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 …show more content…
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Dracula's blend of supernatural dread and rejected societal actions helps cause us to think about our deepest fears and forbidden desires in a way that sticks with the reader long after closing the book. In Dracula, Bram Stoker takes us on a journey to Transylvania, where misty mountains and sinister castles set the stage for ancient evil. The further Stoker describes Dracula's castle, the more the ominous atmosphere builds chilling suspense. As the story shifts to Victorian London, foggy streets and old buildings further the feeling of unease. In the novella Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde, Robert Stevenson paints a detailed picture of Victorian London. Dark alleys and rundown neighborhoods mirror the moral decoy of the era. By adding the foggy streets and disturbing corners, Stevenson raises the frightening tension. The contrast between high society and the city's poorer characteristics helps show the conflict between Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde's representation of human
Stevenson discovered many themes that interested Victorian readers, one of which was the battle between “good versus evil”. Good being Dr Jekyll as he suffers through out the story trying to get rid of the evil creative Hyde. This theme shows the idea that everyone has a good and evil side to their personality. In addition the theme of rich and poor is also shown as we learn that Hyde’s mysterious dwelling is run down and neglected. In contrast Jekyll’s home is extremely well kept, majestic and beautiful.
The strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde was written in the Victorian Era by Robert Louis Stevenson, this novella dwells into the concept of the duality of human nature. The narrative is extremely fragmented structure due to the use of multiple narrators and through the use of mixed media, in the form of letters and accounts. The inconsistent structure conveys that of a gothic detective story; which were very popular in the Victorian era. Victorian London at the time was the largest city in the world, with a total population of around 4 million people in the 1880’s, and was one of the first cities to become completely urbanised. For the first time, more people were living in towns and cities than in the country.
Dracula is said to be one of the most classic gothic Literature in history. The story starts off fast and imettadiley takes a turn for the worst. The story started foreshadowing from the very beginning from wolves chasing him, the cab driver referring to him as a dead travel fast, the bars on the windows.As the story goes on Jonathan is naive and ignores the warning signs of why he should be afraid of the castle and Dracula.
In The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson presents the city of London, Mr. Hyde, and Dr. Jekyll with contrasting characteristics emphasizing the struggle between good and evil. Stevenson presents the city of London with contrasting characteristics
By drinking a 'magical' potion, the second, evil personality of Dr Jekyll is actually given a physical form of its own, rather than just a mental hold over Dr Jekyll and is named Mr Hyde. Mr Hyde is even provided with a dwelling place of his own in Soho, the outcast area of London. When this creature of darkness is first brought into being, he is small and fragile, and appears to be warped, although nobody who meets this Hyde can put his finger on this abnormality. As Mr Enfield says, "he gives a strong feeling of deformity, although I couldn't specify the point." During the novel, however, the Hyde personality strengthens and develops, flourishing as a result of the fulfilment of his evil pleasures, which had previously been denied him without a body of his own, eventually overpowering the good side of Doctor Jekyll. This 'doppel-ganger' figure is typical of many other 'Gothic novels', including Confessions of a Justified Sinner, and is used when expressing the continual conflict in the human psyche. The setting of Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde does not at first appear to be in keeping with the conventions of the Gothic novel, as there are no looming mountains and crags with deep forests and ruined castles. In fact, it is set in London, but when I examined the setting more closely, I saw that the components of the Gothic setting had been adapted to the modern buildings and surroundings. The laboratory in which Dr Jekyll spends most of his time is described as "a
“Dracula” a novel by Bram Stoker, deals with vampire folklore, Christian beliefs, and mostly gothic elements. Gothic elements are tremendous in this novel as it is seen a lot throughout the novel. The components of classic gothic elements as seen in “Dracula” includes the setting of the novel, the tone, a villainous character, and the fact that there is a hero that is struggling against an inescapable fate. Bram Stoker uses gothic elements such as isolated settings, gloom and doom, and secret passages in Dracula in which portray it
“Frankenstein” by Mary Shelly and “Dracula” by Bram Stoker are two gothic novels that censure the Romantic and Victorian eras with supernatural elements in orderly societies. Both of the authors yearn to criticize the standardized expectations for males and females; ultimately, they alter those expectations with fictitious forces that can be able to cause conflicts with the norms. The Creature in “Frankenstein” is reckoned as a filthy and vile fiend in Victor Frankenstein’s eyes; hence, it becomes an exile in the real world. In another perspective, the readers can significantly comprehend the vast experience that the Creature acquires in a cruel society. Count Dracula, unlike the Creature, retains a historical family line in the past, but he
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
While most people think that The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde isn’t as important as Frankenstein, its use of theme, setting, class, Victorian drug culture and detective fiction, show that it is just as important to gothic text for understanding this genre and tradition.
