The three CPBs I commented on were vastly different from one another this week.  One remarked upon how Dracula was influenced by the Jack the Ripper murders.  It was apparently believed that the Jewish community was harboring the serial killer.  This aided xenophobia, in particular of Eastern European immigrants, and this can be seen in the novel with Dracula and all his vices coming to London.  His attempt to spread his curse is representative of a fear of Eastern European peoples “conquering” England through immigration. 

Another entry remarks upon the commentary on sexuality found in the book.  First there is the apparent attraction Dracula has to Jonathan in the beginning, which I found may reflect Stoker’s own desires, as he was believed to be gay himself.  As the entry points out, we are distracted from this by the appearance of the promiscuous vampire women and later Lucy, who seduce even the best of men (Jonathan and the other young men in the party of protagonists).  This excessive sexuality, as remarked upon by me and various others, is another one of the Victorian fears present in this book, just like xenophobia.  It arose from the appearance of the independent “New Woman,” who challenged normal views of how women should act. The final entry looked at how Dracula exhibited motifs common throughout Gothic literature in general.  One was that of prisons, seen with Jonathan trapped in the castle, Jekyll/Hyde trapped in his study, and Bertha trapped in her room or Jane being trapped in the “haunted” bedroom at her childhood foster home.  There was also the motif of ghosts, with the past returning to stalk the night: Dracula being an ancient being, Jekyll’s sins as a young man spurring him to find a way to enjoy them again in peace, and Frankenstein’s creation returning to ruin his existence being examples.