Is There A Sense Of Community In Dracula

Meanwhile, not only characters can represent the monstrous-feminine. Creed, for instance, points out how one of the space ships in Alien resembles "open legs," leading the characters through a "vaginal" opening into the nesting place of the monsters ("Horror and the Monstrous-Feminine" 56). In Dracula, untamed nature itself represents the monstrous-feminine. The rural areas of Transylvania are set in stark contrast with the urban England that represents the world of men and order. Jonathan describes the foreign land as "one of the wildest and least known portions of Europe" (Stoker 10). However, although the country's nature poses dangers in some regards (for instance in the form of wolves) (Stoker 18), it is also "a country which was full

This portrayal of Dracula as a complex character is the basis for the differences in the presentation between Stoker's original villain and Coppola's adaptation.

Van Helsing, used a lot of religious artifacts and relics to defeat him, using things such as communion wafers and holy water. Those methods go along with comparatively old beliefs and values as science was becoming more prevalent during this time over religion. And aside from drinking other people’s blood and murdering people, Count Dracula adhered to the social standards of the Victorian Era. He dressed the part, had a long mustache (which was normal of a Victorian man at the time) (22), and longs to be a part of the Victorian culture, saying, “I long to go through the crowded streets of your mighty London, to be in the midst of the whirl and rush of humanity, to share its life, its change, its death, and all that makes it what it is.”

Are there still connections between Bram Stokers famous novel Dracula and modern day society? In Dracula, Stoker expands on many themes that indeed exist today. Not only does he touch on the most obvious theme, sex. He expands on gender division and good versus evil. Some say since times have changed the themes I introduced have changed as well, leaving connections between then and now irrelevant. However, I feel that although times have changed they still have roots from the time of the novel to now. In this essay I will expand on the themes of this novel while connecting them to modern day society, the critical texts I have chosen and will mention later on in the essay are a good representation of the commonalities between the chill, dark Victorian days in which the era that Dracula was written in and modern day.

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.

Within the novel, Dr.Van Helsing’s strange character draws suspicious parallels to the older, eccentric Count Dracula.

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.

The theme of appearances varying from reality is also present in many instances throughout Bram Stoker’s Dracula, especially within various characters. Dracula, for example, has the ability to shape-shift and change forms. Dr. Van Helsing, one of the protagonists of the novel, explains, . . . he can, within limitations, appear at will when, and where, and in any of the forms that are to him; he can, within his range, direct the elements; the storm, the fog, the thunder; he can command all the meaner things: the rat, and the owl, and the bat—the moth, and the fox, and the wolf; he can grow and become small; and he can at times vanish and come unknown. (Stoker 237) Dracula is able to convert into a variety of forms, including a mist, bat, or wolf, depending on what best suits the circumstances; essentially,

Where there is evil, there is good in the darkest shadow. Van helsing as the antagonist is the most threating adversary towards Count Dracula in the novel “Dracula” by Bram Stoker. In many novels, the protagonist is the main character who is usually a hero and the antagonist is the character who opposes them, however in this novel “Dracula,” the protagonist is a demon from the pits of hell while the antagonist is the hero who opposes the evil creature. Vanhelsing’s role as the antagonist is seen through specific events of conflict, characterization of both Dracula and Vanhelsing, and the theme of where there is evil, good arises to fight.

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. The story is told in letters, diary entries, and newspaper clippings from the viewpoint of several characters, 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.

In everyday life, as in literature, there will always be an opposing force to evil. In the novel “Dracula,” by Bram Stoker, Professor Van Helsing acts as Dracula’s main antagonist. An antagonist is the character who acts against the main character, which increases the conflict of the story and intensifies the plot. Through the use of theme, characterization and specific events, the author shows readers how Dr. Van Helsing effectively fits the role of Dracula’s most threatening adversary.

Night Shyamalan's film, The Village, there is a strong image of, and the main story line that is based around, the individual fears of each generation. The individual fear of the generation that The Village is driven by would be the catastrophic event of 9/11, including its effects upon people at the time, and the individual fear of the generation that Dracula is driven by is the event of new societal views emerging and the turn of the century from the 1800s to the 1900s. Even though both stories portray many similarities within a certain major fear, there are huge differences that easily reflect the fears of each generation that are prominent enough to take notice of and to differentiate between the two mediums. In Dracula, the fear is about a new turn on society while in The Village, the fear is based upon a cruel and hopeless future, as well as a world without love. Although these two stories are within the gothic horror genre and share many of the same elements, they portray two very different ideas, each based on a fear of their specific generations that they are created and released to an audience

A Literary Reference for Nonthematic Hyperbole has a few distinct characteristics. First, the reference must employ the theme for the originally referenced work. Here, the Dracula novel does not use a theme that relates to the exclusion of police entry into a home. Rather, it plays off a subtle rule specific to Dracula’s character. That is Dracula cannot enter anyone’s home until he receives permission to do so. Once he receives permission, he can come back and re-enter the home whenever he pleases. The distinction is that we don’t allow the police to return after they have received permission the first time. Instead, they must again acquire consent upon each visit.

Jonathan Harker and Van Helsing are arguably the most interesting characters in the story. Jonathan is the first character in the story to encounter Dracula, and Van Helsing is the professional who assembles the band of vampire hunters. Both men are important to Dracula’s inevitable downfall, although Jonathan has more to lose since his wife is also involved in this nasty work.

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