Analysis Of Purity And Danger: Dracula, And The Late Victorian Degeneracy Crisis '

Purity and Danger: Dracula, the Urban Gothic, and the Late Victorian Degeneracy Crisis by Kathleen L. Spencer- Formative Assignment

In ‘Purity and Danger: Dracula, the Urban Gothic, and the Late Victorian Degeneracy Crisis’, Spencer posits that the Dracula’s evil lies in his otherness, revealing the Victorian anxiety that the British Empire might be overthrown by foreign powers. She notes that “in such a society, the universe is dualistic; what is inside is good, what is outside is bad” , and this offers an illuminating reading of Dracula as a novel which emphasises the threat of foreigners; the product of years of British imperialism. However, Spencer also claims that the novel concludes this fear, as “in the end Dracula is killed, the alien element expelled, and the ordinary world restored.” However, this claim does not fit with a closer examination of the end of the novel and its characters- particularly Quincey Harker. …show more content…
Mina believes that “some of our brave friend’s spirit has passed into him” ; clearly the child has something of the paranormal in him. Quincey Harker could even be seen as the greatest abomination in the novel for Victorian readers; a would-be pure British child, corrupted by the blood of a foreign