Horror authors have many ways of making their horror novels scary for readers. Dracula, being a Victorian Gothic novel, used many aspects to make it frightening for readers at the time. Considering that Bram Stoker’s Dracula is a horror novel, aspects of the text that would frighten a Victorian reader are the thoughts of the unknown and supernatural, the dark imagery used, and the change of traditional Victorian gender roles. To begin, the thought of the unknown and supernatural presented throughout the scenes in the novel would frighten a Victorian reader. An example of this would be in an entry from Mina Harker's journal, where she explains: “The coming of the cloud was too quick for me to see too much, for shadows shut down on light almost …show more content…
Mina’s uncertainty about what the dark figure could be intensifies the thought of the unknown and suggests that what is being seen may be a supernatural being. This is an unsettling thought for Victorian readers, as they believe the supernatural to be a threat and evil, going against their faith and beliefs. The rapid "coming of the cloud" evokes sudden darkness and symbolizes the sudden and overwhelming nature of the supernatural threat that was felt, intensifying the eerie and fearful theme of the novel. The dark figure bending over the white figure implies a predatory stance, preying on the innocent white figure. This builds up fear and tension about what could be happening and also shows how the dark figure is a threat. Mina’s uncertainty and the intensifying eerie feel of the scene help heighten anxieties about the unknown and supernatural, making it frightening for Victorian readers. In addition, another aspect that would frighten a Victorian reader is the dark imagery used throughout the …show more content…
H. explains her having “voluptuousness” and that she licked her lips like an animal, showing that she has a confident and aggressive vibe unlike what a typical woman would be like during those times. Her red lips and tongue symbolize blood, indicating that she may be dangerous and “impure”. This can also symbolize boldness and sexuality, since red is the colour of love. This adds beauty to her persuasive, dangerous aura and encapsulates her seductive stance over J.H. This woman is portrayed as sexual, aggressive, and dominant, which differentiates it from traditional Victorian expectations of women being pure and modest. This portrayal of women in the novel would make Victorian readers feel disturbed and frightened of such a change since it is not normal and is considered unacceptable. In conclusion, the thoughts of the supernatural and unknown portrayed throughout the novel, the usage of dark imagery, and the switch to traditional gender norms of the time may be frightening to Victorian readers. This is proven through the ambiguity in scenes intensifying the eerie feel and heightening anxieties about the unknown and supernatural, the dark imagery painting violent and horrific pictures for readers, and the switch of traditional female expectations
There is a classic "good versus evil" plot to this novel. The evil of course being Count Dracula and the Good being represented by the Harkers, Dr. Seward and Lucy, Arthur, Quincy and the Professor. It is the continuing battle between Dracula and the forces of good. Good in this case is the Christian God. The battle is foretold by the landlady where she says, "It is the eve of St Georges Day. Do you no know that tonight, when the clock strikes midnight, all the evil things in the world will have full sway?" and she hands Harker a crucifix (p 12).
This essay explores the blurring of gender roles within Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Angela Carter’s The Lady of the House of Love, focusing on the presentation of a sexually assertive female and its threat to the patriarchal society, and the duality of the female characters as they are presented as enticing and thrilling, but also dangerous and somewhat repulsive.
In the 19th century Bram Stoker wrote the infamous novel, Dracula. This novel was composed in the style of letters, journal entries, newspaper articles and telegrams in order to convey to the reader a realistic story. The story of Dracula is about an ancient vampire who moves to London from his native country of Transylvania. In London, Dracula seduces and bites a young woman by the name of Lucy Westenra. When Lucy falls sick, no one knows how to help her because while Dracula has bitten her many times she has always been in a trance. Lucy?s friends decide to join together to combat what ever is ailing Lucy. In hopes of some help, Lucy?s friend Dr. Seward asks an old mentor of his by the name of Dr. Van Helsing to come to London and solve this puzzling illness. When Dr. Van Helsing arrives in London and sees Lucy he is the only one that knows almost immediately what has happened and what they are up against. The character of Dracula rarely appears in the story because this creates suspense and magnifies the fear of the unknown. The theme of good versus evil is developed throughout the book in many ways. One of the most important examples is Dracula and Mina. Dracula is the ultimate evil and Mina is full of goodness and purity. The Victorian view of women was not helpful to the characters in Dracula. For example, every time the male characters in the story decide not to tell Mina some particular type of information, things end up going terribly wrong. Even though Mina ends up being the key to destroying Dracula she is still a women and the Victorian view gets in the way.
We are introduced to two particular women in the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker. These two women are Mina Harker and Lucy Westenra. These women were presented to serve as Foil characters and show the two types of women: the pure and the vulnerable.Early in to the novel, they were described as the stereotypical perfect women in this era. As the story progresses , significant differences are shown by both women. Lucy will show the difference between which allows Dracula to capture her with his spell first. This will show the similarities and differences of MIna Harker and Lucy Westenra.
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.
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.
