"A Wilde Desire Took Me": The Homoerotic History of Dracula

Author(s): Talia Schaffer

Source: ELH, Vol. 61, No. 2 (Summer, 1994), pp. 381-425
Published by: The Johns Hopkins University Press
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"A WILDE DESIRE TOOK ME":
THE HOMOEROTIC HISTORY OF DRACULA

BY TALIA SCHAFFER

Recent treatmentsof Bram Stoker'snovel analyze its homoerotic

desperation,unconsciousdesire, and deeply buried trauma.' Not one
critic,however,has recognizedthat Stokerbegan writingDracula one
monthafterhis friend,rival,and compatriotOscar Wilde was convicted
of the crimeof sodomy.Wilde'sinfluenceon Stokerhas been neglected
partly because much of Stoker's biographical informationhas dis-
appeared.2Withoutknowingof Stoker'scorrosivelong-termrelationship
withWilde, criticshave lacked a contextforanalyzingWilde's effect:an
earthquake that destabilized the fragile,carefullyelaborated mecha-
nismsthroughwhich Stokerroutedhis desires. Stoker'scarefulerasure
of Wilde's name fromall his published (and unpublished)textsgives a
readertheimpressionthatStokerwas airilyignorantofWilde'sexistence.
Nothingcould be furtherfromthe truth.The two men had an intimate
and varied historylastingforat least twentyyears,preciselyof the sort
whose permutationshave been mapped in reliable precision by Eve
Sedgwick. Stoker'serasurescan be read withoutmuch difficulty; they
utilizea recognizeablecode thatwas, perhaps,designedto be broken.In
texts patentlyabout Wilde, Stoker crammed the gaps where Wilde's
name should appear with termslike 'degeneracy,''reticence,''discre-
tion,' and referencesto police arrests of authors. Dracula explores
Stoker'sfear and anxietyas a closeted homosexualman duringOscar
Wilde's trial.3The novel is generallyconsideredStoker'sonlysuccessful
novel among many potboilers,as it constructedan enduringmodern
horrormyth;regardlessof the usefulnessofthiscanonicaldistinction, its
continuingacceptance does register a recognizablydifferentaffect
provided by Dracula. This peculiar tonalityof horrorderives from
Stoker'semotionsat this unique momentin gay history.Oscar Wilde's
trialset up a starkset of alternatives-safe concealment,or tempting
revelation-yet forbadeanyone to choose between the two. The trial's
own interplayof disguise,half-admission, defense, and denial placed
Wilde on the thresholdof the closet. Thus the two extremesacquired
value fromtheirunattainability; the closetseemed likeperfectsanctuary;
coming out seemed like liberatoryhonesty.For a gay observer like
Stoker,secrecyand self-assertion both became desirable goals even as

ELH 61 (1994) 381-425 ? 1994 by The JohnsHopkins UniversityPress 381

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Wilde'strialconstructed1890'shomosexualidentityas a delicatenegotia-
tionbetween them.
Honestyand secrecyare twinimpossibleideals, forhomosexuality is
alwaysan open secret:
[Thereis] radicaluncertainty
closetedgaypeople are likelyto feel
aboutwhois in controlofinformationabouttheirsexualidentity...
no one personcan take controloverall the multiple,oftencon-
tradictorycodes by whichinformation about sexualidentityand
activity
can seemto be conveyed.4

Dracula takes place on that ambiguousthresholdbetween the known

and the unknown.HarkerjourneysfromBistritz,"a fairlywell-known
place," to the "wasteof desolation"of Castle Dracula, and the landscape
markshis marginalstatus;he rideson the bordersof threestates.5In the
restof the novel,Dracula's victimsconstantlynegotiatebetween hiding
or revealingtheir condition.Dracula seems to be structuredby the
anguishingchoice betweenrepressedhelplessnessand dangerousaction,
and it is the unconsciousnessof the whole problemthatgivesthe novel
itsmythicstatus.The crisisofthe closetin 1895 makesDracula a horror
novel;butDracula 's happyendingonlyshowsthatthe closetis no longer
a crisisbut a stateofcomplex,livedsocialrelationswhose inescapability-
therefore,in a sense, whose normality-constitutesJonathanHarker's
hope of happiness. By the novel'slast page, Harkerhas learned to love
the memoryofhis internment in Castle Dracula, and has organizedboth
a homosocial band of 'brothers'and a bourgeois familyto revolve
endlesslyaround thatnucleus.
The earliestsurvivingdocumentof Stoker'sgender self-analysisis a
remarkableletterto WaltWhitman,whichrecordsthe particularaccents
of Stoker'scloset discourse. Due to its passionate homoeroticism,this
Whitmanletterhas been ignoredor euphemized by Stokerscholars.
Love ofWhitmanwas a widespreadculturalphenomenonin England
at thistime;Stokerhimselfwritesof recruiting youngermen to establish
"a littlecult."6Stokerwentto Camden threetimes,to findWhitman"all
that I had ever dreamed of, or wished for"(RA2:100-106). The men
correspondedforyears. Stoker requested a set of autographedbooks
fromWhitman,who also senthim a photographand a copyofLeaves of
Grass, and bequeathed him the originalnotes forWhitman'sAbraham
Lincoln lecture(R, 2:107-8, 111).7 Accordingto Sedgwick,photographs
and books of Whitman and admiringreferencesto Whitman,"func-
tioned as badges of homosexualrecognition"in the England of the fin-
de-siecle.8

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 In its painfully
intensefrankness, especiallyitsfrankness
abouthis
inabilityto be frank,Stoker'slove letterstandsalone amongall his
writing.
I wouldliketo callyouComradeandto talkto youas menwhoare
not poets do not oftentalk.I thinkthatat firsta man wouldbe
ashamed,fora mancannotin a moment breakthehabitofcompara-
tivereticence thathas becomea secondnatureto him,butI knowI
wouldnotbe longashamedto be naturalbeforeyou.... You have
shakenofftheshacklesandyourwingsarefree.I havetheshackleson
myshoulders still-butI haveno wings.Ifyouaregoingto readthis
letteranyfurther I shouldtellyouthatI amnotpreparedto 'giveup
all else' so faras wordsgo.9

That last sentence prescientlywarns that Stoker'swords-his novels,

articles,histories-would remain'reticent';thathe was willingto abjure
secrecyin the unwritten spaces ofthebedroomalone. He concludesthat
pure revelationcan occur in speech alone. "How sweet a thingit is fora
stronghealthyman witha woman'seyes and a child'swishesto feel that
he can speak so to a man who can be ifhe wishesfather,and brotherand
wifeto his soul."'('
StokerthanksWhitman,in the last line of his letter,for"all the love
and sympathyyou have given me in common with my kind."'" It is
significantthat Stokerbelieves he has a "kind"-that he belongs to a
species set apart (his definitionanticipates the turn-of-the-century
decision thathomosexualityis an essentialidentitypeculiar to a recog-
nizeable minority, ratherthan a frequentlypracticed act called 'sod-
omy').As a self-consciously proudmemberof"mykind,"Stokereschews
widespreadculturalattitudestowardshomosexuality, complainingabout
"an atmosphereprejudicedtowardsthe truthsyou sing"and "a conserva-
tive country."12 He seems secure in his self-defined
identityas member
of a misunderstoodgroupgratefulforsympathy.
In 1876, Stokercommentedon his earlierletter:
The yearswhichhavepassedhavenotbeen uneventful to me,and I
andsuffered
havefeltandthought muchinthem... andI do believe
thatyouropenearnestspeechhas notbeen thrown awayon me or
thatmylifeandthoughtfailto be markedwithitsimpress.'

Instead of a love letter,he now asks for a verbal exchange in which

revelationmightbe safe. "I onlyhope thatwe maysometimesmeet and
I shall be able perhaps to say what I cannot write."'14Stoker is more
cautious and the twinurges of secrecyand revelationare more deeply

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intertwined-notice how his assertionof his 'openness'of "lifeand
thought" conflicts withhisadmission thathe "cannotwrite"histhoughts.
Whitman's testimony establishesthatStokerretaineda strongsenseof
self-identityas a homosexual manwellintothe1880's.In 1889,Whitman
toldhiscompanion HoraceTraubel:"He seemstohaveremainedofthe
samemind,mainly, in substance, as at first."'15
In the 1870s,Stokerestablished himself as an open memberofthat
nascenthomosexualculturecenteredaroundWhitman.'6 In 1912,he
demandedimprisonment ofhomosexual writers. Whathad changed?
The longeranswerlies in the ideologyof secrecywhosefilaments
threadthroughthe fabricof Stoker'sWhitmanliterature and gently
changedits color.The shorteransweris Oscar Wilde'strial,which
changedthe natureof Stoker'sself-imaging. But the twoanswersare
intertwined. Wilde'strialhadsucha profound effect on Stokerprecisely
because it fed Stoker'spre-existing obsessionwithsecrecy,making
Stokerretrospectively exaggerate thesecrecyinhisownwritings on male
love. In his Whitmanletter,the stressof speakingopenlyis made
painfully evident,as Stokerpointsout his opennesswithobsessive
regularity."I writethisopenlybecauseI feelthatwithyouone mustbe
open";"I onlyhope thatwe maysometimemeetand I shallbe able
perhapsto saywhatI cannotwrite";"a mancannotin a momentbreak
the habitof comparative reticencethathas becomesecondnatureto
him";"I am . . . naturallysecretivetotheworld";"I havereadyourpoems
withmydoorlockedlateat night"; "youmustfeelyouare reading[my]
truewords";"I havebeen morecandidwithyou-have saidmoreabout
myself toyouthanI haveeversaidto anyone before.'7If itis difficult
forStokerto breakhissecrecyand reticence, it is also a greatpleasure.
He caresses his secrecyin order to emphasizethe enjoymentof
penetrating it.
Butin thenewcentury afterWilde'strial,Stokerturnedsecrecyinto
a reifiedobjectthatmustbe respected. In Stoker's laterwriting,he used
termslike'reticent' without usingcontrapuntal termslike'open.''Secret"
and 'reticent' nowstandfora complexofconcernstheycan onlyname
antonymically. Stokerbeganby exploring the no-man'sland between
closetand comingout.Butin hissemi-autobiographical PersonalRemi-
niscences ofHenryIrving,he elaborated theclosetintoa synecdoche for
thewholestruggle, makingus infersomething to be candidaboutfrom
his ritualinvocation of 'secrecy.'Stokernowwritesfroma positionin
which'secrets'had been carefully funneledintobooks,unraveledinto
miniscule separatestrands andallocatedto fictional characters.Coming
out-'openingtheirhearts'-becomestoocrudea termfortheworkof

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HistoryofDracula

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sublimationand disseminationStokerwas engaged upon. His latertexts
whittlehis desires into perfectcamouflagewithinthe "garden-landof
convention."' Metaphorsof stonesand sharppointscome to represent
thisreifiedsecrecy.
It is importantto trace, not Stoker'ssexual history,but the textual
historyof Stoker'srepressedsexuality.We need to locate the metaphors
by whichhe named the love thatso famouslycould not speak its name.
This detectiveworkwill help us understandthatcontemporaryhomo-
sexualitywas not simplypoured into language that contained it with
varyingsuccess. Rather,homosexualitywas produced by the language
that evaluated, disguised,and denounced it. Through descriptionsof
himself,his idol Whitman,his employerHenry Irving,and his friend
Hall Caine, Stokerinventedthe discoursethatbecame Dracula.
The two-volumePersonal Reminiscencesof HenryIrvingreads like
the documentationof a love affair.When Stokerfirstsaw Irvingact, he
the man of his dreams. "What I saw, to my amaze-
saw, quite literally,
ment and delight,was a patricianfigureas real as the person of one's
dreams,and endowed withthe same poetic grace" (R, 1:3). At theirfirst
dinnertogether,Irvingrecited "The Dream of Eugene Aram." Stoker
records:
OutwardlyI was as ofstone;noughtquickin me butreceptivityand
[But]thewholethingwasnew,re-created
imagination. bya forceof
passionwhichwas likea newpower... herewas incarnate power,
passion,so closeto one thatone couldmeetit eyeto eye,
incarnate
withintouchofone'soutstretched hand.(H, 1:29-30)

Stoker's language constructsa mutual attractionby articulatingtwo

'passions.' The bodily surge of the writingis unmistakeable,as Stoker
stressesIrving's"incarnate"embodied power,theirphysicalproximity,
and describeshimselfas a combinationofinternalquickfluidenergyand
externalrigiderect stone. Reliefcomes at last. "I can onlysay thatafter
a fewseconds of stonysilence I burstintosomethinglike hysterics"(R,
1:31).
Stokerrepeats"passion,""power,""incarnate,"and "eye,"as ifallocat-
ing them to two people yearningtowardseach other.This repetitionis
the hallmarkof his discourseabout Irving.Worryingabout his hysteria,
he assureshimself:"I was no hystericalsubject.I was no greenyouth;no
weak individual,yieldingto a superioremotionalforce.I was as men go
a strongman, strongin manyways. . . . I was physicallyimmensely
strong"(R, 1:31-32). Irving,himselfnearlyovercome,ran out of the
room afterhis recitation,and returnedwitha photographof himselfon

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whichhe had written:"My dear friendStoker,God bless you! God bless
you!"'9 The repetitionshows that Irvingparticipatesin this linguistic
mutuality,whose templatemightbe 'do you take thisman? do you take
thiswoman?'

In thosemoments ofourmutualemotionhe toohad founda friend.

