A Morally Ambiguous Character In Bram Stoker's 'Dracula'

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In novels it is not uncommon for characters to be identified as morally ambiguous. It can be extremely difficult to identify a character as purely evil or purely good. In the novel Dracula, Bram Stoker presents a morally ambiguous title character, Dracula. Dracula can be seen as evil by the obvious: he is a vampire that bites people to get their blood. But on the other hand, Dracula can also be seen as good. Dracula is not purposely trying to kill people, he is just trying to protect himself. Lots of people believe that they can understand and analyse other people and try to come up with conclusions on how that person is but Stoker shows how in some cases, analyzing a person cannot easily be done. Most people are not black and white. Their …show more content…

Dracula kills Lucy who is a sweet, victorian woman that did not deserve to be bit by Dracula. Killing people, to most people, would be an action only a purely evil person would do “Lucy’s eyes in form and colour; but Lucy’s eyes unclean and full of hell-fire, instead of the pure, gentle ors we knew” (226). Lucy getting bit not only hurt Lucy, but it caused all the people near and dear to her hurt also. Vampire-Lucy still looks pure and sweet which is even harder on the people she loves because they see that she looks beautiful and like herself but she is not herself. When something evil is being hidden as something good it is extremely evil and hurts the people that love and care for her. He does not act how a civilized and well manored man should act. He hurts other people to benefit himself. Clearly such actions are incredibly evil and no sane person would think to do such a …show more content…

“‘We have learnt-much! Notwithstanding his brave words, he fears us; he hear time, he fear want! For if not, why he hurry so? His very tone betray him, or my ears deceive” (333). Dracula could have attacked the men quite easily, but instead he chose to run away from them. Dracula’s actions show that he is not out to hurt the men. Dracula is susceptible to death and does not want to attack men when he does not have to.Dracula may have attacked the girls because he thought he was helping them escape victorian society rules. In Transylvania women did not have such strict rules so maybe Dracula’s intentions of killing the women were actually for the best. The ladies in England must abide by the men and keep to themselves or else they were whorish and impure. Living a life like that is no life at all. So it is understandable that Dracula would go after the women and not the men. The men can live great lives and prosper in society, while the women would have a tough time doing that without a man by her side. He is saving the women, not hurting

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