The Gates of Life (Annotated)
Enriched Edition. A Victorian Gothic Romance of Inheritance, Courtship, the New Woman, and the Moral Drama of ChoiceBy Bram Stoker
Length12h 43m
About this audiobook
Published also under the title The Man, The Gates of Life is a late-Victorian novel of inheritance, courtship, and gendered self-fashioning. Its heroine, Stephen Norman, is raised with unusual freedom and a masculine name, becoming a figure through whom Stoker examines the "New Woman," social expectation, and the moral drama of choice. Written in a melodramatic yet psychologically earnest style, the book belongs to the fin-de-siècle conversation about modern womanhood, domestic authority, and romantic destiny. Bram Stoker, best known for Dracula, was also a theatre manager, journalist, and observer of changing social manners in imperial Britain and Ireland. His professional life with Henry Irving's Lyceum Theatre sharpened his sense of performance, identity, and public roles, all of which inform this novel. Stoker's fascination with strong, unconventional women and with the tensions between tradition and modernity likely shaped his portrayal of Stephen's independence and vulnerability. Readers interested in Stoker beyond Gothic horror will find The Gates of Life especially rewarding. It offers a revealing companion to his darker fiction, showing the same concern with desire, control, and social transgression in a domestic realist mode. The novel is recommended for students of Victorian gender studies, popular fiction, and the broader imaginative range of Dracula's author.
This enriched edition has been carefully crafted to add value to your reading experience.
- A succinct Introduction situates the work's timeless appeal and themes.
- The Synopsis outlines the central plot, highlighting key developments without spoiling critical twists.
- A detailed Historical Context immerses you in the era's events and influences that shaped the writing.
- An Author Biography reveals milestones in the author's life, illuminating the personal insights behind the text.
- A thorough Analysis dissects symbols, motifs, and character arcs to unearth underlying meanings.
- Reflection questions prompt you to engage personally with the work's messages, connecting them to modern life.
- Hand‐picked Memorable Quotes shine a spotlight on moments of literary brilliance.
- Interactive footnotes clarify unusual references, historical allusions, and archaic phrases for an effortless, more informed read.
Audiobook details
GenreHorror
Length12 hrs 43 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateApr 25, 2018
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1Introduction
2Introduction
3Synopsis
4Historical Context
5Author Biography
Show all chaptersShow less
6Fore-Glimpse
7CHAPTER I—Stephen
8CHAPTER II—The Heart of a Child
9CHAPTER III—Harold
10CHAPTER IV—Harold at Normanstand
11CHAPTER V—The Crypt
12CHAPTER VI—A Visit to Oxford
13CHAPTER VII—The Need of Knowing
14CHAPTER VIII—The T-Cart
15CHAPTER IX—In the Spring
16CHAPTER X—The Resolve