Soul had lookedintosoul! Fromthathourbegan a friendship as
profound,as close,as lastingas canbe betweentwomen.... Andthe
sightofhispicturebeforeme,withthoselovingwords,therecordof
a timeofdeep emotionand fullunderstanding ofus both,each for
theother,unmansme onceagainas I write.(R, 1:33)

Stoker can enjoy being 'unmanned' because he empties the term of

physicalsignification.Soul looked into soul-hand did not touch hand.
The nonphysicaladorationbetween the two men gets praised in some-
thing that sounds rather like a toast at an anniversaryparty: "We
understoodeach other'snature,needs, and ambitions,and had a mutual
confidence,each towardsthe otherin his own way,rare amongstmen"
(RA1:60). Mutuality-the mirroring effectof homosexuality-becomes
so overwhelming as to make the sentencealmostincomprehensible.But
Stokercould publicallyidealize the relationshipbecause it was onlyan
ideal; there is no evidence that Stoker's hand, so close to Irving's
performingbody, could ever reach out to touch.2"Preciselybecause
Stokerwas so open about his love forIrving,it seems likelythathis love
was never consummated;in otherwords,he could be open because he
had nothingto hide. Stokerspent manynightsalone with Irvinguntil
dawn broke-talking intensely.No wonder,then,thatPhyllisRoth can
write:

Stoker's withIrvingwasthemostimportant
friendship loverelation-
ship of his adultlife. His description
of his reactionto Irving's
is thatofsomeonewhois falling
recitation in love,and Stoker's
own
wordsseemcalculatedbothto expressthatfactandto insurethatit
notbe misunderstood, thatitnotbe takenas anythingotherthanan
closefriendship.21
extraordinarily
Hidden in the BritishLibrary'smanuscriptcollection is a passionate
four-pageletterof thanksfromStokerto a reporterwho gave Irving's
actinga good review:"Out of myown love forthe man I feel myheart
warmerto you."22Personal Reminiscencesof Henry Irving is a last
testamentto the most profoundmale love Stoker ever experienced.
"Then began the close friendshipbetween us which only terminated

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withhislife-ifindeedfriendship, likeanyotherformoflove,can ever
terminate" hiswifeis mentioned
(R, 1:25-26).(Bycontrast, onlytwicein
PersonalReminiscences-once becausetheirweddingsurprised Irving,
and againwhenStokercompareshimselfand his wifeto "Darbyand
Joan.")
Stoker'sparticulartextualcodesexpresshomoerotic passionthrough
invocations
repetition, ofopenness,andaccountsofhishiddenhysteria.
These techniquesalso punctuate hisdescriptionofhisclosefriend,
the
novelistHall Caine.
Hisimagerisesnowbefore me.He sitsona lowchairinfront ofthe
hisfaceis pale,something
fire; waxen-looking inthechanging blues
oftheflame. Hisredhair,fineandlong,andpushedbackfrom his
highforehead, issothinthatthrough itastheflamesleapwecansee
thewhite lineoftheheadso liketoShakespeare's. He is himselfall
aflame.Hishandshavea natural eloquence-something likeIrving's;
they andemphasize
foretell thecoming Hislargeeyesshine
thoughts.
likejewelsas thefirelight
flashes.OnlymywifeandI arepresent,
likeDarbyandJoanateither
sitting sideofthefireplace. Ashegoes
onhegetsmoreandmoreafire tillatthelastheislikea living
flame.
Theendofhisstory leavesusfired andexaltedtoo.... He wasquite
doneup;themanexhausts himself innarrative.
(R,2:119)
As Caine repeatedly burns,Stokergets'fired'too. The mystical, non-
physical, exhaustingflameofmaleexaltation cracklesinsharpcontrast to
the dull domesticheterosexual couple of "Darbyand Joan."23 As in
"EugeneAram,"one man'snarrative deliveryworkshispassiverecipient
intoa sharedinstant ofexaltationandthenmutualexhaustion. "Eugene
Aram"and "narrative," bodies of text,maybe displacements forthe
physicalbodythatStokerreallydesires.Fictionsmaybeginas replace-
ments,buttheycanlosetheirreference; inDracula,a textis an objectof
desire,stolen,hidden,protected, copied,and transmitted frommanto
man.(StokerdedicatedDraculato Caine andCaine dedicatedhisshort
sublimated
storiesto Stoker.)In Stoker's sexualuniverse, a 'book'is not
a clumsysubstitute for'body'butan actually sexualexperience
affective
itself.Literaryorgasmavoidsthedangersofhomosexual sex:in Stoker's
words,"publicignominy, police interference,or the reproachesof
conscience."24As in the"EugeneAram"scene,whenStoker"outwardly
. . . was ofstone,"Stokerhere"sit[s]quitestill"(R, 1:29-30).In both
eroticclimaxes,he playsthe motionless recipientwhileanotherman's
wordpoursintohim.In thesetwo scenes,we see the characteristic

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structuring of Stoker'seroticfantasy-thatit is preciselythe presence of
a poem, narrative,(or perhapsa horrornovel?) thatgiveshim
a 'fantasy,'
pleasure.
AfterWilde's trial,Stokerchanged his conceptionsof the virtuesof
fantasy.He wrotetwoarticlesarguingthatnarrativeis sexuallyexciting-
and mustthereforebe suppressedbythe state.25 In these articles,Stoker
demands increased police repressionof 'my kind.' For 'my kind' now
carriesthe indeliblename ofOscar Wilde,and these articlesformpartof
Stoker'slifelongattemptto writeabout Wilde's tragedy.
In "The Censorshipof Stage Plays"(1909), Stokeruses code termsfor
homosexualitylike "decadence," "indecency,"and "morbidpsychology"
in combinationwiththe drama to targetWilde covertly:
[We must]take militantaction. . . againstsuch movementsof
anddecadenceas aremadebythedefenders
reaction of
ofindecency
thoughtand action.... were such base efforts some
continuous,
meansof repression
effective and punishment wouldhave to be
broughtto bear.26

His gleeful emphasis on punishmentresurrectsthe apparatus of state

controlexertedmostfamouslyon Oscar Wilde'sbody.The stateis doing
the violentworkof secrecyand repressionto which Stokerhad always
felt allegiance. Indeed, in this article Stoker resurrectshis cherished
codes forthe closet,whichwe firstsaw in the Whitmanletter.
We do notallowto thehumanwhatwe overlookin otheranimals.
ofideasas "discretion,"
Hencearisesuchwordsexpressive "decency,"
terminology
andthewholeilluminative
"taste,"
"reticence," basedon
higherthoughtand ambition
fortheworthy advanceofmankind.27

If the habitof "reticence"had become "second nature"in the Whitman

letters,it is now guidingmoralstandard.Quietistwordslike "reticence"
and "discretion"disrupthis momentsof self-revelation. They consist-
entlyreplace gay confessions, and can be read as standing in for the
absent confession-an act of metonymy becomes not only useful but
actuallynecessary."Discretion"and "reticence"referto the texttheir
presence represses. Stoker identifieswith the national anti-Wilde
homophobia,partlyto disguisehis own vulnerability as a gayman,partly
because it justifieshis beliefin the value of the closet,and partlyfrom
horrorat the monstrousimage of Wilde produced by the media, which
would haunt men of 'his kind.' Wilde's grotesquelydistortedpublic
persona became the face of homosexuality in 1895-the face Stokerwas
supposed to see in his own mirror,thatwould indeed supporthis self-

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accusation of 'ugliness.' Thus JonathanHarker expects to see the
monstrousface of Dracula in his own mirror.
Stoker stretchesself-hatredfurtherin "The Censorshipof Fiction"
(1908), perhapsgalvanizedbythe publicationofWilde'scollectedworks
in Juneof thatyear.He singlesout literaturewithhomosexualthemes:
"Vices so flagitious,so opposed to even the decencies of nature in its
crudestand lowest forms,thatthe poignancyof moraldisgustis lost in
horror"(F, 485). AlthoughStokerrefusedto name the offensiveauthor,
his rhetoricrevealsthatit is Oscar Wilde.
Thereexistsa censorship of a kind,butit is crudeand coarseand
clumsy,anddifficultofoperation-thepolice.... itis thecoarseness
andunscrupulousness ofcertainwritersoffiction whichhasbrought
theevil;on theirheadsbe it.(F, 486)

The articleargues that these authorsare criminalbecause theyteach

theirotherwise'normal'readersto experiencehomosexualdesire.Stoker
holds novels-"noxious drugs" and "intoxicants" responsible for his
sexuality(F, 483, 485). Basically,Wilde should have repressedhimself
better.

No one has powerto stoptheworkings noteventhe

ofimagination,
whosesensoriaafford
individual itssource.But theindividual
pro-
ducerorrecorder cancontrol
hisownutterances; he mayhavetofeel,
but he need not of necessityspeak or write.And so individual
lineofdefenseagainstsuchevilsas maycome
is thefirst
discretion
fromimagination-itselfpure,a processofthought, uninten-
working
withimpureordangerous
tionally materials.
(F, 482)
This multiplydividedand utterlypowerlessauthorialselfbears eloquent
witnessto the melancholiccosts of self-censorship. The climaxof this
passage is the phrase, "individualdiscretion.""Discretion" is one of
Stoker'scode wordsforthe closet. Modifiedby "individual,"it showsthe
loneliness that the closet exacts. "Discretion" now gains a double
meaning-both 'discreet,'quiet,and 'discrete,'apart.To be discreteis to
be separate from'mykind'and especiallyseparatefrom'myself.'
The furthestextension of 'discretion'is censorship. "To prevent
[decadence], the censorshipmustbe continuousand rigid.There must
be no beginningofevil,no flawsin the mason-workofthe dam" (F, 481).
This rigid,erect,flawlessmonument,however,can barelyhold back the
article'sown fascinationwithincontinence.Indeed, censorshipempow-
ers homosexualfictionssince it constructsthemas universallyappealing
"intoxicants."From the potent tower of censorship,Stoker can safely

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directourgaze at theforbidden landbeneath,mademorealluring byits
dangerand distance-rather likethevistaof greentree-tops beneath
Castle Dracula'scliff.His "rigid""dam"of censorshipresembleshis
"stone"exterior bodyduringIrving's
andhis"still" andCaine'srespective
stories.This usefulmetaphorhideshis excitement and expresseshis
erectionat thesametime.The censor'spenwritesan ambiguous line.It
shouldbe no surprise that,withinthestonyfastness ofCastleDracula,
censorship Draculareadsanddestroys
flourishes: Harker's illicitliterary
productions, and withinthegreatstonelunaticasylum,Draculabums
Seward'soveremotional diary.
Stoker'sotherworksduringthis period,The Man and Famous
Imposters, searchfora linguisticmode betweenclosetingand coming
out.28Justas StephenNormanwearsa ridinghabitbothmasculineand
feminine(including waistcoat, whip,and skirt),just as the Chevalier
d'Eonworewomen'sgownswhilebeinga "very gallantsoldier," so Stoker
experiments with the relation betweenvisible gender and invisible
identification,between stony exteriorand internal flame.29 Famous
Imposters'sconcernwith'imposture'is a finalconfessionabout a lifetime
of disguise thatservesthe same functionas Wilde's famousfascination
with masks. The figureusefullymanages to emphasize the idea of
secrecywithoutrevealingthe secret itself.'Masks' and 'imposters'let
Wilde and Stokerwritetheirexperiencesof life in the closet,without
ever havingto step out of it.
Wilde and Stokersharedmore thana metaphor.Wilde'sghosthovers
behindall of Stoker'swritingson sexuality.He is the absentantagonistof
"The Censorship of Fiction" and "The Censorshipof Stage Plays." In
Personal Reminiscenceshis name has been ostentatiouslyerased. Al-
thoughStokerand Wilde socialized frequently, Stokernever mentions
him,even in a twelve-pagelist of his famousacquaintances.Wilde is a
vampirewho stalksthe marginsof Stoker'stexts,leavingbehinda thread
of blood that Stoker tries to staunch with words like "reticent"and
"discretion."But how can he be discreetunless he has a secret?And the
vampireis famouslyhard to kill.
Justas Van Helsingcloselyresembleshis archenemyDracula, Stoker
bears manysimilarities to Wilde. Stokerand Wilde probablyfirstmet in
the 1870s,when Stokerwas at TrinityCollege in Dublin and befriended
Wilde'sparents,Sir WilliamWilde and Lady Wilde. Stokerattendedthe
Wilde'sliterarysalon.3"1Lady 'Speranza' Wilde liked Stoker,and thought
of rentinga flatfromhimwhen she moved to London. About 1875 she
wroteOscar thatBrain Stoker"nevergets intodebt and his characteris
excellent."31 Stokeraffectionately recordedanecdotes of Speranza'swit

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and ferventIrishpatriotism.32 In 1875 Stokerspent Christmaswiththe
Wilde family,includingOscar who was home fromOxford,33
Oscar Wilde was home forChristmasbecause he was courtingthe
woman that George du Mauriercalled one of the threemost beautiful
women in England: Florence Balcombe. At Christmas1875, Wilde gave
her a small gold cross engravedwithboth theirnames. He also wrote
love poems for her.34If Wilde broughthis near-fianceeto Christmas
dinner, he may have actually introduced Bram Stoker to Florence
Balcombe. Her relationshipwithWilde seemed to progresssmoothly.In
1877 and 1878,Wilde drew a carefulportraitof Florence,describedher
as "morelovelythanever,"rambledabout Dublin withher and sent her
a cordial Easter card.35A few monthsafterEaster,however,Wilde was
shocked to learn thatFlorence was engaged-to Bram Stoker.
Stoker and Florence married quite suddenly in December 1878,
havingkepttheirengagementa secretfrommostoftheirfriends.36 Wilde
wrotepetulantly:"Thoughyou have not thoughtitworthwhileto let me
knowof yourmarriage,stillI cannotleave Ireland withoutsendingyou
mywishes thatyou may be happy."37 He learned of the engagementin
October 1878, thoughnot fromFlorence.38Dejected and hurt,Wilde
demanded thatFlorence returnhis littlegold cross:

I needhardlysaythatI wouldnotaskit fromyouifitwas anything

youvalued,butworthless though be,itservesas a memory
thetrinket
oftwosweetyears-thesweetestofall theyearsofmyyouth-andI
shouldliketo haveit alwayswithme.39

Florence suggestedthatshe and Wilde could exchangethe cross at the

home of ThornleyStoker,Bram'sbrother.But Wilde respondedthat"it
would be painfulforboth of us" and "itwould have been unfairto you,
and me, and to the man you are going to marry."Wilde was acutely
conscious of his role as a man of honor,who could not compromise
anotherman's fiancee;thus he refusedto see her anywherebut under
her mother'sroofand he indignantly repudiatedher suggestionthathe
wanted a "clandestine'meeting.'"40
His acutelyfeltrivalrywithStokerseems morepowerfulthanhis love
for Florence; indeed, his love becomes a weapon in this war. Wilde's
affectionswere revitalizedunder the stimulus of competitionwith
Stoker.In the springhe sent Florence a shortEaster card, but in the
autumn he wrote her sad, lyricallove letters.41Three years afterher
marriage,when Florence acted as an extrain the Lyceumproductionof
"The Cup," Wilde anonymously sent her a crownof flowers.

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 thatshewaswearing
I shouldliketothink somethingofminethefirst
nightshecomesonthestage,thatanything ofmineshouldtouchher.
Of courseifyouthink-butyouwon'tthinkshe willsuspect?How
couldshe?She thinks I forget.
I neverlovedher,thinks MyGod how
couldI?42
Wilde's amorous writingmay only have been an outlet for the real
eroticenergiesgeneratedby Florence's marriage-the rivalrybetween
himselfand Stoker. His love letters are interestingly structuredfor
Stoker'sbenefit.Wilde worries about embarrassing, outraging, or compro-
mising Stoker by meeting Florence in an improper place. The newly
triangulatedrelationship gives Wilde power, which he articulatesby his
writtenrefusal to exerciseit.Wilde's letters show him reveling in his new
status as a dangerously sexual being with whom Florence cannot be
safelyalone. But Florence seems far too careless of his new role as
Stoker'smanlyrival,since she offers meetto him at a stranger'shouse
instead of clingingto the safetyof the maternalchaperone. Therefore
Wilde has to indignantly asserthis rival'srights:"It would be unfairto
you, and me, and to the man you are goingto marry."
Eve Sedgwick'sBetween Men argues that men can express their
homoeroticenergiesthroughrivalryover a woman. In 1878, Florence
became theconduitthroughwhichWilde'sand Stoker'scomplexfeelings
about each othercould flow.The situationwas doublycomplicated,since
Wilde and Stokeralso competedforHenryIrving.Stokerand Florence
marriedhastilyin December 1878 because Stokerhad just been hiredas
Irving'sbusinessmanager.But Irvingwas also Wilde'sidol,whomWilde
metforthefirsttimeprobablyon 28 November1879.43Wilde "could talk
of nothingbut the impressionmade upon him by playsand players....
Irving's'Macbeth'. . . made a greatimpressionon him;he was fascinated
by it."" Wilde even wrote a sonnet calling Irving"thou trumpetfor
Shakespeare's lips to blow!" Thus Stoker vanquished Wilde in two
different erotictriangles.Stokerhad won bothFlorence and Irving-he
was movingto London'stheatreworld,to livewithone and workwiththe
other-while Wilde was stillan Oxfordundergraduate.
Wilde's envymust have been complicatedby his previous emotions
about Stoker.His mother'sletterhintsthatWilde dislikedStoker-her
insistenceon Stoker's"excellentcharacter"sounds like she was tryingto
convince a recalcitrantaudience. The two men attendedTrinityat the
same time. Stoker'srecordat Trinity was outstanding.He was voted the
mostpopular man at Trinityin the 1870's.45He was the firstman to be
presidentof boththe PhilosophicalSocietyand auditorof the Historical
Societysimultaneously, and he was also the athleticschampionofTrinity.

