Tom Reitsma

27589
Dr. Johnson
ENE100
8 Feb 16
More than Land Reclamation:
A New Historical criticism of England, Ireland, and The Ascendancy in Dracula
Definition/Explanation
New Historicism seeks to analyze a piece of literature a historical and sociohistorical
context, placing the literature in context with events, beliefs, and common worldviews of the
time in which it was created. The New Historicists perspective is not only that literature is not
separable from the historical context in which it was written but that history cannot be viewed
separately from the literature of its time. Just as one of Shakespeare's plays could be a political
statement or reflection of current beliefs or events, so would the coronation of a monarch be a
carefully constructed dramatic event. In the words of Louis Montrose New Historicist criticism
shows the historicity of texts and the textuality of history (Veeser 20). New Historicism is
not really new any more, but it is newer than Old Historicism. Traditionally, Historicism was
near entirely fact and event oriented. Old Historicism would study the relevant information on
events leading up to time in which the literature was created and compare the text to a factual
perspective on what was happening during the creation of the book. Old Historicism viewed
history as an absolute that swept from past to present and is ever developing towards some
future, an end of days. New Historicism differs from this as it adopts a relativist view on history.
It believes that it is near impossible to reconstruct the past as it was and the critic must therefore
be wary of his own bias and perception. New Historicism seeks to minimize the inevitable
distortion that bias creates in ones perception of history based on their interpretation of events,
since the truth about what really happened can ever be purely and objectively known. Therefore,
as Jerome McGann said, historical criticism can no longer make any part of [its] sweeping

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picture unselfconsciously, or treat any of its details in an untheorized way (Studies 11). The
usefulness of New Historicism is that it creates an expanded window into the reasoning,
motivations, and meanings of literature and writers taking into account the context that they
would have been influenced by. The advantage of this over New Criticism, which views only the
literature, is that it allows the critic to appreciate the external influences that would impact the
characters, events, motivations, and meanings of the story.

Summary
Gregory Castles Ambivalence and Ascendancy in Bram Stokers Dracula discusses the
decline of the Anglo-Irish aristocracy in Ireland and links it to Dracula by explaining the
symbolism of Catholic concepts and practices as well as the and foreigners within, ultimately
expressing the failure of the Ascendants in Ireland to the British Crown. Castles essay begins by
explaining the sociopolitical situation of England and Ireland and how Bram Stoker, as an AngloIrishman, would have been tied up in it. During this time, shortly after the famine, the Catholic
Irish middle class was growing significantly more powerful and influential in response to the
waning of the Anglo-Irish aristocratic ruling class, the Ascendants. The ineffectual and
sometimes tyrannical use of power by the Ascendants as well as the divide in religion and
ethnicity led to the Irish population thinking of the Ascendants as parasites rather than rulers and
therefore owed them no loyalty. Additionally, the Ascendants, though technically part of the
British government, did not have close ties with England either. Having little to offer to the
British Crown, the Ascendants received little support from the English either who viewed them
as foreign just as the Irish did. In Castles paragraph Sacramental Magic, he draws connections
between non-English characters in Dracula and social groups in the United Kingdom in the
1890s. The Transylvanian peasants are likened to the Irish peasants, subservient to a hated

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parasitic overlord, Count Dracula, who is a clear image of the Ascendant ruler, holding his
subjects in place with fear, not loyalty. Van Helsing also plays the role of an Ascendant, his
secretive manner and use of both scientific and occult practices blend the nobility of the
aristocrat and the influence of Irish Catholicism. In his final paragraph, A Priestly Science,
Castle outlines how Van Helsings superstitious Catholic behaviours ultimately fail and cause
irreparable damage in England. Castle contrasts Sewards conventional science versus Van
Helsings use of both scientific and occult knowledge which he calls a priestly science.
However, Van Helsings mystical activities fail repeatedly in defeating Dracula. Though he put
garlic about Lucys room and give her repeated blood transfusions, which was at this time a new
and mystical idea, she ultimately turns. Though the team of men attack Dracula with crucifixes,
they do little but drive him back and are unable to defeat him. Van Helsings Hosts do not save
Mina from being reverse baptized by Dracula, and the hypnotism of Mina ultimately fails to
reveal where to find the Count and instead Mina solves it with deductive reasoning. Castle
concludes that, though Van Helsing ultimately gains a place with the English being so close with
the Arthur, Seward, John, and Mina, the malignance and failures of the Ascendants still linger
through Quincey Harker, who still has Draculas tainted blood in him and still bears the name of
a foreigner.

