The first thing might come up to one’s mind describing vampires is their cadaverous, pale body. As virtually, vampires are”non-living” creatures, both Dracula and Edward, embodies a sort of corpse-like features. Generally, dead body is associated with ugly, repulsive, and disgusting; so basically it has negative meanings and this fact raises contradiction between their somewhat pleasant-looking portrayal, and their deathly qualities. Jeffrey Cohen suggests that “monster’s body quite literally incorporates fear, desire, anxiety, and fantasy (ataractic or incendiary), giving them life and uncanny independence.“(4).The complexity of the reactions, what vampire’s sheer presence trigger, might be attributable to their supernatural being. An ambiguity
In comparison to the modern interpretations of the vampire genre, Bram Stoker’s Dracula is slower in progression, yet deeper in meaning. In modern interpretations of the genre, stories such as Twilight, Vampire Diaries, and The Originals progresses quickly, and vampires are portrayed as redeemable. Contrasting these stories, Dracula progresses sluggishly with Stoker giving too much information throughout the entire novel. Moreover, Count Dracula is seen as an irredeemable, soulless monster. Having been accustomed to the modern interpretations of this genre, Dracula was an extremely dull read. At various points in the story, I expected stronger plot development or suspense, but the story lacked both. Additionally, the story lacked cohesion as the vast imagery and explanations of the character’s internal thoughts contributed nothing to the plot.
Vampires have been around for centuries, they represent the fear of many things such as sexuality, race, gender, etc. and above all, they stand for the fear of diseases. Vampires have once been the symbol of horror due to their terrific depictions and were described as a threat to the humanity. Throughout time, the image of vampire has changed dramatically from a monstrous, inhumanely creature that doesn’t belong to human society to such an attractive and adaptive figure that expresses more of the human side than the evil. They developed human feelings, senses, and live within our society. Modern vampire movies are often more romantic and “sympathetic” comparing to the past. Vampires have abandoned their horror and evolved to a more
Batman beats the Joker. Spiderman banishes the Green Goblin. For centuries story tellers have used the basic idea of good beats bad to guide their tales. Stories of blood sucking, human possessions and other tales have been passed down generations and vary between cultures. Among the creators of the famous protagonists is, Bram Stoker, the creator of Dracula. This fictional character was soon to be famous, and modified for years to come into movie characters or even into cereal commercials. But the original will never be forgotten; a story of a group of friends all with the same mission, to destroy Dracula. The Count has scared many people, from critics to mere children, but if one reads betweens the line, Stoker’s true message can be
Values are malleable as they adapt to context, unlike conventions which remain constant through all frameworks. Bram Stoker’s Dracula upholds conventions which have persisted through centuries of time and diverse modes of communication. Identical conventions are distinct in all Vampiric and Gothic texts, such as Stephen Sommers’ film Van Helsing, and Cyber-Ducks Dracula: The Interactive Comic. Although the three mentioned texts preserve invariable conventions, they uphold values that have accommodated for different audiences. The latter two appropriations of Dracula are composed for a modern audience, and therefore portray different values to Bram Stoker’s original text. The most apparent change is acknowledged through Dracula highlighting
Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” is a story about a Vampire named Count Dracula and his journey to satisfy his lust for blood. The story is told through a series of individuals’ journal entries and a letters sent back and forth between characters. Bram Stoker shows the roll in which a certain gender plays in the Victorian era through the works of Dracula. This discussion not only consists of the roll a certain gender takes, but will be discussing how a certain gender fits into the culture of that time period as well as how males and females interact among each other. The Victorian era was extremely conservative when it came to the female, however there are signs of the changing into the New Woman inside of Dracula. Essentially the woman was to be assistance to a man and stay pure inside of their ways.
