References: Penny Dreadful Season 1

The entirety of Penny Dreadful is steeped in inspiration from classic works of horror. Occasionally, this inspiration comes out in small references and quick allusions. Other times, it comes out in full adaptations of entire characters and storylines. Within this article, we’ll be breaking down all of these inspirations and explaining the original works from which they are derived.

 

Warning: Spoilers for Penny Dreadful Season 1

Abraham Van Helsing

The character of Abraham Van Helsing is very loosely based on the Dracula character of the same name. The two are both men who are knowledgeable about hunting vampires.

However, this is ends the bulk of their similarities, as the two characters are radically different from one another. The Penny Dreadful version had killed vampires before, had a wife who became a vampire, and died shortly after being introduced. Meanwhile, the Dracula version had no vampiric experience prior to being introduced, was the main source of knowledge about vampires, was instrumental in the quest to save Mina, and was still alive at the end of the story. Overall, these two have very little in common with one another.

The Creature/Caliban/John Clare

The resurrected creature from Penny Dreadful is very clearly based on the unnamed monster from Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. Both characters are created from the remains of dead human beings, both are immediately abandoned by their creator, both end up killing the people close to Victor Frankenstein, and both are generally shunned by society. Their storylines are also very similar, as they both coerce Victor Frankenstein into creating a female companion for them.

The differences between the two mostly come from the Penny Dreadful version’s personal journey. His experience with the theater is completely absent from Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein, which mostly has the creature stay in hiding. Additional differences are introduced in Season 2 (References).

Dorian Gray

The titular character from Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray forms the structure upon which Penny Dreadful‘s Dorian Gray is based. Much like the television show, the literary version of Dorian Gray is an eternally youthful man who is in constant pursuit of hedonistic adventures. In the novel, these hedonistic adventures are never fully described but are said to include every imaginable vice.

The biggest difference between these two characters, so far, is that the novel version is only a few decades old when he dies. Meanwhile, the television version is implied to be much older.

Ethan Chandler

The final episode of Season 1 reveals Ethan Chandler to be a werewolf, a mythical creature dating back to Proto-Indo-European mythology. Additional specifics about his classic horror background are revealed in Season 2.

Mina Murray

Mina Murray is a character introduced in Bram Stroker’s Dracula. In this 1897 novel, Mina is one of the protagonists and is essential in defeating the book’s main antagonist. Like her Penny Dreadful counterpart, this character is a woman infected by a vampire, who the rest of the characters try to save. In addition, at some point in time, both versions of the character end up marrying a lawyer named Jonathan Harker.

However, there are a number of differences separating these two characters. The Dracula version of the character did not have a famous explorer for a father, never had her heart broken by her fiancé, and never fully made the transition to vampirism. In addition, the Dracula version was prone to visions that allowed her to see what the vampire was doing, a role taken on by Penny Dreadful‘s Vanessa Ives. Their stories also conclude differently, as Penny Dreadful‘s Mina dies at the end of Season 1 while Dracula‘s Mina survives the entire book.

Victor Frankenstein

Victor Frankenstein is the name of the titular character from Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein. In this 1818 piece of literature, he is a doctor who discovers a way to reanimate dead flesh. Much like the Penny Dreadful character, he flees from the first corpse he reanimates, causing the newly created monster to hate him. The literary and television versions of Frankenstein are also both threatened by their creations later on.

Penny Dreadful alters Frankenstein’s character by removing most of his relationship to friends and family (with the exception of his mother). In addition, the literary version only reanimated one corpse, whereas the television version has already reanimated two.