Dracula. The vampire that so many reincarnations and parodies have been made from. He's the vampire that we all know and love, or do we? In actuality, the famous count was actually a cold blooded killer, not the friendly counting count we've seen on Sesame Street. He kidnaps children and feeds them to his Brides, instead of feeding them Count Chocula cereal. We associate Dracula with a lot of fun, happy things, but he is really the bringer of fear and death. These knock-offs were not what Bram Stoker, the author of Dracula, would have expected out of a book about death and evil. One way that Stoker presents the book is through different points of view. Stoker uses the different points of view to
Vlad III Dracula was born in the year 1431 in Târgovişte, Transylvania. Sighişoara, Transylvania, but it is not certain that Vlad III was born there, but his father, Vlad II Dracul, owned a residence there. Dracula was the second child born out of four brothers born into the noble family of Vlad II Dracul. Vlad III’s nickname, Dracula, simply means “son of Dracul”. The family received this surname after Dracula’s father was inaugurated into the Order of the Dragon that was the Defense for Christian Europe. Vlad III’s father, Vlad II owned a residence in
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was a direct result of the well known and feared idea of degeneration in Europe at the time. The article brings up the fact that there was an idea that all men had the possibility of turning or becoming evil, even such a character as the upper middle class Dr. Jekyll transforming into the evil, deformed, and almost animalistic lower class Mr. Hyde. This is important because it would help me use the setting to express how, because of those living in London at the time were fearful of degeneration and the decline of man, this gothic element would be of high interest and importance to them as readers. The information from this source will be helpful in showing the different gothic elements and also how the author’s environment was important in constructing his book. I believe this will further help compliment the information from my previous sources regarding Dr. Jekyll and Mr.
Bram Stoker 's Dracula is highly acclaimed and has received many different interpretations which deal with complex symbolisms and metaphors. These interpretations often require a great deal of knowledge in psychology, political science, anthropology, and other non-literary disciplines. These interpretations may be valid, as they are related to the disciplines on which their arguments are based, but the true power of the novel is due to a very simple theme that lies beneath the other, more convoluted interpretations. This theme is the universal concept of identity: us versus them. This criticism sets aside outside disciplines and focuses on the literary motif of identity. John Allen Stevenson gives an in-depth criticism of this work based
Bram Stoker (1847-1912) is best known as the author of Dracula. Abraham Stoker was born in Clontarf, Ireland in 1847. He was a sickly child, bedridden for much of his boyhood. As a student at Trinity College, however, he excelled in athletics as well as academics, and graduated with honors in mathematics in 1870. He worked for ten years in the Irish Civil Service, and during this time contributed drama criticism to the Dublin Mail. Despite an active personal and professional life, he began writing and publishing novels, beginning with The Snake's Pass in 1890. Dracula appeared in 1897. Following Irving's death in 1905, Stoker was associated with the literary staff of the London Telegraph and wrote several more works of
The Five Context of Communication The way we communicate is through different types of contexts. The context of communication is determined by how a person perceives their environment. You would not talk to one person the same way you talk to 50 people. Also you wouldn't talk to your mother the same way you talk to your friends. Determining what context to communicate in helps a person to communicate better.