pointed as the social strata from where this decadence will spread. These books show a population of youth that lacks the guidance of parents and are apparently deprived of fertility as a consequence of the disorientation that reigns among them. This corruption is shown in conjunction with a lack of religious faith and an excess of sin that will result in the transference of England to the†¦show more content†¦She has man’s brain – a brain that a man should have should have were he much gifted – and a woman’s heart.† In The Picture of Dorian Gray, masculinity is defined by character, nobility, reputation and appearance. It is notable that Dorian, the icon of corruption and decadence in the novel, is able to retain his respectability as long as his good name is not tarnished, his reputation being sheltered by the unchanging face of adolescent innocence and purity. This unchanging beauty and the belief that sin writes itself in the face, keep Dorian safe from suspicion. Manhood is also defined by heterosexuality, since an evidence of homosexuality would tarnish the respectability and the good name of an individual. Now that masculinity has being defined, it is possible to demonstrate how these books expose the belief that England is suffering from a decadence of its leadership and, as a result, of its moral values. The metaphors of the corruption of England are clearly presented by both authors. The arrival of Dracula, a foreign threat, to England is accompanied by the worst storm in a century. A dark mist that obliterates the light of day comes over and, when it dissipates, the count’s ship is already at the port. This obscurity is the absence of God’s light. The process of corruption has begun and it starts fromShow MoreRelatedEssay on The Gothic Genre and What it Entails6177 Words   |  25 Pages Maturin (1820). (For example William Godwins Caleb Williams (1794)had an overt political message intended to expose the inadequacy of Things as they are). During the development of the Gothic the motifs become less cliched and the themes more pertinent. Romantic Gothic provided the vocabulary to express social anxieties of the time. In The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner Hogg used the conventions of historical Gothic to discuss the politicalRead MoreVictorian Novel9605 Words   |  39 Pagesportion of travelling. Even libraries, like those of Edward Mudie and W.H. Smith, thanks to the railways could send different forms of literature to provinces and overseas. Changes in the industry and society were equal to the changes in the novel. Themes like sea adventures after Napoleonic Wars, concerns with Ireland, rural people, nostalgia for country in urban England, fashionable London life, appeared in the novels of Frederick Marryat, William Carleton, Samuel Lower, Robert Surtees, Mrs Gore

Comparative Analysis of Two Essays Free Essays

Comparative Analysis of Two Essays on Truth and the Media Both â€Å"Who Killed Privacy? † and â€Å"The Shock of the True† deal with the subject of truth and the media, each has a different focus. In Roger Resentment’s â€Å"Who Killed Privacy† the issue is whether the fact that something is true Justifies it as a subject for discussion in the media, and to what extent the public interest in the subject is appropriate. â€Å"The Shock of the True† is an exploration of crime and violence as a subject of works of non-fiction. We will write a custom essay sample on Comparative Analysis of Two Essays or any similar topic only for you Order Now Both authors imply that a great deal is printed or shown in the media for he express purpose of satisfying the publics lust for the lurid or the scandalous. Individual privacy enters into the discussion in the first of the essays, with the author concluding that the truth of a statement often bears no relevance and that details of the private lives of public figures are exploited for the titillation and curiosity of the public. Reference is made to the details of improper conduct made about George Bush and Bill Clinton and the sexual scandal of presidential candidate Gary Hart: â€Å"†¦ It seemed clear to most voters that the ability of both men to govern was not Impaired y their scandals. Yet Gary Hart’s boat fling seemed to indicate a person out of control, so a distinction was drawn. The author cites well-known Instances of the intense focus on private, but true, facts that constitute an abusive use of the freedom to disseminate information. He mentions TRW and other credit agencies for making private information available without regard to Its accuracy, and chastised programs like â€Å"Marketplace Households† for publishing software containing personal, financial and consumer habits of Individuals. He states that, despite legal efforts to the contrary, How to cite Comparative Analysis of Two Essays, Essays