Examples Of Alienation In Dracula

183 Words1 Page

In the novel Dracula, Bram Stoker shows that society alienates people that are different. The character Count Dracula reveals society assumptions by representing the idea of alienation and considered as an outsider when society won’t accept him because of his behavior.
Dracula’s role reveals alienation in the book when he appears as a regular person, but can change into a bloodsucking vampire. In the novel a character Jonathan Halker describes Dracula when he first met him “The count has pointed ears, exceptionally pale skin and extremely sharp teeth.” Dracula odd appearance makes him isolated in society because he’s not consider normal and his evilness is shown by the way he feeds off the most vulnerable characters are more respectable members

Show More
Related

  • Comparing Bram Stoker’s Dracula and the 1972 Film "Blacula"

    1921 Words  | 4 Pages

    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...

    Read More

  • Dracula: A Simple Tale of Good vs. Evil

    1486 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Homosocial Friendships in Bram Stoker’s Dracula

    1065 Words  | 3 Pages

    Bram Stoker was born into a lower-class Irish family in late 1847. He grew up with six siblings, at least four of which were brothers. Throughout his childhood, Stoker was an invalid, sickened with an unknown disease. Many days were spent listening to his mother tell stories of Ireland. It is thought that her stories played a large role in his writing (Stoker 5). Perhaps due to Stoker’s childhood illness and relationship with his brothers, his writing in Dracula exhibited a great deal of homosociality, the idea of same-sex relationships on a social level, rather than romantically. In the novel, Stoker introduces the idea of homosociality by creating a friendship and camaraderie between the main male characters.

    Read More

  • Dracula and the Threat of Female Sexual Expression by Bram Stoker

    1398 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Inverted Gender Roles: Dracula by Bram Stoker

    1455 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula, Stoker’s use of inverted gender roles allows readers to grasp the sense of obscureness throughout, eventually leading to the reader’s realization that these characters are rather similar to the “monster” which they call Dracula. Despite being in the Victorian era, Stoker’s use of sexuality in the novel contributes to the reasoning of obscureness going against the Victorian morals and values. Throughout the novel the stereotypical roles of the Victorian man and woman are inverted to draw attention to the similarities between Dracula and the characters. Vague to a majority of readers, Bram Stoker uses Dracula as a negative connotation on society being that the values of the Victorian culture are inverted amongst the sexes of characters, thus pointing out the similarities of the characters and the so called “monster” which they call Dracula.

    Read More

  • degenerate characteristics of dracula

    1104 Words  | 3 Pages

    Dracula most definitely contains degenerate characteristics throughout the novel. He has a lack of compassion for people’s well being, and has signs of selfishness. Vampires fit under the degenerate theme very well. How he became a vampire we are not sure, although Van Helsing calls him King-Vampire, because of his consistency and power driven obsessions towards his cravings. His powers include a wide range of abilities in which some are beyond the powers of the other vampires or immortal people in the novel. Degenerates are predestined to crime and don’t know why it is wrong. Van Helsing wrote of Dracula by saying, "The Count is a criminal and of criminal type. Nordau and Lombroso would so classify him, and qua criminal he is of imperfectly formed mind" (Stoker chapter 28). With all his killings and bites he proceeds on people, Dracula fights the degenerate theme.

    Read More

  • Dracula

    894 Words  | 2 Pages

    While the character of Renfield is ostensively extraneous to the central plot of Dracula, he fulfils an important role in Stoker’s exploration of the central themes of the novel. This paper will examine how Renfield character is intertwined with the three central themes of invasion, blood and otherness. Firstly, through Renfield’s inner struggle we learn that he is ‘not his own master’ (Stoker, 211). The theme of invasion is revealed by the controlling and occupying powers of Count Dracula. Secondly, the recurring theme ‘the Blood is the Life’ (Stoker, 121), is portrayed throughout the novel and has been interpreted through Stoker’s character Renfield. Then finally, a look at the social construction of the ‘other’ in Dracula and how, through Renfield, who is ‘unlike the normal lunatic’ (Stoker, 52), the Count emerges as the ‘other’ of all ‘others’.

