Foreshadowing, Mood, Mythical Parallels, and Narrative Elements in Dracula

Desire and fear some of the most prominent emotions exhibited in Dracula. Bram Stoker, Nosferatu, F.W. Murnau, Dracula, Tod Browning, and Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Francis Ford Coppola. “Human characters are caught up in the struggle between these emotions when it comes to vampires; this opposition drives forward the different plots… vampire attributes such as physical attraction, sexuality, power and thoughtless violence are common threads throughout the studied works. Characters in these stories fear the powerful abilities of vampires, yet show an unmistakable pull towards them. The vampires in all of these works incorporate physical attraction, sensuality, and awesome power. They often use this superhuman strength

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.

When a person mentions the novel Dracula, the first thing that comes to mind is an image of a pale skinned creature in human form that lives off of the blood of innocent people who do not know they are in danger until he flashes his long white fangs at them. The second is how long it takes to get to the point that Dracula actually comes into the story and begins to horrify every word of the novel. Bram Stoker uses foreshadowing throughout the first one hundred pages of Dracula so that readers can get caught up in all of the anxiety and horror that comes with meeting The Count. Bram Stoker’s infamous foreshadowing in his novel Dracula leaves readers anticipating the moment when the dreaded Count Dracula will arrive in England and what kind of havoc he will wreak on its people.

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.

peculiar. He is a 'tall, old man,' who is 'clad in black head to toe.'

    The protagonist and story of Bram Stoker's novel Dracula have been widely interpreted and adapted in films throughout many years. Despite almost a century of time since the initial publication, Dracula has maintained its ability to frighten and mesmerize readers. Francis Ford Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula; however, utilizes the erotic romance of the original novel in order to depict a tragic love story. The film accurately follows the general plot of the novel, yet presents the characters in a unique manner that provides for a different appreciation of the characters.

Stoker contrasts the calm skies with the storm to foreshadow that evil is arriving in Whitby. The day is described lightly with “Splendidly coloured clouds”(84) but later “absolute blackness”(84) approaches with the storm. The colour black is a symbol of evil that is seizing control over Whitby. The storm conjures up emotions of unease as it creates “ discord in the great harmony of nature’s silence”(85). Once again Stoker further emphasizes how nature is being completed destructed:“The whole aspect of nature at once became convulsed”(85). The strong connotation implies the disruption is supernatural. These quotations also provide imagery which further emphasize the supernatural interference of nature.

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 use of characterization and imagery to convey one of his many themes in the book Dracula. In Bram Stoker’s Dracula, the author uses characterization and imagery to convey the theme, Follow your instincts.

The first inspiration that the Dracula novel has on horror movies is the use of

The late nineteenth century Irish novelist, Bram Stoker is most famous for creating Dracula, one of the most popular and well-known vampire stories ever written. Dracula is a gothic, “horror novel about a vampire named Count Dracula who is looking to move from his native country of Transylvania to England” (Shmoop Editorial Team). Unbeknownst of Dracula’s plans, Jonathan Harker, a young English lawyer, traveled to Castle Dracula to help the count with his plans and talk to him about all his options. At first Jonathan was surprised by the Count’s knowledge, politeness, and overall hospitality. However, the longer Jonathan remained in the castle the more uneasy and suspicious he became as he began to realize just how strange and different

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.

As Stoker recognized, classic horror is close to tragedy, and in a work of classic horror, there are elements of pity and fear, pity for the vampire's situation but fear of his menace. Careful readers of Dracula are at the same time sympathetic to and repelled by Dracula. Coppola, despite the best of intentions, creates a work in which there is far more pity than fear; the sympathy finally overwhelms the repulsion. (Holte 85)

Bram Stoker’s frightening tale of Count Dracula has struck horror into the hearts of many since it was originally penned. In 1987, Bram Stoker wrote the revolutionary tale Dracula that played off the fears of the people of the era. The plot and characters that make the novel great also translate nearly perfectly to cinematic adaptations. Starting in the early 1900’s, directors have done their best to portray the terror that the original novel inspired. Francis Ford Coppola’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula was released in 1992 and follows the book’s storyline very closely. However, to appeal to his generations ideals on relationships and sex, Coppola made some changes to the plot; however, many of the characters and themes are kept intact. He also