Dracula, Vampires and the New Woman by Carol Senf

Dracula, Blood, and the New Woman: Stoker’s Reflections on the Zeitgeist While Stoker’s Dracula has never been out of print since its publication in 1897, there’s a tendency either to inflate it as a study in the struggle between Good and Evil or to dismiss it as popular fiction. This talk addresses the degree to which Dracula wrestles with the problems of its day, including the rise of the New Woman, which challenged traditional notions of gender relationships, and the importance of blood as a marker of identity. The New Woman, which Stoker will continue to address throughout his career, finally points to the future while blood demonstrates Stoker’s connection to a very traditional past. Carol Senf, Professor at Georgia Tech, specializes in Gothic Studies. She has written on Stoker, Dracula, Stephen King, LeFanu, Mary Shelley, the Brontes, Dickens, Eliot, Hardy, and Sarah Grand. Her most recent book (co-authored with Sherry Brown and Ellen Stockstill) is A Research Guide to Gothic Literature in English (2018).