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Dracula and religion
Annotated bibliography on vampires
Dracula and religion
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In the diverse categories of monsters, there are specific types of monsters which are “cursed by a bite”—Vampires, Zombies and Werewolves (Kaplan 2012: 136). Perhaps vampires are the most interesting of all. They have been around for centuries. From Dracula (Stoker 1897) to Twilight (Meyer 2005), vampire culture has seduced fiction lovers all over the world. Before vampire`s otherness in the 19th century renders vampirism a terrifying threat, but late 20th century America finds itself in a mood to perceive otherness as attractive. (Milly 2005). After the Vietnam War, Americans suffered from a collective trauma. Pressure on unit commander to produce enemy corpses was intense. Soldiers were sent to massacre the entire village, women and children …show more content…
Transgressive sexuality has always been part of gothic novels, and the fear of infectious diseases has easily found its way into the genre. During 1980s, infections spread in bathhouses where men had 30-40 sexual encounters a night leads people to homophobia. (Poole 2011). Gay men were viewed as a voracious creatures of the night with supernatural sexual appetite. Antigay activists used vampires’ drinking human blood as a metaphor for homosexuals eating sperm. In the movie, the initial meeting between Louis and Lestat takes the form of seduction as Lestat was lurking in the dark with a strong sense of homoeroticism. They exchanged their body fluids and Louis was reborn again. Over the movie we see vampires expressing their sexuality very explicitly toward one another. Before making the new Claudia, Lestat said “I want a child tonight. I am like a mother…I want a child!” Obviously, he was referring to make an actual baby like Bella and Edward and expressing his sexuality toward …show more content…
Their sexual objects are members of both sexes. Like homosexuality, bisexuality triggers negative social reactions; thus bisexuals are outcasts and socially isolated. Both homosexual and heterosexual communities are inimical to them, so bisexuals have to cope with ‘double marginality’ (Weinberg, Williams and Pryor 190). And it seems no great stretch to consider the androgyny and homoeroticism (or pan-eroticism) present in much recent vampire literature as evidence of Rice`s profound influence. (Leonard 1999). Emphasize on the homosexual theme, suppressed women not just in literature, but also in the current American standard of beauty. The most beautiful runway models (and vampires) have a combination of masculine and feminine characteristics. With all their beauty and mystery, vampires introduce us to a glamorous but lonely life. Their secret temptation opens our mind to our own little fantasies. Even though some aspects of vampires have disappeared, they are still the main protagonists in popular culture and media. The vampires are no longer a figure of blood-thirsty predator but a figure of sympathy and sexuality. As a young teenager, one thing left to do is to wait for another vampire
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. .
Bram Stoker and Sheridan Le Fanu’s texts, Dracula (1898) and “Carmilla” (1872), use gothic tropes in similar ways to captivate readers with horror and terror. This essay will illustrate how, in comparison, both texts include gothic tropes: the New Woman, sexuality and setting, in order to provoke emotions and reactions from the readers. To achieve this, this essay will focus on the women that challenge traditional gender roles and stereotypes, and deconstruct each text in regards to the very strong undertones of homosexuality; specifically between Carmilla and Laura, and Dracula and Harker. By discussing the harshness and darkness of the environments described, including ruined castles and isolated landscapes; this essay will also explore the
Bram Stoker’s Dracula illustrated fears about sexual women in contrast to the woman who respected and abided by society’s sexual norms. Joseph Sheridan LeFanu’s “Carmilla” represented not only the fear of feminine sexuality, but also the fear of sexuality between women. John William Polidori’s “The Vampyre” showed society’s fear of sexuality in terms of the seductive man who could “ruin” a young girl.These texts are representative of vampire stories in the Victorian Era, and will be the focus here.
Vampires have been viewed with fear and fascination for centuries. Of all the vampires in literature, Bram Stoker’s Count Dracula is probably the most prominent vampire. Recently, there has been an upsurge of public interest in socially acceptable vampires, like the Cullens in the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer. This essay will contrast Stoker’s Dracula with Carlisle Cullen, one of the newer vampires from the Twilight series. They will be examined in terms of their origins and how they dealt with immortality.
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).
...wing to question not only psychological boundaries leading to paranoia in a character, Gothic fiction also deals with an existing patriarchal structure. With helping to broaden the boundaries of judgments, it also provides a new and modified model of societal taboos. Conclusively, by following a traditional Gothic pattern in their novels, both Angela Carter and Fay Weldon challenge traditional conventions of modern times and help guide one to transgress formally set boundaries. In order to “transform narrative and cultural understandings”, it is said that Carter retells stories instead of telling them for it seems that “it is only “through the revoking of these cultural understandings” that transgressions must take place. It is a fact that Carter has achieved this in her novel The Magic Toyshop as much as Weldon has achieved this point in her The Bulgari Connection.
The definition of the Horror genre differs completely to the Gothic genre. This idea of how the Gothic novel transformed from various architectures based around impending castles and morality tales, to the idea of monsters, fear, and repugnance. Therefore, it is interesting to notice the change from how the genre has developed from arguably the 17th century to the 20th century, where vampires, werewolf’s, and other monsters are very popular with teen audiences especially.
