Although it is rather obvious to us that Dracula is a vampire, Jonathan is still currently unaware. By giving us a constant physical description of the count, and how his character represents isolation, stokes hopes to use this as dramatic irony to increase the suspense until the climax later in the story, building up his character. Within the story Dracula is seen to be a frightening and intimidating figure, he portrays a human appearance, but mystery surrounds him.
“Within, stood a tall old man, clean shaven save for a long white moustache, and clad in black from head to foot, without a single speck of colour about him anywhere. He held in his hand an antique silver lamp, in which the flame burned without a chimney or globe of any kind,
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throwing long quivering shadows as it flickered in the draught of the open door. The old man motioned me in with his right hand with a courtly gesture, saying in excellent English, but with a strange intonation” With black giving connotations of darkness, the count could be described as a dark intimidation mysterious person. This is how we hear Jonathan describe the count, highlighting how even though he could potentially be just a normal human, Jonathan can sense from the beginning there is something strange about him. Although within the castle Jonathan is considered the isolated one by readers because he isn't the same type of species as the count and his three 'wives' we soon realise Harker is actually the one who is completely normal in the situation. The theme of isolation highly surrounds the count from many factors, whilst he is shape shifting away from his normal self and using disguises this is creating an isolation from society as he cannot be accepted as his true self in society of course because he is different from everyone else, he isn't a traditional human, and to be accepted he must have various disguises and ways of getting away from being his normal self. Much like the monster in Frankenstein, he is a monster. Shelley creates a vast isolation for the monster in society due to the fact he is not a human he is indeed a monster who cannot confide in humans. "What chiefly struck me were the gentle manners of these people, and I longed to join them but I dared not. I remembered too well the treatment I had suffered the night before from the barbarous villagers, and resolved, whatever course of conduct I might hereafter think it right to pursue, that for the present I would remain quietly in my hovel, watching and endeavouring to discover the motives which influenced their actions." With the novel at this point being told in the monsters point of view rather that the creators we are introduced to the person feelings of the monster. Due to his looks by humans he is immediately treated with rejection no matter how his mannerisms are or how he acts due to his monstrous look he is being abused. Although he is so eager to learn more about humans despite the way they treat him, it intrigues his as to why they are so horrific towards him. He soon accepts the fact that he is stuck himself with no one else being of his kind and he has nothing making him an outcast not accepted into any society and no way of even creating a society of his own In Dracula we very soon realise that the count is strongly isolated from society. A reason for this could be that he is a murderer, although this isolates him as he is actually isolated because he does what he had to do to stay alive, drink others blood and lead to their death. A prime example of this is Lucy Westenra. Dracula begins stalking her with her suffering from obscure phases of dementia with no reasonable explanation, she soon becomes extremely ill. After Lucy's apparent 'death' she is turned into a vampire herself. Not only does the count kill people to stay alive but he chooses wisely who he takes to become one of his own mind slowly building a group so to feel not so alone and isolated in society. In society after this incident he is seen as a criminal, which he hasn't choose to be, he must kill other people to save his own life, creating isolation as he cannot commute to human life as he need different things than normal humans do to stay alive therefore he cannot ever become a 'normal' human. Bram Stoker effectively uses setting as a means to create isolation towards Dracula. The counts castle is on the top of a hill away from the town it is in and away from everyone and anything. "We kept on ascending, with occasional periods of quick decent, but in the main always ascending. Suddenly, I became conscious of the fact that the driver was in the act of pulling up the horses in the courtyard of a vast ruined castle, from whose tall black windows came no ray of light, and whose broken battlements showed a jagged line against the sky" This giving a rugged and mysterious feel to the castle from one whom becomes a prisoner of it eventually Jonathan Harker. He is originally the one who is isolated and captured by the count he is alone in the castle oblivious at first, he then learns and escapes just in time at that point we realise the count is actually the one who is isolated in the novel he is the monster. His home is in a town although it is away from all the other buildings, and had an eerie feel to it, making no one want to venture to the castle, leaving the count being the one isolated in there. This is also the location where Harker decapitates the count, and his demise ends in the same place it started, leaving to forever be isolated in death, due to who he was and what he had to do to live. As Dracula needs Transylvanian soil to rest London proves to be a very isolating and foreign place for the count. It is a more common place for any readers than Transylvania is, also Stoker had never been either, therefore he was able to create a more common place and situation to place the count in and therefore able to isolate him more by making things which would be obscurities to the count as they are so common to everyday life to humans. Shelley uses a variety of techniques and situations to highlight the monsters mental state of isolation. Victor isolated himself at the university in Ingolstadt, where he avoids mostly everyone creating his monster, he physically isolated himself by neglecting his most loved family Elizabeth, in fear that she will find out about his creation. Victor then chooses the remote Orkney Islands where he is comfortable to be himself creative his isolation; he will stay away from everyone and anything to make him comfortable. To invent in the construction of his second monster, being the female monster he promised the monster. That the monster pleaded for to mitigate his loneliness and occurring mental state of depression. Realising he is alone in his kind and all he wants is someone else to be like him that he can live and who can love him. "And what was I? Of my creation and creator I was absolutely ignorant, but I knew that I possessed no money, no friends, no kind of property. I was, besides, endued with a figure hideously deformed and loathsome; I was not even of the same nature as man." Highlighting even though the beast is threatening to kill Victors most loved ones we can see his isolation.
