From Vampires to Madwomen: Here’s a List of the Best 19th Century Reads!

The 19th century brought some of the most famous writers about. Bram Stoker, Mary Shelley, and Charlotte Brontë among many. These authors created chilling novels that dealt with issues of madness, womanhood, class, and human nature. Here’s a list of some of the best novels written during this era. 

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dracula

Dracula by Bram Stoker is a classic novel inspired by Vlad the Impaler. The story follows multiple characters’ point of views, communicated through letters to each other and personal journal entries. One of the main characters, Jonathan Harker, takes a business trip to Count Dracula’s estate in Europe. Once there, he becomes trapped in Dracula’s castle and tormented by the vampire and his three vampiric wives. The story progresses as multiple characters form together to defeat Dracula with many challenges along the way. 

Although a novel about vampires, there are many important undertones that are worth noting. For instance, Harker’s wife, Mina, showcases many features of the “New Woman,” which was a Victorian woman who broke from the norm of typical women and had a desire to get educated, work, and not get married. Mina stays very involved in the fight throughout the whole novel and is the key to bringing Dracula down. She’s intelligent and hard-working. This was very unusual for a woman in a Victorian novel. 

There were also many homosexual and polyamorous undertones throughout the novel, which were also unusual during that time. Dracula and his three wives desiring Jonathan expresses both bisexuality and polyamory. Mina’s passionate friendship with Lucy Westenra expressed through their letters to each other shows how women were able to communicate their affections to each other during an era that feared homosexuality. All these elements are revolutionary for Victorian fiction.

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frankenstein

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is a novel following Victor Frankenstein, a scientist who becomes obsessed with giving life to the non-living. The story follows Frankenstein as he dedicates his days to giving life to a corpse. Once he succeeds, he becomes disgusted with what he’s created and runs away. The creation escapes and vows to get revenge on his creator for abandoning him and putting life into such a wretched body. 

The story raises many questions about humanity. To start, it shows how dark human nature is. As the creation wanders the world, he learns through books about war and how humans hurt and kill each other. He becomes disgusted. He even faces violence at the hands of a human family who are terrified of him when he shows up at their cottage and throws him out. 

One could also argue that the story raises questions about gender. Throughout the whole novel, the women suffer and die, mostly due to something a man did. Although it is a novel intended to give the reader goosebumps, it also allows readers to think about humanity and issues of gender. It is a chilling, intellectual read. 

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the woman in white

The Woman in White is a novel by Wilkie Collins. It is a detective fiction story following multiple characters. There’s the mysterious woman in white clothing, Anne Catherick, that main character Walter Hartright meets on the street and later finds out has escaped a mental asylum. The story follows mad women, scheming men, marriage plots, and mystery. 

The story’s main concern is with women and the Victorian perceptions of madness. There were many unusual things that made one “insane” during this era. For instance, the definition of madness at the time was possessing behaviors not considered socially normal, and there were many ridiculous things not considered socially normal at that time. Reasons for admission into asylums included laziness, having domestic trouble, jealousy, and even reading novels. All these aspects targeted women. Women weren’t allowed to work, fight back against their husbands, or become educated so they could read. 

Usually, women were deemed as hysteric and thrown into mental institutions if they asked for help or displayed any of the previously mentioned behaviors or actions. In The Woman in White, Collins shows how troubled women are deemed as insane and treated horribly by men to highlight this issue that was prominent during the Victorian era. 

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jane eyre

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë is another novel that deals with madness and gender issues. The novel follows the main character Jane Eyre, who was abused by her aunt and cousins during her childhood. The story follows her life as she’s shipped off to Lowood School, eventually becomes a governess at Thornfield Hall, and falls in love with her employer. 

The novel has themes of class and madness. Jane Eyre is considered poor and often lived in poor conditions throughout her life. Even when she gets her own job as a governess, she doesn’t make that much and her position as a governess—and thus working class—prevents her from being in a higher class. 

The elements of madness come into play early in the novel, when Jane Eyre is thrown into the “red room” and locked in there by her aunt. In the red room, Jane Eyre feels like she’s suffocating and starts to hallucinate. In addition to this, toward the latter half of the novel, Jane Eyre discovers that there’s a madwoman in Thornfield Hall that was being kept a secret from her. It’s worth noting that the women are always the insane ones in these novels. 

It could also be argued that there are feminist elements throughout the book, since Jane Eyre read books, wanted to be educated, and desired independence—all of which were out of the ordinary for typical Victorian women. 

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lady audley’s secret

Lady Audley’s Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon is a novel about the seemingly perfect Lady Audley who is a mystery to most, and the main character Robert Audley’s search for his old friend George Talboys who one day goes missing during a visit to Audley Court. 

The themes in this novel are gender, class, and madness. On the outside, Lady Audley is a picture-perfect Victorian woman. But on the inside, she’s a scheming madwoman. She first started in the lower class, but somehow manages to weave her way into a marriage with a wealthy man and up her status. However, someone from her past when she was a poor woman comes back into her life, and his presence haunts her so much that she slowly grows mad. 

The novel portrays a woman who will do whatever it takes to get what she wants, even if it’s against the law. Lady Audley’s Secret is a chilling read with mystery, murder, and many plot twists!  

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the turn of the screw

The Turn of the Screw by Henry James is a novella that inspired the suspense-horror series on Netflix, The Haunting of Bly Manor. This horror novella follows a story told on Christmas time by a friend of an unnamed narrator. The friend reads a journal written by his sister’s old governess. The governess travels to Bly Manor to take care of two children: the sweet Miles and Flora. 

While there, she starts to witness apparitions of a man and a woman she doesn’t recognize. The more she sees them, the more she believes that the children know of their existence and speak to them. The apparitions also influence what the children say and do. The novella is considered both a ghost story and of the gothic fiction genre.  

conclusion

These 19th century stories are perfect for those who love mystery, supernatural creatures, psychological twists, and gothic elements. These stories will either frighten, disturb, or surprise you. The 19th century was a time when authors used fiction and gothic horror elements as a way of communicating important issues relating to class, gender, and insanity. If you’re interested in learning about these Victorian themes through a chilling read, check out these classic 19th century stories!