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AQA A2 Comparative coursework how to compare The Picture of Dorian Gray and Dracul

I am doing my comparative coursework and these are the two books i have chosen and currently reading. I was originally intending to compare them in terms of aestheticism and decadence however I couldn't find much of either in Dracula (my teacher told me I would) so i'm just wondering if anyone could give me some advice as to what other aspects I could choose.

Thanks :smile:

Reply 1

Kittyboy

Dracula and the picture of dorian gray? I've read them both. Did you know oscar wilde and bram stoker knew each other? After oscar wilde was exiled and later sent to prison for sodomy, stoker unfriended him however and wrote some quite nasty things about him

Anyway, dracula actually has a lot to do with sex. it's not surprising really, vampires exchange bodily fluids - sucking blood is quite intimate/ sex and drinking blood are equated with sex when john harker is with those 3 girl vampires - and the count states something along the lines of how ''he is mine so don't touch him.'' the horror shifts, ostensibly, from the fear emanating from the fact that john is locked up with a vampire killer, to one of homophobia. "oh no, he's going to get me and there's nothing i can do. how horrendous." stoker was a homophobe, and wilde was bisexual. furthermore, if you're not convinced, a phallic symbol is later used to kill lucy. A bunch of men sticking a phallus, and killing, lucy is another flaw stoker seems to have - misogyny and general sexism! the role of women is tragic. lucy brings up the topic of the 'new woman' - look this up it's important regarding context - and how she wished women could marry more than one man, etc. etc. to which mina's response is "what's wrong with you". mina is also delineated as having a fragile mind, and cant join the men's expedition in hunting dracula. lmao.

i much prefer the picture of dorian gray, in fact its a favourite of mine. Sexuality is actually bought up in this too! it's clear that dorian leads a double life. on one hand he's a respected man in society, and on the other he's a murderer who hides the painting, which is just a manifestation of all of his vices. im quite certain that you could argue this as not only being a message as to what people can do when there are no repercussions, but also, bringing oscar wilde into the picture, about this painting representing his homosexual side. but u look into it. im bored.