In a world full of humans who cringe at the sight of him. He is lonely and this is beginning to impact the monsters mental state. When Frankenstein abandons the making of the female monster out of worries he will create a race of monsters. This is where we really see the toll taken on the monsters mental state, after he has became intelligent and well mannered beginning to understand and comprehend human behaviour once he sees Frankenstein destroying his companion he kills his best friend and later on his spouse. Showing us the toll it has taken on his mental state it had cause him to actually take people's life to get revenge on Frankenstein as he abandons his promise to the monster. The loneliness he felt caused this and lead to madness after a period of …show more content…
time. The fact that the monster has absolutely no one to confide in after trying so hard with 'normal' people he begins to wonder why it is only him who has no one "But it is even so; the fallen angel becomes a malignant devil. Yet even that enemy of God and man had friends and associates in his desolation; I am alone." He brings in biblical references when re-telling the story to Walton, that even the most evil species was allowed friends being the devil. Another factor to influence the monsters isolation is that even though he develops human mannerisms and is created from human parts he is always referred to as 'created' as oppose to the more human like born. This is entirely dehumanising him, he is being told he is 'created' and not born like every human is. This is emphasising how he is of a different kind or species than normal human, causing him to feel he can never be accepted as human because he certainly isn't a human, he is a monster. Even throughout all of the monsters isolation we can see that it is not only taking a toll on the monster himself but also on Victor Frankenstein.
Mary Shelley uses a variety of situations to highlight the stress on victor Frankenstein his creator. When he creates his monster he first meets him high up in the Swiss Alps, far away from everything - which is viewed as somewhere they can both escape, this also is a prose version of Mary Shelley’s poem 'Mont Blanc' which refers to the beauty of the Alps. Victor find this as a means of escape from all the bad in the world and it is after Justine is convicted and William is murdered, thinking it will get him away from all and make it stop but ironically this is only the
beginning. At this point in the novel Elizabeth wonders for Victor’s sanity. Even we realise it as he considers suicide “I was often tempted, when all was at peace around me, and I the only unquiet thing that wandered restless in a scene so beautiful and heavenly -- if I except some bat, or the frogs, whose harsh and interrupted croaking was heard only when I approached the shore -- often, I say, I was tempted to plunge into the silent lake, that the waters might close over me and my calamities for ever. But I was restrained, when I thought of the heroic and suffering Elizabeth, whom I tenderly loved, and whose existence was bound up in mine. I thought also of my father and surviving brother: should I by my base desertion leave them exposed and unprotected to the malice of the fiend whom I had let loose among them?” (Chapter 9) Showing he feels no way out. He doesn't know how to make things better after what he has done, creating a monstrous killer. Frankenstein knows that if it gets out that it was in fact him that created the monster he will be locked away and isolated forever, hence the reason he is actually contemplating death as the only 'easy' way out of his miseries, showing he is just as isolated as the monster he has created, he has no one to confide in with his problems. Creating the monster and the sheer effort and time he out into it caused him to become ill, his state of reality was completely taken away isolating him from the outside world, adding an imperfection to his character, this flaw is what creates the monster. "I saw plainly that he was surprised, but he never attempted to draw my secret from me; and although I loved him with a mixture of affection and reverence that knew no bounds, yet I could never persuade myself to confide to him that event which was so often present to my recollection but which I feared the detail to another would impress more deeply" This shows that the creation of the monster has turned the creator Frankenstein into someone too paranoid that he cannot function in normal life anymore, due to the tragic events that he had also recently gone through lead him to be trapped in his own mind, never allowing himself time to heal. 