As Bram Stoker uses the Eucharist as a weapon to fight the evil blood sucking monster; he arises questions about conflicting religion views, engrosses the anxieties of the Victorian population regarding superstition and brings about the blasphemous theme of Dracula as epitome of the one true God and his omnipotence in Western religions.
During the frenzy provoked by the opposing views of the Church of England and those of the Roman Catholic; a 19th-century movement rose which thrived for a renewal of the Roman Catholics thoughts and tendencies called The Oxford Movement. This movement was prevalent during the times and even coincided with the implementation of a Parliamentary Legislation attempting to restrict Ritualism within the Church
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He swiftly presented symbols used by the Roman Catholic Church and influenced his clan of Christian vampire busters into switching from their instilled rigorous beliefs which marked the use of the crucifix sacrilegious.
In the Novel when Harker is offered the crucifix by the woman and he says:
“Bless that good, good woman who hung the crucifix on my neck! For it is a comfort and a strength whenever I touch it. It is odd that a thing which I have been taught to regard with disfavor and as idolatrous should in a time of loneliness and trouble be of help” (Stoker, 54).
Then he goes on to implying that there is something special about that cross but he will later revisit his curiosity and try and make sense of it. Alike every theory of belief and every concept of religion we as humans are embedded into bringing rationality and skepticism to assure conscious and scientific evidence is brought into consideration. But Stoker brands the crucifix as the holy sword that will defeat the enemy hinting to his Anglican roots and ritualistic tendencies. Although all of the members of the band of vampire busters are skeptical of the methods; they end up conforming to their frowned upon superstitious significance and constantly rely on the significance of God and seek comfort knowing if they hang on to the crucifix or the Holy Wafer they can be protected from the genocidal forces of the evil vampire.
Stoker additionally explores aspects of the feudal system through the idea of free will. Upon arriving at Castle Dracula, Harker is greeted with ‘Welcome to my house, enter freely and of your own will’. It seems Harker is free to do as he wishes, however Harker is now at the mercy of his new surroundings and the Count. Harker recognizes similarities between the Count and the driver, who transports him to the castle: ‘the strength of the hand shake was so much akin to that which I noticed in the driver’, subsequently, for Harker to leave he would need the
The setting of Bram Stoker’s Dracula is in the late nineteenth-century London, where the flourishing of technology is replacing people’s belief of the old superstitious ways. The characters in this novel experience contacts with the supernatural beings that is unable to be proven even by the most advanced technology at the time, which leads them to doubt their own sanity. However, the progression of the novel proves that peace is restored into the characters’ lives after their doubts and confusions about what is reality and who is really mad. Ultimately, the categorization of the sane against the mad is unnecessary since the distinguishing factors shown in the novel are ambiguous. Subsequently, no characters can
Because the Victorian Era was an age so heavily influenced by religion, it is hardly surprising, that Bram Stoker’s Dracula contains many religious references. The Victorian Era was a time period from 1837 to 1901, during which Queen Victoria reigned in the United Kingdom. During this time, women were expected to be quiet, proper, and pure. All people were expected to attend church, and sexuality was incredibly censored. Religion played an influencing role in Victorian art including visual and literary. Likewise, the fear of being sinful, or not following the Bible was still a fear from the under educated members of society. The prominent branches of Christianity in this era, Protestants and Catholics, dominated the popular culture of western societies. Given the religious context of the Victorian Era, Vampires in Bram Stoker’s Dracula represent sin and have inherently sinful behavior, whereas the humans represents goodness and religion, no matter which kind of religion.
Are there still connections between Bram Stokers famous novel Dracula and modern day society? In Dracula, Stoker expands on many themes that indeed exist today. Not only does he touch on the most obvious theme, sex. He expands on gender division and good versus evil. Some say since times have changed the themes I introduced have changed as well, leaving connections between then and now irrelevant. However, I feel that although times have changed they still have roots from the time of the novel to now. In this essay I will expand on the themes of this novel while connecting them to modern day society, the critical texts I have chosen and will mention later on in the essay are a good representation of the commonalities between the chill, dark Victorian days in which the era that Dracula was written in and modern day.
