自十八世紀哥德小說出現後，觀眾並未因為當中恐怖黑暗的元素而排斥，反而引起流行，到了現代，在文學和藝術中，吸血鬼和其他不死怪物的題材甚至成了一種新的風潮。這類恐怖題材的作品，吸引觀眾的不是當中嚇人的元素，而是我們賦予了許多想像於哥德式恐怖小說中。在前言中，先簡單論述本研究的背景框架。從安˙瑞德克里夫(Ann Radcliffe)對於「驚駭」(Terror)和「恐怖」(Horror)的區別、浪漫主義和哥德式小說之間的關聯帶出本論文的主題，以拉岡「小客體」(object a)的概念和此研究中文本的共通點：「不死之愛」做連結。

    第一章中，以佛洛伊德在《自我與本我》中提到之「焦慮」產生原因為本章主要架構，重新閱讀愛倫坡三篇短篇故事中「靈魂不死」的謎樣女性角色帶給男性角色的衝擊和焦慮，最終導致他們自我毀滅(self-destrction)。男性角色雖然皆因為心愛女性的死亡而看似陷入不可自拔的哀傷，但同時又身為「不可靠的敘述者」(unreliable narrator)，他們對美麗女角的懷舊之情是來自自我的慾望和放逐或是對於死亡的焦慮，也是本章節討論重點。

    延續第一章佛洛伊德對「焦慮」的概念，第二章重新檢視了布拉姆‧斯托克《德古拉》所處的後維多利亞時期，在社會、文化皆處於轉變之際，該時代背景下的男性和女性如何經由吸血鬼德古拉的恐怖形象，去釋放在歷史、宗教、社會的壓抑下(Repression)所產生的焦慮和恐懼。像《德古拉》女主角米娜這樣身為受過教育的後維多利亞時期女性，在男性地位遠高過女性的時代，以拉岡「他者」(the Other)的概念檢視她們內心的壓抑和掙扎。

    而第三章進而比較布拉姆‧斯托克的《德古拉》和電影《吸血鬼：真愛不死》。有別於小說中的恐怖和壓抑，電影中探討的是愛和慾望。拉岡所謂的「慾望」(Desire)是需要(Need)和要求(Demand)扣除下的剩餘物，圍繞著慾望進而產生了拉岡的「焦慮」，在這樣的框架下，重新檢視了電影中男性角色對於「陽性」地位(Masculinity)被威脅的焦慮和反擊。此外，也將重新探討原著小說中欠缺之德古拉公爵和米娜之間的愛情。

Abstract:

    Our fascination to Gothic fiction never fades away since the 18th century, even nowadays, vampires and other immortal monsters become a new fashion in literature and art. What Gothic genre attracts audience are not only the horrifying elements from terror and death, but also the imagination from the uncertainty that gothic fiction reveals us. This thesis aims to discuss the represented aesthetics of terror and death through the imagery of vampires and undead monsters in gothic fiction. From different historical and cultural backgrounds, the anxiety and desire are read closely in the three Edgar Allan Poe’s short stories, “Ligeia,” “The Fall of the House of Usher ”and“ Eleonora,” Irish novelist Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and Francis Ford Coppola’s movie Bram Stoker's Dracula, through psychoanalytic perspectives.

    In introduction, I briefly explain the theme and theoretical frameworks of this thesis. In Ann Radcliffe’s essay “On the Supernatural in Poetry,” she characterizes the distinction between “Terror” and “Horror,” two representative features in Gothic fiction. Moreover, with the elements of Romanticism, gothic fiction became a literary genre since the 18th century. Edgar Allan Poe and Bram Stoker, both considered as gothic writers, terror, horror and undying love are represented in their works. On the basis of their writing styles, I reconsider the similarities in their stories through psychoanalytic perspectives from Lacan’s concept of object a. 

    In Freud’s The Ego and the Id, he talks about concept of conflicts and anxiety by repressed thoughts. In Chapter One, I reconsider the male “unreliable” narrators’ nostalgia and impact resulted from their loss of the mysterious and undying females, which eventually lead to their self-destruction. Under the structure of Freudian concept, anxiety and self-destruction are dealt with through psychoanalysis point of view. 

    In Chapter Two, through Freudian concept of Anxiety in The Ego and the Id, I reconsider the repressed desire and anxiety of the late-Victorians in Bram Stoker’s Dracula. With the social, cultural and religious conversion, the late-Victorians released their repression through vampiric imagery like Dracula. Both Freud and Lacan use the term “other,” referring to the other person or order, but Lacan uses the big other to emphasize the distinction between the ego and the Other. On the scheme of the Other, I deal with the repressed desire and struggle of Mina Murray and Lucy, who suffer from the social and gender unfairness in late-Victorian Era. 

    In Chapter Three, the comparison between Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Coppola’s movie Bram Stoker's Dracula is the main issue. The novel deals with terror and repression, but the film deals with love and desire. According to Lacan, desire is the leftover when “demand” is subtracted from “need,” and anxiety occurs around desire. Under this structure, the fear of masculinity in this film will be dealt with through psychoanalytic viewpoint of Lacan’s anxiety. Moreover, I reconsider the love between the Count and Mina through psychoanalytic perspective.

Table of Contents
Introduction..................................1
Background....................................1
Terror and Horror.............................2
Romanticism and Gothic Romance................5
object a, the Undead and Undying Love.........9
Chapter One...................................18
Freudian Anxiety and Sense of Guilt in Poe’s Short Stories.......................................18
Poe’s Unreliable Narrators and Mysterious Undying Beauties......................................19
Chapter Two...................................32
Anxiety and Repression........................32
Victorians’ Religious and Sexual Anxiety in Dracula.......................................33
Chapter Three.................................46
Desire, Anxiety and Love......................47
The Anxiety of Masculinity: Crisis of Manhood and Remasculinisation.............................49
From Reality to Dream: the Connection between Dracula and Mina..........................................54
Conclusion....................................61
Work Cited....................................67

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Film:
Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Dir. Francis Ford Coppola. Columbia Pictures, 1992. Film.