A Supportive Criticism
Following the failure of the Ascendants attempts to establish their authority in Ireland,
Dracula presents the necessity of segregating British and Irish culture to avoid the dangers it
would cause. After discovering the nature of Dracula, Jonathan, a bonafide Englishman,

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expresses that he must escape the Count and says I shall try to scale the castle wall farther than I
have yet attempted And then away for home! away to the quickest and nearest train! away
from this cursed spot, from this cursed land, where the devil and his children still walk with
earthly feet! (Stoker 75). Jonathans desire to escape and the devilish image of the Counts land
uncovers the English desire to first separate and distance themselves from Irish influence.
Supporting Jonathans desire to escape the Counts land, Castle comments on the how the
English were already distancing themselves from the Ireland: The threat represented by Dracula
could be read as emanating not only from a foreign source, a primitive Catholic Other, but from
the English themselves who, for all intents and purposes, abandoned their Anglo-Irish clients.
(Castle 520). In addition to his desire to remove himself from the Count, Jonathan also expresses
his repulsion to the idea of the Count coming to England writing, This was the beast [Dracula] I
was helping transfer to London, where, perhaps, for centuries to come he might, amongst the
teeming millions, satiate his lust for blood , and create a new and ever-widening circle of semidemons to batten on the helpless. (Stoker 74). This expresses the English fear of reverse
colonization of the Irish in which the Irish and their culture would invade England and pollute
its ways. Castle also expresses the English fear of Irish reverse colonization saying, By staging
this allegory in London, the heart of the empire, Stoker invites us to consider the threat of
Dracula within the binary structure of imperialism, a structure in which Dracula represent the
return of the repressed colonial subject. (Castle 520) Through the acts of the Englishman
Jonathan Harker, Dracula expresses the need for England to remove the influence of Irish
culture, lest it pollute that of the English.

A Conflicting Criticism

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Dracula presents the existence of a hybrid Anglo-Irish authority in Ireland with support
of its English parents would bring peace and happiness for both the Irish and the English. During
the hunt for Dracula, the assistance of Van Helsing, who represents an Anglo-Irish Ascendant is
required to push Dracula out of England. Van Helsings tactic of sanctifying the Counts graves is
effective which Van Helsing voices saying, He [Dracula] meant escape. Hear me, ESCAPE! He
saw that with but one earth-box left, and a pack of men following like dogs after a fox, this
London was no place for him. Van Helsings statement directly links his plans with the
successful removal of the foreign menace. This is in contradiction to Castles explanation of Van
Helsings method as ineffectual when he says The Vampires baptism of blood[Stoker 318]
occurs in spite of Van Helsings trapping of sacramental authority, which plays no major role in
the final, victorious struggle to destroy Dracula (Castle 533). In addition to the Anglo-Irish
involvement in helping the English, they also present a future in which there can be lasting
happiness which is represented by Quincey Harker: Is is an added joy to Mina and to me that
our boys birthday is the same day as that on which Quincey Morris died. His mother holds, I
know, the secret belief that some of our brave friends spirit has passed into him. His bundle of
names links all our little band of men together; but we call him Quincey (Stoker 368). Quincey
Harker still has the blood of Dracula within him, passed on by his mother who consumed
Draculas blood, bears the name of a foreigner as Quincey was American, and regardless holds
the band of men together. He brings the Anglo-Irish Van Helsing and the English men together
while still holding on to his foreignness and thus presents a unity that could exist. This
contradicts Castles views on Quincey Harker, of whom he says, Dracula is never contained or
defeated, for his blood courses still in the veins of Jonathan Harkers child. This conclusion
drives home the point that ambivalence marks the compromised history and social position of the

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Irish Protestant Ascendancy (Castle 535). Contrary to Castles criticism, Dracula shows there is
hope for a Ascendant leadership which could bring happiness to both the English and the AngloIrish upper class.