The Presentation of Good and Evil within 'Dorian Gray' & 'Dracula' A* Essay
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Course
Unit 2 - Prose
Institution
PEARSON (PEARSON)
An essay on 'Compare the ways in which the writers of your two chosen texts present good and evil. You must relate your discussion to relevant contextual factors', following the Alevel Edexcel English Literature course.
This essay was marked as an A*.
Explore the presentation of good and evil in ‘Dracula’ and ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’.
Both Bram Stoker’s epistolary, gothic novel ‘Dracula’ written in 1897 and Oscar Wilde’s
ekphrastic, decadent novel `The Picture of Dorian Gray’ written in 1891, explore many ways
in how good and evil can be presented; whether that be through specific characters, the
theme of entrapment or even the endings to their novel’s. The main general difference
between these two Victorian texts is that throughout ‘Dracula’, the novel heavily centres off
of the Victorian idea at the time that one can only be solely good or solely evil – there was
not this concept that perhaps humans had the ability to carry both of these characteristics
depending on the circumstance. However, this is defied by Wilde, as he explores the idea of
there actually being both good and evil within each of us, it is just our choice as to what
path we choose to follow, adding this new fear to the fin de siècle society.
Despite the fact that in both gothic texts there is one central character who clearly
symbolises the epitome of evil (Count Dracula and Dorian Gray), both authors demonstrate
evil through a variety of their characters, presenting them as predators who prey upon
innocent victims. Stoker explores this in ‘Dracula’ as Jonathan Harker – a diligent, young
solicitor who is sent to the mysterious and supernatural country of Transylvania by his
employer to consult a property transaction – becomes subject to a masochistic sexual
interaction, taking place with Dracula’s three brides. Throughout the entirety of this
seductive passage we witness the reversal of gender roles (which by contrast, Wilde does
not explore in his novel) where many readers could argue that Jonathan plays the role of the
‘damsel in distress’, highlighting his effeminate qualities whilst helplessly trapped by the all-
consuming lure of the siren like mistresses. This would have caused such a horror to the
Victorian reader since Stoker was referencing the threat of female sexuality and the extent
of which the ‘new woman’ could reach, obviously opposing any traditional, patriarchal
norms/ideals of how a women should act, particularly with the opposite sex (or rather how
they should not act to a man who is not their husband). After studying their prey for a brief
moment, the brides took full advantage of the hostage’s vulnerabilities and although
Jonathan experiences a form of excitement and anticipation, it is clear that the overriding
emotion which is being felt is fear of the unknown. Stoker describes that they “whispered
together, and then they all three laughed – such a silvery, musical laugh” where this
auditory imagery creates the illusion of a mystical nightmare with the sibilance of ‘such a
silvery, musical’ emphasising this further. Yet, when the vampires initiate their seductive
move, Jonathan expresses a form of subtle excitement for the mystery and fear of what is to
happen next, “looking out under my eyelashes in an agony of delightful anticipation”. The
use of the oxymoron, ‘agony of delightful’ effectively demonstrates the character’s
confusion of the act – not quite knowing how to react – and moreover, perhaps Stoker is
suggesting the idea that in this moment, Jonathan himself is also portraying an element of
immoral behaviour in his reaction – knowing that this is regarded as unacceptable as he has
a fiancée at home in Exeter, England but yet he can’t help but feel some sort of desire
towards the act, possibly because he has simply never experienced something like this
before. To some extent, this is similar to ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ where we see Lord
Henry – Wilde’s creation of an astonishingly eccentric and flamboyant character - take a
great interest in young Dorian Gray, simply because he holds such a beauty that no one has
ever seen before, “his beauty is such that Art cannot express”, and with that comes the
gentleman’s willingness to prey upon Dorian in order to project his hedonistic philosophy
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