'Carmilla' by Joseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu is the first shifting vampire novel, it was written during the dark romanticism literary movement inspiring many different gothic horror novels including being one of the main inspirations for Bram Stoker's Dracula. Both authors indulge in mystery, though Stoker takes allows the characters to solve the enigma of the vampire along with the reader. Slowly solving the mystery for the reader. Carmilla and the count have many things in common making the two novels similar, both characters are heavily isolated, Carmilla has nocturnal habits but she is not confined to the darkness although throughout demonstrates that she chooses this way. Both have animals they shape shift into, with Carmilla being a softer animal as a cat as oppose to Draculas huge dog. Carmilla could also relate to Frankenstein's monster with common factors of isolation. In conclusion Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and Dracula by Bram Stoker are both gothic horror novels where the main protagonists both suffer from extreme social isolation, physical isolation and physiological isolation due to who they are and how they must live their lives. Which both leads to their ultimate demise with tragic events and tragic endings to both? Creating a much deeper meaning and structure to the novels than the classic story and creating deeper meanings to the characters and their actions throughout the novel
Once Jonathan arrives at the castle, he is met by the mysterious Count Dracula, a man described as strong and pale, with bright ruby lips and sharp white teeth. Although Jonathan is unaware of what Dracula truly is, he can already sense that something is amiss, and he gets worr...
First off, in Stoker’s Dracula the reader’s suspension of disbelief is lower as compared to folklore tales. He is a tall creepy old person when first revealed, but later on in the novel he is shown to be more sinister. This creates a sense of mystery and confusion. Another reason is that he is a well developed antagonist. Often times he outsmarts the main characters creating a sense of suspense and irony because the readers know what is going to happen but the characters do not. But the most important reason of them all is the fact that Count Dracula takes elements from folklore and builds upon it. Stoker uses classic folklore to create a foundation for Dracula, for example; Dracula’s powers give him the ability to live forever, or shapeshift into other creatures as well. They also give him weaknesses such as: holy objects and daylight which mitigates his powers. These powers regularly add to the mysterious tone in the book. Count Dracula climbing down the castle wall upside down or moving slowly across a yard as a cloud of vapor makes the reader question what is happening. He has the ability to control the weather and animals as well. Stoker gives him powers from legend to make him a formidable force in the story. Although his appearance is unpleasant, he is quite the seductive character. He uses this to his advantage when trying to turn Mina and Lucy into vampires. Dracula preys on ‘weaker’ beings in a hierarchical system where he feasts on the women and once the women have turned to vampires, they feed on children. He can also use telepathy to tell where other vampires are, however, this works against him in the final chase of the book. In short his powers are unique and interesting and help to make the Count a powerful
Throughout most of the novel, Bram Stoker keeps Dracula?s character in the shadows because it creates apprehension and uncertainly for t...
As Frankenstein is enroute to his pursuit of gaining more knowledge, he states, “I wished, as it were, to procrastinate all that related to my feelings of affection until the great object, which swallowed up every habit of my nature, should be completed” (Shelley 41). Frankenstein’s decision in allowing his intellectual ambitions to overpower everything else in his life leads him to be blinded to the dangers of creating life. He isolates himself from his society when creating the monster, letting himself be immersed in his creation while being driven by his passions, allowing nobody to be near him. The fact that he allows this creation of a monster to consume his total being reveals how blinded he is to the immorality of stepping outside the boundaries of science and defying nature. His goal in striving to achieve what wants to in placing man over nature makes him lose his sense of self as all he is focused on is the final product of his creation. He starts to realize his own faults as after he has created the monster, he becomes very ill and states, “The form of the monster on whom I had bestowed existence was forever before my eyes, and I raved incessantly concerning him” (48). His impulsive decision to make the monster leads him to abhorring it as it does not turn out to be what he has expected. Because he chooses to isolate himself in creating the
1. Time: The role of time in Dracula is very important. Looking at life through each person’s eyes makes the whole ordeal seem more realistic. After Jonathan's last entry in Chapter 4, we are left wondering whether he made it out alive or not. The time suspense here draws us in wanting to know more and more. Time’s importance also has to do with occurrences of good versus evil. The evil things always happen at night in the dark, and night has always been represented as a dark, evil concept.
