Dracula, Ch 14-16

DRACULA

Ch. 14 continued...

Dr Seward's Diary

Note: Dr Seward has been bitten by Lucy -"the wound which poor Lucy left on me"... "is now reopened" (p203). Can someone help me find when he was bitten?

However, he does NOT understand who the Booferlady is...Van Helsing shouts at him: Do you mean to tell me, friend John, that you have no suspicion as to what poor Lucy died of; after all the hints given, not only by events, but by me?" (p203). 

Task: In pairs or trios or as a class, recite Van Helsing's monologue (with a little but of text from Dr Seward)  starting ""You are clever man, friend John; you reason well... but you are too prejudiced"(204).... and ending "They were made by Miss Lucy" (p206).


Ch. 15 

Dr Seward's Diary, continued...

Dread will help their cause /motivate them...

They plan to go to hospital to see children bitten by Blooferlady... then to the churchyard where Lucy lies.

The child has bites like Lucy, but smaller and fresher (p208).

Talk that, after wolf escaped from zoo, children were playing "Red Riding Hood" before they started mimicking "Blooferlady" (p208)

They then go, in the dark, to the Westenra tomb (p209)

Focus on setting of the tomb, with its insects and wilted flowers and the effect which is grim (p210)

They open the coffin, which is empty.

Dr Seward thinks that Bodysnatchers have been at work, but no! (p211).

Midnight... and a "white streak" is seen in the graveyard (p211)... and then Van Helsing finds a "tiny child" (p212).

Lucy's female charms of sexuality and maternal longing have turned into the more deadly and sinful aspects of her being... The Victorian woman, in all her dangerous glory.

They leave, and then come back the next night.

Find Lucy, who is "more radiantly beautiful then ever" (p213)... with canine teeth

Task: Let us read aloud p214-215 "And yet she had been dead one week....Picadilly" (to see that they do not "kill" Lucy at this stage, but wait so that Arthur can understand their actions.

Van Helsing goes alone to the churchyard. (p216)... and recognises "the Un-dead are strong" (p216).... and lays out plans for destroying Dracula (p217).

Dr Seward's Diary

They go to Arthur, who is now Lord Godalming, and to Quincey Morris. Van Helsing asks for the right to do "what I think good this night" (p218).

Arthur exclaims, she is "Undead! Not alive !"

Van Helsing replies, "There are mysteries which only men can guess at.." (p220)

Arthur retorts, "Are you mad that speak such things, or am I mad that listen to them". (p220)

Tasks: Let's read alound Van helsing's reply about the DUTY he must fulfill (p220-221).

Ch16

Dr Seward's Diary continued:

Note this chapter is ONLY Dr. Seward's Diary entry.

Return to the churchyard.

Lucy's coffin is empty.

Important quote for setting: "how humanizing to (leave the tomb) see the red lighting of the sky beyond he hills and to hear far away the muffled roar that marks the life of a great city" (p223).

Also, "never did tombs looks so ghastly white; never did cypress, or yew, or juniper so seem the embodiment of funeral gloom" (p225).

Task: read the full description of Lucy (p225), which includes "her purity had turned to voluptuous wantonness"

Dr Seward admit's "she has to be killed" (p225)... especially when she throws the child to the ground "callous as a devil".

Task: read her description with flesh like "coils of Medusa's snakes" (p226).

they "lock" her in tomb with the "wafers" (p227). 

The next day they return in the afternoon, and find Lucy, or something like "a nightmare of Lucy" (p228).

Task: read Van Helsing's speech to the men about needing to use the "lore and experience of the ancients" that he will work. So, once, again, he is similar to Dracula (p229).

Read from "Before we do anything... a moment's courage and it is done" (p229-230). 

Arthur kills Lucy with a hammer... (p230-231).

Lucy's face now is "as we had seen her in life" (p231).

Arthur now has the right to kiss her dead lips... as "she is no longer the devil's Un-dead" (p232).

Setting: all of nature were tuned to a different pitch" (232). Outside the air was sweet, he sun shone, and the birds sang (think of scene in Dorian Gray before Vane dies).

They make plans to complete the "terrible task" of killing Dracula (p232). 
















Commentaires

Enregistrer un commentaire

Posts les plus consultés de ce blog

Key Issue Seven: Power and menace in Gothic writing (Alexis / Liam / Malo)

Key Issue Seven: Power and menace in Gothic writing (Alexis / Liam / Malo) Closely linked together, power and menace are both fundamental for Gothic Literature . Even though they are not the first criteria someone would think about after watching a Gothic movie or reading Gothic literature, power and menace are nearly always presented in Gothic art. I. Power Looking at power portrayed through Gothic writing, we can already declare that power can come in different forms: fear, torture (violence), psycological aspects (mental), etc.  Power is dependent on a constraint, someone or something that needs to feel or be submissive to this powerful character. In Gothic writing, we can see this through vulnerable characters being driven by fear, for example Lucy Westerna in Dracula.  In Gothic literature, villains (humans or creatures) usually always hold the power, and they use this power over the other characters through violence and fear, for example, Dracula, or Frankenstein.  So, we can
Lire la suite

Key Issue Eight: Melodrama and Realism in Gothic Writing (Milla and Madeleine)

Melodrama and realism in Gothic writing Melodrama and Realism are two main concepts that Gothic authors used and explored to bring the readers into the atmosphere they created.  Melodrama The Melodrama movement was born in France, in the late 18th and early 19th centuries as part of the Romantic literary period. The romantics wanted to express their emotions through art, inspired by imagination, individuality, and nature.  The word Melodrama is made from two different Greek words: Melos meaning music and drama meaning action.  A melodrama is the foundation of every American movie of our time, as it contains a story with conflict coupled with music .  This dramatic form also shows a battle between Good and Evil in three major plot elements:  1. provocation, whatever provokes the villain to act devilishly to the hero;  2.pangs, the pains that the hero suffers through because of the villain’s evil;  3. and the penalty, the denouement, the last part of the play, where the villain gets the
Lire la suite

Key Issue Six : Heroes and villains in Gothic writing (Daniel / Lilas / Eléonore)

Heroes and  Villains In Gothic writing, a specific atmosphere prevails in which heroes and villains are easily distinguishable from other literature genres.  The hero-villain relationship is often ambiguous, and in a number of works of Gothic writing, attraction and love between the two characters might even occur.  Within heroes, boundaries opposing morality and immorality tend to be vague.  In fact, heroes of Gothic writing—oftentimes characters of high social ranking—could be described as morally “grey,” as it is their own goodness—the hero’s tragic flaw—that brings them, through decadence, to villainy. On the other hand, the antagonist is, from his very outset, portrayed as a flawed, lonesome, or outcast figure who must overcome obstacles in order to re-join society.  Generally, Gothic Villains represent one of two archetypes: the Evil Father or the Dangerous Lover. Villains who embody these figures include, respectively, Victor Frankenstein and Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights
Lire la suite