Violence in Dracula

            Anyone who has ever seen one of the several adaptations of Dracula as a movie will know that it was intended to be a horror story.  Stoker goes to great lengths in order to create an

Blood is a precious liquid not only for humans but also for the dead, especially vampires. It is both a substance and a cultural concept. Blood is a symbol for passion but also destruction, for cultural identity and family, as Foucault said “one is 'of the same blood” (cited in Hughes, 139) and Stoker contributed “Blood is a too precious thing in these days of dishonourable peace; and he glories of the great races are as a tale that is told.”(34) Blood is one of the most powerful motives in Dracula. Stoker used specifically that motive to address the taboo topic of sexuality and homosexuality. The use of blood as a symbol for sexual intercourse comes

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.

This theme of deception is also present when analyzing Dracula’s behaviour throughout the novel, as he hides his true intentions from protagonist Jonathan Harker. This young man narrates the majority of the beginning of the novel, and reveals a major change in Dracula’s behaviour. First, Jonathan describes Dracula as a distinguished businessman, who has a welcoming and caring attitude: “I asked him a few questions on Transylvania history, and he warmed up to the subject wonderfully” (Stoker 28). As Jonathan discovers more about Dracula’s true nature, however, this character is gradually exposed as a villain. Jonathan describes, “. . .[the

Good versus Evil is an important concept. Evil sometimes overcomes our good but never exceeds good. The difference between evil and good is that good is an ability to have empathy and compassion towards other people. Evil is people who are selfish, self-absorbed and don’t have empathy towards others. Literature plays a vital role in developing concepts of good and evil and effectively portrays the morals of its time period. In the novels Dracula and The Strange Case of Dr.Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the authors explore the human nature of good and evil in men from different perspectives of Dracula, Mr. Hyde and Dr. Jekyll.

Tone is a writer’s tool that creates mood in a story. Within the first chapter of Dracula, the author, Bram Stoker, uses this to create a mood of terror. First, Bram Stoker shows tremendous change in scenery as the main character moves closer to Dracula’s castle. As the story begins, Jonathan is traveling from England to Transylvania. Through the window he sees the colorful fields, orchards of pears, apples, plums, all vibrantly full of life. However, as he nears Castle Dracula, he travels in the depth of night. Jonathan writes in his journal “we could hear the rising wind, for it moaned and whistled through the rocks, and the branches of the trees crashed together as we swept along.” (Bram Stoker 2003 Page 17) Hearing that creates a mood of terror for the reader. Because of the drastic change between the colorful setting

Kali is a different form of the Mother Goddess, Durga. She is depicted as appalling and ferocious with dark skin and long, untamed hair along with her long tongue protruding out of her mouth. In two of her four arms, she carries a bloody sword and the head of the demon Raktabija. Kali is the goddess of destruction and change.

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

Despite the plot’s complete failure in inciting interest within me, I was intrigued by Stoker’s style and storytelling capabilities. I was constantly curious as to why Stoker was revealing a vast amount of information about the scenery and internal feelings of each character while developing the plot in such a dull manner. Eventually, I came to the conclusion that Stoker is attempting to use rich imagery about both settings and the characters’ emotions to emphasize Count Dracula. While reading each chapter, clear mental images of the settings and the characters’ feelings are formed. Through the story being told from extremely

A controversy has been made over if media or video game violence can influence the viewers. There are some that say people can comprehend the difference between what is real and what is not, but as seen on news outlets, games like GTA V are to blame for violence in adolescences to rise. The idea is that early violence exposure should be stopped. Famous romantic poet Shelley, wrote something similar to this in Frankenstein. She wrote about how the creature experienced violence and then in turned displayed his anger towards people.

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.

Lucy is not seen to be the ideal Victorian wife, “why can’t they let a girl marry three men or as many that want her”, due to her low morals and her naivety towards the way a women was expected to act it allowed Dracula to exploit her. Stoker presents Lucy in a way that would be shocking and unacceptable for a Victorian reader. Stoker insinuates that Lucy is fatherless because Stoker only refers to her father once in the book and it is in the past tense, “Lucy’s father, had the same habit he would get up in the night and dress himself”, even if Lucy’s father is alive it is clear that he has had minimal involvement and impact on Lucy’s life. Stoker could be suggesting that Lucy’s lack of a patriarch has meant that she has a desire and craving for one leading her to finding one where ever she could find it. When Dracula is removing blood from Lucy she is described as “half-reclining” Stokers use of this word suggests that Dracula is not forcing her or even restraining her, it implies that she is accepting what is taking place. Stoker goes as far as to imply that Lucy is enjoy the experience, “Her lips were parted… heavy gasps”, this is very sexually suggestive of a post climatic moment. It could be argued that at this moment she is conforming to the hierarchy of society by being submissive due to her possible positive “father complex” (created by Sigmund Feud and Carl Jung), so is therefore acting how a Victorian should by

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

Once infected by Dracula, Lucy becomes sexually overt and aggressive; and is portrayed as a monster and a social outcast. She transforms into the ‘Bloofar Lady ' and feeds on children making her the maternal antithesis as well as a child molester (Jones, p. 87). In order to rectify Lucy 's condition she is sexually overpowered by her fiancee Holmwood; he penetrates her to death with a stake through the chest, a staking which is overtly sexual in interpretation, as "the thing in the coffin writhed; and a hideous, blood-curdling screech came from the opened red lips. The body shook and quivered and twisted in wild contortions; the sharp white teeth champed together till the lips were cut, and the mouth was smeared with a crimson foam.........He looked like a figure of Thor as his untrembling arm rose and fell, driving deeper and deeper" (Stoker p. 241). This sexual innuendo restores the Victorian balance of sexual penetration from the female domain back its accepted station within the male domain. Showalter interprets the killing as a gang rape, done with "impressive phallic instrument" (p. 181). "Those serial transfusions which, while they pretend to serve and protect ‘good women, ' actually enable the otherwise inconceivable interfusion of the blood that is semen