In Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Dracula is representative of the superhuman ideal that man is striving to achieve. Dracula is a strong willed, powerful, brilliant masculine figure, and through these characteristics, he appeals to the contemporary reader. By the late 20th and early 21st century, vampires have been transformed into creatures that offer endless happiness and immortality on earth. Such a transformation can be seen in Francis Ford Coppola’s 1992 production of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Instead of viewing the Faustian dream of endless self-gratification and fulfillment as potentially evil, popular culture depicts these satanic creatures as morally justified, and actually good.
Stoker’s Dracula is aristocratic, well mannered, and highly educated with “humanistic touches [which] make Dracula appear noble and vulnerable” (Senf 424). Initially, Dracula seems like a modern man, hospitable, and capable of aging. Dracula is a middle aged man with “astonishing vitality” for his presumed age. He also has impeccable manners, caring for his “guest” when his “people are not available” (Stoker 22-3). Dracula is an educated man, as suggested through his library with books “of the most varied kind – history, geography, politics, political economy, botany, geology, law – all relating to England and English life and customs and manners” (25). He seems not only well informed but cosmopolitan, asking Harker “a myriad questions” (28). Harker observes “extraordinary evidences of wealth” (25) alluding to Dracula’s position as a wealthy “boyar” (26). These evidences cause Jonathan Harker to presume Dracula possesses conventional moral principles. Harker, being disarmed by his presumption, causes him to believe he is safe with Dracula. However, Harke...
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...ove story with a strong female character is entertaining, while a story about unconditional maternal love, salvation of the soul, and sacrifice is rejected. Stoker’s story is changed because, for the contemporary audience, there is no soul, the only real love is romantic, and sacrifice entails self-interest. These contemporary ideas are present in Coppola’s adaptation.
Works Cited
Coppola, Francis Ford, director. Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Columbia Pictures, 1992. Film.
“Film Adaptions: A Checklist” in Dracula. Bram Stoker. 1897. Eds. Nina Auerbach and David J. Skal. New York: Norton, 1997. 404-5. Print.
Stoker, Bram. Dracula. 1897. Eds. Nina Auerbach and David J. Skal. New York: Norton, 1997. Print.
Senf, Carol A. “Dracula: The Unseen Face in the Mirror” in Dracula. Bram Stoker. 1897. Eds. Nina Auerbach and David J. Skal. New York: Norton, 1997. 421-31. Print.
Florescu, Radu R., and McNally, Raymond T., Dracula, Prince of Many Faces: His Life and Times (1989)
Since the 19th Century, Bram Stoker’s Dracula has entertained its readers taking them to heights of excitement in the climax
The presence of racial stereotypes and commentary on the interaction of different races is a cornerstone of the Dracula narrative. In Stoker’s novel, Count Dracula is representative of the growing European culture of xenophobia and anti-Semitism which would rise to near hysteria in the coming decades. The concept of race was not limited to skin color or nationality in the nineteenth century, and was a means of categorizing people by “cultural as well as physical attributes” (Warren 127). Dracula is described as being covetous of ancient gold and jewels, childlike and simple in his malice, and more animalistic than human, traits frequently attributed to the Jewish people by Christian society (Newman). His material appearance is distinguished by extremely pale skin, dark features, a nose with a “high bridge…and peculiarly arched nostrils,” and “bushy hair that seemed to curl of its own profusion.” Stoker’s audience would have recognized...
This fictional character was soon to be famous, and modified for years to come into movie characters or even into cereal commercials. But the original will never be forgotten: a story of a group of friends all with the same mission, to destroy Dracula. The Count has scared many people, from critics to mere children, but if one reads between the lines, Stoker’s true message can be revealed. His personal experiences and the time period in which he lived, influenced him to write Dracula in which he communicated the universal truth that good always prevails over evil. Religion was a big part of people’s lives back in Stoker’s time.
Bram Stoker’s novel, Dracula, as well as, Hayao Miyazaki’s animated feature, Princess Mononoke, deal with the prevalent theme of good verses evil. On the surface, both stories seem like typical hero verses villain tales, but once their plots are more closely analyzed it is evident that there is not a bold line between the two extremes. Both pieces explore the idea of evil being in the eye of the beholder and being interpreted completely differently from contrasting perspectives.
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.
Podonsky, Amanda . "Bram Stoker's Dracula: A Reflection and Rebuke of Victorian Society." RSS. Student Pulse: The International Student Journal, 1 Jan. 2010. Web. 6 May 2014. .
Stevenson, John Allen. A Vampire in the Mirror: The Sexuality of Dracula. 2nd ed. Vol. 103. N.p.: Modern Language Association, 1988. JSTOR. Web. 6 Jan. 2014. .
Conclusively, while Bram Stokers novel Dracula is seen as a gothic and horror story, I argue that it is a novel that seeks to address female sexuality directly. Seen through numerous passages, Stoker confronts and battles the views between sexuality during the Victorian era though his genius of characterization of characters present within the novel. As it seems highly intentional to me, I respect the way in which he criticizes and critiques upon female sexuality by bringing into light new ideas regarding female desires. When contrasting his text upon today’s culture, the differences to how one perceived the vampire has changed significantly.
Carol A. Senf uses a critical theory lens when she picks apart Bram Stoker’s Dracula. The majority of literary critics interpret this popular myth to be the opposition of good and evil, they turn a blind eye to the more specifically literary matters such as method of narration, characterization, and style. Carol Senf’s critical essay “Dracula: the Unseen Face in the Mirror” she believes that Stokers novel “revolves, not around the conquest of Evil by Good, but on the similarities between the two” (Senf 421). Her argument is as follows:
Stoker uses phenomenal imagery to produce a late nineteenth century setting, located somewhere within eastern Europe. Transylvania, the infamous home to Dracula himself, is described in great detail in Harker’s journal. There, Stoker purposely and meticulously outlines Dracula’s castle and the surrounding town. Stoker manages to do this with a very gothic tone, immediately lowering the societal status of women. In conjunction with Dracula’s gothic tone comes the understanding of male and female traditional roles of the era. The reader sees that there is no hesitation differentiating between the two, as Stoker “ cast[s] men as rational, strong, protective and decisive…[and] women as emotional (irrational), weak, nurturing and submissive.” (Tyson, 82).
Evil features in both ‘Dracula’ and ‘Frankenstein’ but the personification of this evil is different in both novels. A feeling of menace and doom pervades ‘Dracula’ because of his supernatural powers. One feels that he has control of the evil and he has the power to manipulate the environment and people for his own ends. ‘Frankenstein’ centres on the creation of a monster made from parts of dead bodies and the fear created by the monster due to circumstance and the ignorance of society. Also, one feels a certain amount of apprehension that the monster is deserted by his creator and loses control without his support and guidance.
Bram stoker's Dracula is a classic story of good versus evil. Good and evil are such different concepts, and the author tries to show this using easy to read imagery. The story is presented with vivid details to induce deep thinking by the reader, forcing the reader to examine the gray area between good and
Holte, James Craig. Dracula in the Dark: The Dracula Film Adaptations. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1997.
Bram Stoker does an exceptional job displaying the monstrous characteristics that lie behind Dracula’s human form, and continues this great array of detail by describing Dracula in his true form: a