Hollywood in known for making literary adaptations, and such adaptations will exploit context. Movies bring literary properties to the public that otherwise would not bother to read them. However the "marriage" of literature and film holds their own separate qualities.
It is precisely the point that Hollywood distorts and corrupts serious literature for the entertainment pleasures of a mass audience. In the task of comparing and contrasting the novel of "Dracula" to film extracts of "Bram Stoker’s Dracula", values, meaning and context discovered lie between discrepancy and similarity. The change from differing mediums, novel and film, reveal characteristics and possibilities of narratives. Through the advancement of technology, modern writers
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The introduction of Mina, starting of with a medium long shot of her in the Westenra house, which allows the audience to pay more attention to what is happening in the background, the mise-en-scene being a large decorated room of the Victorian era, including plants, chairs. The setting of the whole room is surrounded by glass, which has the ability to allow natural light. This shot slowly zooms in to the sound of the typewriter and turns into a reverse shot that is a close up on the face of Mina Murray. Her diligent use of the typewriter allows the background noise of chirping birds add to the innocence of her character. Lucy then enters the shot, which goes back to a medium long shot. Lucy and Mina are contrasted; Lucy represents threatening sexuality, whilst Mina represents socially accepted sexuality. Lucy before being vamped contains personality characteristics that are classified as unacceptable in Victorian society. In the film extract, the significance of Arabian Nights reveals Mina’s sexual inquisitiveness in contrast to Lucy’s fantastical application. The neat brown hair and conservative green dress of Mina in comparison to Lucy’s wavy red hair and flowing white dress, emphasize, from Coppola’s deliberate use, the wild passions of Lucy and steadiness of …show more content…
Lucy poses a threat to the Victorian ideology by exposing herself as a danger to sexual propriety. She remarks about wanting to have more than one husband, which displays promiscuity, “Why can’t they let a girl marry three men or as many as want her?” this statement works as a threat which comes to fruition after Lucy is bitten. Once infected by Dracula, Lucy becomes sexually overt and aggressive; and is portrayed as a monster and a social outcast. She transforms into a fiend and feeds on children making her the maternal antithesis as well as a child molester. Coppola mimics the book onto the film with a degree of exactitude in the staking scene. In which the entrance of the tomb has a spooky minor tune is played to add another layer of horror to the gothic setting of the tomb. As the men open Lucy’s coffin, an aerial shot notifies the empty contents and a reverse angle shot is used of the dominant figure of Arthur looking into the coffin. The viewpoint of this shot highlights the submissiveness of women and dominance of their partners in Victorian England. A supernatural force was surrounded by Lucy when she, herself, entered the tomb, this, Coppola’s addition of candelabras instantaneously lighting themselves when Lucy draws nearer, highlighting her supposed fantastical
Florescu, Radu, and McNally, R. T., Dracula: A Biography of Vlad the Impaler, 1431-1476 (1973)
Bram Stoker’s Dracula is not only a classic story of men and monsters, but a dramatic reactionary work to the perceived threats to Victorian society in nineteenth century England. In modern times there have been many film adaptations of the novel, each developing a unique analysis or criticism of the literary text within the framework of the society and time period in which it was created. The 1972 film Blacula is one of the most culturally specific variations on the story of Dracula, and highlights many of the themes and messages found in Stoker’s original text. Among the primary similarities between the novel and the film is the portrayal of race, sexuality, nationality, and culture, and the characterization in each work speaks to the fears and ideals of their respective dominant societies.
“Dracula, in one aspect, is a novel about the types of Victorian women and the representation of them in Victorian English society” (Humphrey). Through Mina, Lucy and the daughters of Dracula, Stoker symbolizes three different types of woman: the pure, the tempted and the impure. “Although Mina and Lucy possess similar qualities there is striking difference between the two” (Humphrey). Mina is the ideal 19th century Victorian woman; she is chaste, loyal and intelligent. On the other hand, Lucy’s ideal Victorian characteristics began to fade as she transformed from human to vampire and eventually those characteristics disappeared altogether. Lucy no longer embodied the Victorian woman and instead, “the swe...
Spencer, Kathleen L. Purity and Danger: Dracula, the Urban Gothic, and the Late Victorian Degeneracy Crisis. 1st ed. Vol. 59. N.p.: Johns Hopkins UP, 1992. JSTOR. Web. 6 Jan. 2014. .