Through the gothic writing of Stoker, there was a huge intimidation of Dracula coming forth from it. “Stoker spared no effort to present his demonic vampire as dramatically as possible” (Leatherdale 105-17). With this sinister presence of death, people start to panic. As a vampire hunter, it was Helsing’s job to help notify people on how to rid themselves of this demon. Stoker portrays survival in the form of teamwork between the men and women of the novel. These characters soon take survival into their own hands. “‘We must trace each of those boxes; and when we are ready, we must either capture or kill this monster in his lair; or we must, so to speak, sterilize the earth, so that no more he can seek safety in it’” (Stoker 373). At this point in the novel, the characters know about the existence of vampires. The consequences are also put on top priority. The men know of the consequences, yet still want to go after this demon. “By chasing Dracula, the men risk being sentenced to an immortal life as a vampire. This immortality is endless time lived in physical form” (Poquette 35). Knowing the risks of hunting a vampire, the characters ignore them to protect their loved ones. A vampire hunter is an important factor in the novel because without one, the other characters wouldn’t know what to do. Stoker chose right in including
I will not hear you. There can be no communicate between you and me; we are enemies. Begone, or let us try our strength in a fight, in which one must fall” (68). At this point in the novel, I sympathize with the monster even though he has become a terrible person. As his creator, Victor Frankenstein should have cared for the monster despite his disgusting appearance, but Victor ran away from his responsibilities toward creature, he did not give the creature what he wanted in his life, because he was feared of being killed by the creature. Frankenstein made the creature to murder the living humans, because the creature was very isolated and he did not had no one to talk to:” I was benevolent; my soul glow with love and humanity: but am I not alone, miserably alone? You, my creator, abhor me; what hope can I gather from your fellow creatures, who owe me nothing?” (68). If Frankenstein would have guided and nurtured the creature then the creature would have never sought revenge on Frankenstein and his family: I was benevolent and good; misery made me a fiend” (68). The creature demonstrated his true personality, due to the abandonation of his creator. However, the creature perceive Frankenstein of being the omnipotent God: “Remember, that I am thy creature: I ought to be thy Adam; but I am rather the fallen angel, whom thou divest from joy for no misdeed” (68). Which demonstrates the melancholy part of the creature that was filled with loneliness and
An idea becomes a vision, the vision develops a plan, and this plan becomes an ambition. Unfortunately for Victor Frankenstein, his ambitions and accomplishments drowned him in sorrow from the result of many unfortunate events. These events caused Victors family and his creation to suffer. Rejection and isolation are two of the most vital themes in which many dreadful consequences derive from. Victor isolates himself from his family, friends, and meant-to-be wife. His ambitions are what isolate him and brought to life a creature whose suffering was unfairly conveyed into his life. The creature is isolated by everyone including his creator. He had no choice, unlike Victor. Finally, as the story starts to change, the creature begins to take control of the situation. It is now Victor being isolated by the creature as a form of revenge. All the events and misfortunes encountered in Frankenstein have been linked to one another as a chain of actions and reactions. Of course the first action and link in the chain is started by Victor Frankenstein.
Frankenstein only takes action against it after his last family member has been killed by it because he cannot get accompany from his family anymore, which shows that he cares about himself more than the lives of other people. When the creature kills Dr. Frankenstein’s brother, his good friend Henry and his wife Elizabeth, he does not want to revenge because he still has his father to live for. However, after his father died by hearing the death of Elizabeth, he lost all his social interaction so he is alone and miserable. Before the monster’s depredations, he can depend on his family when he was sick or depressed; but now he is close to the state of solitude that the creature has experienced since being created. Therefore, Dr. Frankenstein becomes dehumanized and obsess with revenge. He could only feel his pain after all his family died, but never think of the creature’s desperation. The creature, with no bindings and no belongings, is on its own the whole life. As its creator, Dr. Frankenstein gives no love to it, but leave it cruelly. He could never understand why the creature take revenge on him because he is a narcissist. In the article, “Narcissism and Empathy in Young Offenders and Non-offenders”, author Erica G. Hepper explains that, “Although narcissistic individuals depend on other people’s praise and respect to feed their ego, they lack communal motivation and fail to consider the effect they have on others” (201). Dr. Frankenstein never care to think of what might happen to the creature after he rejects it. What he cares is he could not bear to look at the creature, so he just runs away. And now, Dr. Frankenstein decides to take revenge on the creature that all its miseries are caused by himself. Surprisingly, after Dr. Frankenstein died, the creature comments him by his bed, “Oh, Frankenstein! Generous and self-devoted being! What does it avail that I now ask thee to pardon me” (146)? Even though the creature
Both Frankenstein and the monster suffer greatly through the novel, Frankenstein experiment, that had gone totally wrong. The monster is not mean, in the way that he tried to fit in, into society, but was shunned and never accepted by anyone. The monster lived alone, isolated for everyone and everything, meanwhile Frankenstein suffer as well. He loss everyone around him, in a blink of an eye, in the hands of the monster, regretment as he is the creator of the thing that destroyed his life. Although many blame everything on the monster, in the way he badly behaved, he is not at total fault for his action.As in the way that when the monster commits his crime with passion; he doesn't think apon his actions, but only lives in the moment and his action are his mostly rage.
