Dracula Seen in New Eyes
Dracula by Bram Stoker which is written in the style of journal entries, newspaper clippings, and other forms of personal narratives from various characters, and their viewpoints of the peculiar events surrounding them. There are many interpretations of this novel, many different viewpoints on the themes of the novel. Carol Senf, wrote an essay called Dracula: The Unseen Face in the Mirror. In this interpretation, there are many different viewpoints and ideas about Dracula. There are many ways to interpret and argue the validity of an argument, in Dracula: The Unseen Face in the Mirror, I agree with Senf’s argument. It is valid and makes a point, one never sees the viewpoint of Dracula, but of the other characters who have a bias to destroy Dracula.
In Dracula: The Unseen Face in the Mirror, written by Carol Senf’s, is a critical analysis of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. There are many points that are made throughout the critical analysis of this beloved novel. One point, on the basis of the unreliability of the narrators. For instance, Senf states, “…Stoker provides several clues to their unreliability and encourages the reader to see the frequent discrepancies between their proposed beliefs and their actions” (Senf 423). Carol Senf argues in her essay, that Jonathan Harker, could have been prejudice against the customs of the Transylvanian lifestyle. Whether it be the way he documented in side notes, the peculiar recipes, or the way Harker would
Throughout the novel Dracula, the text prominently features the ‘uncanny.’ In literature and other texts, the uncanny refers to an unfamiliarity that is frightening familiar. It’s presence in Dracula is obvious as we and the novel characters see Dracula as uncanny. Both appropriations of Dracula, Nosferatu (1922) and Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992), reflect their context and hence reflect the values, idea and themes prominent in their context. Nosferatu resembles its isolated German Expressionist Cinema context through its jewish propaganda portrayed by many techniques, most notably its heavy use of dramatic lighting. Bram Stoker’s Dracula’s contrasting themes include its romanticisation of Dracula which expresses the romantic notions prominent
Dracula by Bram Stoker is a horror story about a hero’s quest to rid the world of vampires from the Victorian era. Readers are horrified by his graphic descriptions and horrifying struggles. However, Dracula is much more than just a vampire fantasy; in this novel, Bram Stoker explores the unconscious sexual desires repressed during the Victorian era and the controversy surrounding sexuality.
Bram Stoker's Dracula is highly acclaimed and has received many different interpretations which deal with complex symbolisms and metaphors. These interpretations often require a great deal of knowledge in psychology, political science, anthropology, and other non-literary disciplines. These interpretations may be valid, as they are related to the disciplines on which their arguments are based, but the true power of the novel is due to a very simple theme that lies beneath the other, more convoluted interpretations. This theme is the universal concept of identity: us versus them. This criticism sets aside outside disciplines and focuses on the literary motif of identity. John
This theme of deception is also present when analyzing Dracula’s behaviour throughout the novel, as he hides his true intentions from protagonist Jonathan Harker. This young man narrates the majority of the beginning of the novel, and reveals a major change in Dracula’s behaviour. First, Jonathan describes Dracula as a distinguished businessman, who has a welcoming and caring attitude: “I asked him a few questions on Transylvania history, and he warmed up to the subject wonderfully” (Stoker 28). As Jonathan discovers more about Dracula’s true nature, however, this character is gradually exposed as a villain. Jonathan describes, “. . .[the
After decades of cheesy horror movies, the image of vampires has been misconstrued as sparkly, angsty teenage boys or handsome men that lure in girls for the fresh blood of a virgin. Many of these stereotypical vampires are influenced by the story of Dracula, held in the Victorian era. Yet, many of the stories published about vampires diverge from the message that Bram Stoker is trying to make. During the Victorian period, sexuality is repressed by society, as sexual behaviors from women are viewed as unacceptable. In the Gothic horror novel Dracula, Bram Stoker uses the traumatic experience of Jonathan Harker at Count Dracula’s castle and the invasion of vampires in Great Britain to create a social commentary on the sexual repression occurring in this era and its detrimental effect on the men.