Mise-en-scene includes everything that appears in front of the camera. The director generally controls these elements. The mise-en-scene affects if the audience perceives the degree of realism or fantasy in the film. Broken Blossoms clearly aims for realism, however, the actors needed a more expressive style in order to portray their characters without sound.
Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” was written the year after Stevenson released his book. Dracula follows Byron’s idea of being alluring and of magical ability, but differs in that he is unpleasant in ...
Since the 19th Century, Bram Stoker’s Dracula has entertained its readers taking them to heights of excitement in the climax
With the addition of the opposite sex turned supernatural, Stoker adds a whole new visual aspect to this novel. This is observed first when Jonathan is approached by the three brides at Castle Dracula and feels disgusted yet attracted to the women. Another instance of this attraction is witnessed when Lucy returns to the graveyard as a vampire and very nearly seduces Arthur to come forth kiss her even though she has just thrown a baby she had previously been eating and blood is still running from her mouth at the
Every great literary source has the ability to provide a majestic getaway for your mind. With each significant piece of literature, readers are transported into a different dimension through the pages of alluring romances, perplexing mysteries, and sublime fantasies. While reading Dracula, by Bram Stoker, readers are transported into the Victorian Era, where controversial topics, such as religion and sexuality, are masked behind the riveting fictional work. Not only does Stoker place emphasis on the gender role issues circulating the 1800’s, but focuses on sexual morality as well. Written in 1897, the book takes place between a series of letters and journal entries recorded by the characters. It shifts between the perspectives of Jonathan Harker
The one book that started the vampire industry with a boom is the book Dracula written by Bram Stoker. Dracula had the most suspense and dread filled plot along with unique characters. Some characters stood out more than others, especially the foreigner Dr. Van Helsing. Van Helsing is a philosopher and metaphysician with many important roles in this novel. His characters personality, major actions/reactions, themes, and motivations demonstrated made him a useful and significant figure throughout the story.
The novel Dracula is a work of fiction that was published in 1897 and was written by the author known as Bram Stoker . This novel has an eerie outcome but also a successful one due to the fact that the novel so easily plays off of human fears. Stoker created a novel that very well reflects off the fears and anxieties that troubled the people in the 1897 era. The vampire Count Dracula is a figure Stoker created to symbolize evil and England's worst fears. There are many film adaptations of Bram Stoker's novel but the 1992 film "Bram Stoker's Dracula" is the film adaptation that will be compared and contrasted to the novel.
Dracula, the 1931 film directed by Tod Browning is loosely based upon the novel of the same name. Therefore both share similar characteristics but are distinct. The differences between the novel and film occur due to the cinematic choices made as well as the fact that the film is based off of not only the novel Dracula but also the 1924 play Dracula. One major decision made by Browning was to alter the role of Johnathan Harker. In the novel Johnathan is the solicitor who meets with Dracula in Transylvania and narrowly escapes the “veritable prison” and is a changed man due to his experiences there (25).
Comparing the 1931 version of Dracula, starring Bela Lugosi, with Frances Ford Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula 1993 version yields some similarities. Both films are of the same genre: Horror. Both films are set around the same time period. Also, both deal with a vampire coming to England and causing disruptions in people's lives. Beyond these few similarities are numerous contrasts.
Over the years people have given new out looks on the original vampire, Dracula. He was a tall non-attractive looking man who would never come out during the day. Hollywood however has made new vampire stories such as Twilight, True Blood, and The Vampire Diaries/The Originals that have new ideas of a vampire. These novels/books all have differences, but some still have key characteristics of the original vampire.
The novels were written in the 19th century, ‘Frankenstein’ was first published in 1818 and ‘Dracula’ was first published in 1897. In this century there was a fanaticism with Gothic horror stories and these novels reflect this. In the last century, a wide audience would have appreciated these novels, although they are not great literary accomplishments, people of that period enjoyed reading this type of story, filled with horror, suspense and intrigue. The very idea that such an evil and frightening creature could exist shocked and aroused the curiosity of many people at this time. Society in the last century was extremely corrupt and immoral, the novel ‘Frankenstein’ reflects this, in which an innocent creature is shunned by society because of it’s abnormal and somewhat shocking appearance.