The Central Plot of Dracula

The word blood is not used in the novel until a few chapters in, but is a major motif. Blood symbolizes life in Dracula, because in every situation characters seem to be struggling without it. The Count is always craving it while some of the characters are constantly lacking it. As the readers all know Count is a vampire, but the characters are clueless throughout the beginning of the book, when poor Lucy is suffering. As Harker is a prisoner in Dracula’s castle, Dracula makes sure that it is clear to Harker that blood is something everyone should cherish. Harker thinks he is going crazy because of the weird sights, smells, and fears he has encountered while staying with the Count. Although he thinks he is becoming crazy everything that he think is unrealistically happening is actually happening.

Vampire is "a bloodsucking ghost that come back from dead person believed to come from the place where a body is buried and wander about by night sucking the blood of people asleep and causing their death." Before vampires were seen as evil monsters and creatures humans must fear. However, now, vampires have become an "famous popular culture and fascination among teens around the world"  This art has increased vampire large groups of fans this way resulting to the creation of many fan clubs and social organizations, whether online or not.

Unremarkable though it may seem, to affirm the obvious truism that Bram Stoker’s Dracula originates from a century that historians often describe as the most significant in terms of revolutionary ideology, whilst wishing to avoid the clichéd view held, it is undeniable that the more one delves into the depths of this novel the greater wealth of meaning demonstrates significant correlation with Marxist ideology. The 19th Century saw the emergence of revolutionary socialist Karl Marx, who himself used the vampire metaphor to describe the capitalist system as ‘dead labour which, vampire like, lives only by sucking living labour’. Through Stoker’s opulent use of narrative structure, use of setting and imagery, this novel presents a multiple

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

Stoker’s novel Dracula, presents the fear of female promiscuity, for which vampirism is a metaphor. Such fear can be related to the time in which Dracula was written, where strict Victorian gender norms and sexual mores stipulated

The behaviors and characteristics of Mina Harker, along with the transformation she undergoes when coming into contact with the Count, play a crucial role in helping Stoker break down separate spheres. Her connection to the Count is what lifts her outside of her domestic sphere. The men depend on Mina to be able to hunt down the Count. Without her help, they would not be successful. In a sense, this helps Stoker give women a more dominant role in the novel. While separate spheres hold women to be domestic figures confined to housework and completely submissive, Stoker pushes this ideology away by making the men submissive instead. For example, Jonathan Harker writes in his journal about Mina saying, “She was so good and brave that we all felt that our hearts were strengthened to work and endure for her, and we began to discuss what we were to do” (Stoker 250). Through

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

Batman beats the Joker. Spiderman banishes the Green Goblin. For centuries story tellers have used the basic idea of good beats bad to guide their tales. Stories of blood sucking, human possessions and other tales have been passed down generations and vary between cultures. Among the creators of the famous protagonists is, Bram Stoker, the creator of Dracula. This fictional character was soon to be famous, and modified for years to come into movie characters or even into cereal commercials. But the original will never be forgotten; a story of a group of friends all with the same mission, to destroy Dracula. The Count has scared many people, from critics to mere children, but if one reads betweens the line, Stoker’s true message can be

In Dracula, Stoker portrays the typical women: The new woman, the femme fatale and the damsel in distress, all common concepts in gothic literature. There are three predominant female roles within Dracula: Mina Murray, Lucy Westenra and the three vampire brides, all of which possess different attributes and play different roles within the novel. It is apparent that the feminine portrayal within this novel, especially the sexual nature, is an un-doubtable strong, reoccurring theme.

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.

     Mr. Renfield, a patient of Dr. Seward, wants to be Dracula in every which way possible. He wants to consume lives, be immortal, and serve the father of all immortals. When Renfield walks around discussing all of these things, pertaining to “the master”, everyone thinks he’s a madman. If Dracula were to walk around and greet people saying, “hi, I’m Count Dracula, an immortal blood sucking creature, who can turn into mist, fog, a wolf or a bat on a whim, how do you do?” chances are, you’d lock him up as soon as humanly possible. However, no one would do that to Dracula, even if he did walk around saying hello to people in that manner. This is what Renfield wants- the notoriety, respect and fear people give to Dracula, the immortal.

It is almost as if the men want Dracula to have their blood, which is representative of semen in the novel.” The Count is representing a female in this scenario, being the one to “drain” these men of their fluids. In the process of the attack on Lucy, Dracula is very sexually ambivalent, he possesses the fangs needed to penetrate Lucy as a man would do, but then he drains the fluid as a female would. Constantly returning to drain again and again, once each man puts their offering into Lucy the Count drains her of it. This is homoerotic as Dracula is penetrating as well as taking in the fluid as a male in a homosexual relationship may do, which Dracula does repeat over and over.

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.

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.