    Read More

  • Dracula Research Paper

    2063 Words  | 5 Pages

    First of all, the author’s depiction of the vampire is described as a monster. Bram Stoker uses a character named, Jonathan, to describe the vampire in Dracula, by describing the features. “His face was strong… though thin” (Stoker 18). Jonathan was a man on a business trip, to help Count Dracula with some paper work. In Jonathan’s point of view, the author describes Dracula as a elderly man with odd features.

    Read More

  • Xenophobia In Dracula

    847 Words  | 2 Pages

    Freud defines uncanny as something that is frightening and familiar and Dracula to me is the exact definition of that fear mixed with curiosity. Dracula embodies the fear of cultural passing, like we discussed in class, the thought of him being able to move within society undetected is terrifying because now there’s this monster walking among us that could attack at any time.I

    Read More

  • Dracula

    824 Words  | 2 Pages

    Dracula, by Bram Stoker, is a classic tale of Gothicism. Traditionally, gothic tales only carried single theme of horror. Through Dracula, Stoker breaks this single theme barrier. The theme throughout Dracula is clearly displayed through the characters as they step from ignorance to realization in this tale of horror.

    Read More

  • Dracula Character Analysis

    924 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the book, Dracula by Bram Stoker there are many characters that display qualities of good verse evil. The Count Dracula is a mysterious character who appears as an odd gentleman but the longer the story goes on Dracula shows his true self. Dracula started infiltrating the lives of anyone who crossed his path and he was not stopping his destruction of others’ lives. Many people were affect by Dracula’s actions but there were two people that Dracula caused an impact on during his rampage. Dracula is an evil, cunning, and selfish character who harms the life of a young man and ruins the future of an innocent woman.

    Read More

  • Impurity In Dracula

    999 Words  | 2 Pages

    The novel Dracula by Bram Stoker has plentiful examples of key concepts we have examined in class including: Purity and impurity, magical thinking, strong emotions such as disgust and shame, , formalization, and myth. In this essay I will summarize events that take place within the novel when the protagonists deal with Dracula and then relate these events to the key concepts to demonstrate why the characters view him as dangerous, and therefore something to be avoided completely.

    Read More

  • Signs Of Being The Outsider In The Novel Dracula By Bram Stoker

    997 Words  | 2 Pages

    Bram Stoker created an array of characters in his novel Dracula. I decided to examine Dracula himself because he is one of the most interesting characters of this novel. Dracula in my opinion show signs of being the outsider in this novel; the lone wolf per say in an ever changing world around him. In a conversation with Johnathon Harker, Dracula proclaims, “I long to go through the crowded streets of your mighty London, to be in the midst of the whirl and rush of humanity, to shave its life, its change, its deaths…” (Stoker). That sentence alone explains how much of an outsider

    Read More

  • Gothic Elements In Dracula

    703 Words  | 2 Pages

    Dracula is a popular novel published in 1897. It is a well-known piece of literature and resembles a great deal of characteristics associated with gothic literature. Dracula, by Bram Stoker, and my short story, The Crow, share many characteristics that make them a gothic tale. Three main components of gothic literature used in Dracula, as well as my short story, The Crow, are forces of nature, the supernatural, and isolation.

    Read More

  • The Real Count Dracula

    593 Words  | 2 Pages

    It all started with Count Dracula, a blood sucking, immortal monster. Dracula could turn into a bat by night, and if he was touched by even the smallest ray of light during the day, he would burn into a smoking pile of ash. Dracula had fangs that he used to break the skin on the necks of people he drank the blood from. Dracula could live as long as he wanted to, if he could survive that long. Dracula lived in Transylvania. Many people have heard different stories of Count Dracula, and not all are the same. The original story was created by an old writer names Bram Stoker. Bram Stoker wrote and sold many copies of his book, Dracula, in 1897. In this book, a young man named Jonathon Harker visits a strange man, known as Count Dracula, in Transylvania. Dracula follows Harker back to England and he tries to suck all the blood from the neck of Harker’s fiancée. Though this character might be original, the name is not. It is said that Bram Stoker based his character from a man named Vlad Dracula III. Bram Stoker’s book might have a compelling story, but it’s not the story of The Real Count Dracula. This is his story.

    Read More

More about Examples Of Alienation In Dracula

Open Document