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Abraham Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912) was an Irish writer who is best known for his novel Dracula. He studied mathematics at the trinity college in Dublin. But he regretted his decision and soon pursued his real passion, culture. He became a theatre critic and journalist. He quickly rose to succes and eventually became the manager of Henry Irving, a famous actor at that time. They were even invited to the white house, not once but twice! Bram Stoker got the inspiration for Dracula from various sources: visiting Whitby, a Scottisch Castle, Romanian and Irish Folklore. He even visited the Carpathian mountains himself, where a large part of the story takes place. He was also inspired by previous novels about vampires such as Carmilla. But I think it's safe to say that the vampire that Stoker created has stood the test of time.

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Dracula: as gothic as a gothic novel can be.

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Dracula: as gothic as a gothic novel can be.

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Dracula is probably one of the best known gothic novels. It ticks of all the boxes in terms of gothic literature.

Dark and gloomy setting isolated in time or space: The castle of count dracula, the cemetary and the isolated Carpatian mountains.

An atmosphere of terror, fear, mystery, chaos or suspense:

The characters don't know what kind of creature haunts them and they are constantly in danger. They fear for their lifes and even their souls.

A ‘damsel in distress': Lucy Westenra is the first character who is bitten by the vampire. The men offer their blood for transfusions but to no avail. Mina Harker is the second women who is bitten and the men try to save her by killing Dracula.

A supernatural being: obviously Dracula but what is really interesting here is that Dracula is the blueprint for future vampires. He has supernatural strength, regenerates by drinking blood, can only enter a house if invited, can transform into certain animals like bats and wolves or even fog. his weaknesses are sunlight, garlic and religious christian objects like holy water and the cross.

Curses or prophecies: Dracula himself is cursed and can only be released from his curse by driving a stake through his heart and beheading him.

Omens, nightmares and visions: Jonathan Harkers has intense nightmares when he visits the castle and after he escapes the castle because his experience is so traumatic. Renfield, a patient in a lunatic asylum, has visions of becoming immortal promised by Dracula.

These are some of the most important aspects of the gothic novel but i could go on and on.

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Oscar Wilde (16 October 1854 – 30 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. He was known for being a dandy, an aristocratic man who enjoys luxury and focusses a lot on his appearance. Wilde lived during the Victorian time but was a critic of the Victorian lifestyle. He expressed this criticism in his art and was therefore hated amongst certain groups of people. Oscar Wilde was accused of sodomy, having sex with another man, and was found guilty so he spent two years in prison. He went to France after his release and never returned to England. He is also known for his sense of humour, he could laugh with himself and has made many witty quotes such as:

"Some cause happines wherever they go; others whenever they go"

"If this is the way queen Victoria treats her prisoners, she doesn't deserve to have any."

"Society often forgives the criminal; it never forgives the dreamer".

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The Picture of Dorian Grey is the only novel written by Oscar Wilde. It's a gothic novel but it's also philosophical in nature.

The story is about a young, innocent and handsome man, Dorian Grey, who goes to London and has his portait painted. His new friend, lord Henry wotton, tells Dorian of his hedonistic lifestyle: how only beauty and sensual pleasure matter. This causes dorian to sell his soul in order to remain forever young and handsome while the painting ages. Dorian begins a life of all kinds of sins, drugs sex and even murder an the painting shows his true age and his evil nature. He pays for his crimes and sins in the end.

Wilde put certain characteristics of himself in the charachters such as hedonism and a luxuroius life. It is philosophical in the sense that who we know influences our moral compass. The elite social circles of Victorian London exposes Dorian to a culture of superficiality and moral hypocrisy. The moral of the story is not giving in to temptations and personal responsibility and moral accountability. Another theme is the role and expectations of men and women in the victorian society.

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The Importance of Being Earnest, a Trivial Comedy for Serious people.

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The Importance of Being Earnest, a Trivial Comedy for Serious people.

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Even though this is a comedy, this play is full of critique on the Victorian society.

It's a play about a group of people from the upper class. The play starts with two men who confess to each other that they have a double life where they also use a different name: Ernest and Bunbury. They do this in order to escape social obligations and morals. "Ernest" wants to marry someone and she likes him because of is name but her mother doesn't agree. Eventually the other chraracters find out about the false names but it turns out that 'Ernest' was a foundling. Miss Prism knew his father and the name of the father is Ernest. After this revelation she agrees to the marriage.

The theme of the play is that we shouldn't take serious things so seriously but rather trivial and vice versa. It is also

a satire of Victorian society, particulary about marriage and love and societal norms. The Victorian society was very prudish at first glance yet London had a large amount of prostitutes. So there was a lot of hypocrisy. Earnest is a synonym for serious and this was a vey important virtue back then, hence the name Ernest.

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Charles John Huffam Dickens (7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist and social critic. He is perhaps one of the most famous authors ever.

He exposed the many societal issues of the victorian times in his novels. "Oliver Twist," "David Copperfield," and "Hard Times" are about the social injustice, poverty and the harsh conditions of factory workers. He actively advocated for a social reform.

He has created some of the most memorable characters ever such as Mr Scrooge from a Christmas Carrol. The character Oliver Twist is even based on his own childhood since he had to drop out of school and had to work because his father was imprisoned because of a debt. He was appalled by the condiotions and the harsh treatment and this scarred him for life.

There is often a morale in is stories but also a sense of humor. His writing style is considered by many impeccable and a great deal can by learnt by reading his books.