The main characters in Dracula change over the course of the story in many ways. Jonathan Harker starts off in the story as an ambitious and hopeful lawyer, who is eager to travel to new lands for business. Once Jonathan gets a glimpse of who Dracula really is, he immediately begins to live with fear of Dracula, especially after encountering the three ghostly women. By the time he escapes the castle and gets back home, he is traumatized when he realizes that his stay at the Count's castle was real, and not a dream. Determined to find out the truth, Jonathan joins up with Van Helsing and the others. By the time the group defeats Dracula once and for all, Jonathan is no longer the person he was before he went to the castle. He, alongside with
There is an ambiguity in the conversation
Bram Stoker’s Dracula was written in 1897. This was a time that the Victorian era and its values were changing and meeting their ends. The male-dominant world was evolving to an equal opportunity society. This meant women were no longer oppressed and limited socially, educationally, economically, or even sexually. The end of the Victorian era also called for growth in technology and medicines. Old ideas were diminishing while new ideas of the world were flourishing. Whether it be the pro femininity, new outlooks, or advances in technological and medicinal aspects, we can find these concepts portrayed in various ways throughout Dracula. At the time Stoker wrote the story, they were new ideas and the first time the certain issues were
Gothic Comparative Analysis Essay As the day comes to an end and darkness settles, bringing night closer, it's easy to wonder between the mysterious tendencies of Dracula and the chilling duality of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, which one sends shivers down our spines the most? Gothic literature, with its eerie landscapes and tortured characters, has captivated readers for centuries, dwelling in our deepest fears and desires. From haunted castles to tormented souls, it's a genre that both terrifies and fascinates. Dracula introduces the ancient vampire Count Dracula, whose seductive powers and supernatural abilities terrorize Victorian London. On the other hand, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde tells the story of Dr Henry Jekyll, a respected scientist whose
“” this is the definition of folklore, and from these stories we get a multitude of myths and speculation of what happens to us when we die. They range from just disappearing into nothingness to becoming a higher being or going into a higher plain of existence. There are ideas however, of a life on this earth after we die for those who have committed crimes or have not been buried properly, we become the other, the supernatural or ultimately the undead. The most common of which is the vampire. One of the most known vampires from literature is Bram Stoker’s ‘Dracula’ (1897) who is portrayed as a blood thirty, emotionless monster, which is the idea most often portrayed in folklore. This is a stark contrast from Anne Rice’s (1976) portal of a “” . The traditional idea of a monstrous creature who haunts the night is seen as an old idea and that people’s views of the supernatural are changing to a more humane, beautiful creature, not of a demon. This could be due to the popularity in teen and young adult fiction that happened in the late 1900’s. This change from traditional folklore is due to “” the way we perceive things are changing due to the influence of different cultures and ideas. Most of our ideas of vampires have changed from the traditional views to a beautiful human creature: seen in ‘Twilight’, ‘Vampire Knight’, ‘Vampire Academy’, and ‘Anita Blake’. These novels do have some elements of the monster portrayed in ‘Dracula’ and folklore but the main characters are the
Imagine as the night sky is at its darkest point, a dark castle with crumbling stones and looming gargoyles can be seen in the distance; the sight of the dreadful prison would send deathly shivers down anyone’s back. Using words with a connotation similar to the air in the preceding sentence is a distinct peculiarity found in gothic literature throughout history. Along with common gothic vocabulary, these writers frequently allude to existing myths, prophecies, and legends to convince the reader of a stronger connection in the storyline. Finally, gothic literature authors often use prophecies and visions to foreshadow a deeper, more sinister event. Bram Stoker’s
Another theory I would like to apply to Dracula is that he is a psychopath. When I went through the checklist for his personality or character traits, I scored him as a 28, which is above the consensus ranking by doctors of 26 points. In terms of his superficial charm, I scored him with a two. I did this because the book describes him as a clever man, with above average intelligence, as a likable conversationalist; even in the conversation he had with the peasant before killing his wife, he was described as being emotionally calm with little discomfort. For his sense of self-worth I scored him with a one. I picked this answer because while he didn’t brag about his abilities, he often gave off the feeling that he believed that he was better than the people
A Literary Reference for Nonthematic Hyperbole has a few distinct characteristics. First, the reference must employ the theme for the originally referenced work. Here, the Dracula novel does not use a theme that relates to the exclusion of police entry into a home. Rather, it plays off a subtle rule specific to Dracula’s character. That is Dracula cannot enter anyone’s home until he receives permission to do so. Once he receives permission, he can come back and re-enter the home whenever he pleases. The distinction is that we don’t allow the police to return after they have received permission the first time. Instead, they must again acquire consent upon each visit.
The Gothic genre does suppress vulnerable women. They are exploited in order to please the tyrannical male and feed his desires. When the women is no longer of use, she is then discarded. The Gothic genre is described as ‘formulaic” and one of the key features is a tyrannical male who abuses his power to assert his dominance over a perceived futile women. Bram Stoker’s ‘Dracula’ was written in time where women started to want more equal rights and opportunities. For example, in the same year Dracula was published (1897), Millicent Fawcett founded ‘The National Union of Women’s Suffrage’. Bram Stoker feared the decline of the patriarchal figure and could have created ‘Dracula’ as an attempt to scaremonger the public into thinking what would
In the novel's world, Dracula has many mystical powers, some which has been shown only on several occasions and some which he uses for his daily life. Dracula also has a very unique personality, which could tempt women and make them vulnerable. This means, Dracula could dominate every human being individually, not as a group. His powers and personality has something in common. Count Dracula uses his powers and unique abilities as a tool to ridicule religions and God's decisions and as a great threat to the mainstream society.