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(He tookfirst placeinweightlifting andwasunbeateninwalking races.46)
As presidentof the Philosophical Society,Stokerset an avant-garde,
aestheticisttone,discussing Whitman, Rossetti,andSwinburne.47 Stoker
probably sawWildeas an allyinthefight forWhitman, sinceWildewas
a strong Whitmanite whosemother had readhimLeavesofGrasswhen
it firstappeared in 1868. Therefore Stokerlostno timein personally
proposingWilde for the Philosophical Society.48 But Stoker'sexpecta-
tionswithregard to Wilde were soon disappointed. Wildeobediently
joined the Philosophical Societybut hardlyever More-
participated.49
over,Wilde'sindolence and indulgencerebelledagainstthe credo of
manlyathleticism practicedat Trinity. The students there"wereworse
eventhantheboys at Portora... they thought of nothing butcricket and
football, running andjumping."50 Although Wildeand Stokerwere alike
intheiraestheticism, theirWhitman theirphysical
loyalty, size,andtheir
cautiousexploration ofalternative theydiffered
sexualities, intheirbasic
attitudestowardssocial norms.Wilde was beginningto perfecthis
attitudeof questioning conventional morality, whileStoker'smorality
remainednothingif not conventional. Stokerbelievedin manliness,
chivalry, and bluffgood humor.5' Wildedid notso muchdisbelievein
thesestandards as findthemutterly irrelevant.
StokerwassevenyearsolderthanWilde.He waslikean olderbrother
whomWilde'sparentsloved,who'won'FlorenceBalcombe,whogotthe
job withIrving,who surpassedWilde at college,who led Wilde in
aestheticism, in Whitman fervor,in popularity, and in athleticachieve-
ment.From Stoker'sperspective, Wilde was a youngerman to be
humored, used,andencouraged, though perhapsnotreallyliked.Buthe
couldthreaten Stoker's easypredominance. Forinstance, he wasa much
betterclassicalscholarthanStoker,and won a scholarship to Oxford
whileStokerreluctantly held a hatedcivilservicejob and yearnedto
return to college.Theirrivalry burstintotheopenwithFlorence,butit
had been flowingunderground formanyyears.Florence'spresence
transformed a competition into an erotictriangle.Wilde evidently
enjoyedthepowerthisnewarrangement ascribed tohim,whileFlorence's
attitudemaybe guessedbythe factthatshe treasured Wilde'sletters
throughout herlife.Did Stokerfindthetriangular affair
exciting?Rene
Girardarguesthatoftentherivalry determines itsobject,rather thanthe
objectcreating therivalry: onechoosesthebelovedbecausethatbeloved
is alreadythechoiceofone'srival.52 Whatwentthrough Stoker's mindat
the Christmas tablein 1875,watching the newlysuave,well-dressed,
self-confident, OxfordOscarWildelaughingwithhis sweetheart Flo-
renceBalcombe?

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 The competitionbetween Wilde and Stoker eventuallyevaporated
intogood manners.Both men ended up in the narrowsocial circleofthe
London theatrecrowd.While Stokerran the Lyceum,Wilde's favorite
theatre,and Wilde wroteplaysforIrving,theyhad to constructa viable
public friendship.From forgotteninvitations,ephemeral gossip col-
umns,letters,and anecdotes buried in memoirs,we can elicitan image
of Stoker'sand Wilde's interactionbetween, roughly,1885 and 1895.
Wilde sent the Stokerscopies of his books,came to partiesand dinners
at the Lyceum,and to more privatedinnersat the Stokers'sown house.
In turn,the Stokers attended the Wildes's "At Homes" and the first
night'sperformancesof his plays.A briefconsiderationof theirmutual
friendswould lead one to believe thatStokerand Wilde musthave met
at everyotherdinnerparty.They livedin neighboringstreetsin Chelsea
and theyworkedin the same profession.Amongactors,theywere both
close to HenryIrving,Ellen Terry,Sarah Bernhardt,and Lillie Langtry.
Theatre criticClement Scott,who helped Wilde starthis literarycareer,
was a close friendof Stoker's(theirunpublishedlettersreveal thatthey
planned to writea book together).-3 ArtistslikeJohnEverettMillais and
Sir Edward Burne-Jonessocializedwithbothmen. Wilde'snemesis/best
friend/brother-wit Whistlerasked Stokerto become his business man-
ager.Wilde also encounteredStokereverytime he communicatedwith
his idol, HenryIrving.From 1885, when Wilde announcedhe would be
"delightedto see . . . Florrie again" to Juneof 1894, when the Wildes
thanked Stoker for sending them box seats at the Lyceum, the two
couples were in constant,cordialcommunication.'Finally,Wilde's and
Stoker's shared Dublin historymeant that their families were also
friendly.Stokerknew Oscar's brotherWillie not onlyfromthe Wildes's
salon but also fromTrinity, where Williewas activein the Philosophical
Society.55Wilde knew at least two of Stoker'sthree brothers.Since
Florence suggestedmeetingat ThornleyStoker'shouse, Wilde probably
knewThornleywell enoughto dropbycasually.AndWilde knewStoker's
younger brother,George, as well: "An Irish throatspecialist named
George Stokerinterrupted himin the fullflowofhis discoursewith'That
showswhat a fatlot you know about it!' Oscar burstout laughing:'You
are impossible,George!"56
When the court convictedWilde of sodomy,most of these mutual
friendsexpressed pain and rage, throwingStoker'sstubborn,strange
silence into sharp relief.We can tryto guess Stoker'sreactionfromthe
knownfeelingsof his friendsHall Caine, Ellen Terry,and HenryIrving.
But theirvociferousanger at Wilde's trialonly makes Stoker'ssilence

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harderto locate. Hall Caine was horrified
byWilde'sdownfall.According
to Coulson Kernahan:

I met[Wilde's]friendand mine,Mr.Hall Caine,immediately after

theverdictand sentence.I haveseen Caineill,and I haveseenhim
deeplymoved,evendistressed, butI remember alwaystohishonour
(forWildenotseldommadeCaine'swriting thebuttofhiswit)the
anguishinhisfaceas he said:"Godpityhiminthishourwhenhuman
pitythereseemsnone!To thinkofit!thatman,thatgeniusas he is,
whomyouandI haveseenfetedandflattered! Whosehandwe have
graspedin friendship!a felon,and cometo infamy unspeakable!It
hauntsme,itis likesomefoulandhorrible stainon ourcraftand on
us all,whichnothingcanwashout.It is themostawfultragedy inthe
wholehistory ofliterature."57

It is unclear whetherCaine feels haunted by Wilde's 'crime,' by the

inhumanityof Britishjustice, or by regretforhis own associationwith
Wilde. Almostalone in the theaterworld,Ellen Terryand HenryIrving
activelysupportedWilde. DuringWilde's trial,a veiled lady delivereda
bunch of violets and a horseshoe (with a card "For Luck") to Wilde's
door.The ladyis generallybelieved to have been Ellen Terry,and, since
violetswere Irving'sfavoriteflower,"thevioletssuggestthatIrvingand
Ellen Terrywere partnersin this kindlygesture."58Terrydefended
Wilde,particularlyafterhe wroteDe Profundis,whichshe consideredto
have 'purified' him.59(Her emphasis on 'purification'resurfacesin
Dracula.) Accordingto a biographer,she "wentout of her way to praise
him when even to mentionhis name in normalsocietywas to riskthe
severestdisapprobation."60 Irvingwas equally outspokenin his support

forWilde. His grandsonwrites:

Irvingmusthavefelta profoundcontemptforthe membersofhis

whowereriding
profession to LordQueensberry's
hounds.Irvingdid
notknowWildeverywell,thoughhissonsdelightedin hiscompany
andin hisgentlewit.61

It is unlikelythat Stoker would have braved his friend's"profound

contempt"by givingthe opinionsabout the necessityof police control
thatsurfacedlaterin his "Censorship"articles.Three daysbeforeWilde
was released,Wilde'sfriendCharles Rickettssaw himand "quoted Ellen
Terry'srecentpraise of him,whicha friendhad repeatedto me and ...
the sympathyof Henry Irving."62 Most interestingly,there is an uncor-
roboratedrumorthatStokerhimselfwentto Paristo bringWilde money

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in 1900.63If true,the episode would prove that Stokerfeltpassionate,
loyalsupportforWilde at the same momentthathe erased Wilde'sname
fromhis autobiography.
Finally,Stokerreceiveda directappeal forsympathy forOscar Wilde.
It came fromOscar's brotherWillie,in an unpublishedletterdated 16
July1895:

Bram,old friend, poorOscarwas notas bad as peoplethought him.

He wasled astray byhisvanity & conceit,& he wasso 'gotat'thathe
wasweakenoughtobe guilty-ofindiscretions andfollies-thatis all.
He is takinghis punishment. . . 'withmanlyfortitude',& frommy
heartI believethisthingwillhelptopurifyhimbody& soul.Amsure
you& Florencemusthavefeltthedisgraceofonewhocaredforyou
bothsincerely... I wd liketo talktoyou.64

Stoker'sresponsehas apparentlybeen lost,ifindeed he everwroteone-

unlikethe otherlettersin the Universityof Leeds collection,thisletter
has no pencilled notationsignifying 'answered.'We may never know if
the feelingsWillieWilde ascribedto Stokerwere in factthe ones Stoker
experienced. The letter may give a distortedpicture of the men's
friendship-Willie'salcoholism exacerbated his sentimentality, so the
closeness he constructsbetween Oscar and Stoker may be a wishful
fiction.65
But the letterimportantly establishestwo facts.First, Stoker
was seen as Wilde's friendand expected to feel unhappy at Wilde's
disgrace. Second, in mid-July-twoweeks beforebeginningDracula-
Stokerwas thinkingabout Wilde.
As a man who loved tales of horror,Stokermay have felta certain
painfulthrillin Wilde's infamy,whichafterall outdoes "Eugene Aram."
His silence with regardto Wilde's trialmay simplyrepresentthe pre-
hystericimmobility thathe experiencedat Irving'srecitation.As a man
who stressedmale loyalties,Stokermayhave foundhimselftornapartby
the trial'scompetingdemands; forif the defendantWilde was an old
rival,the prosecutorCarson was Stoker'sold particularprotege from
Trinity'sHistorical Society.66Stoker had disseminatedhis homoerotic
desires into several nonphysicalcircuits.He found his pleasures in
receivingothermen'stexts.He triangulated his desirethrougha woman,
transforming himselfand the other man into rivals.And he enjoyed
hearingofothers'intenseexperiences-theirpoems,ballads,and stories.
Wilde's trialchallengedthese three strategies.The trialwas the horror
storydominatingLondon, a sortof dreadfulparodyof the sortof stories
thatexcitedStoker.The trialmeantthedownfallofhisprimaryrival.And
Stokercould do nothingbut watch.

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 May 24, 1895 was a significantdate for Stoker.On that date the
EnglishgovernmentconvictedOscar Wilde, and knightedHenryIrving
and Stoker'sbrotherThornley.PersonalReminiscencesmentionsIrving's
triumphdirectly,but describes Wilde's tragedyonly indirectly(and
apparentlyneglectsThornley'shonoraltogether).Stokerinsertsa strange
paragraphintohis accountof Irving'shonor.He apologizesforrevealing
the factthatIrvinghad rejecteda knighthoodonce before1895:
I feelittoobad thatone whoin hisdaystriedto liveup to theideal
of discretion,
and has regardedreticenceas a dutyratherthana
motive, shouldhaveto speakopenly,evenaftera lapseofyears,on so
privatea matter,and I can onlytrustthatI maybe forgiven should
anyone withthepowerofforgiveness see theneed ofit. (R, 2:242)

The mea culpa is inappropriatelyexcessive for its assigned cause.

"Discretion"and "reticence,"Stoker'scodes forthe closet,however,alert
us to the real subjectofthepassage: insistent,
diffused,urgentrepression
of Stoker'shomoeroticsecret.The manwho "has regardedreticenceas a
duty"is the same man, thougha littlemore frightened, who "cannot
break the habit of comparativereticence."The passage makes sense as
Stoker'scovertapologia forhis silence regardingWilde. Its firstsentence
cohereswhen we read its referenceas sexuality, not knighting etiquette.
It is difficult,Stokeradmits,to speak openlyabout "so privatea matter"
as desire. In carefullycalibratedlanguage,Stokerasks forgivenessfrom
thosewho mightsee thathis silenceis a sin-to thosefewnamelesssouls
who knowhis secretaffinity withWilde. This passage standsas a replyto
all those-Caine, Terry,Irving,Willie Wilde-who wanted Stoker's
sympathyfor Wilde, and to whom Stoker was able to vouchsafe no
answer,unable to break fromthe shacklesof discretionand the stony
weightof reticence.
Placed anomalouslyin the midstof his praise of Irving,the passage is
a sign of Stoker'sdifficulty in ignoringhis regretsabout Wilde's trial.
Wilde's trialswims to the surfaceas the returnof the repressed.The
passage showsthatthe trial'sgreatesteffecton Stokerwas to sharpenhis
self-conflicting imperativestowardsarticulation.In otherwords,Stoker
registered the trial as a challenge to his own codes of delicately
ambiguouslanguage,not as a denial of his desires' legitimacy.
But the chapter also memorializesthe summer of 1895 in a more
indirectway,which concerns the problem of writing.Stoker records
Irving'sknighthoodin termsof the enormous quantityof text it pro-
duced. "Cables began to pour in fromall parts of the world .... The
lettersand telegraphskept comingin, literallyby hundreds .... They

