Critical Response: Connect

Lucy’s death bed condition in Seward’s diary dated September 7.

“I was shocked when I saw her yesterday, I was horrified when I saw her to-day. She was ghastly, chalkily pale; the red seemed to have gone even from her lips and gums, and the bones of her face stood out prominently; her breathing was painful to see or hear,”

I think this is a good definition of Lucy’s condition in a decaying state, wherein Seward uses a variety of descriptive words to tell Lucy’s condition. “chalkily pale, and spiritual pathology” seems she resemble a ghost(corpse) or a vampire; because vampire are of pale color and are soul seekers of blood.

The blood seemed to have gone from her lips and gums is a clear definition of what Felluga Kristevan, defines the word “abject” as a breakdown  caused by the loss of the distinction between subject and object or between self and other..

Seward described It is something like the way Dame Nature gathers round a foreign body an envelope of some insensitive tissue which can protect from evil that which it would otherwise harm by contact. this is a form of communicable disease.

I like the first person narration as it gives a meaningful descriptive words that are sad and depressing and also terrifying., which is anticipating the outcome.

Earlier Dates before September 7th, Lucy was getting better but then a sudden change for the worse days later. Lucy  was at her mother’s house instead of a hospital or hospice. But instead Seward who is in love with her decides to consult Van Helsing whom he thinks is “The Great Specialist.”

Angel Oquendo

Critical Response: Clue

With throwing out all the knowledge that I have of vampires, it made me realize how strange them and their habits are. Vampires are still scary even if you dont know what a vampire is. They sleep in coffins all day, have sharp teeth that stick out their mouths, drink blood, bite people, are unhealthy pale looking, and more. A vampire’s blood lust is violent and bit of the violence was showcased in chapter 11 when Renfeild attacked Seward. Renfield attacked Seward and cut his wrist with a dinner knife. Seward was bleeding everywhere so Renfield dropped to the floor and was licking the blood up like a dog. Science would write off Renfield as being insane and do what they have been doing to him so far, locking him up. 

Vampires have sharp teeth that they use to taunt and suck blood. In chapter 12, Lucy was sleeping and being observed by Professor Van Helsing and Holmwood and they noticed that she looked stronger but at the same time looked like she was dying and they noticed her sharpened canine teeth pointing out of her mouth. I dont think science can explain her condition. I looked up if there were any diseases or sicknesses that cause teeth to grow and sharpen. Doctors would also be puzzled as to how is she dying a slow and unexplainable death but somehow becoming physically stronger. Religious people might say that she is being possessed by the devil because of how scary her teeth are becoming and how she’s sick without a cause or diagnostic. 

In chapter 15, Van Helsing and Seward were doing some detective work on Lucy and went to open her casket on one night and saw that she wasnt there in her casket. The next night they go back to check her casket and shes back in it with even longer vampire teeth. Science and religion can explain this as someone is graverobbing and stole her body and then put it back. Van Helsing is an open minded doctor and first assumed that she was grave robbed but then thought of the supernatural and took into consideration everything that is happening and concluded to Seward that he believes that Lucy is an undead vampire and is getting out of her gave at night to attack people. 

Group 3 Fareena – Create Chapters 10-15

Parents: Oh dear God ! Oh where did you go and who where you with? Are you alright my child?

Child: Mom, Dad I was with the “bloofer lady” translating beautiful lady, she took me by the hand. She appeared very angelic, so very sweet to me. She had such red lips like when I eat my popsicle, very red and pearly long white teeth. Her two teeth at the side are longer than yours ! It was fascinating! I stared at them all the time.

Parents: How you scared us?! Did she hurt you? Was it anyone we know? Have we seen this lady before? Why on earth would you go with a stranger ?!

Child: No mom and dad, I’ve never seen the “bloofer” translating to beautiful lady before. I would certainly remember it.

Parents: What happened to your neck? Did the lady do that to you?

Child: I think she went to kiss me, but now I don’t remember how it got there. Maybe I scratched myself ? I don’t think she meant to hurt me.

Parents: Thats certainly not a scratch, maybe you hurt yourself in the bushes, or while you were wandering about when we found you. Looks like a rat has bitten you, you say she has long white teeth, but Im sure she didn’t want to hurt you or else you wouldn’t be here with us right now. I suppose it was someone who needed company or someone who couldn’t have kids or lost a kid even. So she took you for a day and befriended you. But promise us no more talking to strangers and going with them okay?

I highly think the parents wouldn’t even think it could be something as supernatural as it really was. I think the child would describe Lucy as very beautiful as in the English accent bloofer lady is pronounced as beautiful lady. Lucy was beautiful in life and death because she was proposed to 3 times in one day ! She had to be beautiful, as well as characteristics I would say long pearly white teeth and cherry red lips.

Critical Response Prompts: Dracula, 10-15

Each of the prompts should be answered by at least 1 member of the blog group. Please confer amongst yourselves as to who will write which prompt. Responses should be at least 250 words and posted by 11 am the day of class. Please remember to select the appropriate Blog category before posting.

CLUE.

Throughout chapters 10-15, we learn a lot more about vampirism: how it’s contracted, what it does to the patient, how it can be contained. Try to forget everything you know about vampires, and analyze 3-4 clues from this section that reveal the powers and weaknesses associated with vampirism.  Which of these powers/weaknesses are explainable through science, and which through religion/”superstition”?

CONNECT.

Dino Felluga describes corpses as pure examples of abjection, since a corpse “literalizes the breakdown of the distinction between subject and object that is crucial for the establishment of identity.” Abjection is embodied in vomit, open wounds, and other “gross’ violations of the border between life and death.

Find a passage that connects to Felluga’s definition of abjection. It could be a description of Dracula’s home invasion, or Lucy’s deathbed condition, or of Jonathan Harker’s response to seeing Dracula in London. How do physical descriptions, or first person narration, or style choices in any of these passages blur the border between life and death?

CREATE.

Chapters 13-15 introduce the subplot of the “bloofer lady” (beautiful lady, in the accent of English children) who takes local children on walks, and leaves them with bite marks. It’s implied that this is the Un-Dead Lucy, now preying on children.

Create a dialogue in which one of these children tells their parent about what they saw. How do you imagine the child describing the lady? What is the parent’s reaction? Do either of them believe something supernatural is going on? Include 1-2 sentences after the dialogue explaining the basis for your paragraph.