The Image of Religion and its Function in M. G. Lewis' 'The Monk' and B. Stoker's 'Dracula'

Seminar paper from the year 2006 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 1,7, University of Heidelberg (Institut für Anglistik), course: Hauptseminar "The Gothic", language: English, abstract: Undoubtedly, religion plays an important role in early Gothic

literature. In most cases this does not seem a positive one as

can be seen at first glance in Matthew G. Lewis¿ The Monk

(1796). Most likely this also reflects a tendency of the postenlightenment

period in which it was written. However, it is

interesting to ask how the view on religion and its role in

Gothic texts developed in the 18th century. Therefore, I will

compare The Monk to Bram Stoker¿s Dracula (1897) written

roughly a hundred years later, which gives a more

sophisticated view on religion.

In order to structure the wide topic of religion I will

present three different perspectives of religion: the

societal, the institutional, and the theological. These three

strands will first be traced in The Monk and as a second step

in comparison to it in Dracula. The theological perspective on

religion in Stoker¿s novel will be allowed more room as this

is at the heart of the question whether religion receives a

positive or a negative reputation in Dracula.

I will argue that religion in The Monk but also in Dracula

is indispensable. Furthermore, I will give evidence for the

thesis that religion in Dracula is not merely reduced to an

apotropaic device against vampires but has a high significance

for the whole of the characters¿ lives. This is further

emphasised in the last part of the paper, in which I will

compare the endings of both novels. As the different Christian

denominations have already been researched in depth, I will

only briefly touch on this subject and mainly focus on

Christian religion as such.