Conclusion

Abstract

The Primrose Path (1875) and Snowbound (1908), fictions which come near the beginning and the end of Stoker’s literary productivity, frame his life in the theatre. In The Primrose Path a carpenter, Jerry O’Sullivan, leaves the security of his work in Ireland for the lure of theatrical carpentry in London. The narrator describes how

Deep in the minds of most energetic persons lies some strong desire, some strong ambition, or some resolute hope, which unconsciously moulds, or, at least, influences their every act. No matter what their circumstances in life may be, or how much they may yield to those circumstances for a time, the one idea remains forever. (Stoker, 1999: 33)

When an opportunity arises to work at the Stanley Theatre, Jerry is tempted by the possibility of ‘combining his romantic taste and his trade experience’ in a ‘wider field of exertion’ (1999: 39). He takes his wife and children with him. His arrival at the theatre coincides with a production of Faust, and when the actor playing Mephistopheles invites Jerry to a nearby tavern, Jerry’s moral descent commences. Later, former acquaintances from Ireland, the Muldoons, visit the family in London. Before their respective marriages Mrs Muldoon ‘had originally set her cap at Jerry, and had very nearly succeeded in her aim’ (1999: 18). She expresses an interest in seeing the inside of a theatre and Jerry obliges.