Victor Frankenstein is originally a happy character that loves to learn and read a large variety of books. He was a fiery individual who sought to understand all knowledge; regardless of how practical the information was. Evidence of this is when his father tells him not to worry about fictional writers like Cornelius Agrippa. Yet, Frankenstein states, “But here were books, and here were men who had penetrated deeper and knew more. I took their word for all that they averred, and I became their disciple” (21). Frankenstein embodies the movement in science to understand everything, and that is not necessarily a good thing (Storment 2). Frankenstein only understands that this train of thought is bad when he reaches the pinnacle of knowledge and produces the creature. The fruits of Frankenstein’s labor end up costing him the lives of his friends and family, as well as his own sanity. The feeling of guilt thrives in Frankenstein because he knows his work was the direct cause of the chaos in his life. In Frankenstein’s case, his goal of total enlightenment led to his pitiful demise. Frankenstein’s creature was not originally a monster. He is born with good intentions and is a gentle- although atrocious looking- being until he learns of the sins of the human race. The ultimate factor in the creature’s progression from harmless to
Afterwards, he comes to deeply regret his action and abandons the Monster by throwing him out into the world without any education or guidance. Because of this, throughout the book, the Monster harbors resentment towards Frankenstein and dedicates his life to making Frankenstein’s a living hell. Out of the many horrible things that the Monster did to achieve this goal, the main evil action I will be focusing on is the murder of William, Frankenstein’s younger brother, and the framing of his nanny for the murder. After being continually rejected by not only his creator, but countless other humans based only on his gruesome appearance, the Monster decides to exact revenge on humankind and especially on Frankenstein for giving life to such a horrible creature as himself. Upon deciding this, the Monster decides to go to his hometown and look for Frankenstein, and along the way runs into William.
At first, The Monster is very kind and sympathetic. He has a good heart, as shown when he collected firewood for the family on the brink of poverty. Like every other human creation, he was not born a murderer. All the Monster wanted was to be accepted and loved by Victor Frankenstein and the other humans but instead he was judged by his appearance and considered to be dangerous. The Monster says, “like Adam, I was created apparently united by no link to any other being in existence…many times I considered Satan as the fitter emblem of my condition; for often, like him, when I viewed the bliss of my protectors, the bitter gall of envy rose within me” (page 105). This line is an important part of the novel because the Monster lets it be known how like Adam he was created into this world completely abandoned and like Satan he is angry with those people who have found contentment and satisfaction in their lives. The rejection and unwelcome feeling he is faced with, is the main reason the Monster becomes a killer. Watching another family show love towards each other made the Monster realize how alienated he truly was. He did not know how to deal with his pain and emotions so he murders as
At first the Monster never intended to hurt anyone, but continuously being made fun of by every human that he ran into took a toll on his mental state. He knew that the only way to get Frankenstein’s attention was kill someone that he loved. It started off with his brother, William. Then Justine, the family servant, was the one framed and was executed for “killing” William. Henry Clerval, Frankenstein’s best friend, and last his wife and cousin Elizabeth were killed throughout the book in hopes of getting Frankenstein to create another creature like the Monster. The Monster never had a fair life because he was created as...
The first part of Dracula's insanity to address is his devious planning throughout the novel. Even at the start of the book, he holds Jonathan Harker hostage inside Castle Dracula. For example, he has no care for Jonathan when he is staying at his castle. He replies to the vampires saying, “Well, now I promise you that when I am done with him you shall kiss him at your will. Now go! Go! I must awaken him, for there is work to be done" (Stoker 105). This shows Jonathan as just a part of Dracula's plans. This is what makes Dracula ...