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| Author | Bram Stoker |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Heinemann |
Publication date | 1905 |
| Media type | Print (hardcover) |
The Man is a 1905 Edwardian novel by Bram Stoker, best known for Dracula . [1] A typical Gothic novel, it features horror and romance. The Man has also been published as The Gates of Life.
The Victorian Era, the reign of Queen Victoria from her coronation on 20 June 1837 to her death on 22 January 1901, is known as a long period of peace, prosperity and national pride for the British Empire. It was a bold transition from the Georgian era, largely defined by logic, rationalism and a progression towards romanticism and mysticism in religion, societal values and the arts. In international relations, the Georgian era was widely regarded as a period of peace and Britain involved themselves in little external conflict. However, within the American colonies there was much unrest. In British domestic relations, the political agenda became increasingly liberal and was marked by shifts toward political, industrial and social reform. During the Victorian era, Britain experienced an unprecedented economic and population growth. [2]
The end of the era, when The Man was written, coincided with Europe's Belle Époque. Like Britain's Victorian era, the period was characterized by optimism, peace, advances in technology and scientific discoveries. [3]
During the Romantic period of literature, which immediately preceded the Victorian period, poetry was the most popular form of literature. In the Victorian period, the novel became the predominant literary work. The most important novelist of the Victorian era is Charles Dickens. Other notable authors include the Brontë sisters: Anne, Charlotte, and Emily (who published works under male pseudonyms), George Eliot (pseudonym of Mary Ann Evans), Thomas Hardy, Lewis Carroll, George Gissing and Arthur Conan Doyle. [4]
During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the subgenre of Gothic fiction emerged from the broader genre of fantastic fiction. These stories, centering on larger-than-life characters, took place in castles, cemeteries and monasteries in rural England or Europe or in large cities (such as London). Gothic literature combined romance and horror.[ citation needed ]
Squire Stephen Norman is lord of the manor in Normanstead. He marries Margaret Rowly, younger sister of his friend Rowly (squire of the neighboring town). Desirous of an heir, Norman and Margaret have a baby girl and Margaret dies shortly after the birth. Norman promises her that he will love their daughter as much as he would have loved a son, and Margaret asks him to name the girl Stephen. Squire Norman raises his daughter Stephen as a tomboy. Margaret's spinster aunt Laetitia Rowly moves in to help care for Stephen, who is dominant, assertive and free-thinking. When Stephen is six, Norman's visiting college friend Dr. Wolf tells her about his 11-year-old son Harold. The girl asks Wolf to bring Harold on a future visit, and the children become friends. Two years later, Dr. Wolf dies of pneumonia and Squire Norman promises to raise Harold as if he were his own son. Stephen and Harold visit the graveyard of the Church of St. Stephen in Normanstead (where all her ancestors are buried), and find the crypt unlocked. Stephen and another young boy, Leonard Everard, explore the crypt. Harold finds Leonard running out of the crypt and Stephen unconscious on the floor in front of a coffin. Leonard tells her that he carried her out of the crypt, and she begins to admire him.
Harold goes to Cambridge University and begins to fall in love with Stephen, who admires Leonard (though he is selfish and uninterested in her). She tells her appalled aunt that a woman should be able to ask a man to marry her. After graduation, Harold moves back to Squire Norman's estate. He and Norman are involved in a phaeton accident, in which Norman is fatally injured. Before he dies, he tells Harold to look after Stephen and gives him his blessing to marry her if she wishes. Stephen decides to propose to Leonard, asking him in a letter to meet her. Leonard refuses her proposal, and she is humiliated. He tells an incredulous, upset Harold about Stephen's proposal, and Harold proposes to her the next morning. Stephen, aware that Harold knows about her rejected proposal, becomes angry and tells him to leave. When she tells Leonard that in exchange for his silence she will pay his debts, he realizes the advantages of marrying her. He proposes, and she rejects him.
Harold boards a ship bound for New York and assumes a new name, John Robinson. During the voyage, six-year-old Pearl Stonehouse is washed overboard. John saves her, and the grateful girl calls him "the Man". He refuses the Stonehouses' offer of a job, living in Alaska for two years before deciding to revisit the lonely Stephen (who has inherited a London mansion and a title, and whose sole confidante is an old woman known as the Silver Lady). During a storm, Stephen sees a ship ablaze in the distance; a bearded John is trying to swim to shore, and sees Stephen just before he is struck by lightning. Not recognizing him, Stephen has him rescued and brought to her home. A doctor discovers that John is blind, but believes that it is temporary. John, wanting to respect Stephen's wish that he stay out of her life, plans to escape.
