London, Nobility, Dracula...

Dracula, the man (?) of the hour. So peculiar is his ways, so unknown are his intentions. He stands alone in his castle, observing the peasants of the town.

It seems strange he considers himself a master, even though he never leaves his castle. What makes him put himself on that level? Is it merely his wealth that gives him his high stature? Certainly he has a reputation in the land, as he describes "Here I am a noble; I am boyar, the common people know me, and I am master." (26), but it seems merely a rank bought by money. Although he continues on, "But a stranger in a strange land, he is no one, men know him not -- and to know not is to care not for. I am content if I am like the rest, so that no man stops if he see me, or pause in his speaking if he hear my words, to say "Ha ha, a stranger!"

Does Dracula simply fear being a stranger, or have some paranoid delusion that being a stranger will simply destroy him?

I also love that he fears the "new" of the world. "I myself am of an old family, and to live in a new house would kill me" and "We Translyvanian nobles love not to think that hour bones may be amongst the common dead." (29)

It all adds up to a strange conclusion. Drawing from common knowledge, Dracula is a vampire! He cannot walk about the streets in the daylight and lavish in the nobility he has. He hides away in a castle set apart from the world itself. He seems so set in leaving to London to accomplish some hidden goal, but he will lose all of his reputation by doing so.

What is Dracula's major goal? Why has he trapped Jonathan Harker in his castle ("The castle is a veritable pison, and I am a prisoner!" (32))? What does he plan to do with him in London? What will we see in the future? I can't wait to see Dracula and his progression in the story as he loses his fame and glory in Translyvania. It will be a powerful story I see already.

Catherine, The Embodiment of Self-Interest

How best to describe this powerful character? The character, who above all others, values herself as the most important, the most vital, the most influential. Every move she makes is to push herself forward, to make herself better, to give the illusion that she isn't completely insane, although sometimes that is questionable.

What made her this way? Or maybe, who? What pivotal moment struck a chord in her bosom that drove herself to such lengths? Perhaps it was Heathcliff, the little gypsy boy who became a constant companion to her? Or maybe, it was the "sound blow from her father" (30) she earned after she spat upon him after the loss of her whip, which could also be an example of her self interest far beyond the arrival of Heathcliff.

So perhaps I'm not wrong, and I can blame Amityville Heights but perhaps that could be a stretch of the imagination.

Yet we cannot let Heathcliff off so casually. Catherine's greed grew exponentially with Heathcliff's arrival, and considering Catherine and Heathcliff were "now very thick" (30), I believe he could be one of the many causes. They followed each other around, and seemed to enjoy each other for their company, so perhaps what they did in their company that aroused this growing greed.

Heathcliff's character alone matched Catherine so well. After his horrendous treatment in Wuthering Heights, his hatred combined with her greed to create a super evil being which spread between the two of them. Their love became to bound that Catherine even begant o see herself as Heathcliff! "(Catherine) I am Heathcliff -- he's always, always in my mind -- not as a pleasure, any more than I am always a pleasure to myself --.." (64).

The line "not as a pleasure, any more than I am always a pleasure to myself" is another thing that is important. This reminds me of the common "tactic" among people to tote along an "ugly person" to make themselves seem more beautiful. I almost think that Catherine's attraction to Heathcliff is out of self interest. She uses him as a tool to make her being seem majestic in comparison. I for one wouldn't put it past Catherine to use someone to better herself (case in point, Edgar).

This blog brings about many questions, both to myself and my potential readers. What is important about this self interest? What effect does it have on the characters, such as Edgar? What effect does she have upon him?

I see Catherine as the driving force to Edgar's insanity, just as Hindley's wife influenced his madness. Every character Catherine touches (aside from Heathcliff) is driven to madness by her presence, and the only people who could change her are the parental figures which die off so early on in her life. As much as Nelly tries, she cannot cure crazy. Maybe I should make a point to talk about Nelly and her Parental Powers in another blog...

Amityville Heights

The use of a modern reference has eluded my blogs, and I feel that this novel is becoming a perfect example of such. The more I read, the more I begin to see parallels between the two stories.

For example, the characters that dwell within the house seem to be bitter or mischievous. Catherine and Mr. Heathcliff are examples as such. Mr. Heathcliff is bitter towards their guest even from the moment he enters the home. "You'd better let the dog alone," growled Mr. Heathcliff in unison checking fiercer demonstrations with a punch of his foot. (5) It seems strange that he's so fierce and "scowly". You can sense something dark about him. A mystery soon to be unraveled, a plot so thick that it might be weighing upon his sanity.

Even Mrs. Heathcliff seems to be a mix of darker forces. "I'll show you how far I've progressed in the Black Art..." (12) It seems to run in the family, or perhaps it is the house itself? I may be asking questions that could easily be answered as I read, but I find that this house has a darker nature to it that tempts the people who live within it, no matter the age.

Catherine for example is a mischief maker. She pushes the limits of her father, and pushes the limits of her boundaries. She breaks rules, and falls into the web that Heathcliff strung. The two together are fairly innocent, but when they are apart, Heathcliff grows very much distant, and even when Catherine returns he is vengeful upon everyone, going as far as to throw a cup of hot tea in the face of an innocent offspring of another family.