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were bewildering"(R, 2:239). Justas Personal Reminiscencesof Henry
Irving is reallyStoker'sautobiography, this account of Irving'striumph
encodes a hidden account of Stoker'striumph.The stress on writing
recordsthe commencementof Dracula. In Dracula, writtenone month
afterWilde went to jail, Stokersolved his guiltyproblem:avoidingthe
crude binary options of openness and reticence, the cruel choice
betweenwritingand silence,he produceda textthatspoke about Wilde
in a diffused,hidden,flowing,distortedway.Dracula reproducesWilde
in all his apparentmonstrosity and evil, in order to workthroughthis
painfulpopularimage of the homosexual and eventuallytransform it into
a viable identitymodel.
Though Stokerhad plannedDracula fora long time,itwas in August
of 1895 thathe began writingit intonotebooks.67 In particular,Jonathan
Harker'sexperiencesat Castle Dracula "werewritten. . . in the firstvivid
flow of inspiration."8These firstfive chaptersread as a nightmarish
meetingbetween Harkerand Dracula, who are fictionalizedprojections
of Stokerand Wilde. Like Stoker,whose name his echoes, Harker is a
marriedman, a solicitorwho has not practicedlaw,and a youngerman
loyallyworkingfor a beloved older man. Dracula, however,does not
produce such a straightforward identification.He representsnot so
much Oscar Wilde as the complex of fears,desires,secrecies, repres-
sions, and punishmentsthatWilde's name evoked in 1895. Dracula is
Wilde-as-threat, a complexculturalconstruction notto be confusedwith
the historicalindividualOscar Wilde. Dracula represents the ghoulishly
inflatedvisionofWilde producedbyWilde'sprosecutors; corrupting,
the
evil, secretive,manipulative,magneticdevourerof innocentboys. Fur-
thermore,Dracula also carries the weight of Stoker's imaginative
identification withWilde. For StokerwritesDracula's plot to allow his
surrogateHarkerto experienceimprisonment, just as Wilde languished
in gaol. Thus Stokermanagesto speak bothfromthe closetand fromthe
open; he simultaneouslyexploresWilde-as-monster, and identifieswith
the real Wilde'spain. He writesas a man victimizedbyWilde'strial,and
yet as a man who sympathizeswith Wilde's victimization.Within
Dracula, thisbinaryoppositionsupplantsthe cruderoppositionbetween
closetingand comingout.
It was probablyinevitablethatStokerwould rejuvenateWilde in the
specificformof a vampire.Turn-of-the-century 'inversion'theorycon-
sideredhomosexualsneithermale norfemale,but,in Edward Carpenter's
phrase, the "intermediatesex," inhabitinga no-man's land like the
Undead who were neitherdead nor alive. Furthermore, the associations
between homosexualityand analityled manywritersto connecthomo-

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sexualitywith defecation,dirt,and decay. As Ellis Hanson argues,"To
comprehendthe vampire is to recognize that abjected space that gay
men are obligedto inhabit;thatspace unspeakableor unnameable,itself
definedas orifice,as a 'dark continent'men dare not penetrate."6"9The
vampirefigurethereforefiteasilyas metaphorforthe love thatdare not
speak its name. To homophobes,vampirismcould functionas a way of
namingthe homosexualas monstrous,dirty,threatening.To homosexu-
als, vampirismcould be an elegy for the enforcedintermentof their
desires.Dracula, however,functionsas bothaccusationand elegy.Stoker
used the Wildean figureof Dracula to definehomosexuality as simulta-
neouslymonstrous,dirty,threatening, alluring,buried,corrupting,con-
tagious,and indestructible.
One scene in Castle Dracula best registersthe intensity
of conflicting
feeling generated by Wilde's trial. In the few pages before Harker's
escape, he experiencesthe climaxof bothWilde-phobiaand Wilde pity:
"A wild desire took me to obtainthatkeyat any risk"(D, 50). Harker's
wild(e) desire leads him to feel anotherman'sbody.(AfterWilde's trial,
'the desire of Oscar Wilde' became a euphemismfor homosexuality.)
When he liftsthe coversfromDracula's bed/grave,he sees thatthe tall,
pale, aristocraticvampirehas changed appearance, and now resembles
Oscar Wilde.7"His hair is "iron-grey,"
The cheekswerefuller.... eventhedeep,burning eyesseemedset
amongstswollenflesh,forthe lids and pouchesunderneath were
bloated.... he laylikea filthy
leech,exhausted I
withhisrepletion.
shudderedas I bent over to touchhim,and everysense in me
at thecontact.(D, 51)
revolted

In 1895, Wilde was grey-haired,

heavilyoverweight,and famouslyeasily
exhausted.Compare a typicaldescriptionof Wilde, thisone by Stoker's
shadyacquaintance Frank Harris:7'
Therewassomething oilyandfatabouthimthatrepelledme .... his
handswereflabby,greasy;hisskinlookedbiliousand dirty... His
appearancefilledme withdistaste.I lay stresson this physical
becauseI thinkmostpeoplefeltit.72
repulsion,

The pointis notthatStokerwould have foundWilde physically repulsive

and drawnon thismemoryforthe rejuvenatedDracula; rather,the point
is that Stoker'sDracula is a kind of basin in whichimages of Wilde-as-
monster float, and it makes sense that a vision of Wilde's body as
repulsive,whichHarrisclaimsto be universal,would be one fluidin the
Dracula solution.

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 AfterHarker "feltall over the body,"he muses that Dracula might
"create a new and everwideningcircleof semi-demonsto battenon the
helpless"(D, 51). This imageofa monstrousprogenitoramidsta horrible
circle is preciselywhat dominatedpublic rhetoricabout Wilde during
the trial.In a widelyreportedcomment,Wilde'sjudge called him "the
center of a hideous circle of corruption." The prosecutorintroduced
severalyoungmale witnesseswho claimedthatWilde had 'ruined'them,
whichforcedthemto make a livingby buyingotherboys,spreadingthe
circle of pimpingand prostitution.
Harker is properly horrifiedby the vampire's monstrosity-but
Dracula's Medusa gaze preventshim fromkillinghis enemy:"The eyes
fellfullupon me,withall theirblaze ofbasiliskhorror.The sightseemed
to paralyzeme" (D, 52). Dracula's powerfuleyes shiftHarker/Stoker into
his attitudeofstiff,
stonypassivity. The eyes givehim a thrillofhorrorat
his own sensationsof pleasure.Though his body is strainingly retentive,
Harker's muscular paralysisalso preventshim fromharminghis em-
ployer and therebyenforceshis loyal 'retainer'role. So he claps the
closetdoor closed. The lid "felloveragain,and hid the horridthingfrom
mysight"(D, 52).
But by locking in Dracula, Harker imprisonshimself(and Stoker
incarceratespartof himself).The lid slamson thevampireas doors slam
aroundthe man. This mutuality lets Stokeratone forhis orthodoxhatred
of Wilde, forhe manages an agonizingimaginationof the pain Wilde
must have felt at his imprisonment.In a bewilderingwhirl of move-
ments,Harkerhears himselflocked in.

The doorto thewinding stairblewto witha shockthatsetthedust

fromthelintelsflying.
WhenI rantopushitopen,I foundthatitwas
hopelesslyfast.I was againa prisoner,and the net of doom was
closingroundme moreclosely.... Thereis a soundofhammering;it
is theboxbeingnaileddown.(D, 52)

The passage gives an idea of whatWilde musthave felton June9, the

date of his imprisonment.74 Stoker had prepared for this imaginative
identification.
As reportedby Reynold'sNews, Wilde's own clothes had
been removed-just as Harker's clothes had been taken by Dracula.
Wilde was detained fortwoyears,Harkerfortwo months.The rules of
the prisonwere read out to Wilde,just as Dracula told Harkerwherehe
was forbiddento explore and to sleep. Here is the final, climactic
momentin whichHarker,like Wilde, is leftalone in his prisoncell:

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 Now I can hearthe heavyfeettramping againalongthehall,with
manyotheridle feetcomingbehindthem.The dooris shutandthe
chainsrattle;thereis a grinding
ofthekeyin thelock;I canhearthe
keywithdrawn; thenanotherdooropensand shuts;I can hearthe
creakingoflockandbolt.Hark!inthecourtyard anddowntherocky
waytherollofheavywheels,thecrackofwhips,andthechorusofthe
Szeganyas theypassintothedistance.I am alone.(D, 52-53)

Dracula allowsStokerto enactdifferent, conflicting

parts.As in a dream,
the novel'scharacters(especiallyHarker) can switchidentities,virtues,
and sympathieswithbewilderingspeed. The firstpartofthe book swings
wildlybetween utterhatredof Wilde and uttersorrowforWilde. The
strainof these contradictory emotions nearlytears apart the plot, as
logicalnarrativeis pulled and tormentedto fitStoker'semotionalneeds.
For instance,there is no real reason why Dracula should postpone
Harker's sacrifice in order to imprison him. But Stoker wants to
sympathizewithWilde: "When I foundthat I was a prisonera sort of
wild feelingcame over me" (D, 27, emphasisadded). Harker'sintense
experienceof imprisonment means thatthe rest of the novel has to be
writtenin orderto domesticateand dissipatehis 'wild' experience.
Harker'shatredof Dracula problematically hoverson the marginsof
self-hatred.The perverselogic of rivalrydemands a resemblence:the
men are alike at least in theirdesire and theirdeterminationto achieve
it. Stokerand Wilde shared love object, nationality, universitytraining,
poetic taste,area of residence,social circle,and profession.Harker and
Dracula also have a greatdeal in common.Dracula "wouldhave made a
wonderfulsolicitor"says the young lawyer(D, 31). His host's library
causes Harker "great delight,"since it preciselyreproduces his own
literarytastes;no wonderDracula can say,"I am glad you foundyourway
in here, forI am sure thereis much thatwill interestyou" (D, 19, 21).
They share clothingand mirrors.Moreover,Dracula models his English
on Harker's,as he asks Harker to teach him how to speak. (Dracula
worksto lose his characteristic nationalaccent:"I am contentifI am like
the rest,so thatno man ... pause in his speakingifhe hear mywords,to
say,'Ha, ha! a stranger!"'[D, 20]. Similarly, Wilde carefullyacquired a
perfectEnglish pronunciation,in markedcontrastto Stoker,who kept
his Irish accent all his life.75)
When Harker sees Dracula dressed in his own clothes,the image is
profoundlydisturbing.Their shared clothingimpliesintimacy, acquain-
tance withthe contoursof each other'sbodies, ease withthe prospectof
each other'snakedness.Dracula had seemed to Harker"a tall old man"

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(D, 15). But the same clothingfitsboth,whichprovesthattheirbodies
are the same size and shape. They act alike; both crawlon the external
wall of the castle. Their sense of etiquetteis the same; Dracula, leaving
to harvestbabies, chooses to wear Harker'stravelingclothes,not only
because the villagershave alreadyseen thembut also because Dracula,
about to travel,knowsthe appropriatewardrobe.In response,Harker
differentiates his own bodybymarkingthe Count'sas feminine.He tears
"a deep gash above the forehead,"thusconstituting himselfas hard and
impenetrable (D, 52). As in the "Censorship" articles,heterosexual
masculinity is producedbyrepression, destruction,and reticence.Harker's
escape routeis a last,desperateattemptto enforcehis masculinity: "The
precipiceis steep and high.At its foota man maysleep-as a man" (D,
53). He imaginesdeath amidsta masculine,phalliclandscape of pointed
pines and steep cliffs-fallingon the censor'spen and the stonyridge.
The opposite of thisdeathlyrigoris a sortof sublimatednonphysical
pleasure associatedwithdematerializedtexts.Harkerkeeps his diaryin
his pockets.The diary'sphysicalweightand size disappear,forDracula
undressesHarkerand foldshis clothesyetsomehowoverlooksthe prize
in Harker'strousers.(Similarly, Harkermagicallyfeelsall over Dracula's
body withoutfindingDracula's key.) Harker sees himselfas a woman
writinga love-letter,and as a desperate conspiratorpenning secret
shorthandepistles (D, 36). But the physicalaspect of his epistolary
desires seems nonexistent.Dracula holds the shorthandletter and
envelope in the flame"tilltheywere consumed"and steals "everyscrap
of paper" that Harker possessed (D, 42, 43). Throughoutthe novel,
charactersfindenjoymentin writing,onlyto findthe materialon which
they inscribe-their waxen phonographiccylinders,diary books, and
telegrams-burned,mislaid,or misdirected,as ifStokerneeds to salvage
the pleasure of writingby destroyingthe sensuous experience of the
documentitself.
This intangibletextrelatesto Stoker'sotherstrategiesfordisplacing
sexuality.The fieryevanescence of text maps onto other discourses
associated with homoeroticpleasure: 'sensoria,' Wilde-pity,arousing
stories,and emotional male companionship.On the other hand, the
stony reticence of repression maps onto censorship,Wilde-phobia,
paralysis,and police action.These twopoles shouldnotbecome absolute
markersof difference,but rathergeneral ways of organizingStoker's
experiences of the closet and of openness. And the two strategies
interlinkat certainpoints,since the closetis nevercompletelyclosed nor
openness ever completelyopen; forinstance,the paralysisthatmarkshis

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repression easilyswingsintothe passivereceptivity thatconveniently
'forces'himto hearthearousingstory.
Harker'sstrangely unsubstantiated escape showsthe difficulty of
travelingtheregionbetweenthesetwopoles.He can neithercomeout
norstayinthestifling
as a 'monster' writings
closet.Stoker's on sexuality
had chartedtheambiguouslandscapebetweenthetwoborderpostsof
closureand openness.Harker's escapemovesfromthelocked,stiflingly
closed castleto the lonely,breezilyvastexpanseof the Transylvanian
countryside.He runsfromthestoneenclosureto thelandscapedotted
withmagicalblue flames.He spendsmonthson the marginsof the
two-hangingout of the window,crawlingon the wall-refusing(or
unable)to makea crudebinarychoicebetweenin and out.
The spectreofbruteimprisonment is neverfarfromStoker'sdelicate,
idealizedformsofdesire,sincethepolicethreatmakeshissublimations
necessary.Whilewe don'tknowthecontent we do
ofCaine's"narrative,"
know"EugeneAram,"theclimaxofwhichis "Twostern-faced menset
outfromLynn,/Throughthecoldandheavymist;/AndEugeneAram
walkedbetween,/Withgyvesuponhiswrist."76 On hearingtheselast
words,Stokerburstintohysteria. In hisletterto Whitman, he claimed
What is the statusof
thathe felt"the shackleson myshouldersstill."77
such a confessionin a love letter?His emphasison the bonds of
reticencehintsthatrepression was as mucha pleasureas a duty.Andhe
chieflyenactsWilde'sstoryas a longing,
lingeringlookat imprisonment.
'Imprisonment' punctuates notonlyHarker'sstory, wherethe term
has a certainlogic,butalso Dracula'sEnglishvisit,wherethetermhas
only the logic of its own interestfor Stoker.In the novel'sonly
explanationofvampirism, VanHelsingsays:
Ah,buthearmethrough. yethe is not
He cando allthesethings,
thanslaveofthegalley,
free.Nay,heis evenmoreprisoner thanthe
madman gowherehelists.... Onlyatcertain
inhiscell.He cannot
timescanhe havelimited freedom....Wecanconfine himtohis
coffinanddestroyhim.(D, 240)
The verydaylightimprisons Dracula."Thatmonster mustretainwhat-
everformhe nowhas.He is confined within ofhisearthy
thelimitations
envelope"(D, 292). As Harker'sgroupclosesin,theyspeakof Dracula
"imprisoned"in his greatcoffin(D, 373). Dracula spendsalmostthe
entirenovelas a huntedman,trying to escape fromhis coffinprison.
WhenDraculadoes startmovingfreely in London,thenovelimmedi-
atelyproducesa surrogate Dracula,Renfield, whosepainfulrestraint

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anddesperate, to escapecontinueStoker's
vainattempts carceralobses-
sion.
is also a storyofbondage.In fact,Stokerdesigned
Harker'snarrative
Harker'sexperienceto encodethetroubling but desirable,painfulbut
image of Wilde helplesslyimprisoned.In a castle fullof
attractive
windowsand doors,Harkeris immobilized.
WhenI hadseentheviewI explored doors,doors,doors
further;
andall lockedandbolted.In no placesavefrom
everywhere, the
windowsinthecastlewallsis thereanavailable
exit.Thecastleis a
veritable andI ama prisoner!
prison, (D, 26)
No wonderthatwhenhe foundhimself a prisoner "a sortofwildfeeling"
came overhim(D, 27). Helplessnessoverwhelms Harkeras he recog-
nizeshisown'wilderness. In theguesswork epistemology ofthecloset,
Harkeris surethatDraculaknowsthatHarkerknows("He knowswell
thatI am imprisoned" [D, 27]). Beingimprisoned also givesHarkera
certainsexualfreedom-heplaysthepassivevictim whocannotprevent
Dracula'sadvances.Harkerrevealsthisstrategy in an impromptu error.
and . . . ifI wishedit I couldhaveno choice"(D, 32;
"I was a prisoner,
emphasisadded). Using"I" insteadof "he" showsthatHarkerand
Dracula are essentially the same, withthe same 'wishes.'Dracula's
declaration ofhomosexual desire,"Thismanbelongsto me,"was one of
thefirst linesStokerwroteforDracula; indeed,he patterned chapter5
aroundthisspeech.78 The Count,helplessly imprisoned but about to
springupon an unwarypopulace,encodes Stoker'sfear of Wilde's
eventualreleasefromprison;the monstrous Wildewouldbe freeto
roamamongLondon'steemingmillions.On the otherhand,Harker's
miserablehelplessness and desperateescape showStoker'sempathetic
pitywiththeprisoner Wilde,themanwhosehandhe had "graspedin
to use Caine's words.79
friendship,"
Stoker'slifelonginterest in repressionis a wayofmakingthe closet
comfortable-closet as simultaneously
bed,traveling compartment,home,
andgravein Dracula'scase-and oftinging withpleasureabledesirethe
marginsof the closet,the liminalspaceswherehe slipsin and out of
secrecy.But it is also a way of domesticating his greatfear,penal
servitude.The horrors of Wilde'simprisonment werecommonknowl-
edge, reportedin Reynold'sNews. And even a cursoryreadingof
Harker'snarrative showswithhow muchdread Stokerregardedim-
prisonment. For a man who foundpleasurein walkingambiguous
boundaries, theprisonis a nightmare. It enforcesironcladdistinctions:
guiltyor innocent,captiveor free,insideor outside.

