Date

11-11-2026

Department

College of Arts and Sciences

Degree

Master of Arts in Literature (MA)

Chair

Karen Dodson

Keywords

Gothic genre, Mary Shelley, Frankenstien, Bram Stoker, Dracula, Biblical Anthropology, Imago Dei, Materialism, Science, Adaptations, Monster, Theology, theological, humanism, identity, Genesis

Disciplines

Arts and Humanities | English Language and Literature

Abstract

In their texts, Stoker and Shelley embody the Christian doctrines of the creation and the incarnation through their monsters, who invert the central tenets of Christianity. Frankenstein’s monster and its relationship to Victor Frankenstein are presented as a maladapted and gross mimicry of God’s creation of man in Genesis. Victor, in his attempt to create life, tries to play God, and his hubristic endeavor unleashes a monstrous being on creation. Likewise, Count Dracula’s vampirism is portrayed as a corruptive reduction of Christ’s incarnation and resurrection. For the regenerative vampiric body, resurrection is not a redemptive act but a curse. The authors employ these familiar Christian ideas to emphasize the monstrosity of their creations through a biblical framework.

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