While apart from the house, Catherine seems changed. Cathy stayed at Thrushcross Grange five weeks, till Christmas. By that time her ankle was thoroughly cured, and her manners much improved. The mistress visited her often, in the interval and commenced her plan of reform by trying to raise her self-respect with fine clothes and flattery, which she took readily; so that instead of a wild, hatless little savage jumping into the house, and rushing to squeeze us all breathless, there alighted from a handsome black pony a very dignified person with brown ringlets falling from cover of a feathered beaver, and a long cloth habit which she was obliged to hold up with both hands that she might sail in. (41) She's been influenced (or cured) by the family, dressing in a fair manner, and being polite and courteous, and going out of her way to help her companion (Heathcliff) when he is in a situation of dire need. Even her apparel seems to affect her dignity, which is a definite parallel to Heathcliff who is quite unkempt and dirty.

Although I see the story unraveling, and clues to the past being revealed, I feel the house is a huge part of the story, so much so that it is a character in itself, and the more I read, the more I feel convinced of this fact. But onward I go...

The Monk, The Demon Matilda

Matilda or Rosario, whatever you choose to call this thing of the Underworld. What is it? A human, or a demon?

It's difficult to say what exactly is Rosario and Matilda are, whether male or female or a human or a demon. Though this Demon (as I will call Matilda/Rosario from now on) takes the guise of a male only to reveal itself as a female, the genders are simply names. They don't truly express any form of gender as many perceive it today, for example, a male is usually regarded as masculine, aggressive, powerful, while females are passive, weak, and innocent. With the Demon, this is reversed, as it says in the essay on page 193 "...even to become androgynous, especially in her disguise as a young male novice of Ambrosio's monastery." This gender confusion is a valuable aspect of the Gothic novel.

If this wasn't enough confusion for the reader, the Demon is a supposed minion of Satan himself, sent to interfere with the monk's life and cause his fall, as said in the passage from pg. 375 "It was I who threw Matilda in your way; it was I who gave you entrance to Antonia's chamber; it was I who caused the dagger to be given you which pierced your sister's bosom..." Perhaps I missed it, but the Demon's past was never fully explained, and only appeared when the time was right, when Ambrosio was beginning to grow in power and knowledge.

Although, it could also be seen that Satan was simply acting through "the Demon" because she was so dedicated to Ambrosio, and so in love, that she desired nothing more than to get closer to him. To me, however, she was working as the Demon all along, preying upon Ambrosio's weakness to seduction (as he was secluded from the world), to infiltrate his defenses, and use him to destroy himself.

The very thought of a Demon, usually thought of as a male (with the exception of succubi), taking on the disguise of a young boy, and acting so quiet and passive, and flourishing into an aggressive woman, destroys the idea of gender roles, which further ties it into the Gothic genre.

Another thing that I found interesting about the Demon, is that it was quite knowledgeable, having been raised within the monastery, as noted by Brewer on page 194 "Thus the narrator of The Monk undermines as well as affirms sexual stereotypes, suggesting that, at least for some women, noncomformist and even trasgressive behavior is not inconsistent with virtue. In contrast, the passivity and innocence of Antonia, whose education is designed to make her a proper, if ignorant, lady, leads her to trust and even encourage the lustful Ambrosio, who ends up raping and murdering her." It sounds as if education breeds evil within women, while innocence ends with their ultimate demise. So what should women do? Learn enough to live their lives under the shadow of man?

Not that man isn't weak to temptation, but only at the hand of women. Perhaps one could assume that Lewis is making a statement against women, in that he finds them evil in all forms, whether they are legitimately innocent, or evil to their core. So maybe, just maybe, Matilda the Demon isn't a demon after all, but simply a woman, the destroyer of man.

Volume 1 - A Taste of Gothic

Perhaps it is to early to draw elements from this novel and do any form of analysis upon it, but even as I enter the first few pages, I find a few elements already that I recognize from my readings.

The most evident is the use of Segnor, the combination of Italian and Spanish words (signor and seňor). I may be over analyzing, but it seems to me this is already a confusion of the languages, creating a slight confusion. Just a small dose for the reader to ponder over as they continue to read on.

Another point I noticed was from the passage on page 11, "But very few were influenced by those reasons; and in a city where superstition reigns with such despotic sway as in Madrid, to seek for true devotion would be a fruitless attempt." An element of Gothic novels is the incorporation of superstitions such as ghosts and vampires, so it seems a good way to begin a Gothic novel's setting is to say right off the bat that the area is full of superstition.

As you read further, you are introduced to the first sets of characters, Antonia and her aunt, who meet Lorenzo and Don Christoval. During the meeting on page 19 the aunt, Leorella says, "... You should not seem to remember that there is such a thing as a man in the world, and you ought to imagine every body to be of the same sex with yourself. I should like to see you give people to understand, that you know that a man has no breasts, and no hips, and no . . ." It is ironic that she says this, because as you go deeper into the story, you find that a boy is found to be a girl, and it seems like this statement is a prelude to that, although the two plots are split as of now.

The elements of Gothic, as I understand them, are in large part about confusion. Confusion of identity and sex, confusion about emotions and feelings. The aunt confuses Don Christoval's gallantry for love, the monk confuses the girl for a boy, and I have a feeling more are to come as I read further. At times, I myself become confused, but keep reading, in a vain effort to find some form of answer, although I may never find it.