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 Even the physicalnotebook of Harker'sstorygets imprisoned.The
sealed book is a solemnweddinggiftthatuniteshusbandand wifein lieu
of any more physicalunion (Harker is still too weak to move). Mina
provesher wifelydevotionbyvowing"to sharemyignorance,"to "never
let me know,"to "never open it" (D, 104-5). They will be joined in
mutualdiscretion.But when Mina does breakopen his closet,she is not
surprisedto findthe skeletonthere.This exposure'cures' Harker."I felt
impotent,and in the dark.... But,now thatI know,I am notafraid,even
ofthe Count" (D, 188). Harkerthinkshe is cured because he realizeshis
experienceswere real ratherthanimaginary. But his fearand impotence
actuallyevaporatebecause his wifeneverblames him forhis past-his
homosexual secret does not affecthis heterosexualrelationship.In
Dracula's castle, he had tried to flee the closet by wrigglingout an
impossible window into a wishfulgeographyof total virility.His real
escape fromthe closetcomes when he revealshis secretand it makesno
difference.
Harker'srevelationis notjust an exposureof the past-it becomes an
erotic object in itself,and also a transitionalstage into a heterosexual
future."I took the book fromunder his pillow,"Mina confesses,"and
wrapped it up in white paper, and tied it with a littlebit of pale blue
ribbonwhichwas wound roundmyneck,and sealed itovertheknotwith
sealingwax" (D, 105). The prettycoveringfetishizesthe pleasurabletext
of bondage. The paper and ribbondo notjust conceal but also enhance,
add color and texture,give the journal a tinge of tactile pleasure.
Everyoneloves Harker'sjournal.Moreover,thebook'sappearancemarks
the beginningof Harker'smarriage.Mina has to undressherselfin order
to package the book. The recordof a homosexualaffairis dressed in the
pastel colors of a heterosexualwedding,to look just like a bridalgift.Is
thisprotectivecoloration,cross-dressing, or recycling?
Harker'simprisonment followsWilde's model. Harkercan onlywrite
letterswithDracula's permission,letterswhichDracula willexamine.He
spends most of his time readingin the libraryadjoininghis bedroom.
Similarly,Wilde was forbiddento writeanything excepta quota ofletters
to be censored by the prisongovernor.He had read everybook in the
prisonlibraryseveraltimes.Even smalldetails,like Harker'sdifficulty in
shaving,tallywithWilde'sill-shavenbeard and scragglyhair.Aftera year
of imprisonment, Wilde's hair had turnedwhite and he cried continu-
AfterMina's infection,Harker's hair, too, turnswhite, and he
ally.8"1
weeps often.Wilde'smotherdied whenWilde was injail; so too,Harker's
adoptivefather,Peter Hawkins,dies duringthe fightto captureDracula.
Images, themes,and even phrasesfromWilde's trialreappearin the

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horror novel,barelydisguised.SinceDraculaisa dreamlike projection of
Wilde'straumatic trial,Stokerelaboratedanddistorted theevidencethat
the prosecutor used to convictWilde.In particular, the conditions of
secrecynecessaryfornineteenth-century homosexuallife-nocturnal
visits,shroudedwindows,no servants-becomeominousemblemsof
CountDracula'sevil.Wildewas triedtogether withAlfredTaylor, who
supposedlyprocuredhim boys.Taylor'snighttime visitorsmade his
landladysuspicious.Variouswitnesses testified
tothestateofhisrooms.
"He keptno servant anddidhisowncookingon a gasstove.' Similarly,
Draculacooksandcleans,for"therewereno servants in thehouse"(D,
27). "The windowswereneveropenedor cleaned,"said Taylor's land-
lady,"andthedaylight wasneveradmitted."82 WhenHarkerfirst enters
Castle Dracula,he sees a room"seemingly withouta windowof any
sort,"and Draculalivesin smellywindowless underground vaults(D,
16). Taylor's
rooms"werefurnished sumptuously," just as, in Dracula's
abode,"curtains andupholstery ofthechairsandsofasandthehangings
ofmybed are ofthecostliest and mostbeautiful fabrics" (D, 19). Even
the peculiarodor of Dracula'sroomsoriginates in Taylor'stestimony.
Dracula'svaultsemit"a deathly, sicklyodor"thatonlygrows"closerand
heavier";"thelongdisusehad madetheairstaleand foul"(D, 47, 251).
Taylor'sroomshaveneverbeencleanedoraired.Theyarehotandstuffy,
andfilledwithsmokyperfumes. LikeTaylor,Draculahasnojob. As the
prosecutor intoneddramatically:
is a manwithout
"Taylor He keptnoservant
anyprofession. inthese
withtheir
rooms, heavily
drapedwindows,
theircandles
burning
on
throughtheday,andthelangorous
atmosphere
heavywithperfume.
Here,menmettogether."83

The originofDracula'svaultsis bestrevealedbythesimplestatement:

"Taylor. . . occupiedroomswhichwere nothingmoreor less thana
shameful den."84
EvidenceagainstWilde also influenced the gothicconventions
of
Dracula. One lineofinquiry concernedan 'innocent'boywhomWilde
hadtakento sea. Similarly,
Draculadestroys thegoodmenon twoships.
Wildeownedbotha houseand an apartment; thoughWildeclaimedhe
needed space for writing, the prosecutionargued that his second
establishment was a place to bringboys.Dracula,too, has two main
abodes-the Carfaxestate,and a Londonhouseon Piccadilly nearthe
GreenPark(perhapsnotcoincidentally, Wilde's"TheCriticas Artist"
is
set in a house on Piccadilly
nearthe GreenPark).""One of theworst
pieces of evidenceagainstWildewas the presenceof fecalstainson

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sheetsinwhichWildehadslept,adducedas evidenceofanalsex.Wilde's
bed' led to a rhetorical
'dirty efflorescence
ofWildeas a creatureofthe
sewer,livingin stinkingfilth.
For instance,
HenryJameswarnedWilde's
supporters thathe smelled"a stench," whichechoesHarker'sadmission
that"underordinary circumstances sucha stenchwouldhavebrought
ourenterprise to an end" (D, 251). Sardouclaimed,"Thismuckis too
vile for me to get mixed up in it."86Dracula's bed is a pile of notably
smellydirt.The smallfecalstainsbecomea giganticmoundof excre-
ment,as Dracula projectsthe trial'sworstmomentsintomonstrous,
threatening images.In Hanlon'swords,"Thechapelhasbecometheanal
ofcastration
orifice anddeath,littered as itiswithDracula'sfecal/phallic
coffins."87
Finally,whentheEnglishmen cleanDracula'scoffins, theyuse
thetermthatEllenTerry, WillieWilde,andtheWestminster Gazetteall
employedto describeWilde'spunishment: "purification" (D, 252).
Indeed,StokerfearedthatDraculadidnotsufficiently purifyitselffrom
namelessly dirtytransgressions. The BritishLibraryhas a letterStoker
wroteto Gladstone, in whichhe claims,"Thebookis necessarily fullof
horrorsand terrors butI trustthattheseare calculatedto 'cleansethe
mindbypity& terror.' Atanyratethereis nothing base in thebook."88
Newspaper editorials
portrayed Wildeas themodernmonster, thereby
inventing monstrosity forthenewcentury. The modernmonster causes
moralharmby perverting culturalor religiousideas. He is associated
withdirtand stench.He is artificial ratherthannatural.Mostimpor-
his sin is infectious,
tantly, whichmarksa departurefromthe Gothic
monsterwhose horroris underscoredby his solitude.The Gothic's
secretlydepravedaristocrat removeshisvictimto an inaccessible abbey
orcastle.(Frankenstein'smonster exemplifies thesolitudemodel,forhe
turnsevilfromhis greatloneliness.)The restof societyis stillmoral,
sane, and good; the victimsimplycan't communicate withit. But
Dracula is amongthe firstepidemiological horrornovels,concerning
involuntary physicaland psychological alteration caused by something
thatone personcan catch'fromanother. Dracula is theprogenitor of
"Alien,""TheThing,""DawnoftheDead," and "InvasionoftheBody-
Snatchers," whereevilinfectsrandomvictims'bodies and characters.
Thoughthishorrorgenremayhave originated fromlate nineteenth-
centuryfearsof infectious diseaseslikesyphilis, and late nineteenth-
century discoveriesofundetectable omnipotent 'germs,'Stokershaped
thenewhorrorgenreaccording to thepublicresponseto Wilde'strial.
Indeed,homosexuality was the primary objectofthenewepidemiology,
as medicaltheorists askedwhat'caused,''cured,'and 'communicated'
same-sexdesire.89Epidemiologicalhorrorfictionis thus intimately

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associatedwithhomophobia. It encodesthespecificfear,whichseems
impervious to or
education reason,thathomosexuals wantto 'corrupt'
heterosexualsinto a lifetimeof evil sodomy."'
Many of the newspapereditorialsabout Wilde expressed a medical
horror of homosexuality,and recommended a form of sterilization.
Stoker importedthis paranoia into Dracula. The newspapers of May
1895 producedrhetoricliketheDaily Chronicle's:"The streamofpoison
which such trials disperse through society. . . . we all know the evil
contagionof morbidcriminaltrials.However,there has been a purge,
and we hope London is the better for it."9' So too, Lucy's unclean
vampiricblood poisonsEnglishchildren,untilpurgedbyArthur's violent
staking(D, 214-17). Editorsworriedwhat readers mighthave learned
fromthe trial,and recommendeddisinfecting the public sphere. Clem-
ent Scott, Stoker'sfriend,wrote,"Open the windows!Let in the fresh
air," a dictum that Harker'sgroup followsfaithfully at the Piccadilly
house.92Homosexuality, likevampirism,is destroyedby the lightof day.
One newspaperdescribedWilde's kind as vampireslivingin nocturnal
vaults.
corruption.... Such
He was a socialpest,a centreof intellectual
people findtheirfitting
environment in the artificial
lightand the
airofsecretchambers
incense-laden curtainedfromthelightofday.
Theirpretensesfallfromtheminfreshairandhonestsunshine. Light
has beenletin uponthemnowin a verydecisivefashion.93

In Dracula, vampiresare "foulthingsof the night.... a blot on the face

of God's sunshine"(D, 237). Nordau'sdescriptionofWilde as a degener-
ate egomaniac (quoted in manynewspapereditorials),informsStoker's
declarationthat"the Count is a criminal,and of criminaltype.Nordau
and Lombrosowould so classifyhim" (D, 342). Wilde, like Dracula, is a
super-criminal.Accordingto The Daily Telegraph,"Mr. Oscar Wilde ...
on the public duringthisrecentepisode
has been the means of inflicting
as much moral damage of the most hideous and repulsivekind as no
singleindividualcould well cause."94Dracula, too, "has done muchharm
already,in the narrowscope where he findhimself.... were anotherof
the Un-dead, like him,tryto do what he has done, perhaps not all the
centuriesof the world . . . could aid him" (D, 319). Finally,the same
newspaper believes Wilde can onlybe cured by a proper burial. "The
grave of contemptuousoblivionmay reston his foolishostentation,his
emptyparadoxes,his insufferable posturing,his incurablevanity."95
The novelis particularlyfamiliarwiththe Westminster Gazette,which
Mina can identifyat a glance. The "blooferlady" clippingscome from

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thatnewspaper.Not surprisingly, the Westminster Gazette'sWilde edi-
torialsfindparticularechoes in Dracula. The paper commented,"It was
for the jury to consider whether or not [a letter to Bosie] was an
indicationof unclean sentimentsand unclean appetiteson bothsides."9
The double use of 'unclean' occursin twoof Mina'sspeeches: "Unclean,
unclean! I musttouchhimor kisshimno more,"and "unclean!Unclean!
Even the Almightyshuns my polluted flesh!" (D, 284, 296). The
Westminster GazettecondemnsWilde's"circleofcorruption."97 In Lucy's
stuffy vault,Van Helsing warns:"The circlegoes on ever widening"(D,
214).
The novel'scomposition,withits newspaperclippingsand emphasis
on journalistictechniques like shorthand,obliquely acknowledgesits
debt to the Wilde-saturatednewspapersof April,May,and June,1895.
Dracula is especially conscientiousabout its dates. Oscar Wilde was
convictedMay 24, 1895. The papers reportedthe event May 25, when
they also announced Henry Irving'sand Thornley Stoker's honors.
Dracula's vitaldate is May 24 and 25. The firstfivechaptersreconstruct
what three different charactersfelton May 24 and 25. On thispivotal
date,we meetthecharactersand see the 'crimes'committedthatthe rest
of the novel worksto recompense.
Harkercollapses intoa pool of despairbetween May 19 and May 28,
when he believes himselfcondemnedto death. (Wilde was sentencedat
his finaltrial,which lasted fromMay 22 to May 25.) Meanwhile,Lucy
experiencesher greatesttriumphon May 24 as she receivesproposals
fromthree men. It is May 25 when Dr. Seward discoversRenfield;he
spends the dayin a rewardingmedicalinvestigation (D, 60)98 Finally,on
May 25, Quincey Morrisunitesthe men overtheirmutuallove of Lucy.
Theyplan to "mingleourweeps overthewine-cup,and to drinka health
withall our heartsto thehappiestmanin all thewide world"(D, 61). The
atmosphereis one ofloyaltystruggling to assertitselfoverpettyjealousy.
These fourdifferent attitudescorrelateto threedifferent real-world
events.Harker'sdespair and sense of doom reflectthe emotionsStoker
imputes to Wilde. Lucy's day of triumphresembles Irving's.Seward's
medical activitieslinkhim to ThornleyStoker,knightedforhis surgical
skills. Finally,the envious but stalwartlyloyal loser, Quincey Morris,
encodes Stoker'sown feelingson that momentous occasion-Stoker,
who didn't get any honors,but had to write the thank-younotes and
organizethe ceremonialdinners.
Possibly,Stokerhad planned to structureDracula along the fourplot
lines inspiredby May 25. But soon Irving's,Thornley's,and Stoker'sown
tales get submergedin the overwhelmingly urgentstoryof Oscar Wilde.

