Bristish literature - Essay Example

4. The significance of place. You might approach this topic by considering London across time, say from Pepys to Dracula. How is the described? What sensations does it engender? What kinds of life does it foster and/or stifle? You might think instead of how different authors create symbolic geographies, Pope’s Hampton Court, Wordsworth’s Wye Valley, Stoker’s Whitby and Transylvania, Mary Shelley’s Alps and Orkneys and Arctic. How does place affect character, or affect the reader’s perception of character?

You might also extend the term figuratively, as when someone feels “out of place.” This essay seeks to concisely explore the significance of place, in this case London, in the British Literature. London has been described differently in different times. The description of this city is rich and dynamic, but varies from author to author. Following discussion will be based on the approach of considering London across time, from Pepys to Dracula, to scrutinize how the city is described. Samuel Pepys is famous for his diary he wrote in his youth.

At one point in that diary, he accounts the Great Fire of London which destroyed much of London in the 17th century. He describes how the fire threatened every living human including the famous London Bridge. His portrayal of London in this account is dark and gloomy. Everywhere black acrid clouds of smoke were seen and more than 300 houses were reduced to ashes. Poor people stayed inside homes until fire destroyed everything. London was a picture of total pandemonium and destruction then. In contrast, Stoker uses the city to structure the narrative of the story, Dracula, which shows that London must have risen from ashes like a phoenix by then.

This is proven by that fact that the heart of London is described as very fashionable by Stoker where the Dracula was fixed (Stoker, 2007, p. 414). London is also described as heart of the Empire by Stoker which shows how description of this city varies from author to author. Different popular places of London are associated with Dracula to emphasize fear and moral panics. Stoker’s description of 19th century London can be considered very accurate today and also, it is different from Pepys’s description.

The city is portrayed as a rich place bustling with action. Though the poor lived a tough life, but rich people like the characters of Dracula lived comfortable in grand Victorian-style homes. Reference:Stoker, B. (2007). Dracula. Plain Label Books.