Sanguine Cravings: Unraveling Blood and Bloodthirstiness in Dracula (1897)

Abstract

Criminal anthropology and racial degeneration have been in discussions when analyzing Dracula (1897) by Bram Stoker and what connects them together in a grander scheme of things. This thesis aims to enter this discussion by exploring how the element of blood in the novel connects the two terms. The blood element of the novel acts mostly as a background figure providing motives and incentives to drive the plot forward. The thesis will look at how the blood element works as a linkage between criminal anthropology and racial degeneration at various points in the novel. To do that, this thesis will put the blood element into the spotlight by looking at the bloodthirst and the figurative ways that blood encapsulates. What that will demonstrate is that blood has a much larger role than first anticipated and just how much it permeates the novel at different levels. Criminal anthropology and racial degeneration are just part of what blood connects to, but it is what this thesis will focus on in regard to blood.

Criminal anthropology and racial degeneration have been in discussions when analyzing Dracula (1897) by Bram Stoker and what connects them together in a grander scheme of things. This thesis aims to enter this discussion by exploring how the element of blood in the novel connects the two terms. The blood element of the novel acts mostly as a background figure providing motives and incentives to drive the plot forward. The thesis will look at how the blood element works as a linkage between criminal anthropology and racial degeneration at various points in the novel. To do that, this thesis will put the blood element into the spotlight by looking at the bloodthirst and the figurative ways that blood encapsulates. What that will demonstrate is that blood has a much larger role than first anticipated and just how much it permeates the novel at different levels. Criminal anthropology and racial degeneration are just part of what blood connects to, but it is what this thesis will focus on in regard to blood.