Dracula Monster Culture

In the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker, the role of Christianity and Catholicism is evident throughout the novel. The actions taken by one of the characters in particular, Dracula, the antagonist and vampire of the story are quite similar to many of the characteristics seen in Christianity yet they seem to be darkly distorted. The character of Dracula can be interpreted as the anti-christ of the tale, even his name "Dracula" translates to "Son of the Dragon". Contrary to the actions and beliefs of anti-Christian character, Dracula, is the character of Dr.Van Helsing whose main mission is to bring to light the secrets of Dracula and to kill him. There are several instances in which the anti-Christ character distorts aspects of Chrsitianit

Religion in Dracula In Dracula by Bram Stoker, the role of religion is a primary theme and a large part of the setting as well as a road map in finding and killing Dracula. An idea of Anti-Christianity is promoted through the vampires and primarily the character of Count Dracula. Dracula has super powers unrecognized by the Catholic Church. Religion also played a role causing superstition that functioned majorly in the battle against Dracula.

In contrast, Stoker uses Lucy to promote the release of sexuality and sensual expressions, transgressing society’s constructs and expectations. Lucy had three suitors, suggesting a subtle promiscuity and the desire to break social confines, but unable to do so due to societal pressures to conform. Dracula acted as the catalyst for Lucy’s change when he attacks her, the biting penetration connoting sexual contact and thus the radical transformation of Lucy into a voluptuous, lustful creature, violating Victorian values. Her death is thus required in order to return her back into a purer, more socially

When hearing the word monster, people tend to think of unrealistic beings such as, vampires, witches, zombies, and demons. “Monsters”, or outsiders, have been present in several works throughout the course of this semester; however, the “monstrous” figures within these literary pieces are not defined by their frightening looks. Dracula and Beowulf are two pieces that contain figures that represent the idea of cultural “monstrosities”, because they are defined by their taboo actions and behaviors, making them socially unacceptable.

“Vampire Religion” is an article written about Bram Stoker’s “Dracula.” The article is one that was found very useful in reading and understanding the story. Christopher Herbert, the author, argues of the importance that religion and events of the world played on the writing of “Dracula.” There are two parts to the article, one is “Religion/Superstition” and the second part is “The Vampire in the Church.” Both parts are vital to the article.

As we all know Dracula not only has to do with the horror, blood and vampires, but religion, christianity and the Victorian society that play a huge role in the story. These topics all have a reasonable amount of influence on how Dracula was written, and how the various themes in Dracula were developed. The input of religion is seen from the start all the way to the ending no doubt about it. In addition, there are also various examples of how the Victorian society also mixed in with religion, like the ideas of people back then and what they thought was wrong and right due to society’s beliefs . The exploration of thoughts and ideas by all the characters regarding what is wrong and right due to society and religion is also easily seen throughout the story. In the novel Dracula, written by Bram Stoker, the Victorian society influenced overall in the way it was written, and how their beliefs at this time of Christianity are being explored to these new ideas.

-Dracula is based mainly on superstition. Without superstition Dracula would not be at all relevant to

Dracula Dracula has like most other gothic movies many duality themes and in this assignment I’m going to discuss three of them The first one I’m going to discuss is science versus superstition in the late 1850s England Darwin releases his theory and England has had the industrial revolution so very big changes had happened. So it made the society forced to forget about the old ways and therefor they started to question their beliefs. We can see that in the novel in the way that the modernized people of England have kind of turned their back on superstition and started to think a lot more about science. And the fact they are a lot less superstitious makes them easier prey for Dracula.

In Bram Stoker’s novel, he creates the first ideal look of a vampire. At the beginning of the story, Jonathan Harker travels to Transylvania to go the Count’s castle on business. Jonathan along the way has strange encounters with townspeople about where he is traveling. Stoker early in the book draws from our reference of the now traditional vampire and states in

Moreover, “The essentials of a vampire story, as we discussed earlier: an older figure representing corrupt, outworn values; a young, preferably virginal female; a stripping away of her youth, energy, virtue; a continuance of the life force of the old male; the death or destruction of the young women” (Foster 19). In Dracula, I think Lucy fits the characteristics of a vampire story essential and it

Orlomoski, Caitlyn, "From Monsters to Victims: Vampires and Their Cultural Evolution from the Nineteenth to the Twenty-First Century" (2011). Honors Scholar Theses. Paper 208.

Such beliefs are boldly represented throughout the book and often center on the glorifying resistance of temptation while advising against the inevitable temptation to “taste the forbidden fruit” (Podansky). The vampires mentioned before are reflections of the modern vampire and the gothic vampire, and even now the vampire has evolved to be much more “human”. But this can’t be said for the past. “During the eighteenth century, the subject of vampirism was an obsession in Europe.

Alongside society, art, and literature, the character of the vampire, too, has evolved. While the old, cliched character of a vampire has usually been depicted as a cold-blooded, nefarious villain, contemporary vampires, however, possess qualities which illustrate them to be more affectionate and compassionate. A noteworthy example of this is Edward Cullen from Stephenie Meyer’s ‘Twilight.’ The origins of the idea of how a vampire can coexist with humans in society and be capable of sympathy can be traced back to The Interview with the Vampire, written by Anne Rice, in 1976. While Twilight is a modern phenomenon, it was Bram Stoker’s Dracula that defined the vampire back in the late 18th century.

In a time period where science was developing new and controversial ideas, and superstition was slowly being replaced with a more reasoning thought process, a story that combines the two topics was written: Dracula. With movement to the new west, science was slowly gaining more foreground, inventing new technologies such as the telegram and phonograph as well as making advancements like blood transfusions and hypnosis. Additionally a new thought process began to form, one that took away the ability to believe in the seemingly impossible. “In the Blood” author quotes: “Throughout the novel, these self-assured people have to be convinced, with enormous difficulty, that there is something beyond their

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