Bram Stoker’s Dracula: The Transformation of Tradition

Bram Stoker’s Dracula: The Transformation of Tradition discusses the role of this novel in the creation of the modern vampire and its importance in the development of the Steampunk Gothic. The chapter examines the evolution of the vampire over the centuries: the relationship between Stoker’s vampire and Voivode Dracula (whose name the Irish author borrowed for his fictional bloodsucker), the construction of Stoker’s mythical Transylvania, the relationship between modernity and past in the novel, and Dracula adaptations. The chapter concludes with a synoptic view of the reception of Dracula by literary criticism.