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This firstsectionofthe novel,likea snapshot,memorializesa momentin
time. The vestigesof the fourplots are valuable as a sortof ontogenic
record of Dracula's origins.Their rudimentary shapes show theircom-
mon ancestorin the emotionalconfusionof May 25.
Dr. Seward (laterjoined by Van Helsing) representsDr. W. Thornley
Stoker.', Like Van Helsing, ThornleyStokerhad a strongaccent and
lived abroad. All three medical men are humanists:Van Helsing is a
philosopher,Sewarda reader,and Thornleywas a renownedartcollector
and a Fellow of the Royal University. Seward admires"vivisection...
look at itsresultstoday!"whileThornleywas InspectorforIrelandunder
theVivisectionAct (D, 71).'"mFinally,Thornley'swifeseems to have been
insane, judging by Farson's anecdote of her runningnaked into the
dining room with attendentsin hot pursuit. Similarly,Van Helsing's
"poorwife[is] dead to me, but alive by Church'slaw,thoughno wits,all
gone" (D, 176).
Van Helsing providesa turbochargedversionof Seward,but he also
changes the doctor'srole fromlover to father,evacuatingits eroticism.
And Van Helsing expands the medical character beyond Thornley,
pullingit intothe largerstoryof the novel. Van Helsing carriesStoker's
firstname and physicallyresemblesStoker.He has a "hard,square chin,"
a "large"mouth,"sensitivenostrils,"bushyeyebrows,a large forehead,
and reddishhair (D, 182). In Stoker'sWhitmanletter,he giveshimselfa
"heavyjaw,""big mouth,"and even those"sensitivenostrils,"and he had
red hair too.'0' Faithfulto his "now no-wife,"Van Helsing is neitherin
love with Lucy nor attractedto Mina (D, 176). Stoker'sgranddaughter
guessed that Stokerand Florence, who marriedin 1878, had a sexless
marriageaftertheirson'sbirthin 1879.102It now seems thatshe mayhave
changedher mindabouther grandparents' marriage.103 But Van Helsing's
autobiographicalcelibacysupportsher originalconjecture-and adds a
piece to the puzzle of Stoker'ssublimated,closeted,elusive desires.
Lucy'smomentenshrinesthe emotionsof exhaustion,exultation,and
triumphassociatedwithIrving'sgreatsuccess,althoughdisplacingthese
powerfulfeelingsonto a quite different storyline. Her multipletributes
of admirationand love mirrorthe congratulations Irvingreceived. Lucy
has been read as the woman in whose emptyveins male fluids can
mingle.As the prototypicalvictimof the 'between men' scenario,she
getssacrificedto promotehomosocialbonding.104AfterLucy rejectsher
suitors,an audible sigh of reliefbreathesthroughQuincey'snote as he
proposes to "mingleour weeps" (D, 61). Male-male fluidexchange is
sanctionedby the sentimentalfictionof unrequitedlove.
If the tone of Quincey'snote representsStoker'sown feelingson May

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25, it is interestingthat Quincey remainsthe most mute, clumsy,self-
denying,apologeticmemberofthe group,who is sacrificedwordlesslyat
the end. Though Lucy praiseshis abilityto tell stories,even comparing
herself to Desdemona, we never hear one (D, 57). His speech is
oxymoronically characterizedby silence: "Mr Morris'sstrongresolute
tone of quiet command"(D, 375). Finally,"Witha smile and silence he
died, a gallantgentleman"(D, 378). Quinceyis silentbecause he has no
selfto talkfrom,or to talkabout. He is simplythe livingembodimentof
a conceptcalled 'manlyloyalty.' All his speeches are cheerfulattestations
of his willingnessto die forothers,or suggestionsforgroup activities.
Quincey representsStoker'sself-fantasy: a loyal,self-sacrificing,hard-
workingman,whose martyrdom will make him beloved.
Though Quincey's and Seward's love for Lucy mysteriously evapo-
rates,Dracula laborsto defeathis rivalsby 'winning'her."Yourgirlsthat
you all love are mine already;and throughthemyou and othersshallyet
be mine-my creatures,to do mybiddingand to be myjackals when I
wantto feed" (D, 306). This prototypical 'betweenmen' scene has a real
parallel in Florence Balcombe's relationsto Wilde and Stoker.Stoker's
and Wilde's guardedlyfriendlyrelationshipwas mediated throughFlo-
rence, who received Wilde's notes,books, tickets,and invitationswith
theiraddendums of "kindregardsto Bram." When Wilde plummeted
into public infamy,Stoker might well have wondered whether,to
paraphraseDracula's line, 'the girlthatI love is his already.'
"The girls that you love are mine already" turns a rivalryinto an
endless game of catch-up.Harker may have alreadylost Mina; radical
uncertainty taintsthe past as well as thepresent.This scene is an obverse
reflectionflungfromthe coruscatinglightoftheWilde trial.Wilde'strial
reconstructedhis public past as a privatehomosexualhistory, and thus
forceditsreaders,includingStoker,to questionthetruthoftheirrelation
to the accused man'slife.Dracula and Van Helsing'sgroupfightoverthe
lovelycold dead virginalbodyof Lucy,trying to establishin her deaththe
man to whom she had held allegiance in her life. Dracula and Van
Helsing struggleto gain psychologicalprimacyin Mina's torn,semicon-
scious nightmind.So too,Wilde and Stokerengage in combatretrospec-
tively,in Stoker'smind,where the stakesare epistemological:how can
StokerknowwhatFlorence did withWilde, or whatWilde wantedfrom
Florence?
The suspicionthatin Dracula StokerrethoughtFlorence's relation-
ship withWilde is ratifiedbyVan Helsing'sactivitieswhen he discovers
Mina in bed withDracula. He holds up "his littlegolden crucifix"-the
verygiftthatWilde gave Florence. Behind him,his band of men raise

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theircrucifixesin unisonagainstDracula (D, 282,284). Mina'sextramarital
liaisonwiththe 'monster'is floodedwithgolden lightand studdedwith
crucifixallusions."The moonlightwas so brightthatthroughthe thick
yellowblind the room was brightenough to see" (D, 281). Yellow light
pulses throughthe restof the tale, fromthe gaslightQuinceyignites,to
the firein whichDracula burnsSeward'sphonograph,to the risingsun of
the morning.Like a crucifiedvictim,Mina is pale, herhandstwistedwith
pain, her foreheadscarredby a Sacred Wafer(like a crownof thorns),
and she bleeds fromthe body (D, 282). Dracula vows that Mina's men
will learn "whatit is to cross mypath,"and tells Mina "you shall cross
land or sea" (D, 288). The cross should stop Dracula, but instead it
informshis metaphors.ThroughWilde's littlegolden crucifix,Stoker
elaborates a fantasyof an extramarital affairwithhimselfas impotent,
motionless,blinded bystander.
The littlegolden crucifixalso signifiesfemale sexuality,wantonness,
duplicity,and crime.For the crossfirstappearswhenVan Helsingplaces
"a littlegold crucifix"on Lucy's dead lips (D, 164). The crucifixseals,
conceals, and silences. It closes her lips-no kissingis possible-and
purifiesthem of their 'voluptuousness.'But this guarantorof female
purityfails. A servantsteals the cross. Because of that crucifix,one
woman robs the dead, and anotherwomanwillbecome a childmolester
and wanton siren.As withWilde's cross,Van Helsing'sgiftinstitutesa
romance,and Van Helsing,like Wilde, findsit difficult to recoverwith
propriety.Moreover,a crucifixappears in Harker'sworstadventuresin
Castle Dracula. The cross is a vaccine againstvampirism-but like a
vaccine,it initiatesthe disease againstwhichit protects.
The Wildean golden crucifixlicenses sexual riot, fluid identities,
infectioustransmission, theft,and adulterousfantasy.There is, however,
a counterposingobject: the dangerous,sharppen of censorship,which
fixeseveryonein theirproper places. Van Helsing insiststhat Lucy's
husbandpierce her witha stake."Arthurneverfaltered.He looked like
a figureofThor as his untrembling armrose and fell,drivingdeeper and
deeper the mercy-bearingstake" (D, 216). This rape reestablishes
'proper' relations:Lucy is pure and virginal,Arthuris gratefulto Van
Helsing, and Arthurmay now kiss the corpse. Van Helsing himself
manages to performa similarrape on not one but threewomen. The
rape reestablishesnormativemodels of both gender and history.The
women are gratefuland passive towardstheirbrave male deliverer,no
longerseductivewandererswho sweep throughthe mountainstryingto
overpowerhim. Their bodies crumble as if suddenlyexperiencingthe
durationof time denied them by the false stasis of the vampire.Each

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bodycrumbles"intoitsnativedust"-no promiscuous mixingeven in
decay(D, 371).
Appropriately foritsdoublesignificance as sexuallicenceandphallic
censor,the goldencrucifix scene simultaneously unmansHarkerand
makeshimintoa completely phallicman.The scene readsas a man's
nightmarish fantasyof his wife'sadultery.The 'otherman' kissesher
throat;she swoons;he vowsthattheywillalwaysbe companionsand
partners; sheswallowshisfluids(D, 288). The pitiable,passivehusband
sleepsthrough thewholescene.But he immediately hardensuponhis
awakening. the man in him [was] awakeat the need forinstant
"All
exertion," affirms Seward,as he watchesHarkerpullon hisclothing (D,
283). Harkerrepresseshis nervousagony.His mouthis "setas steel,"
while"he listenedwithseemingimpassiveness" (D, 284). BothStoker
and Harkerreactto talesofhorrorwitha stony, hardappearancethat
maskstheiroverwhelming internalhysteria.
Harker's stoniness hasanotherexplanation, however. Whatappearsto
be thesceneofMina'sguilty sexwithDraculacanactually be readas the
scene of Jonathan's unionwithDracula.Mina's"whitenightdress was
smearedwithblood"(D, 282).WhensheembracesHarker, shetransmits
it: "His whitenight-robe was stainedwithblood whereher lips had
touched"(D, 284). Harkervicariously experiences Dracula'sfluidswhen
Minacarriesthemtohim.Furthermore, hisbloodstained whitenightrobe
visuallyreplicates Mina'sbloodywhitenightdress; hiscostumemakesthe
twointerchangeable. ThusDracularepeatsHall Caine'sfearthatWilde's
felony "hauntsme,itis likesomefoulandhorrible stainon ourcraftand
on us all,whichnothing canwashout."10'l5Stoker, Caine'sclosestfriend,
mostlikelyheardCaine'ssentiments whilehe wrotethenovel.Because
Dracula's blood has permanently stainedHarker,Harkeracquires
Dracula'spersonality andphysiognomy. The giftofbloodactsnotonlyas
dirtying stainbutalsoas a bloodbrotherhood ritual,whichlocksthetwo
mentogether forever.Harker, dousedin Dracula's"foul"and "horrible"
blood, becomes anotherDracula-and like Mina, cannot"cleanse"
himself fromthe"pollution" (D, 287-88).
Harkeravengestheadultury byphysiologically alteringintoDracula;
he becomeshisrival."Overhisface,as theawfulnarrative wenton,came
a greylook... thefleshstooddarkly outagainstthewhitening hair"(D,
288). His agingprocessactually transforms himintohiswife'slover.His
greyish skinapproximates Dracula's"extraordinary pallor"(D, 18). His
whitehair resemblesDracula's"whitehairand moustache"(D, 51).
Sewardcomments on Harker'schange."He is a drawn, haggard oldman,
whosewhitehairmatcheswellwiththehollowburning eyesand grief-

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writtenlines of his face. His energyis stillintact;in facthe is like a living
flame"(D, 301). Dracula, too,has extraordinary vitality,and is associated
withthe magicalblue flamesand the flaminglamp he holdsat the Castle
door. While Dracula grows younger,dark-haired,and 'marries' Mina
("you . . . are now to me fleshof myflesh;blood of myblood"), Harker
growsolder,white-haired,and fierier(D, 288). Justas Dracula crushes
Mina's hands,thenthrowsher on the bed as he leaps towardsthe men,
so too Harkersqueezes Mina's hand untilhis knucklesturnwhite.
She did not flinchfromthe pain whichI knewshe musthave
butlookedat himwitheyesthatweremoreappealingthan
suffered,
he leapedtohisfeet,almosttearing
ever.Asshestoppedspeaking his
handfromhers.(D, 309)

The two men have changed places. While the helplesslyimprisoned

Dracula triesto escape fromalmostcertaindeath, Harkerpursues him
with bloody-mindeddetermination.Dracula travels to Transylvania;
Harker awaitshim at the Castle. As Dracula shows himselfvulnerable,
Harker demonstratesthe superhumanstrength,fearsomeappearance,
and apparentimmortality thatused to characterizehis rival.