Dracula by Bram Stoker is the original vampire book, the one that started it all. From it derived the now so beloved and famous teen-romance vampire genre, with novels like Twilight. However, Dracula is not remotely like the sparkle-in-the-sunlight, falling-in-love-with-mortals vampire any more than Harry Potter is like the Wicked Witch of the West. Dracula is a gothic horror novel set in Transylvania and England during the Victorian Era. Letters, diary entries, and newspaper clippings from the viewpoint of several characters tell the story, allowing for a wide variety of viewpoints that highlight happenings in Dracula as well as present the social issues pertained within. While it contains action, suspense, horror, and romance, it also displays the corruption within the everyday society. The way the women are presented, interacted with, and how Count Dracula affects them brings forth the issues within the Victorian society, especially the men’s treatment of women and the different social and gender roles, which Stoker uses to highlight the situational irony found within the novel.
Bram Stoker`s “Dracula” is one of his most prominent work, originally published in 1897. Forming part of the gothic literature; the novel focuses, through the character of Dracula, on the theme of Supernatural and Religion in an era largely dominated by Science and Rationality. This critical essay, will therefore demonstrate how Dracula, portrayed as the “other,” is essentially different from the rest and, how he subtly manage to incite people and challenge values and ideals of the British Society.
The play-script book “Dracula”, adapted by David Calcutt, is a captivating reword of the iconic epistolary horror novel of a same name which was written by Bram Stoker, The author outlines the power struggle between good and evil in the text through messages and symbols. The author focuses on Dracula and a group of friend’s actions and emotions in which he uses narrative conventions to convey key messages in the book. The messages I found that were prominent were “evilness is an infection”, “greed is consuming” and “good always prevail”.
Despite the plot’s complete failure in inciting interest within me, I was intrigued by Stoker’s style and storytelling capabilities. I was constantly curious as to why Stoker was revealing a vast amount of information about the scenery and internal feelings of each character while developing the plot in such a dull manner. Eventually, I came to the conclusion that Stoker is attempting to use rich imagery about both settings and the characters’ emotions to emphasize Count Dracula. While reading each chapter, clear mental images of the settings and the characters’ feelings are formed. Through the story being told from extremely
After reading the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker, we learn many things about the style of writing he used to capture the reader’s attention. We also learned about the main ideas Stoker brought in his writing, like how evil is all around us and how when humans join together, they could overcome the evil. In addition, he also describes the protagonist of the story and the way it behaves throughout the whole story and how it gets involved with all the characters. Last but not least, Stoker shows the reader what he used as a symbol to defeat evil, which helped developed the outcome of the novel.
Bram Stoker’s Dracula is a story of horror, suspense, and repulsion. The main antagonist, Count Dracula, is depicted as an evil, repulsive creature that ends and perverts life to keep himself alive and youthful. To most onlookers that may be the case, but most people fail to see one crucial element to this character. Dracula is a character that, though it may be long gone, was once human, and thus has many human emotions and motives still within him. Let us delve into these emotions of a historically based monster.
Dracula written by Bram stoker is a Novel that many people enjoyed. It talks about the good and evil. It was a Novel about suspense horror and mystery. In the novel Dracula Bram Stoker tell us the story of a vampire known as count Dracula who is known by the people of Transavia to be completely evil. I will be analysis the novel to see why Stoker wrote the book, who he wrote it for, the good people in the story, and some other analysis. First I will beginning with the reason Stoker choose to write about Dracula.
In Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula, Stoker’s use of inverted gender roles allows readers to grasp the sense of obscureness throughout, eventually leading to the reader’s realization that these characters are rather similar to the “monster” which they call Dracula. Despite being in the Victorian era, Stoker’s use of sexuality in the novel contributes to the reasoning of obscureness going against the Victorian morals and values. Throughout the novel the stereotypical roles of the Victorian man and woman are inverted to draw attention to the similarities between Dracula and the characters. Vague to a majority of readers, Bram Stoker uses Dracula as a negative connotation on society being that the values of
Bram Stoker’s ingenious piece of work on writing Dracula has set the expectation for gothic novels all over the world and time to come. The mindset of writing Dracula through the Victorian Era really sets the tone for the reader by creating a spine-tingling sensation right through the novel. With this in mind, Stoker wouldn’t have been able to succeed his masterpiece without the effective uses of symbolism, imagery, foreshadowing, and its overall theme.
Bram Stoker's Dracula is a true Gothic novel that belongs on any gothic literature course. Focusing in on the recurring themes, characters and settings used throughout the novel one sees how Dracula has set the standard for Gothic literature today.