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dracula literary analysis
Bram Stoker's Dracula and the portrayal of women
Bram Stoker's Dracula and the portrayal of women
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Bram Stoker's Dracula is Anti-Christian
There are many ways that Bram Stoker's Dracula can be considered Anti-
Christian by showing of Anti-Christian values and perversions of the Christian
religion. In chapter one as Jonathan Harker is traveling to Castle Dracula he
is met by several people. When he meets these people and tells them where he is
going they cross themselves along with doing several other superstiscious
actions. One of the women he meets gives him a crucifix to protect him on his
journey. This crucifix protects him when Jonathan cuts himself shaving and
Dracula lunges for his throat he stops when he sees the crucifix around Jon's
neck. Later in the book it discusses how you can defend yourself from Dracula
and other vampires by the possession of a crucifix or practically any
consecrated item from the Christian religion can be used to save you from the
attack or presence of a vampire. For example, in the latter of the book Van
Helsing uses a Host to prevent Dracula to enter his coffin. Another time,
during the night Van Helsing and Lucy stay out near the courtyard of Castle
Dracula, Van Helsing makes a (Holy circle) with the Host to keep vampires out
and to keep Mina safe in the (Holy circle). Another time when the Host is used
as a deterrence of vampires is at the time Van Helsing and the other men are
going to leave Mina alone in the house. Van Helsing touches a Host to Mina's
forehead and it burns into her head since she, herself, was unclean. Another
abstruction of the Christian religion would be the fact that Dracula sleeps in
a coffin and especially because the dirt in his coffin is consecrated and
Dracula, being evil, uses this ground to rest in. Dracula has several of the
powers that Christians believe no one but God could control. For instance,
Dracula can control the weather, wild or unclean animals and, he can change
form and disappear into the air. Christians believe that consuming God's body
and blood will give them everlasting life with God in heaven. Dracula getting
life after death or living an afterlife on earth by consuming the blood of the
living to survive, build his strength, and create more followers of him in his
evil ways. By this, Dracula is relying on humans to renew his life after death
and thus not concentrating on God as the source of life. As Dracula feeds on
the blood of the living he creates followers as Jesus had disciples. Dracula
has evil ways and spreads his evil not by sexual reproduction as God meant it
Life is a cruel. It, will attempt to take one down; it will humble one; it will attempt to break many down. In moments one may not know what to do, instead he/she must a find a way to use what they have around them as an advantage to defeat the problems that stands their way. Throughout dark fiction, authors utilise different elements as a tool to defeating the antagonist. the story Dracula uses completely different approaches in taking down the mighty Dracula. In the novel Dracula, Bram Stoker effectively employs the different elements that are used to defeat Dracula. Stoker effectively demonstrates the elements that are used to destroy Dracula through act of Religion, the aspect of Science and the setting.
Bram Stoker’s Dracula includes themes of death, love, and sex. Stoker’s use of empiricism utilizes the idea that everything is happening “now”. The book offers clear insight into who is evil without explicitly saying it. Stoker’s interest in empiricism uses British womanhood as a way to distinguish between good and evil.
In a world with ghosts, monsters, demons, and ghouls, there is one being that resonates in everyone’s mind. The idea of these creatures can be found in almost every culture on the planet in one form or another. They prey on the weak and they feast on the blood of their victims. They are compared to a fox for being quick and cunning, but also rather seductive in their nature. With their unholy existence one can only describe them as almost demonic. So what is this horrid creature? Well it is none other than the vampire, a creature as old as time itself. Throughout history there have been many different variations of the vampire, each with their own unique abilities. But one cannot help but mention
What if in between good and evil did not exist? Where would you stand? Today, it is believed that everyone was born with the slightest bit of evil in them. In the Victorian Era, this theory would be considered very wrong, because one would either be all good, or all evil. In Dracula, by Bram Stoker, good versus evil was symbolised throughout the book as two antithetical forces without an in between. By clearly demonstrating the relationship between the dualistic ideas of intuition versus logic, good characters facing figures comparable to the devil, and symbolism within the natural world, Bram Stoker effectively recounts a “holy war” between the antagonistic forces of good and evil.
Stoker uses religion to showcase the good while having Dracula represent the bad. Throughout the chapters Stoker constantly uses Christian icons against Dracula. He commonly uses a crucifix and has shown communion wafers. The first case of showing religion is at the very beginning of the novel. Johnathan Harker is on his way to Dracula’s castle and he is saying goodbye to an old lady. She hands him a crucifix and demands he wear it for it will protect him. Even before being introduced to Dracula, Stoker has already begun to showcase religion. By having the old lady give Harker the crucifix it immediately puts Dracula on the opposite side as an evil figure. This is shown in the entry that Harker makes in his journal, “Whether it is the old lady’s fear, or the many ghostly tradition of this place, or the crucifix itself, I do not know, but I am not feeling nearly as easy in my as usual.”(13) Even though Harker doesn’t believe in Catholic
Dracula is a mythical creature designed to wreak havoc on the lives of mortals through the terror and intimidation of death by bite. Vampires are undead beings that kill humans for their blood to survive. Human blood is the vampire’s sustenance, and only way of staying alive. Throughout time, humans have come up with ways to repel vampires, such as lighting jack-o-lanterns on All Hallows Eve, placing garlic around the neck, a stake through the heart, sunlight, etc. Both beings have a survival instinct, whether it be hunger or safety, both are strong emotions. In the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker, the characters Lucy, John, and Van Helsing strive for survival, therefore killing Dracula.