Stephen hears from Alice Stonehouse, who learned about Mr. Robinson's accident and planned to visit him with her family. Alice explains to Stephen that the injured man had saved their daughter's life two years earlier, and Pearl had insisted on seeing "the Man". Pearl is confused by John's beard, but when the doctor removes his bandages she recognizes "the Man" and faints. Stephen, realizing that "the Man" is Harold, also faints and Harold suddenly regains his sight. Pearl tells Stephen that she should marry Harold, and Stephen consults the Silver Lady. The Silver Lady visits Harold, and tells him he should marry Stephen. Stephen and Harold find each other and embrace.
The Man has elements typical of Gothic fiction: horror and romance. The novel begins in a cemetery, and often returns there. Depictions of tombstones, Gothic architecture, gargoyles and other Gothic imagery are abundant. It focuses on a romance between the main character, Stephen, and Harold. It also focuses on the concept of death, with many characters dying in tragic accidents. Through the deaths, Stephen and Harold grow closer. The novel consists of a preface (or "fore-glimpse") followed by 37 short chapters, typically two to four pages.
The New Woman was a popular character in 19th-century literature, carrying over into the 20th century. The New Woman, exemplified by Stephen, was typically a feminist, educated, independent career woman. Independent, she challenges the conventions of traditional 19th-century women. An example of her progressive, independent nature is when she breaks the tradition of the marriage proposal by proposing to Leonard.
Because Squire Norman raises Stephen with masculine qualities, she "very early in life manifested a dominant nature ... this was a secret pleasure to her father, who, never losing sight of his old idea that she was both son and daughter, took pleasure as well as pride of each manifestation of her imperial will". As a teenager, Stephen announces that she would "rather be a God than an angel", able to command the angels and make them submit to her. Harold, on the other hand, says that he would "rather be an angel than a God" because it is easier to accept the commands of a higher authority and carry them out.
The Man is less popular than Stoker's best-known novel, Dracula, seldom discussed in literary journals and largely forgotten.
Abraham "Bram" Stoker was an Irish author who is best known for writing the 1897 Gothic horror novel Dracula. During his lifetime, he was better known as the personal assistant of actor Sir Henry Irving and business manager of the West End's Lyceum Theatre, which Irving owned.
Dracula is a gothic horror novel by Bram Stoker, published on 26 May 1897. An epistolary novel, the narrative is related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist and opens with solicitor Jonathan Harker taking a business trip to stay at the castle of a Transylvanian nobleman, Count Dracula. Harker escapes the castle after discovering that Dracula is a vampire, and the Count moves to England and plagues the seaside town of Whitby. A small group, led by Abraham Van Helsing, investigate, hunt and kill Dracula.
Horror is a genre of speculative fiction that is intended to disturb, frighten, or scare. Horror is often divided into the sub-genres of psychological horror and supernatural horror, which are in the realm of speculative fiction. Literary historian J. A. Cuddon, in 1984, defined the horror story as "a piece of fiction in prose of variable length ... which shocks, or even frightens the reader, or perhaps induces a feeling of repulsion or loathing". Horror intends to create an eerie and frightening atmosphere for the reader. Often the central menace of a work of horror fiction can be interpreted as a metaphor for larger fears of a society.
Vampire literature covers the spectrum of literary work concerned principally with the subject of vampires. The literary vampire first appeared in 18th-century poetry, before becoming one of the stock figures of gothic fiction with the publication of Polidori's The Vampyre (1819), which was inspired by the life and legend of Lord Byron. Later influential works include the penny dreadful Varney the Vampire (1847); Sheridan Le Fanu's tale of a lesbian vampire, Carmilla (1872), and the most well known: Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897). Some authors created a more "sympathetic vampire", with Varney being the first, and more recent examples such as Moto Hagio's series The Poe Clan (1972–1976) and Anne Rice's novel Interview with the Vampire (1976) proving influential.
The Snake's Pass is an 1890 novel by Bram Stoker. It centers on the legend of Saint Patrick defeating the King of the Snakes in Ireland, as well as on the troubled romance between the main character and a local peasant girl. The Snake's Pass was Stoker's second imperial fiction novel, and was first published in the United Kingdom in 1890. The novel is a precursor to Stoker's Dracula.
The Jewel of Seven Stars is a horror novel by Irish writer Bram Stoker, first published by Heinemann in 1903. The story is a first-person narrative of a young man pulled into an archaeologist's plot to revive Queen Tera, an ancient Egyptian mummy. It explores common fin de siècle themes such as imperialism, the rise of the New Woman and feminism, and societal progress.