17CHAPTER XI—The Meeting
18CHAPTER XII—On the Road Home
19CHAPTER XIII—Harold’s Resolve
20CHAPTER XIV—The Beech Grove
21CHAPTER XV—The End of the Meeting
22CHAPTER XVI—A Private Conversation
23CHAPTER XVII—A Business Transaction
24CHAPTER XVIII—More Business
25CHAPTER XIX—A Letter
26CHAPTER XX—Confidences
27CHAPTER XXI—The Duty of Courtesy
28CHAPTER XXII—Fixing the Bounds
29CHAPTER XXIII—The Man
30CHAPTER XXIV—From the Deeps
31CHAPTER XXV—A Little Child Shall Lead
32CHAPTER XXVI—A Noble Offer
33CHAPTER XXVII—Age’s Wisdom
34CHAPTER XXVIII—De Lannoy
35CHAPTER XXIX—The Silver Lady
36CHAPTER XXX—The Lesson of the Wilderness
37CHAPTER XXXI—The Life-Line
38CHAPTER XXXII—‘To Be God and Able to Do Things’
39CHAPTER XXXIII—The Queen’s Room
40CHAPTER XXXIV—Waiting
41CHAPTER XXXV—A Cry
42CHAPTER XXXVI—Light
43CHAPTER XXXVII—Golden Silence
44Analysis
45Reflection
46Memorable Quotes
HORROR CLASSICS - Boxed Set: The Greatest Horror Novels & Supernatural Stories of Bram Stoker (Annotated)Bram Stoker62h 55m$2 · $0.00
TRUE CRIME COLLECTION – The Greatest Imposters & Con Artists (Annotated)Bram Stoker10h$2 · $0.00
The Jewel of Seven Stars (Annotated)Bram Stoker11h 19m$2 · $0.00
Bram Stoker: Complete Novels (Annotated)Bram Stoker109h 7m$2 · $0.00
20 Horror-Klassiker, die man kennen muss (Kommentiert)Bram Stoker, Mary Shelley, Edgar Allan Poe, E. T. A. Hoffmann, Washington Irving, Arthur Conan Doyle, A. K. Tolstoi, Robert Louis Stevenson, John Polidori, Jeremias Gotthelf, H. G. Wells, Oscar Wilde, Nikolai Gogol, Franz Kafka, Stanislaw Przybyszewski, Hanns Heinz Ewers, Octave Mirbeau, Joseph Conrad, August Strindberg, Ludwig Bechstein113h 28m$1 · $0.00
Fantasie der Finsternis: Meisterhafte Gruselgeschichten (Kommentiert)Bram Stoker, Mary Shelley, H. P. Lovecraft, Prosper Mérimée, Edgar Allan Poe, Fjodor M. Dostojewski, Nikolai Gogol, Washington Irving, A. K. Tolstoi, Robert Louis Stevenson, John Polidori, Jeremias Gotthelf, H. G. Wells, E. T. A. Hoffmann, Oscar Wilde, Stanislaw Przybyszewski, Hanns Heinz Ewers, Felix Salten, Herman Bang141h 59m$2 · $0.00
THE MYSTERY OF THE SEA (Annotated)Bram Stoker17h 19m$3 · $0.00
DRACULA'S HALLOWEEN – The Best Horrors & Supernatural Tales of Bram Stoker (Annotated)Bram Stoker62h 53m$2 · $0.00
DráculaBram Stoker18h 33m$2 · $0.00
Vampires vs. Werewolves – Ultimate CollectionBram Stoker, Théophile Gautier, Rudyard Kipling, Eugene Field, Clemence Housman, Thomas Peckett Prest, James Malcolm Rymer, George Sylvester Viereck, Victoria Glad, Anthony Pelcher, Henry Kuttner, Earl Peirce, Lloyd Arthur Eshbach, Dudley Wright, Caroline Taylor Stewart, Hume Nisbet, John William Polidori, E. F. Benson, George W. M. Reynolds, Robert E. Howard, Sabine Baring-Gould, Richard Francis Burton, Marie de France, Sheridan Le Fanu, Jan Neruda, Claude Askew, Alice Askew, Émile Erckmann, Alexandre Chatrian, Victor Rowan, Alexandre Dumas Père, Gladys Gordon Trenery, Clifford Ball179h 10m$1 · $0.00
Famous Imposters, Pretenders & HoaxesBram Stoker8h 37m$2 · $0.00
The ManBram Stoker12h 9m$2 · $0.00