... although his downfall comes because he has limitations, such as, “his power ceases, as does that of all evil things, at the coming of the day.”… “Then there are things which so afflict him that he has no power, as the garlic that we know of, and as for things sacred, my crucifix…” These reassure one that there is a means to destroy Dracula.
... much he himself resembles the monster that he despises, Dracula does encourage readers to see ourselves in the novel, to recognise our connectedness with the Other.” Readers continually return to Dracula because they recognise in the novel desires that, as Jonathan remarks in the film “[we] dare not confess to [our] own soul[s]”
The vampire had been depicted as the epitome of offensive and seductive behavior in their early representations. It has suffered an enduring image of something inhuman and monstrous that feeds and thrives at the expense of others. As David Punter and Glennis Byron have asserted, “Confounding all categories, the vampire is the ultimate embodiment of transgression” (The Gothic 268). The transgressive behavior of the vampire was first observed with Stoker’s Dracula. Although this figure is attractive to us in many ways, with his intelligence and immortality, the Count is primaril...
...es her unconventional treatment. Second, Van Helsing is reminiscent of the occult expert, Doctor Hesselius. Both men engage in study of the supernatural as a hobby outside their medical profession. Finally, Van Helsing is a resonance of Baron Vordenburg. Like the Baron, Van Helsing places great value in his books and papers for knowledge of the supernatural; moreover, he is responsible for confirming Lucy’s undead state and educating the other men in how to stake her; and, it is Baron’s governing principles of the vampire which foreshadow Van Helsing’s characteristics of the enemy, Dracula (344).
From Transylvania to Hollywood, vampires have transformed from unfamiliar, mysterious personalities to one of the most dominant monsters in the horror genre today. Vampires are one of the oldest and most noted creatures in mythology, with many variations of them around the world. Although the most famous version is Bram Stoker’s Dracula, many variants have come before and after telling of the same legend with their own added ideas and modifications to relate to their cultures. Today, there is a multitude of literary and film works that convey and resurface peoples’ fear of vampires. As gothic works like Dracula, by Bram Stoker and Scooby-Doo! and the Legend of the Vampire directed by Scott Jeralds share certain traits reflective of the genre;
Dracula seems to possess unexplainable supernatural powers. When Jonathan Harker is traveling to castle Dracula, he is unaware that the driver of his coach is the Count himself. During the nocturnal journey, the coach is circled by wolves, not knowing what to do Jonathan calls for the coachman and in return “heard his [Dracula’s] voice raised in a tone of imperious command, and looking towards the sound saw him stand in the roadway. As he swept his long arm, as though brushing aside some impalpable obstacle, the wolves fell back and back further still” (23). This unnatural power over the wolves is Stoker’s first way of showing Dracula’s power over nature. Harker also describes in his journal that one evening “I saw the whole man slowly emerge from the window and begin to crawl down the castle wall over that dreadful abyss, face down with his cloak spreading out around him like great wings… I saw the fingers and toes grasp the corners of the stones… and inequality move downwards with considerable speed, just as a lizard moves along a wall” (43). This tr...
In the universe, no one being has complete control over another. In Bram Stoker's novel Dracula, God, Dracula, Nature, and Humanity have some form of influence over each other, whether it be direct control or as the instrument through which another must exert its power. In this paper I will examine the ways that power and control are presented in Dracula.
Religion was a big part of people’s lives back in Stoker’s time. A belief against religion was evil; therefore one who was not devout would be deemed bad or wicked. Dracula, was as evil as a creature gets and a nightmare for the pious; he was a symbol of an Anti-Christ and could even be called Satan. “I drew away, and his hand touched the string of beads which held the crucifix. It made an instant change in him, for the fury passed so quickly that I could hardly believe it was ever there.” (Stoker 24-25). Because Dracula was harmed by holy items, it could mean that he was pure evil, which would be true in Stoker’s time. As a result the main weapons the men had to fight against Dracula with was sacred matter; their struggle was like a fight was like a battle between the holy and satanic. The Count was invading Lond...
The late nineteenth century Irish novelist, Bram Stoker is most famous for creating Dracula, one of the most popular and well-known vampire stories ever written. Dracula is a gothic, “horror novel about a vampire named Count Dracula who is looking to move from his native country of Transylvania to England” (Shmoop Editorial Team). Unbeknownst of Dracula’s plans, Jonathan Harker, a young English lawyer, traveled to Castle Dracula to help the count with his plans and talk to him about all his options. At first Jonathan was surprised by the Count’s knowledge, politeness, and overall hospitality. However, the longer Jonathan remained in the castle the more uneasy and suspicious he became as he began to realize just how strange and different Dracula was. As the story unfolded, Jonathan realized he is not just a guest, but a prisoner as well. The horror in the novel not only focuses on the “vampiric nature” (Soyokaze), but also on the fear and threat of female sexual expression and aggression in such a conservative Victorian society.