Blog Post #5: Research Topic Abstract Draft

Role of Evolutionary Biology in Dracula

Abstract

The gothic fiction novel Dracula, by Bram Stoker, has come to be one of the most iconic horror stories in the world. Stoker’s description of Dracula paved the way for vampirism in the many famous modern horror stories we see today. I argue, however, that Stoker’s novel intended to be a science fiction novel rather than gothic fiction, and in reality, his portrayal of Dracula was more than a vampire. It was an insight into the future of human evolution based on Charles Darwin’s Origin of Species published only 38 years earlier than Dracula itself. I will specifically outline how Stoker connects Darwin’s theory of evolution to Dracula in order to understand who Stoker’s audience is, what are his hypothesis about the future of evolution, and why is he promoting ideas of evolutionary biology? The late 1800s was a period where scientific discoveries were changing the paradigms of the world. Darwinism was one of these discoveries. Stoker who recognized the potential of science, engaged with the scientific method in his novel to introduce his thoughts, ideas, and hypothesis for the future of evolution by linking them to the character Dracula and making them a key component in the plot of the novel. Previous research done on the novel shows the exact ways Dracula is portrayed as an evolved post-human, however, I will specifically describe how Darwin’s evolutionary chain plays an important role in the development of the plot in Dracula. I will achieve this by analyzing the predator vs prey relationship in the novel between humans and vampires as well as the character descriptions on the specific abilities of the vampires in the novel. The overall goal is to prove whether Stoker is attempting to make a contribution to the scientific community by creating a hypothesis on human evolution or is attempting to demonize evolution by portraying the evolved Dracula as an evil being.