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
In the closing chapters, is where the sheer brilliance of both Copola and Stoker come into play, From Myna Harkers journal the final pages are unfolded. At sunset on November 6, they see below them a large cart, driven by gypsies, carrying a box of earth and being driven at a gallop. There are four men converging on the gypsies: Seward and Quincy from the south, and Jonathan and Arthur from the north. The sun is rapidly sinking as they intercept the cart, and the gypsies move to defend their cargo. Jonathan and Quincy force their way through the defenders, and with "strength that seemed incredible," (Stoker 321) This is very ironic for both the movie and the story, because Harker is not really seen as being a courageous strong individual but more weak meable soul. With all his strength Jon flings the box to the ground. Quincy has been wounded, but together the two men fling back the lid just as Seward and Arthur reach them. From her vantagepoint, Mina can see Dracula 's face contorted in hate, and then the sunsets, and the "look of hate . . . turned to triumph." (Stoker 324) This quote is probably the most appealing quote in the book, Because no matter weather you read the book, or watch the movie everyone knows that Dracula is a creature of the night and holds almost all his power then. Dracula jumps out of the box and almost immediately Jonathan slashes through the Count 's
The title of the article itself is a very good example of what the main point of the article is about, religion. The author makes many points in which the group of vampire hunters pray for God to help them (Herbert p. 100). They also greatly depend on “holy” things, such as the wafers, crucifixes, and of course God himself. All these things are very important to them, because they trust and believe that they will work in their fight against evil. Another aspect of the religious aspect is the references and events made parallel to the “Bible.” One of these examples is how Quincey died, and how this was supposed to be a representation of Jesus Christ dying (Herbert p. 100-101). Another reference to the Bible was made by Renfield, “He later likens himself to Enoch (Genesis 5:21-24), who “walked with God” (Herbert p. 107). These are just a few examples of the “Bible” references made in “Dracula.”
As we all know Dracula not only has to do with the horror, blood and vampires, but religion, christianity and the Victorian society that play a huge role in the story. These topics all have a reasonable amount of influence on how Dracula was written, and how the various themes in Dracula were developed. The input of religion is seen from the start all the way to the ending no doubt about it. In addition, there are also various examples of how the Victorian society also mixed in with religion, like the ideas of people back then and what they thought was wrong and right due to society’s beliefs . The exploration of thoughts and ideas by all the characters regarding what is wrong and right due to society and religion is also easily seen throughout the story. In the novel Dracula, written by Bram Stoker, the Victorian society influenced overall in the way it was written, and how their beliefs at this time of Christianity are being explored to these new ideas.
Bram Stoker’s Dracula magnificently portrays Anti-Christian values and beliefs through one of its central characters, Dracula. Dracula himself, a demonic figure, both in appearance and in behavior, could be considered the Anti-Christ. This idea of Dracula as a gothic Anti-Christ is a major element in the novel. Stoker displays numerous Anti-Christian values, superstitious beliefs, and compares and contrasts the powers of God with those of Dracula.
During the elizabethan era most were considered Catholics, however in the early 1500s the practice of roman Catholics was questioned during the reformation according to Linda Alchin. The beliefs of German, Martin Luther caused Protestantism. Martin Luther's supporters protested against the rules and regulations, which resulted in the laws that put a limit on the new ideas Martin was trying to spread (Alchin 2). The protesters decided to create there own religion and beliefs, now known as the Protestants.
“The cross as crucifix figures prominently in Dracula, and it is this imagery that critics so often categorize as Catholic” (Bowles 247). In the novel, Jonathan Harker has a hard time accepting the crucifix from the innkeeper’s wife that he meets on his way to Count Dracula’s Castle. Jonathan writes “Whether it is the old lady’s fear, or the many ghostly traditions of this place, or the crucifix itself, I do not know, but I am not feeling nearly as easy in my mind as usual.” (Stoker 30). Jonathan starts out as doubtful about the crucifix. He isn’t sure about the crucifix since he is an English Churchman. An English Churchman was a protestant and a member of the English Church. The English Church and Roman Catholics were separate then. He takes the crucifix out of obligation to the innkeeper’s wife (Wynne 53). Jonathan accepts the crucifix signals a change in him early on. “I have
Perhaps no work of literature has ever been composed without being a product of its era, mainly because the human being responsible for writing it develops their worldview within a particular era. Thus, with Bram Stoker's Dracula, though we have a vampire myth novel filled with terror, horror, and evil, the story is a thinly veiled disguise of the repressed sexual mores of the Victorian era. If we look to critical interpretation and commentary to win support for such a thesis, we find it aplenty "For erotic Dracula certainly is. 'Quasi-pornography' one critic labels it. Another describes it as a 'kind of incestuous, necrophilious, oral-anal-sadistic all-in-wrestling matching'. A
Bram Stoker’s Dracula is a story of horror, suspense, and repulsion. The main antagonist, Count Dracula, is depicted as an evil, repulsive creature that ends and perverts life to keep himself alive and youthful. To most onlookers that may be the case, but most people fail to see one crucial element to this character. Dracula is a character that, though it may be long gone, was once human, and thus has many human emotions and motives still within him. Let us delve into these emotions of a historically based monster.
The Vampire in Dracula threatens the very existence of Victorian England. Stoker constructs the vampire as an embodiment of threat by surpassing his Gothic novelist predecessors to bring the threat of the Gothic home to Victorian England (Arata 119). This in turn crosses the boundary between what is foreign and what is national; and dually East and West. Dracula is open to many
The play-script book “Dracula”, adapted by David Calcutt, is a captivating reword of the iconic epistolary horror novel of a same name which was written by Bram Stoker, The author outlines the power struggle between good and evil in the text through messages and symbols. The author focuses on Dracula and a group of friend’s actions and emotions in which he uses narrative conventions to convey key messages in the book. The messages I found that were prominent were “evilness is an infection”, “greed is consuming” and “good always prevail”.