Jonathan's impetuousity,andthemanifest ofhispurpose,

singleness
seemedto overawethosein front theycowered
ofhim;instinctively
he had jumpeduponthecart,
aside and let himpass. In an instant
and,witha strengththatseemedincredible, raisedthegreatbox,and
flungitoverthewheelto theground.(D, 376)

A whole armyof Szeganycannotharmhim. The Transylvanians flee

himjust as theyfled Dracula in the book's first
chapter.The men have
infectedeach other,and Harker becomes the vampire as slowlyand
irrevocablyas Dracula becomes the Englishman.Or, in anothersense,
they become shiftingaspects of the same persona-for during the
golden crucifixscene, Harkerreclines,swooningin pleasure,while Mina
sucks the blood of Dracula's heart. At the heart of this horrornovel,
Stokergingerlyshowsthatthe 'normal'man and the 'depraved' man are
one. If Florence's historysharpened Stoker'shorrorof Wilde, it also
proved Stokerand Wilde the same. They loved the same woman; the
same woman loved them both, said the same words to both, accepted
giftsfromboth,and perhapsfoundthe same elementsattractivein both.
Harker'sassumptionof Dracula's identityis one of three ways the
novel's ending resolves Stoker'sWildean quandary.Stokermanages to
pull togethervariousthreadsofpleasureand repression,takenfromboth

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his sexualityand his closeting,to weave a viable whole cloth.We shall
examineeach strategyin turn.
First,Harker'sdestructionof Dracula means thatStokercan destroy
the hated vision of a hideouslygrotesque Wilde. But simultaneously,
Harker can fulfillhis yearningto penetratea male-in otherwords,he
can do exactlywhat made Wilde seem monstrous.Thus, the finalscene
shows us a man penetratinganotherman in orderto punishthe second
man forpenetratingothers.The censor'shard stake-pointdissolvesinto
an erotic fantasyof male/malepenetration,"Jonathan'sgreat knife"
keeps flashingcloserto Dracula's body (D, 377). In the Castle,he throws
a large shovelthattearsthe fleshof Dracula's forehead.In the house in
Piccadilly,Harker "had readyhis great Kukriknife,and made a fierce
and sudden cut at him" (D, 306). Finally,Harkertears a throatuntilit
bleeds, which is preciselywhat Dracula did. The three scenes of male
insertionintoanothermale make up fortheirmatter-of-fact tone by the
insistencewithwhichtheyare repeated.Harker'spenetrationof Dracula
does not give the climacticrelease of Lucy's death, but ratherhas the
status of an obsession, a rhythmically repeated quest, which sets the
drumbeatof the whole novel. Stokerorganizesvampiriclogic such that
Harker becomes an acceptable version of Dracula; in other words,
Stokercan see himselfas a good versionofWilde. The novel ends when
Stokerkills offthe media-producedhomosexualmonsterin the same
moment, and by the same act, that he reasserts the pleasure of
homosexuality. Like anyvampire,Dracula does not die-he lives on in
the praiseworthy desiresof his nominalenemy,JonathanHarker.
The novel 'saves' Dracula partlybytransferring his characteristics
to a
'good' character,but also partlyby makingDracula pitiableratherthan
fearful.In the last thirdof the novel, narrativesympathyfor Dracula
swells. "That poor soul who has wroughtall this miseryis the saddest
case of all. Justthinkwhatwillbe hisjoy when he too is destroyedin his
worserpartthathis betterpartmayhave spiritualimmortality" (D, 308).
The rhetoricis reminiscentof Willie Wilde's promise that Oscar's
imprisonment "willhelp to purifyhimbody& soul."''06Mina speaks from
Stoker'ssecret empathyforWilde. "I have been thinkingall this long,
long day of it-that . .. perhaps . . . some day . .. I too mayneed such
pity" (D, 309). The Harkers each grow into vampirism-but whereas
Jonathanspitsout his hatredof the monsterhe increasinglyresembles,
Mina turnsher identification intopityand sorrow.As a woman she can
provide the sentimentalizing reading of Dracula that the men would
imperil themselves by proffering.Mina allows Stoker to articulate

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sympathyforhis privatefriendOscar,just as Harker expressesStoker's
need to asserthis horrorat the public enemyWilde.
This ending successfullycorrects the monstrouslymagnifiedand
demonized versionof Wilde. The Englishmentransform Dracula into a
pitiable prisoner.His weakness dilutes his monstrosity, which finally
disappears when his stakingreveals a peaceful expressionon his face.
Finally,the men transmithis newlypurifiedidentityto a more respect-
able carrier.Thus Stokerscoops thefearfulness fromtheWilde mythand
salvages the Wildean aspects he wants, includingWilde's power, re-
silience, self-confidence,popularity,and determination.By the end of
Dracula, Stokerhas successfullyworked throughthe media mythsto
destroy what might threaten him and simultaneouslypreserve the
Wildean characteristics that he can use to model his own homosexual
identity.
The novel not onlysolvesthe issue ofWilde but also answersStoker's
need fora viablewayto satisfy hisown desiresin thepost-Wildeera. This
second solutioncomes throughthe ending'sinsistenceon voyeurism.All
the scenes of sexual release by stakingdepend on a spectator'spleasure.
During Lucy'sstaking,as the men standby chantinga harrowingtale-
the prayerfor the dead-Arthur collapses in exhausted ecstasy.The
Dracula charactersembraceArthur'ssweating,supinebody,and thendo
somethingthatthetextdoes notname: "He reeled and would have fallen
hadwe notcaughthim.... For a fewmomentswe were so takenup with
him thatwe did not look towardsthe coffin"(D, 216). Van Helsing lays
his hand on Arthur'sshoulder;Arthurkissesand presseshis hand. Then
they move into a closer embrace, as Arthur"put his hands on the
Professor'sshoulder,and layinghis head on his breast,cried fora while
silently,whilstwe stood unmoving"(D, 217). While the two men hug,
Quincey and Seward watch, standingsolid, erect, immobile. When
Arthurraiseshis head to look deep intoVan Helsing'seyes,Van Helsing
softlyinvitesArthurto "kiss her"-surely one of the more ludicrous
displacementsdemanded by homophobicliteraryconventions.
Even when Van Helsing proveshis virility by stakingthreepowerful
women, he shapes the scene as a spectacle for an absent viewer.
Abandoningthe normaldiaryformat,Van Helsing decides to recordhis
adventuresin a memorandumdesigned for Seward'seyes. "This to my
old and true friendJohnSeward, M.D., of Purfleet,London, in case I
may not see him" (D, 362). He invokes "friendJohn" twice in his
descriptionof piercingthe women,thoughhe mentionsJohnnowhere
else (D, 371). Triangulationseems desireable, perhaps necessary,for

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Stoker'sversionof the erotic.A male penetratesa female-but the male
has to share the experiencevisuallywithanothermale.
By the end of the book, however,thissituationreversesitself.A male
penetratesa male, and the watchingfemale is aroused. Mina enjoys
watchingJonathanstrugglewithDracula. "I shouldhave feltterriblefear
at seeing Jonathanin such danger,but that the ardour of battle must
have been upon me as well as the restof them;I feltno fear,but onlya
wild,surgingdesireto do something"(D, 375). In thischapter,Mina not
only involuntarily expressesDracula's desires,but also shares Harker's
emotions. For instance,she telepathicallyknows her husband's travel
plans. Thus her "wild"desirescan be read as displacementsof Harker's
wish to do the unnamed "something."(Indeed, her language reprises
Harker'searlier speech in which a wild desire also overcomesfear of
death: "A wild desiretookme to obtainthatkeyat anyrisk.... he might
kill me, but death now seemed the happier choice of evils" [D, 50].)
Mina gets more excitedas Harker gets closer to Dracula's body; she is
"breathlessly watchingJonathan"(D, 376).
When Harker and Quincey rip the cover off Dracula's bed, the
narrativealtogetherforgetsthat its narratorMina is watchingfroma
distance,behind a rock,at night,in the midstof a blindingsnowstorm,
and unabashedlygivesdetailsthatcould onlycome fromHarker'scloser
vision.For instance,theviewernoticeswhen the expressionin Dracula's
eyes changesfromhatredto triumph.When HarkerkillsDracula, Mina
"shrieked":the climax of the male-male penetrationgets verbalized
throughitsspectator(D, 377). Though Mina says"the red gleamsfellon
my face, so that it was bathed in rosy light,"the words express a
spectator'spointofview.The men are the onlyones who can see Mina's
face,and it is Harker,the admirerof Mina's beauty,who noticeswhat it
looks like. (AdmiringMina's beauty has been his role throughoutthe
novel; even duringthe awfulscene when Mina getsscarredby the Host,
Harker pauses to notice her "beautifulhair" [D, 296]. By contrast,the
other men only talk about her emotionalattractions,using termslike
"sweet-faced"[D, 219].) By routingthe forceof"surgingdesire"through
a female spectator,Stoker nearly succeeds in heterosexualizingthis
scene. But the oscillatingnarrativevoice gives the scene the erotic
energyofsomethingthatoccasionallytipsintothe forbiddenperspective
of an impossiblevoyeur.
Given the triangle of penetrator,passive receptor, and aroused
spectator,husband and wife and rival can all fitthemselvesin. Mina
discoversthat she feels "ardour"when she sees her husband rip the

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coversoffanotherman'sbed. In fact,Mina has neverdisapproved of
Harker'sliaison-farfrombeingshockedby Harker'sdiary,she has
fetishizedtheaccount,wrapping itintheribbonfromherunderclothing
and sealingitwithherweddingring.She decidesto readthebookless
thanone monthaftershe had pledgedto keep it sealed as a sacred
maritaltrust,and immediately fantasizes an appreciative audienceto
whomshe can transmit thisstory.Minatranscribes copiesofitto show
others,and imaginestellingthe storyin herhusband'sstead;she also
hopesthatHarkerwillrecoverto tellhermoredetails(D, 179). If this
novel recordsa crisisin epistemology-the impossibility of knowing
whether "thegirlsthatyouloveare mine"-Minais thefigure whogets
a specialeroticjolt fromdistributing packetsofknowledge, fromtrain
schedulesto hypnotic visions.For Mina,the voyeuristic pleasuresof
seeingmaybe stronger thananymoreconventional sexualpleasures.
Duringthe battlescene,her enjoyment of her privileged gaze quite
effacesany anxietyabout Dracula'spotentialimproperusage of her
husband's body.Herwillingness toplayspectator allowsHarkerto come
outoftheclosetforher.Stoker's interest inliterary eroticismandpassive
spectatorship workto producea viablemodeloftriangular desire.We
cannotforgetthatthisvoyeuristic pleasurestemsfromStoker'savid
viewership of the Wildetrial,and reinterprets (even recuperates) his
helplesspassivityduringthatperiod.
To sumup: thenovel'sendingaccomplishes threetasks.First,Stoker
resolvesthe challengeof self-hatred posed by Wilde'svillification in
popularculture, as he carefully
undoesWilde'sapparentmonstrosity and
thentransfers therespectable remainder ofWildeto a 'good'character.
Second,he resolvesthe"betweenmen"triangle byconstructing a space
for a spectatorwithin any erotic encounter,and reverses the
heterosexualizing imperative bymakingthespectator female.Third,he
findsa wayto represent thefruitsofhis peculiarly sublimated sortof
desire.The ending's finalfunction is to producea seriesofstand-ins for
thepleasurable malebody.Stokerperforms thissubstitutionthrough the
martyrdom ofthesilentman.
The novel'sconclusionexultsin havingapparently bleachedaway
Caine's"foulstain.""The sunsetofthiseveningmayshineon Madam
Mina'sforeheadall whiteas ivoryand withno stain!"(D, 298). And
Quinceydies proclaiming "The snowis not morestainlessthanher
forehead! The cursehaspassedaway"(D, 378).Appropriately, thenovel
ends by alleviating its dedicatee'sconcern.But the pain and danger
associatedwithWilde'sconviction-"the mostawfultragedy inthewhole
history of literature"-get memorialized by Quincey'sdeath.Quincey

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dies in Harker'slap, fluids"spurtingthroughhis fingers"(D, 376). While
Quincey rejoices in Mina's snowystainlessness,his own body must be
soaking Harker's lap into a stickypool of blood.'17 This vision,made
inevitableby the men'sphysicalsituation,is neverthelessexcluded from
the text.It is the only scene of one man's blood flowingdirectlyinto
anotherman'sbody,withoutintermediary ofwoman,surgicalneedle, or
vampirictooth.Later,we findthatQuinceyand Harkerhave a son from
thisencounter.YoungQuincey'sbirthdateand name establishhimas the
originalQuincey'scontinuation, and "some ofourbravefriend'sspirithas
passed into him" (D, 378). Quincey'sspiritfled his dyingbody,swirled
along in his blood, soaked intoHarkerand became the 'seed' of Harker's
son. Harkertransmits Quincey'sblood to Mina,just as Mina had stained
her husband's body with Dracula's blood. Instead of epidemiological
worry,thisnew blood transmission produces thrivingsons. Thus Stoker
recuperatesthe infectiousnessof the vampiremythby makingit into a
paradigmforhomosexualprocreativesex.
But like a good Victoriannovel,Dracula keeps its hero's aristocratic
parentagesecret.The boy is actuallythe finalrehabilitation of Dracula's
and Harker'slove, forhe is Dracula's son. The logic thatprovesthe boy
Quincey'sspiritualheir also proveshis kinshipto Dracula. Quincey and
Dracula died on the same day,the date on whichthe boywas born.Thus
Dracula's spiritcould have passed intohim,ratherthanQuincey'sspirit.
Physically, too, Dracula's spiritwas as peripateticas Quincey's.Dracula's
spirithas certainlyjourneyedinto Harker'scharacter,since Harkerhas
acquired Dracula's personalitytraits.We can also tracethe boy'sphysical
conceptionthroughthe streamoffluidsthatdripsthroughoutthe novel;
Dracula's blood poured into Mina's mouth,and Harker'sbodywould be
covered with Dracula's blood, both fromdecapitatinghim and from
supportingthe bloodstainedQuincey.
Little Quincey Harker can be read as the child of Dracula's and
Harker's mutual desire. He is the apotheosis of Stoker's attemptto
transform homosexual'infection'intoheterosexual'procreation.'Mean-
while, Quincey'smartyrdom is a red herringas well as a red stain.The
intenseeroticismof Dracula's death-a passive,paralyzedfigurespurt-
ing fluids-merely displaces onto a respectable surrogate,Quincey's
death.
Two textualallusionsreveal the relationshipbetween Quincey'sand
Dracula's deaths. Harker assumes a kneelingpositionwhen Quincey
dies, just as he kneeled over Dracula's coffin.Quincey's blood "was
spurting,"a word the novel used earlierto describeDracula's own blood
(D, 288, 376). Quincey'sdeath allows Harker the physicalcontactand

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the sorrowhe could not give Dracula's body. In fact,Quincey'sdeath
even allows him to transform melancholiainto mourning,as he makes
his lostobject intoa text-a horrorstory,thestoryofDracula, to tellboys
not yetgrown.
Quincey'slastwordsare true:the stainhas been erased,the curse has
been averted.But thatdoes not mean thatmale fluidswill never again
mark other men's bodies. It simplymeans that the exchange of male
fluidswill not be registeredas a 'stain,'because it will not be seen as
dirty,infectious,or dangerous.Throughhis secretlove and public hate,
throughhis careful expurgationand transferenceof personality,and
throughhis constructionof a sophisticatederotic triangularstructure,
Stoker overcomes the horrorof Wilde's conviction.Stoker'soblique
desires,his triangulararrangements, his literaryarousals,have produced
a satisfactory waystationbetween the closet and the open land. So
satisfactory,in fact,thatnothingcan be proved againsthim-no court
could findenough evidence of his homosexualdesires to convictBram
Stoker."We could hardlyask anyone,even did we wish to, to accept
these as proofsof so wild a story"(D, 378, emphasisadded).

