Frankenstein, Dracula and Spiritualism

To begin with, vampires usually have supernatural powers. In Dracula, Mr. Van Helsing who is a vampire expert describes Count Dracula’s abilities to his comrades to plan a way to stop the master plan. He expresses the brutal strength along with the difficulty of killing them. They can also change their forms such as bat or even a mist. In addition, vampires have the ability to manipulate animals.

The myth of the vampire existed in a multitude of civilizations and cultures under various names such is strigoi (for the Romanian territory), Apotamkin, etc. But no matter the name, vampires will always refer to gothic creatures that drain the blood of humans, thus being monstrous.

Representations of the vampire archetype have changed over time. This is because people have different context of vampires due to different eras. The Bram Stoker’s original vampire text “Dracula” is about two men going on a business trip to meet Dracula. He was very welcoming but after a day the two man saw Dracula for who he was really was a vampire. It reflects the context of 1897 by the humans saw the vampire as a demon from the devil. The humans saw the Vampire was a demon because they were evil. In 2008 Catherine Hardwick released “Twilight”. This film is about a family of vampire called the Cullen’s trying to live a normal human live. The Cullen's didn’t feed from humans blood they feeded of animal blood The kids go to a school in a small town called Forks, Washington. The similarities between the archetypes in both text are that the vampire in Twilight and Dracula feeded on blood, don’t go in the sun and wear clothes what are hide most of their body’s. However, the main difference are, In the Cullen's talk to human and live close to him, go to school to with them, whereas Dracula doesn't.

Frankenstein also known as the modern Prometheus who was a Titan from Greek mythology and he stole fire from the Gods who only kept it to themselves and also brought knowledge and enlightenment to mankind. For his actions Prometheus was punished by the Gods and was chained to a rock and an eagle ate his liver everyday as punishment. Mary Shelly was influenced by the tale of Prometheus and this led her to write her own story which was influenced by the modern Western world which was during the Romantic movement during the early 19th century. Romanticism was an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement that originated in Europe during the 18th century.The ideas of the Enlightenment are obvious in Dr. Victor Frankenstein because he is fascinated with science and discovery.The creature also reflects the ideas of the Enlightenment without the influence of God. The creature feels alone and rejected from everyone. "When I looked around I saw and heard of none like me. Was I, the monster, a blot upon the earth from which all med fled and whom all men disowned?"

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

The vampire, from folklore to literature is described as a “dead person that awakens in the night to suck the blood out of the living”. (Bartlett, pg 1) The evolution of the vampire itself has seen drastic changes from the time of the vampire in folklore; where he was seen as a scapegoat, being the cause of the plagues and had to be killed to restore a healthy civilization to, Bram Stocker’s literary vampire; where the vampire had become the heroic figure and had to be blamed for all the victims that had past. Both of these are based on the Penguin English definition of a vampire but how is it that the vampire today has changed so drastically from the one people feared in legends and folklore. One can say that the vampire in literature has

Mary Shelley uses her novel, Frankenstein, as a means to convey her attitude on certain scientific and moral issues of the time. She utilizes the plot of the novel to express concern surrounding scientific achievement, to put forward the notion that God should not be a passive being, and to iterate the concept that beings are not born “good” or “bad”, but rather become “good” or “bad” based on their interactions with their surroundings. Victor Frankenstein, while central to the plot of the book, is given an additional purpose by Shelley. Shelley created Victor as an allegory to the Industrial Revolution, an era that was changing her world in radical ways. Victor made himself ill in his chase to create his monster, never stopping to think of

A creature of disturbing wickedness, Dracula is not fulfilled by merely controlling the body of humans, but he also yearns for the domination over the soul of mortal beings. This calls to mind the image of a distinctly anti-Christian vision. The first image of Dracula reinforces the idea that he is not a simple villain but a complex one. As Jonathon Harker ventures to meet Dracula, he witnesses Dracula’s control and mastery of beasts: “How he came there, I know not, but I heard his voice raised in a tone of imperious command, and looking towards the sound, saw him stand in the roadway. As he swept his long arms, as though brushing aside some impalpable obstacle, the wolves fell back and back further still” (pg.11). While we are to believe that Christ gained his power over the environment and its inhabitants through His divinity, we are left to ponder where Dracula may have accumulated his power. While Jesus chose to use his power for good, Dracula’s accumulated power acts as a dark mirror being used for evil.

The generalization for vampires has been displayed in films and literature for hundreds of years. The stereotypical versions of vampires are that they have long fangs, sleep in coffins during the day, and suck the blood out of humans. Both novels contradict those stereotypes in different ways. To understand the diversity of the vampires described in both novels, one must examine the characteristics that the vampires display and the meaning and purpose behind them. David D. Gilmore’s book “Monsters” analyzes monsters and other mythical creatures. Gilmore describes why humanity invented the idea of

Pagan belief about the origin of the vampire is also introduced in this folktale, which stated that vampires were created through the union of a witch and a demon or a witch and a werewolf. Based upon these folktales, the conclusion can be made that the original vampire possessed a full mouth of sharp teeth, had claws, drained victims of their blood (whether it was collected or drank), possessed supernatural abilities, and was not visually appealing. Yet, the origins of the folktale depict the beliefs of the culture from which it came. There is a cultural difference between the Chinese folktale in which the female vampire sucked out the men’s chi and the European folktales in which the vampires drank their victims’ blood. This difference shows that although the folktales shared many common features regarding the vampire they were still subject to cultural variance based on the beliefs of the particular society.

These superstitious folktales could pave the way for the vampire. Based on them the idea of the vampire became popular in the 16th century. The vampire is defined as creature playing a central role in the superstition of European peoples. It names dead, who leave their grave, especially at night, to torture the living by sucking their blood or choke them to

According to the Oxford Dictionaries, a vampire is “a corpse supposed to leave its grave at night to drink the blood of the living by biting their necks with long pointed canine teeth.” Vampires were seen as a villain, evil, or even a monster. This type of vampire can be seen in the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker. However, the newer vampires “drink blood to survive and maintain their powers” (Truebloodwiki). This description of vampires is similar to the Oxford definition.

Their pale complexion allows them to easily burn up when exposed to sunlight. Werewolves on the other hand may travel during the day because they remain normal until the full moon. A vampire’s diet consists of human and animal blood. Their cunning charms and speed are perfectly designed for them to hunt their “necks” victim. Vampires have access to flight and sharp nails and teeth. They are solitary creatures that use strategy to catch their prey much like a cat. They can chose whither or not they want to make their prey a vampire by biting into a person and only drinking enough blood for them to be nearly dead. Vampires also have the ability to shape shift into bats or other animals and sometimes

Expository Essay Mary Arnold For centuries, vampires have been depicted in various cultures and throughout literary history as both bloodsuckers and vampire lovers. A good example is they’ve been portrayed as both monsters, comedic villains, and romantic figures. The film industry has represented many incarnations of vampires on the big screen for decades. Let’s begin with the first vampire film, Nosferatu (monster), up to the latest vampire film, Twilight (lover).

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