Essay Dracula: A Simple Tale of Good vs. Evil

Good versus Evil is an important concept. Evil sometimes overcomes our good but never exceeds good. The difference between evil and good is that good is an ability to have empathy and compassion towards other people. Evil is people who are selfish, self-absorbed and don’t have empathy towards others. Literature plays a vital role in developing concepts of good and evil and effectively portrays the morals of its time period. In the novels Dracula and The Strange Case of Dr.Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the authors explore the human nature of good and evil in men from different perspectives of Dracula, Mr. Hyde and Dr. Jekyll.

Because the Victorian Era was an age so heavily influenced by religion, it is hardly surprising, that Bram Stoker’s Dracula contains many religious references. The Victorian Era was a time period from 1837 to 1901, during which Queen Victoria reigned in the United Kingdom. During this time, women were expected to be quiet, proper, and pure. All people were expected to attend church, and sexuality was incredibly censored. Religion played an influencing role in Victorian art including visual and literary. Likewise, the fear of being sinful, or not following the Bible was still a fear from the under educated members of society. The prominent branches of Christianity in this era, Protestants and Catholics, dominated the popular culture of western societies. Given the religious context of the Victorian Era, Vampires in Bram Stoker’s Dracula represent sin and have inherently sinful behavior, whereas the humans represents goodness and religion, no matter which kind of religion.

Throughout the Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula, one is presented with the presence of many Christian ideals and symbols throughout the text. Count Dracula’s appearance and actions seem to display the perversion of various Christian ideals and symbols and Dr. Van Helsing uses various Christian symbols to defeat Count Dracula. Given that Van Helsing and his posse are able to use the Christian imagery to drive Dracula back to Castle Dracula and eventually defeat him, Stoker might be suggesting that the power of the Christianity and the Christian God will always prevail in a match against evil and the devil.

Anti-Christianity is a major reoccurring theme throughout Bram Stoker's Dracula. The novel portrays Anti-Christian values and beliefs, through one of its characters. Dracula one of the main characters in the novel is used to take on the characteristics of the AntiChrist. Stoker uses many beliefs from the Christian religion to display numerous amounts of Anti-Christian values, superstitious beliefs of the protection towards evil, and to compare and contrast the powers of God with those of Dracula. It is a theme that is used throughout the entire book. There are many ways that Bram Stoker's character Dracula can be considered the AntiChrist, mostly because of the showing of Anti-Christian values and abuses

In everyday life, as in literature, there will always be an opposing force to evil. In the novel “Dracula,” by Bram Stoker, Professor Van Helsing acts as Dracula’s main antagonist. An antagonist is the character who acts against the main character, which increases the conflict of the story and intensifies the plot. Through the use of theme, characterization and specific events, the author shows readers how Dr. Van Helsing effectively fits the role of Dracula’s most threatening adversary.

While several themes arise in the novel, Dracula, by Bram Stoker, the theme of good versus evil is the primary theme of the conflict between the crew and Dracula. It is evident from the beginning of the novel that the members of the crew are the good people dedicated to destroying Dracula portrayed as evil. The indication of the fight against evil was already imminent even when Dracula had not been clearly identified and were exemplified by Jonathan Harker as he says, “What manner of man is this, or what manner of creature is it in the semblance of a man?” (Stoker 50). By cultivating the mysterious personality of Dracula, it is apparent to readers that Dracula is and will always be on the evil side.

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 reoccurring 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’

they can to save Lucy, she dies. They soon realize that she is not dead but in fact a vampire. They break into her tomb, stab her in the heart, cut off her head and make sure she stays dead so she can't harm anyone else.

Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula is far from being a simple penny dreadful in which good triumphs evil; instead it is a story of contradictions. The Count himself is one of them; he is both living and dead. Stoker creates this awkward and anxiety inducing contradictions not only in the Count but within Victorian era itself. In this time of enlightenment, superstition and science are constantly shown to be intertwined in a way that seems to bewilder the characters as much it does the audience. Stoker depicts the characters hunting Dracula relying on both modernity and superstition to successfully defeat Dracula, Stoker illustrates the failure of relying only on modern thinking. While initially refusing to believe in the “myth” surrounding

I snapped awake a few moments later, to find Brian checking my pulse and Mina brushing blood from her lips with a hand. She turned to me with a mischievous smirk before chuckling and beginning to apologize, still snickering. I looked around to see that we were inside of a rather large cave, a small fire burning in the centre of our circle.

On May 26, 1897 Bram Stoker published his first popular novel, Dracula. It was written in a time when a significant shift from religious to scientific views was taking place. The book is set in the same time and came to generally reflect the views that many people had about science and religion. As a child, Stoker’s mother would tell him old tales and legends that were very popular in the early Victorian Ages (Geherin). There were many different stories about the dead rising from the grave and terrible beasts that tormented and killed people. These gothic tales can clearly be seen in his work especially the popular vampire tale. Vampires are corpses that rise from the dead and possess supernatural powers such as being able to turn into a bat along with living forever and being as strong as many men. They are souls that are “disturbed” and the only way of bringing one to peace is to kill it with religious symbols, wood stakes, or silver. While being a vampire may sound cool, they actually tend to be quite evil beings. The whole point of their existence is to attack and bite other people in order to control them and make them do as they please. In the story after Harker escapes from Count Dracula 's castle The Count starts to hunt down his fiancees friend Lucy. After biting Lucy, Harker and his friends are in complete disarray about what is wrong with her. Dr. Seward who

Dracula, a novel which had originally been written by Bram Stoker in 1897, is commonly classified as a ‘horror novel’ by the majority of its readers. However, when putting the novel through further analysis, the various symbols and themes of sexuality which the novel contains are brought to the notice of its readers, despite them being easily overlooked by their readers the first time the novel might be read. In addition, Dracula is a novel which often catches the eye of the majority of the male population of its readers, due to its use of female sexuality as a symbol throughout the majority of the novel, since the exploration of these taboo female

The story of vampires throughout the years has been one of horror and fear. Bram Stoker’s, Dracula, takes this legend and uses it to show how this tremendous source of evil reaffirms the promise of Christianity. Once Dracula comes into their lives, the characters must fight to save people, particularly women, from being turned into vampires. Being a vampire means a life of servitude to both death and damnation. Recognizing a dangerous entity like this, means risking their lives as a mean of protecting humanity. This would cause them to lose the promise of spiritual immortality. As such, this book is another look at the fight between good and evil. While evil may attempt to take over, Christianity is the force that continually pushes it away.

In this paper, I will present my reflections and thoughts on the myth of Dracula in particular, and the vampyre in general, as a love story and show the deeply rooted links between the two myths and Christianity, as refracted through the prism of Francis Ford Coppola's film Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992).

In the general population, belief in natural laws and continuous progress began to grow, and there was frequent interaction among science, government, and industry. As science education was expanded and formalized, a fundamental transformation occurred in beliefs about nature and the place of humans in the universe. A revival of religious activity, largely unmatched since the days of the Puritans, swept England. This religious revival shaped that code of moral behavior which became known as Victorianism. Above all, religion occupied a place in the public consciousness that it had not had a century before and did not retain in the twentieth century. There are many examples of Victorianism in Stoker's work.  The work does a good job in establishing and supporting the gender stratification of Victorian society. The idea that men are to save women, who are essentially damsels in distress, is a powerfully evident one.  Jonathan and his colleagues are there to save Mina from the dark forces.  This helps to bring out the idea that men are at the top of this hierarchy.  Another Victorian element that is present is the distinct conception of right and wrong.  Dracula is seen as the force of evil or what is wrong in the word, while Jonathan and the others are shown to be the forces of good.  In this collision of ideals, the forces of good win over that which is evil.  Similar to Victorian Society, there is a distinct and singular representation of good and evil, and this