DráculaBram Stoker18h 41m$1 · $0.00
BRAM STOKER: 12 Novels in One Volume (Horror Classics Series)Bram Stoker108h 44m$1 · $0.00
Personal reminiscences of Henry IrvingBram Stoker19h 2m$2 · $0.00
WITCHCRAFT & MAGIC - Ultimate CollectionBram Stoker, Charles Mackay, William Godwin, Walter Scott, Charles Wentworth Upham, Jules Michelet, John Ashton, Howard Williams, Increase Mather, Cotton Mather, Allen Putnam, George Moir, Frederick George Lee, James Thacher, M. V. B. Perley, Wilhelm Meinhold, John M. Taylor, E. Lynn Linton, William P. Upham, W. H. Davenport Adams, M. Schele de Vere, St. John D. Seymour, John G. Campbell, John Maxwell Wood, Samuel Roberts Wells, Margaret Murray274h 34m$1 · $0.00
DráculaBram Stoker17h 30m$13 · $0.00
The Lady of the Shroud (Annotated)Bram Stoker14h 51m$2 · $0.00
Die Lady mit dem Leichentuch (Zusammengefasste Ausgabe)Bram Stoker3h 35m$2
Reign Of AngelsBen Reeder8h 54m5.0 (1)$20
We’re AliveKc Wayland5h 10m$15
The Undead PoolKim Harrison16h 13m$33 · $0.00
Glacier's EdgeR. A. Salvatore13h 44m$33 · $0.00
Haint BlueStephanie Alexander11h 55m$23
The King in Yellow (Annotated)Robert W. Chambers8h 53m$0.99 · $0.00
Good OmensNeil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett12h 33m$33 · $0.00
Dark of NightJonathan Maberry, Rachael Lavin4h 59m2.0 (1)$20 · $0.00
The Renegade HunterLynsay Sands10h 7m$29 · $0.00
The Fall of the House of CabalJonathan L. Howard14h 54m$23
Lost GodsBrom14h 50m$33 · $0.00
The Complete Works of E. F. Benson (Illustrated)E. F. Benson335h 9m$1 · $0.00
The AccusedJana DeLeon6h 32m5.0 (1)$12 · $0.00
Corpus HermeticumHermes Trismegistus3h 43m$7 · $0.00
LambChristopher Moore15h 22m4.0 (1)$33 · $0.00
CARMILLA (Gothic Classic) (Annotated)Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu4h 2m$0.99 · $0.00
The ExorcistWilliam Peter Blatty12h 52m5.0 (2)$8 · $0.00
The Complete Novels of Mary ShelleyMary Shelley128h 25m$2 · $0.00
Twice TemptedJeaniene Frost8h 17m$26 · $0.00
Between Two FiresChristopher Buehlman14h 25m$23
You may also like
Queer RelationsEllie Thomas2h 32m$4.50 · $0.00
Waiting for a Scot Like YouEva Leigh8h 26m$26 · $0.00
A Woman's WorkVictoria Purman9h 9m$29 · $0.00
In Want of a ViscountLorraine Heath12h 31m$33 · $0.00
Tall, Duke, and DangerousMegan Frampton8h 21m$26 · $0.00
The Enchanted AprilElizabeth von Arnim9h$2.30
Heiress Gone WildLaura Lee Guhrke10h 2m$29 · $0.00
Tess and the HighlanderMay McGoldrick, Jan Coffey5h 53m$10 · $0.00
The Tiffany GirlsShelley Noble11h 56m$29 · $0.00
The Illegitimate DukeSophie Barnes10h 35m$29 · $0.00
The HillmanE. Phillips Oppenheim9h 37m$2 · $0.00
Duke Most WickedLenora Bell10h 8m$29 · $0.00
Never Kiss a DukeMegan Frampton9h 40m$29 · $0.00
Diana the HuntressM. C. Beaton6h 12m$17
A Tropical Rebel Gets the DukeAdriana Herrera14h 45m$33 · $0.00
The Midwife of Hope RiverPatricia Harman12h 5m$29 · $0.00
The ProfessorCharlotte Brontë10h 32m$4 · $0.00
Gerald Eversley's Friendship: A Study in Real LifeJ. E. C. Welldon8h 23m$2 · $0.00
The Valet’s SecretJosi S. Kilpack6h 32m$17
The Duke EffectSophie Jordan7h 9m$24 · $0.00