Dracula/ Queer Theory

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Homoeroticism in Bram Stoker 's Dracula

I . Introduction

The evolution of time and the changes in socio-cultural faculties directly reflect on the type and the mainstream of culture within the literary and visual arts genre . Following the parade and proliferation of `feminism ' and `women empowerment ' in literature and popular media , a new type of theme evolved or branched out---homoeroticism---which had invaded the literary categories . Homoeroticism generally pertains to `homo ' or same-sex depiction of love and desire (Murray and Roscoe 1997

Perhaps one

of the most famous and horrifying stories of the twentieth and the contemporary century is the Bram Stoker 's Dracula . While the narrative is typically horrendous and strangely lulling to the reader there is probably a deeper implication on the psychological responses which hinges on `deviant behavior ' of the story 's main character Count Dracula . Strangely , the character Dracula is an atypical archetype of the third ' genre . In the subsequent , an analysis on the psychological behavior [and his erstwhile characteristics] of Bram Stoker 's Dracula will be conducted and correlate it to the possibility of `homoerotic ' inundations that normally defines `gay ' literature Additionally , the aims to define the `psychological state /conditioning /behavior of the author Bram Stoker by investigating given and known literatures /readings on his biography . Such undertaking can also possibly suggest the presence /absence of homoerotic front of the author

II . The Third Gender and Queer Theory

Modernity in the late 1960 's to the contemporary period explores the fundamentals and the notion and ideologies of heterosexuality which extends to thematic concepts in literature . The tenets of gender is questioned and hereto put forth as social equity , an underlying idea of democratization , contests the precepts of gender and sexuality . What is biologically `straight ' is devolved with identity reconstruction and partiality towards sexual orientation . Accordingly , the new gender---the third gender---a referral to gays , lesbians , bisexuals , and closets play `minority ' in the modern society . Homosexuals , in its simplest sense are the non-heterosexuals . They have distinct preference for the same biological sexual orientation . They are the basket term for gays lesbians , bisexuals , and closets

Faculties of psychosocial behavior explore the deviance and the non-normative sexual practice of homosexuals . It is acknowledged that gays are `psychosocial ' deviance , not a sickness but a social reality The queer society , bearing some forms of behavior and principles , and language materializes in several literatures as some queer theorist claim . Thus there is manifestation and imposition of `third gender structures and labels from an external mainstream culture of the `homosexual ' minors into literature . Here we explore the unconscious inclusion of pronounced homosexuality of the author Bram Stoker through the vampire Dracula

Bram Stoker 's vampiric Dracula is thus scrutinized using queer theory---process of discovering and exposing underlying meanings distinctions , and relations of power in larger culture that others oversimplify . The capitalization of overt heterosexuality of the vampiric Dracula is examined overlaying the bounds of the character as simply being a `blood-sucking ' un-dead organism . A major proponent of the queer...