Cornell University
NOTES
I wouldliketo thankthepeoplewhohaveso generously assistedme withthisarticle:
NinaAuerbach, BarbaraBelford,OliverBuckton, MerlinHolland,MaryJacobus, Misha
Kavka,GeorgeMusser,AnnaNeill,StephenM. Parrish, Paul Sawyer,Leslie Shepherd,
Pam Thurschwell. Manyinstitutionshavehelpedme findprimary materials,especially:
The Brotherton Collectionat Leeds University Library,The BritishLibrary,The
RosenbachMuseumand Library, the OscarWildeCollectionat theWilliamAndrews
ClarkMemorialLibrary, University of Reading,the BergCollectionat the New York
Public Library,TrinityCollege LibraryDublin,Libraryof The ShakespeareCentre
(Stratford-Upon-Avon),and UniversityofIowa SpecialCollections. Finally,thisproject
was made possibleby the undauntablereferencestaffof CornellUniversity's Olin
Library.
l See ChristopherCraft,"'Kiss Me withThose Red Lips': Genderand Inversionin
BramStoker's Dracula,"Representations 8 (Fall 1984):107-33;ElaineShowalter, Sexual
Anarchy:Genderand Cultureat theFin de Siecle(New York:VikingPenguin,1990);
MarjorieHowes,"The MediationoftheFeminine:Bisexuality, Homoerotic Desire,and
Self-Expressionin BramStoker'sDracula,"TexasStudiesin Literature and Language30
"TheMonster
(1988):104-19;C. F. Bentley, intheBedroom," LiteratureandPsychology
22 (1972):27-24;AnneCranny-Francis, "SexualPoliticsandPoliticalRepression in Bram
Stoker'sDracula,"Nineteenth-Century Suspense:FromPoe to ConanDoyle,ed. Clive
Bloom,BrianDocherty, JaneGibb,KeithShand(New York:St. Martin'sPress,1988),
64-79.
2There are fourbiographiesof Stokeravailablenow,and all drawheavilyon Stoker's
semi-autobiographicalReminiscencesofSirHenryIrving.HarryLudlam'sA Biography of

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Dracula: The Life Storyof Bram Stoker(London:W. Foulsham& Co. Ltd.,1962)is the
earliestbiography and focuseson theearlyfilmand theatrehistory of'Dracula.'Daniel
Farson'sThe Man Who Wrote Dracula (London:MichaelJosephLtd., 1975) takesa
slightly morecriticalapproachto Stoker'slifeand also incorporates familymemories,
sinceStokerwasFarson'sgreat-uncle. ForthesereasonsI havechosentorelyon Farson's
biography ratherthanLudlam's.Both biographies lack footnotes,bibliography,and
citations. The mostmodernbiography is AlainPozzuoli'sFrenchwork,also without
scholarly apparatus: BranmStoker,Princedes Tenebres(France:Librairie S6guier,1989).
Phyllis A. Roth'sslimbiography, Bram Stoker(Boston:Twayne Publishers,1982)provides
a morecontemporary scholarlyapproachbut is a summary of Farson,Ludlam,and
Personal Reminiscencesthataddsno newinformation.
3 Iuse theterms 'homosexual' and 'gay'in spiteofthefactthatStokerseemsto have
been interested in contemporary 'inversion'theoriesratherthan'homosexual' theories.
Callinghim an 'invert'would lend legitimacy to the term,whose heterosexualizing
assumptions are nowwellknown.
4Eve Kosofsky Sedgvvick, Epistemologyof the Closet (Berkeley: Univ.of California
Press,1990),79.
5BramStoker,Dracula (Oxford:OxfordUniv.Press,1983), 2, 378, 1. All further
references willrefertothisedition,andwillbe notedparenthetically withinthetextand
abbreviated D.
6Bram Stoker, PersonalReminiscences,2 vols.(NewYork:Macmillan Company, 1906),
2:95. Hereafter citedparenthetically in thetextandabbreviated R.
'See also, Horace Traubel,With Walt Whitman in Camden, 7 vols. (Carbondale:
Southern IllinoisUniv.Press,1959),1:302.
8Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, Between Men: English Literature and Male Homosocial
Desire (NewYork:ColumbiaUniv.Press,1985),205-6.
9Traubel(note8), 4:182.
"Traubel,4:185.
" Traubel,4:185.
12 Traubel, 4:81,184.
13Traubel,4:180.
14 Traubel, 4:180.
15Traubel,4:79,181.
6 It is interesting to notethatDennisR. PerryarguesthatWhitman's poetry exerteda
majorinfluence on Dracula. See "Whitman's Influenceon Stoker'sDracula," The Walt
WhitmanQuarterlyReview 3 (1986):29-33.In hislettertoWhitman, Stokersinglesout
the line "weatherbeaten shipsentering new ports"as peculiarly evocative;perhapsit
informed hisdescription oftheDemeter'sremarkable entry intoWhitby harbor.
17Traubel(note8), 4:181-85.
'8BramStoker,The Man (London:W. Heinemann, 1905),400.
'9Farson(note2), 31.
20Wecan onlyspeculateaboutIrving's desiresforStoker,buttantalizingcluesremain,
liketheillegiblepencillednotehe wroteStokeron thebackofan envelope,ofwhich
Farsoncoulddecipheronly:"You,aboveallmenwhomI holddear."Farson(note2), 98.
21
Roth(note2), 136.
22
LettertoEscott,[10July1883],Manuscript Collection#58794(f.32),BritishLibrary.
23
Did CaineshareStoker's feelings?Caine'sbiographer andfriend writesthatdepres-
sion"is notan uncommon moodwithyoungmen,and itsnotunnatural cureis forthe
youngmanto falldeeplyin love.Butthereseemedno likelihood ofanysuchhappiness

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befalling youngCaine,so faras anyofhisfriends knew.He seemedtoavoidthepossibility
ofsucha contingency. His friendships, so faras I knew,wereexclusively withyoungmen,
thoughtherewas nothing ofthemisogynist in him."C. Fred Kenyon,Hall Caine: The
Man and theNovelist(London:Greening & Co., Ltd.,1901),42.
24BramStoker,"The Censorshipof Fiction,"Nineteenth Century64 (1908), 486.
Hereafter citedparentheticallyin thetextandabbreviated F.
25Stoker's articles quiteold-fashioned,
areactually as theyfitintoa genreofreactionary
literary journalism thatflourished in the 1890s.Late-nineteenth-century literarycritics
wereterrified ofthefranktreatment ofsexuality theyassociatedwithZola,Wilde,and
various'New Women'writers. See, forinstance,Mrs. B. A. Crackanthorpe, "Sex in
ModernLiterature," TheNineteenth Century 37 (1895):607-16;EdmundGosse,"The
DecayofLiterary Taste,"NorthAmerican Review161(1895):109-18;H. RiderHaggard,
"AboutFiction,"Contemporary Review51 (1887): 172-80;JanetE. Hogarth, "Literary
Degenerates," The FortnightlyReview63 (1895):586-92;JamesAshcroft Noble,"The
Fictionof Sexuality," Contemporary Review67 (1895): 490-98; HughE. M. Stutfield,
"Tommyrotics," Blackwood'sMagazine157 (1895):833-45.
26 BramStoker, "TheCensorship ofStagePlays,"Nineteenth Century 66 (1909):985.
27Stoker, "StagePlays"(note26),985.
28The bestcommentary on The Man is actuallyRadclyffe Hall's Wellof Loneliness,
whichborrows Stoker'scharacternames,basicplot,anddescriptive detailstoproducethe
interesting storyofsexuality andgenderthatStoker'snarrative represses.
29BramStoker, FamousImposters (London:Sidgwick & Jackson, Ltd.,1910),269.
30Years later,Stoker wroteTheJeweloftheSevenStarsbasedon hismemories ofSir
WilliamWilde'sconversation. Ludlam(note2), 123.
311 date thisletter1875 becauseFarsonsaysthatStokerappliedforthepostof city
treasurer thatyear(Farson[note2], 26). TerenceDeVereWhite,TheParentsofOscar
Wilde(London:HodderandStoughton Limited,1967),238.The anecdoteabouttheflat
is on 243.
32 HoraceWyndham, Speranza:A Biography ofLady Wilde(New York:Philosophical
Library Inc.,1951),70.
33Ludlam(note2), 40; RichardEllmann,Oscar Wilde (New York:VintageBooks,
1987),58.
34Ellmann(note33), 58.
35Drawing reprintedin Vyvyan Holland,Son of Oscar Wilde(London:RupertHart-
Davis,1954),opposite240.Alsosee Holland,239-240;OscarWilde,TheLetters ofOscar
Wilde,ed. RupertHart-Davis(NewYork:Harcourt, Brace& World,Inc.,1962),36.
36See, forinstance, EdwardDowden'scongratulatory letterto Stoker,whichexpresses
surprise athismarriage. DowdenandStokerhadworkedtogether foryearsinWhitman's
behalfLetterto Stoker,[3 January 1879],Brotherton Collection,University ofLeeds.
37Farson (note2), 41.
38Ellmann(note33), 103.
39Farson (note2), 41.
40Wilde(note35), 54-55.
41Farson (note2), 41.
42Farson, 61.
43Wilde(note35), 61n.
44FrankHarris, OscarWilde:His Lifeand Confessions, 2 vols.(NewYork:Printedand
publishedby the author,1916), 1:52-53.Harris'saccountis confirmed by Ellmann's
biography.

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 45Farson(note2), 23.
46Farson, 18.
47Ellmann (note33), 30.
48Ellmann, 168,103.
49lHarris(note44), 38.
50Harris, 41.
51Ellmann(note33), 34; Farson(note2), 19.
52 Citedin Sedgwick, BetweenMen (note8), 21.
53See correspondence fromClementScott,1890,Brotherton Collection,
Universityof
Leeds.
54Amongthesourcesto consult fordetailsofWilde'sand Stoker'ssocialinteractions:
Farson(note2), 62, 70 (he citesa letterwhoseoriginal is at theShakespeare Centrein
England);Wilde(note35), 61n,76n,167,202,285-86,292; RupertHart-Davis, More
LettersofOscarWilde(New York:VanguardPress,1985),73; TheLady'sPictorial, 23
July1887,85, 100; Ellmann(note33), 371; H. Montgomery Hyde,Oscar Wilde(New
York:Farrar,Straus& Giroux,1975),135-36;RogerManwell,EllenTern1(New York:
G. P. Putnam'sSons,1968),132;lettersin theWildeCollection at theWilliamAndrews
ClarkLibrary ofUCLA: letterfromConstance Wilde,7 June1894,BergCollection, New
YorkPublicLibrary; letterfromConstanceWilde,11 June1894,Brotherton Collection,
University ofLeeds.
55Ellmann (note33), 30.
56Hesketh Pearson,Oscar Wilde:His Lifeand Wit(New York:Harper& Brothers,
1946),185.
57Coulson Kernahan, In GoodCompany(London:JohnLane, 1917),235.
58Laurence Irving, Henrij Irving:The Actorand his World(New York:Macmillan
Company, 1952),579.
59Marguerite Steen,A PrideofTerrys(London:Longmans, 1962),206.
60Manwell (note54), 232.
61Irving(note58), 579.
62
CharlesRicketts, Recollections
ofOscarWilde(Bloomsbury: NonesuchPress,1932),
48.
63Pozzuoli(note 2), 58; Farson (note 2), 235. Thoughthe tale appears in two
biographies, neitherbiographer givesa sourceforhisinformation, and noneofWilde's
publishedParislettersmentions Stoker.
64
LetterfromWillieWilde,16 July1895,Brotherton Collection, ofLeeds.
University
65For an exampleof WillieWilde'salcoholicemotionalism, see W. B. Yeats,The
Autobiographyof W. B. Yeats (New York:Macmillan Co., 1953), 172-73.
661H. MontgomeryHyde, Carson: The Life of Sir Edward Carson, Lord Carson of
Duncairn(NewYork:OctagonBooks,1974),14.
67Ludlam(note2), 95.
68Ludlam,102.
69Ellis Hanson, "Undead," in Inside/Out:Lesbian Theories,Gay Theories,ed. Diana
Fuss (NewYork:Routledge, 1991),325.
70 SalliJ.KlinearguesthatDracula,withhisfastidiousattireandgoatee,hisstrolls
down
Piccadilly, and his elaboratecollectionof valuableartworks, is meantto satirizethe
Aesthete. "CountDraculade Ville[hisassumedsurname] obviously standsforthedandies
ofLondon,itsprofessional itsself-conscious,
aesthetes, ostentatiously 'Deca-
extravagant
dents"'(SalliJ.Kline,TheDegeneration ofWorrwn[Rheinbach-Merzbach: CMZ-Verlag,
1992],188-91).

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 " FrankHarris'sMyLifeandLoves(NewYork:GrovePress,1925)detailshisdealings
withStoker.
72FrankHarris, OscarWilde(East Lansing:MichiganStateUniv.Press,1959),53-54.
ThoughHarrisis renowned forhismendacity, I haveused hisaccountbecauseit is the
mostvividdescription ofa commonobservation.
73TheWestminster Gazette,27 May1895,2.
74Fora description ofWilde'sincarceration, see Ellmann(note33), 479-80.
75Ellmann (note33), 38; Farson(note2), 232.
76Thomas Hood,"The DreamofEugeneAram,"in SelectedPoemsofThomasHood,
ed. JohnClubbe(Cambridge: HarvardUniv.Press,1970),162-69.
77Traubel (note8), 4:182.
78In notesdated1890,Draculahasan evenmoredirectdeclaration: "Thismanbelongs
tomeI wanthim."See Stoker's original
working notes,8 March1890,EL3.f/S874d/MS,
The RosenbachMuseumand Library, Philadelphia.
79Kernahan (note57), 235.
80Ellmann(note33), 499-500.
81H. Montgomery Hyde,TheThreeTrialsofOscarWilde(NewYork:University Books,
1948),199.
82Hyde(note81), 199.
83Hyde,190.
84Hyde,165.
85Thisconnection is mentioned byKline(note70), 191.
86Ellmann (note33),493.
87Hanson(note69), 337.
8'Letterto WilliamGladstone,24 May 1897,#44525f?.221,Manuscript Collection,
BritishLibrary.
89See, forinstance,HavelockEllis'sStudiesinthePsychology ofSex(Philadelphia: F. A.
Davis Company,1908),whichanalyzeshomosexuality through pathologicaldiscourse,
featuring chapterheadingslike,"Comparison withColor-blindness, Color-hearing,and
SimilarAbnormalities." According to Hyde'srecord,thejudge in Wilde'scase deeply
regretted thelackof medicalevidencethatcouldhave"thrown lighton" Wilde'sdark
behavior(Hyde[note98],335).
90Thisfearofdestructive infectionmayrelateto thefactthatbothWildeand Stoker
died fromsyphilis. The diseasetakesaboutfifteen yearsto killitshost.Thus we can
calculateWilde,whodied in 1900,contracted thediseaseabout1885,whereasStoker,
whodiedin 1912,mayhavebeen infected as earlyas Wilde'strialin 1895or Dracula's
publicationin 1897.
91TheDailyChronicle, 27 May1895,4.
92Ellmann (note33),479.
93TheEveningNews,quotedin Hyde(note81), 12.
94TheDailyTelegraph, quotedin Hyde,11.
95TheDailyTelegraph, quotedin Hyde,11.
9 TheWestminster Gazette,25 May1895,5.
97TheWestminster Gazette,27 May1895,2.
98TheOxfordUniversity Press(World'sClassics)editionhas a misprint of "April25"
insteadof "May25,"probably based on themisprint in thefirstedition(Westminster:
ArchibaldConstableand Company,1897). StokerclearlyintendedMay 25, because
Sewardmentions hisrejection ofMay24. The dateis correctin othereditions.

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 99VanHelsingmayalso allude to Wilde'sfather, anotherfamousdoctorwho was
knighted forhismedicalskillsandhisliterary achievements.
'0Farson (note2), 228.
'01Traubel (note8), 4:183.
102Farson(note2), 213-14.
103
See AlanJohnson, "BentandBrokenNecks:SignsofDesignin Dracula,"Victorian
Newsletter 72 (Fall 1987),n. 4, 243.
104 ReadingsofLucyincludeCarolA. Senf,"'Dracula':Stoker'sResponseto the New
Woman,"Victorian Studies26 (1982):33-49;PhyllisRoth,"Suddenly SexualWomenin
Bram Stoker'sDracula," Literatureand Psychology 26 (1977): 13-121; Stephanie
Demetrakopoulos, "Feminism, Sex Role Exchanges,and OtherSubliminalFantasiesin
BramStoker'sDracula,"Frontiers 3 (1977).
105Kernahan (note57), 235.
'?WillieWilde(note64).
107ErnestJones, On theNightmare (NewYork:Liveright, 1951)saysthatbloodoften
standsin forsemenin thecontext ofvampirenarratives.

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