Enl 200
Oct. 16, 2014
Compare and contrast the theme of sexuality in three of the texts we’ve read so far.

In several texts we have read in class so far there has been hidden meanings and in order to figure out these meanings we've had to analyze the context of the texts. One of the hidden themes we have found in several texts is that of sexuality. In the texts where it has been seen the most is that of the novel Dracula and in two Edgar Allen Poe poems, such as, "Annabel Lee" and "The Sleeper". These all have clear themes of sexuality in each though some parts are different, however, they all have similar traits. These three texts are alike not just because they have the theme of sexuality but they all deal with the death of a lady and how the main characters of these texts are attracted to their death which is preceived as uncanny. In the book Dracula by Bram Stoker Dracula is a vampire who finds a victim named Lucy who he sucks her blood until she dies when Lucy is dead she is still seen as beautiful by the characters and are all still in love with her although she is dead. In the poem "Annabel Lee" the character's love Annabel has died but he is still attracted to her and talks about her as if she is still alive and lays with her every night. The next poem "The Sleeper" is similiar to "Annabel Lee" because the main character has lost the love of his life a beautiful woman. The character like in "Annabel Lee" struggles to deal with the nature of life and death. The writer Poe describes that his love is just sleeping and how beautiful she is when she sleeps. All of these texts talk about the death of a beautiful woman that the characters have all loved and are still attracted to and desire their loves even after their death. Although these texts are all similiar they all have differences. The differences between the texts is the way they all describe the theme sexuality. The difference that is seen in the novel Dracula is that there is more sexuality in the text than just Lucy's death. Dracula the main character who is also a vampire gets a satisifcation from sucking people's blood male or female which seems to the readers extremely uncanny and odd, which draws you more into the novel because it makes the reader wonder why Dracula gets this feel of satistifcation and arousal from sucking human blood. In the poem "Annabel Lee" the theme sexuality is displayed differently than the two other texts. In this poem it is stated in the beginning that his love Annabel is dead and he knows she is dead but still refuses to accept it. Instead of the character acting like his love is dead he talks about her in the present tense and even states that he sleeps with her body every night this is showing an unusual and unfamiliar display of sexuality. In the poem "The Sleeper" sexuality is shown differently, as well. The main character talks about his love as if she is still alive and has just been sleeping for an unusual amount of time. The character refuses to accept that his love is dead and finds her more beautiful than ever when she is sleeping. This is showing that he is attract to a dead body. All of these texts Dracula,"Annabel Lee", and "The Sleeper" all show themes of sexuality in the form of the uncanny which is their similairites. The differences between these three texts is the way that sexuality is display and worded in the context. However, by analyzing these texts you can clearly tell that these writings are unfamiliar and unusual along with the way sexuality is described in each. This is what makes these writings so significant and the reason why they are all still read and analyzed today.