The Importance Of Death In Bram Stoker's Dracula

How does death make the character’s more meaningful? Bram Stoker’s Dracula is a novel that shows the importance of character’s death by having symbolic significance. Dracula was written as a horror story based on the Prince of Wallachia, Vlad III or better known as Vlad the Impaler a nickname given to him for his favorite way of dispensing his enemies by impaling then on spikes and lining up the way to his home country with their corpses striking fear into the hearts of anyone who dared attack him. Before Vlad the Impaler though vampires had a different image being known all around as demonic beings, less human, and more morbid only existing to create chaos. Horror stories came from these inhuman actions and creatures but in every horror story

Swart-Levine asserts that the true monster is the women and their use of sexuallity. Lucy’s behavior backs this claim up Swartz-Levine states, “Lucy is dehumanized. She becomes a "Thing," with a capital T; she loses her proper name but gains a new one, of sorts” (Swartz-Levine 3). Lucy’s behavior is deemed inappropriate in Victorian England and by doing so she opens the door to bad things happening to her. Lucy has to be punished since she allowed to be bitten by Dracula and kept acted far from the standards of a Victorian woman. Swartz-Levine explains, “ Lucy, gives permission for these acts to occur--she is performing an act of contrition by admitting her sins and asking for punishment so that she can be forgiven and attain the afterlife” (5). By admitting to her sins and being killed in her vampiric form her soul is freed and she can be forgiven in the afterlife. Due to vampire lore one who becomes a vampire has their soul trapped in torment until they are killed. Lucy’s death symbolizes salvation and freeing her soul from her vampiric form is how. Furthermore the death of a character can mean something

Renfield’s death starts with a promise, in order for the Count to get into the asylum he must be invited or have an open window with one of theses present he can not enter. Renfield is tasked with letting the Count in but his promise turns into something unwanted. Renfield says, “I wouldn’t ask him to come in at first, though I knew he wanted to, just as he had wanted all along. Then he began promising me things, not in words but by doing them” (Stoker 301). Dracula starts promising Renfield unwanted tasks causing Renfield to stop allowing the Count to enter which gets him attacked the first time as a warning. When the protagonists are close to finding out where the Count is hiding he decides to cut loose end and kills Renfield one of his loyal servants. Jonathan recalls this and states, “Renfield had called out loudly several times, ‘God! God! God!’ After that there was a sound of falling, and when he entered the room he found him lying on the floor, face down, just as the doctors had seen him” (312). Renfield is killed betrayed by his master, who he let work on his evil plan. Renfield’s death not only symbolizes betrayal it is symbolizes being ungrateful. Dracula had a faithful servant but a simple act of disobedience from Renfield leads to his ultimate demise. Renfield’s death was the most painful way to die, by the