The legend of the vampire has emerged countless times within human imagination over the past few centuries. The first available representation of the mythical creature in prose fiction can be found in John Polidori’s “The Vampyre” (1810). It was not until eight decades later that Bram Stoker popularized the existence of this figure with the publication of “Dracula” in 1897. The folklore of the vampire has come a long way since and can be found in today’s popular media more frequently than ever before. However, with due course of time, the representation of the creature has taken alternate routes and today’s vampires are noticeable different – socially and physically – from their predecessors. One effective path to trace this transformation is to compare arguably modern day’s most famous representation of the vampire, Stephanie Meyer’s “Twilight” with “Dracula”, the foundation from which a large number of modern works draw inspiration. Examining this comparison closely, one finds that a new socially acceptable, sexually abstinent and desirable creature is fast replacing the fearsome and sexually voracious monster, as depicted in early tales of the vampire.
Over the course of cinematic history, many filmmakers have attempted to recreate the chilling, unprecedented world of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Arguably very few have succeeded, for the majority of directors tend to avoid the pervasive sexuality inherent in the novel. It is a difficult task to achieve, considering the blatant imagery surrounding sex and vampirism, such as the reproduction following a vampiric encounter and the phallocentric nature of the violence committed both by and against these creatures: penetration is involved in their hunting, and one must impale them with a stake in order to destroy them. Readers are thereby forced to admit that Dracula is, in fact, a highly eroticized piece of literature, though whether or not Stoker himself was aware of this suggestiveness, we cannot be sure. The most successful effort at capturing that sexual energy on film has been Francis Ford Coppola's 1992 movie, Bram Stoker's Dracula. In fact, it has often been proposed that Coppola’s version is too carnally focused in comparison to the original work, which leads a viewer to wonder about the purpose in this overt sexualization. It can be concluded that adding copious amounts of eroticism to the film is directly related to Coppola’s strive to depict Count Dracula as more human rather than monster, and sexuality in his film serves as a balance so that the lines between good and evil are blurred. Evidence for this deduction is found in three scenes in particular: Jonathan’s seduction by Dracula’s vampiric wives, Lucy’s demonic transformation, and Mina and Van Helsing’s relationship during the climax of the story.
From Transylvania to Hollywood, vampires have transformed from unfamiliar, mysterious personalities to one of the most dominant monsters in the horror genre today. Vampires are one of the oldest and most noted creatures in mythology, with many variations of them around the world. Although the most famous version is Bram Stoker’s Dracula, many variants have come before and after telling of the same legend with their own added ideas and modifications to relate to their cultures. Today, there is a multitude of literary and film works that convey and resurface peoples’ fear of vampires. As gothic works like Dracula, by Bram Stoker and Scooby-Doo! and the Legend of the Vampire directed by Scott Jeralds share certain traits reflective of the genre; These factors include setting, actions of each vampire, the initial reactions to news of them, and how their presence affects the people who live within the region the vampires inhabit.
In Twilight, Edward Cullen presents the question; “ But what if I’m not the hero? What if I’m the bad guy?” The role of vampires is very controversial. Back in the day they were evil, soulless monsters and people genuinely feared them. However, in the present day it seems that we have grown to love them and even hope to one day be them. There are a plethora of vampire stories and many of them have become immense hits. With so many vampire stories, it is not uncommon that readers are able to identify a vast amount of similarities. Although similar in aspects, there are still many differences between the classic and modern day vampires. Two highly popular stories, in which we can easily identify similarities and differences, are Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight.
Over the past several hundred years, werewolves have been an important part of Western Cultures. Werewolves have appeared in blockbuster movies and been the subject of countless books and stories. Werewolves are dark and powerful creatures that terrify us on multiple levels. While they are some of the most violent and merciless monsters that horror has to offer, there is something about the werewolf that we can identify with. Not only can we identify with the characters afflicted with the curse, but we can also identify that the werewolf is a beast and an evil force. The werewolf symbolizes the evil that is contained within us all. In this paper, I will explain the different evils that werewolves symbolize by taking a critical look at the real life history of the werewolf, the werewolf in literature and film, and the opinions of experts on the topic.
This fetish has been manifested in the movies I view, the television shows I watch, and the books I read. When my obsession with reading is crossed with my obsession with monsters, the result is a bookshelf containing more vampire novels than most people would consider healthy. I have discovered that every vampire novel varies vastly; no two books are ever alike. For example, the Twilight Series, the Anita Blake Series and the Vampire Chronicles Series have different legends and lore, different relationships between vampires and society, and different genres, theme, and purpose; this array of novels displays most clearly the range of audience the vampire genre can cater. The Twilight series is a bestselling series written by Stephanie Meyer that has captivated millions of teenage girls.
The author’s op-ed piece was published in 2009, the very peak of the vampire contagion, where one could find these creatures wherever they looked. This pandemonium that arose from vampires is what drove del Toro and Hogan to pen “Why Vampires Never Die.” Furthermore, the purpose behind this essay is to give an abridged description of the past of vampires for the people who had become fanatics of the creatures. Also, this essay showed how vampires have persisted in pop culture. They suggest that vampires have been remade by diverse cultures at different times, and this change echoes that society's angst and concerns. The novelist’s imply that Stroker’s Dracula may mirror an exaggerated human on a prim...
As we got further and further into the Vietnam War, few lives were untouched by grief, anger and fear. The Vietnamese suffered the worst hardship; children lay dead in the street, villages remained nothing but charred ashes, and bombs destroyed thousands of innocent civilians. Soldiers were scarred emotionally as well as physically, as