Victorian literature is English literature during the reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901). The 19th century is considered by some the Golden Age of English Literature, especially for British novels. In the Victorian era, the novel became the leading literary genre in English. English writing from this era reflects the major transformations in most aspects of English life, from scientific, economic, and technological advances to changes in class structures and the role of religion in society. The number of new novels published each year increased from 100 at the start of the period to 1000 by the end of it. Famous novelists from this period include Charles Dickens, William Makepeace Thackeray, the three Brontë sisters, Elizabeth Gaskell, George Eliot, Thomas Hardy, and Rudyard Kipling.
Lucy Westenra is a fictional character in the 1897 novel Dracula by Bram Stoker. The 19-year-old daughter of a wealthy family, she is Mina Murray's best friend. Early in the story, Lucy gets proposed to by three suitors, Arthur Holmwood, John Seward, and Quincey Morris, on the same day. Turning the latter two down due to already being in love with Arthur, she accepts his proposal. Before getting the chance to marry, Lucy becomes Count Dracula's first English victim, and despite Seward contacting Abraham Van Helsing for help, she transforms into a vampire. Following her return as a vampire and attacks on children—dubbed the "Bloofer Lady" by them—she is eventually cornered into her crypt by Van Helsing and her suitors who destroy her, putting her soul to rest.
Count Dracula is the title character of Bram Stoker's 1897 gothic horror novel Dracula. He is considered the prototypical and archetypal vampire in subsequent works of fiction. Aspects of the character are believed by some to have been inspired by the 15th-century Wallachian prince Vlad the Impaler, who was also known as Vlad Dracula, and by Sir Henry Irving, an actor for whom Stoker was a personal assistant.
Dracula, also known as Bram Stoker's Dracula and Dan Curtis' Dracula, is a 1974 British made-for-television gothic horror film and adaptation of Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula. It was written by Richard Matheson and directed by Dark Shadows creator Dan Curtis, with Jack Palance in the title role. It was the second collaboration for Curtis and Palance after the 1968 TV film The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Melion is an anonymous Breton lai that tells the story of a knight who transforms into a werewolf for the love of his wife who betrays him.
English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian dialects brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon invaders in the fifth century, are called Old English. Beowulf is the most famous work in Old English. Despite being set in Scandinavia, it has achieved national epic status in England. However, following the Norman conquest of England in 1066, the written form of the Anglo-Saxon language became less common. Under the influence of the new aristocracy, French became the standard language of courts, parliament, and polite society. The English spoken after the Normans came is known as Middle English. This form of English lasted until the 1470s, when the Chancery Standard, a London-based form of English, became widespread. Geoffrey Chaucer (1343–1400), author of The Canterbury Tales, was a significant figure developing the legitimacy of vernacular Middle English at a time when the dominant literary languages in England were still French and Latin. The invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg in 1439 also helped to standardise the language, as did the King James Bible (1611), and the Great Vowel Shift.
The Mystery of the Sea is a mystery novel by Bram Stoker, first published in 1902. It tells the story of an Englishman living in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, who meets and falls in love with an American heiress. She is involved with the intrigues of the Spanish–American War, and a complex plot involving second sight, kidnapping, and secret codes unfolds over the course of the novel.
Lady Athlyne is a romance novel by Bram Stoker, written in 1908. It was published one year before the release of Stoker's The Lady of the Shroud.
Sarah Grace Perry is an English author. She has had four novels published: After Me Comes the Flood (2014), The Essex Serpent (2016), Melmoth (2018) and Enlightenment (2024). Her work has been translated into 22 languages. She was appointed Chancellor of the University of Essex in July 2023, officially starting in this role on 1 August 2023.
Bram Stoker's Dracula's Guest is a 2008 film that was written and directed by Michael Feifer. It was released direct to video in August 2008 and is loosely based on Bram Stoker's short story "Dracula's Guest".
Mummies are commonly featured in horror genres as undead creatures wrapped in bandages. Similar undead include skeletons and zombies.
Bibliography of works on Dracula is a listing of non-fiction literary works about the book Dracula or derivative works about its titular vampire Count Dracula.
The Blood of the Vampire is a Gothic novel by Florence Marryat, published in 1897. The protagonist, Harriet Brandt, is a mixed-race psychic vampire who kills unintentionally. The novel follows Harriet after she leaves a Jamaican convent for Europe, and her ill-fated attempts to integrate with Victorian society.
Irish Gothic literature developed in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Most of the writers were Anglo-Irish. The period from 1691 to 1800 was marked by the dominance of the Protestant Ascendancy, Anglo-Irish families of the Church of Ireland who controlled most of the land. The Irish Parliament, which was almost exclusively Protestant in composition, passed the Penal Laws, effectively disenfranchising the Catholic majority both politically and economically. This began to change with the Acts of Union 1800 and the concomitant abolition of the Irish Parliament. Following a vigorous campaign led by Irish lawyer Daniel O'Connell, Westminster passed the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829 removing most of the disabilities imposed upon Catholics.