Gothic literature is a genre fashioned to portray concealed fantasies and unsocial behaviours, only to go against social boundaries and emphasise these by the end. This chapter focuses on the representation of male characters in the gothic text, Dracula by Bram Stoker. Gothic texts not only violate social norms but throughout the nineteenth century male characters have had a persistent need to conform to the high standards of society. Several writers within the Victorian era expressed feelings of repressed sexuality and issues surrounding gender, Dracula is one of many gothic novels that hold these issues central. Men have had to ignore their individual needs for sexual relations and playing along to fit into society. The gothic characterises this emotional war fought within the anxious males and expresses these ideas of homosexuality and violating social norms in a negative light. One of the major themes of Dracula is the triumph of the masculine over the feminine. This interpretation is not limited to the treatment of the characters. Even though the men – Van Helsing, Seward, Godalming, Morris and Harker do rescue the female character, Mina Harker, from the evil hands of another male, Count Dracula, their real triumph is over the feminine forces that he represents. In Dracula anxiety is displayed when the male characters are left alone with the females – Harker writes in his journal ‘I am alone in the castle with those awful women. Faugh! Mina is a woman, and there is nought in common. They are devils of the Pit!’ (p.46) here we see Mina contrasted to the three Brides of Dracula, Harker portrays them as complete opposites. Masculinity remains as the more powerful position, despite the depiction of powerful females on the surfac...
Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula, written in 1897 during the Victorian era depicts and delves through the historical context of what society was like in the past. His extraordinary piece places a strong emphasis on sexuality by contrasting it with the conventional and stereotypical views towards sexuality that was once embellished during his life time. By painting an elaborate picture of the conservative society Stoker once grew up in, I contend that through his main female characters, he pursues to epitomize and challenge the Victorian notion of sexuality by incorporating female characters with strong sexual desires. This essay is primarily set forth to bring into light key ideas that may alter the way one perceives this novel by highlighting that Dracula is a seditious novel that embraces female sexuality in a time where “society sought to suppress woman sexuality” (Catherine J. Rose, 2).
In terms of feminist theory, Dracula is much like that of Henry Ibsen’s A Doll’s House; both portraying the role of women (or lack thereof) in a Victorian setting. During the turn of the century women did not have the freedom granted to them today and not much was expected of them in terms of masculine obligations. Men were expected to be smart and strong while women were supposed to be motherly, gentle, and nurturing. For example: the superiority of men over women in Dracula is made clear when Lucy addresses Mina: “why are men so noble when women are so little worthy of them?” (Stoker 54). Stoker portrays all of his female characters’ vulnerability against evil when each one of them seems to have a weakness to a male character. Dracula can be analyzed through and against feminist theory by relating the stereotypes of the three female characters: Mina Murray Harker, Lucy Westenra, and the three vampire “brides” of Dracula.
Similar to almost every piece of literature ever created, Dracula by Bram Stoker has been interpreted many different ways, being torn at from every angle possible. Just as one might find interest in interpreting novels differently, he or she might also find interest in the plot, prose, or theme, all of which ultimately lead to the novels overall tone. Throughout the novel, it becomes blatant that the novel contains an underlying theme of female incompetence and inferiority. Through a true feminist’s eyes, this analysis can clearly be understood by highlighting the actions of Mina and Lucy, the obvious inferior females in the book. Through Stoker’s complete and utter manipulation of Mina and Lucy, he practically forces the reader to analyze the co-existence of dominant males and inferior females in society and to simultaneously accept the fact that the actual text of Dracula is reinforcing the typical female stereotypes that have developed throughout the ages.
Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula, is a highly controversial work of fiction that is still being read for the first time today. Dracula touches many different categories including; sci-fi horror to 1800’s English romance literature. This is the main reason why the novel Dracula can be analyzed in many different ways using many different literary theories. The theory which stuck out most to me while reading this novel was the Feminist Theory. The Feminist Theory cannot be used to analyze Dracula as a whole novel, but it can be used in order to analyze the different female characters throughout the book. Therefore, Bram Stoker’s Dracula can be analyzed through the feminist theory by focusing on the characters Mina Harker, Lucy Westenra, and the three brides of Dracula.
In reading Bram Stoker's Dracula, I find the treatment of the two main female characters-- Lucy Westenra and Mina Harker-- especially intriguing. These two women are two opposite archetypes created by a society of threatened men trying to protect themselves.
In 1897, after seven years of writing, Dracula was finally published. Written by Bram Stoker during the Victorian Era. There was much sentiment towards the emancipation of woman. Though these feelings came mostly from women, there were also opposing sentiments, mostly from men, who did not feel the same way towards the liberation of women. The feminist movement was beginning to take ahold of society and many would have to become accustomed to the new ideals of women possibly being in power.
Bram Stoker's novel Dracula, published in 1897, explores various sexual erotic possibilities in the vampire's embrace, as discussed by Leonard Wolf. The novel confronts Victorian fears of homosexuality; that were current at the time due to the trial of playwright Oscar Wilde. The vampire's embrace could also be interpreted as an illustration of Victorian fears of the changing role of women. Therefore it is important to consider: the historical context of the novel; the Victorian notion of the `New Woman' specifically the character of Lucy Westenra; the inversion of gender roles; notions of sexuality; and the emasculation of men, by lessening their power over women; in the novel Dracula. In doing this I will be able to explore the effects of the vampire's embrace in depth, and achieve a wider understanding of the variety of erotic undercurrents Stoker incorporated into the novel.
An Atmosphere of Fear and Horror in the Opening Chapter of Dracula by Bram Stoker