Bram Stoker’s Dracula does not follow the norm of the nineteenth century novels, that is, it is not written in a straightforward narrative but instead comprises of a collection of letters, journal entries and diary scrawls. Apart from that, it also includes a ship's log, numberless clippings from newspaper and also, a "phonograph diary.” This form of writing invariably helps in developing the “mystery” aspect of this horror novel since it either gives us no information about a particular thing or gives us information from various points of view so that it is impossible for the readers to come to one conclusion and they keep playing with different possibilities in their minds. Dracula, because of its huge success and wide readership, has now …show more content…
More often than not, dramatic irony causes the novel to not be as gripping as it could be since the readers already know a large part of the suspense. However, in the case of Dracula, it is anything but this. Dracula was one of the first novels of its kind and gave the readers a new kind of thrill and is as gripping as any of the contemporary horror novels. The dramatic irony actually acts as a means to keep the readers glued to the novel since the readers know what Jonathan’s fate will be but can do nothing but wait for the inevitable. As the novel proceeds, the readers cannot help but worry about the safety of Jonathan and this makes the novel very …show more content…
The normal Victorian representation of a woman would be that of a weak character, who would faint at the sight of blood; a character who would only discuss weather and art. In this novel, the stereotype of an ideal Victorian woman is broken as it is contrasted with the modern woman. The two best friends, Lucy and Mina, are each a representation of each. While Lucy is shown as all weak and someone who gives in easily, Mina stays on the “good side” even after she has been bitten by a vampire and her conversion has started. She is presented a hero, who plays an important role in bringing Dracula down through her intelligence and resourcefulness. Hence, by representing Mina as such a powerful character, Stroker breaks the stereotypical idea of a
Another important element in creating a good horror story is of course mood, and there are many descriptive passages in Dracula that demonstrate mood. A great example is in the first chapter of the book, "They were a hundred times more terrible in the grim silence which held them than even when they howled. For myself, I felt a sort of paralysis of fear." (Stoker, 12). This takes place still in the first chapter of Jonathan Harker's journal, when the driver calls to the wolves and then "commands" them to become silent. Here, the event that the last quote was hinting at is at last revealed, and the quote above summarizes the mood of the protagonist at this point. He was "paralyzed with fear", meaning that he was so fearful that he could not even move. Stoker is very proficient at including vivid descriptions of mood in order to create a haunted atmosphere.
As the first character writes about his personal experiences we find that proves to be very effective, in the way the writer is able to portray the gothic theme to the reader. The first example would be Jonathan's journey to Eastern Europe,
A horror classic by Abraham Stocker, Dracula, may be one of the most notorious villain stories of all time. Bram Stocker is a Irish writer who changed the view of what to read in his time. He shows dark and twisted situations and metaphors throughout Dracula and many other of his horror novels. This novel was released in the Victorian era, which saw his type of writing as equivalent to the devil. This era was a long time of peace and bright minded people. Stockers style surprised many readers, because he always has you thinking it can’t get any darker than it is but it always exceeds the previous twisted situation or event. Bram Stocker shows Dracula as an iconic creature, with many reasons to be feared, but displayed in the wrong time era.
The story of Dracula is well documented and has stood the test of time since it’s Victorian age creation. More times than not, literature writings are a reflection of the era from which they are produced. In the case of Dracula, Vampire literature expresses the fears of a society. Which leads me to the topic I chose to review: sexuality. The Victorian Era was viewed as a period diluted in intense sexual repression and I believe that Dracula effectively exploited this as the fear of sexuality was commonplace in the society. In this paper I will examine Bram Stoker’s Dracula and highlight his use of sexuality. I will analysis the female sexuality that is prevalent throughout the book, the complexities are at work within the text, and the
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”.
Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” is a story about a Vampire named Count Dracula and his journey to satisfy his lust for blood. The story is told through a series of individuals’ journal entries and a letters sent back and forth between characters. Bram Stoker shows the roll in which a certain gender plays in the Victorian era through the works of Dracula. This discussion not only consists of the roll a certain gender takes, but will be discussing how a certain gender fits into the culture of that time period as well as how males and females interact among each other. The Victorian era was extremely conservative when it came to the female, however there are signs of the changing into the New Woman inside of Dracula. Essentially the woman was to be assistance to a man and stay pure inside of their ways.
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.
Bram Stoker’s Dracula Bram Stoker’s Dracula, a novel full of horror, superstition, and evil excitement. It tells the story of a dedicated middle-class group’s challenging experience of destroying the leader of the undead, Dracula. The suspenseful qualities of the novel leave the reader thirsting for more, it is easy to say that this novel was written to entertain the reader. However, I feel there is more to Dracula than just a want to entertain others. Bram Stoker wrote Dracula to also exhibit life and beliefs during the Victorian Era.
In the late 19th century, when Dracula by Bram Stoker is written, women were only perceived as conservative housewives, only tending to their family’s needs and being solely dependent of their husbands to provide for them. This novel portrays that completely in accordance to Mina Harker, but Lucy Westenra is the complete opposite. Lucy parades around in just her demeanor as a promiscuous and sexual person. While Mina only cares about learning new things in order to assist her soon-to-be husband Jonathan Harker. Lucy and Mina both become victims of vampirism in the novel. Mina is fortunate but Lucy is not. Overall, the assumption of women as the weaker specimen is greatly immense in the late 19th century. There are also many underlying
Dracula is a novel that indulges its male reader’s imagination, predominantly on the topic of female sexuality. When Dracula was first published, Victorian women’s sexual behaviour was extremely restricted by social expectations. To be classed as respectable, a women was either a virgin or a wife. If she was not either, she was considered a whore. We begin to understand once Dracula arrives in Whitby, that the novel has an underlying battle between good and evil, which will hinge on female sexuality. Both Lucy Westenra and Wilhelmina “Mina” Murray embody two-dimensional virtues that have been associated with female. They are both virgins, whom are innocent from the evils of the world and that are devoted to their men. Dracula’s arrival threatens those virtues, threatening to turn Lucy and Mina into the opposites, noted for their voluptuousness, which could lead to an open sexual desire.
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 story that narrates the association between a woman and a small group of men led by Professor Abraham Van Helsing that counteracts with Count Dracula. The Count Dracula travels from Transylvania to England to change human beings into something they refer to as, “foul things of the night like him, without heart or conscience, preying on the bodies and the souls of these (they) love best” (p. 223). The author utilizes the epistolary format in the short story (Cranny-Francis 38). Today, Dracula is the most loved epistolary works written in the nineteenth century but representing the current situations in the society. Literary the term epistolary stories represent novels written from various sources documents such as newspaper clippings, letters, and journals (McNally 18). Bram Stoker achieves the effects of using the epistolary style in conveying the characters inner states through different story setups and broad descriptions that develop the conscious self and the context (Cranny-Francis 64). The paper analyzes the gender roles as depicted in the short story by Bram Stoker.
Vincent’s article is a film review about the movie Bram Stoker’s Dracula produced by Francis Ford Coppola for this website that is a branch of the distinguished newspaper The New York Times, that has been in business for more than 100 years, they offer a legitimate phone number with voicemail and a contact us email address, which has made them a trusted newspaper and website amongst its readers. Canby’s article was written in the same year that Francis Ford Coppola’s movie was produced, so this review is up to date and corresponds timely with the relevancy of when the movie was playing in theaters. The
Love is not black and white and Francis Ford Coppola’s ageless classic Bram Stoker’s Dracula epitomises the many layers that come with romance. The dark love story highlights the romance of the gothic horror and still manages to convey the fear and terror that cemented the original novel as an iconic and memorable classic. Coppola’s imaginative view of a timeless tale embodies the gothic genre, with strong themes of romance, sexuality and lust, as the complexity of love is exposed. Coppola allows us an insight into his processes when creating this epic narrative.
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