Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Dracula as a Child
In the essay, "Psychoanalytic Criticism and Dracula" the postulation is made by Freud and others that infantile sexual desires are often repressed due to social taboo but can surface from the subconscious in literature. We see this again in the Foster essay, "The Little Children Can Be Bitten", in which he says, "At the heart of Dracula is hunger, that blindly mechanical oral impulse that each of us discovers in the first days after birth."(484) Here the association between the oral fetish that is present in Dracula is with the oral stage of child development. Van Helsing even goes so far in his own psychoanalytic criticism of Dracula to say, "In some faculties of mind he has been, and is, only a child"(300). Whether or not this comment is in direct correlation to Dracula's oral fascination is unclear but it does lend itself to this type of criticism, especially when you consider the fascination with food as well.
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4 comments:
Again, I do not completely understand the oral fixation that Dracula has, obviously it plays a strong role. I do not know it I would say that it has to do with Freud's "oral stage" completely. I think that in part it is much more sexual than than. (I do ask this question in my presentation).
Although, it may have some child like theme to it, I do think that there is much more to it.
There are a lot of examples that you can see Dracula as a child, even his need to keep his power, like a child he is afraid of losing it.
Over all, I would not agree that he is particularly childlike. But more of a "sexual" being.
One interesting point I would like to add that is another aspect which Foster explained is the fact that Dracula, like a child, knows what he wants. Adults on the other hand, are not as focused in their desires as they are blended and not absolute. Dracula sets his goal on sustaining himself by feeding on victims and that is all that drives his actions. Adults however, are not nearly as motivated towards one specific goal which actually, according to Freud, is a sign of maturity.
Sean's point is well taken - the oral fixation that is so inherently linked to the count is definitely indicative of that of a child, according to Freud. Stoker may have understood and played-up the notion towards the end of the novel, where he actually has the characters refer to Dracula as having a "child-mind" (337) and other things to that effect. Different aspects of his personality really do equate with those of a young child.
Everyone in the story seems to be fixated on food. Harker writes about the food he eats at the castle. Seward is fascinated by Renfield's eating habits. Van Helsing is deeply hurt when Lucy and Mina do not eat their meals.
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