Abraham Stoker and Theater - 1231 Words

Abraham (Bram) Stoker began his life bedridden, weak, and helpless. Stoker, third of seven children, was born in Clontarf, a suburb of Dublin, on November 8, 1847 (Whitelaw 9). His parents were Abraham Stoker, from Dublin, and Charlotte Mathilda Blake Thornley, who was raised in County Sligo (â€Å"Bram Stoker†). He spent most of his early childhood laying in bed, watching his brothers and sisters play outside through a dusty old window. â€Å"As a child, he wondered if he would get sicker--if he would end up dying† (Whitelaw 10). He could fully comprehend the definition of misery by the age of ten. Stoker was considered lucky, given his paralyzed condition, to have a mother who sat by his bedside telling his stories to keep his mind off of his illness. He grew up fantasizing about vampires and fairies in Irish tales. It is not very shocking to see that, because he grew up around misery, he became so intrigued with dark literature. His mother built the foundation that Stoker would later build his theatrical/literary empire on. His love for theater introduced him to the literary world. Stoker’s work and interest with theater is what eventually led him to become so involved with Gothic Literature. He was not fully capable of his writing abilities until after he enrolled in college. â€Å"[Stoker] enrolled at Trinity, a highly respected college of the University of Dublin, in 1863† (18). He was a very athletic student; rugby, football, swim, and crew were the sports that earned him an awardShow MoreRelatedEssay about Bram Stoker1449 Words   |  6 PagesBram Stoker Bram Stoker unleashed his horrific creation on an unsuspecting world over one hundred years ago. One could hardly imagine that his creature of the night would delight and inhabit the nightmares of every generation between his and ours. Count Dracula has become an icon of evil, and is perhaps the most widely recognized bogeyman in all of world literature. To date, there have been over one hundred films made about Dracula or other assorted vampires, not to mention countless novelsRead MoreComparing Dracula And Mary Shelley s Dracula And Frankenstein 1933 Words   |  8 Pageswritten in the Gothic style. The authors of Dracula and Frankenstein each experienced many hardships in their life. Some that may have affected the themes used in their novels, and some continued to affect them after the novels were published. Bram Stoker and Mary Shelley are two authors that shaped the Gothic genre into the deep, dark, and thrilling category it is today. Mary Shelley was born in London, England on August 30, 1797. Her parents were William Godwin, her father, a philosopher and political