Bram Stoker’s Dracula: Evidence of the Victorian Era
Imagine a world where there are no cellphones, televisions, or even a cure for the common cold. This is what life was like in the Victorian era. Throughout the novel Dracula, evidence can be found that is a constant reminder of the time period in which the novel takes place. The characters, setting, and plot all have a vast impact on the recognition of the Victorian era in the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker.
The characters all show evidence of the Victorian era by the way they think and act. For example, Professor Van Helsing assesses, “She has man’s brain, a brain that a man should have were he much gifted, and a woman’s heart” (Stoker 515). This determines that in the Victorian era,
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men were thought of as superior beings with higher intellect by nature. This also depicts that women were thought of as delicate beings that do not necessarily have a lot of intelligence and generally inferior to men in general. In addition, when Mina demands that she accompany the men on their dangerous journey Dr. Van Helsing challenges her by saying, “You know that your safety is our solemnest duty”(Stoker 707). This proves that during the Victorian era men were the only ones thought as fit to do dangerous things. This also attributes to the fact that the men do not want Mina to come on the mission because they do not believe that she could handle it like a man. Lastly, Lucy writes to Mina, “My dear Mina, why are men so noble when we women are so little worthy of them?”(Stoker 124). This indicates that not only do men think of themselves as superior being but, so do women. This confirms that women are taught form an early age to think lesser of themselves and to think of their male peers as more worthy or noble. Throughout the novel Mina faces oppression from the male characters because she is a women and that is popular belief in Victorian times. The setting of the novel makes the time period quite obvious.
For instance, Jonathan writes in his journal, “They are fearless and without religion, save superstition, and they talk only their own varieties of the Romany tongue” (Stoker 89). When referring to the Romany tongue Jonathan is referring to gypsies who live in Eastern Europe where superstition thrives. Eastern Europe is known for one thing and that is being in complete belief in many superstitions. Just as Professor Van Helsing specifies, “But yet we see around us every day the growth of new beliefs, which we think themselves new, and which are yet but the old, which pretend to be young, like the fine ladies at the opera (Stoker 424). This summarizes the fact that London is an advanced state that constantly improves in the field of science. London is more developed and more sophisticated than their neighbors in the East. Furthermore, Jonathan writes in his diary, “…Arriving at Vienna early next morning; should have arrived at 6:46, but train was an hour late” (Stoker 6). This reinforces the idea of the Victorian era by the popular use of trains as transportation. Trains are widely used in this era for their speed and efficiency compared to other options available. The setting gives an abundant amount of proof of the Victorian
era. The plot alone is a perfect representation of the Victorian era. Such as Lucy writes to Mina, “Three proposals in one day! Isn’t it awful! I feel sorry, really and truly sorry for two of the poor fellows”(Stoker 119). This clarifies that gentlemen in the nineteenth century will ask a woman’s hand in marriage instead of dating them first. In todays world, couples will usually date before making the huge decision to marry one another. Likewise, Dr.Seward writes, “A telegram came from Van Helsing at Amsterdam whilst I was at dinner…”(Stoker 280). This demonstrates that telegrams are widely use in the nineteenth century. Throughout the novel the characters sent each other telegrams which proves how frequently telegrams are used. Finally, Professor Van Helsing declares, “There are such beings as vampires, some of us have evidence that they exist”(Stoker 519). The fact that the characters believe in such an inconceivable superstition proves their lack of common sense. Today, vampires only exist in movies and books while in the nineteenth century people would believe them to be a likely probability. The plot shows a first glance at life in the Victorian era. Throughout the novel, Bram Stoker makes sure to emphasize on the fact that this story takes place in Victorian times. The characters act appropriate to their time period. The setting and plot is realistic and real according to time period. Ultimately, it cannot be mistaken that the novel Dracula takes place in the nineteenth century through evidence from the characters, setting, and plot.
he is leaving is the night when "all the evil things in the world will
It is precisely the point that Hollywood distorts and corrupts serious literature for the entertainment pleasures of a mass audience. In the task of comparing and contrasting the novel of "Dracula" to film extracts of "Bram Stoker’s Dracula", values, meaning and context discovered lie between discrepancy and similarity. The change from differing mediums, novel and film, reveal characteristics and possibilities of narratives. Through the advancement of technology, modern writers have gained a cinematic approach to their writing. However Dracula, written in 1987 by Abraham Stoker, where the introduction of technology was gradual, forging inventions such as the typewriter and phonograph, made reference to in the novel, had no anticipation of what technology would have an effect on such writings. With society’s fascination with the supernatural, and love of technology, Dracula’s many adaptations, film, stage, have ensured its survival through the passage of time.
... period where there was a mix of different feeling and ideas coming about. Religion was the core of his tale, and also modeled it. On one side were the humans and on the other Dracula. Through their struggles to defeat the monster they experienced changes in gender roles, which was also present in real time. Women were becoming more free and working. The only way this change happened was because of the trust and the love between family members; that led to good stable home and ultimately success in life. Stoker wrote Dracula later on his career, this way he had more experience and knowledge of life and grew to believe in common universal truth. Dracula was a hit because it had truth and history in it, and it turned the ordinary good beats bad story into a compelling and interesting narrative, and if readers read carefully they could even find themselves in the book.
In a world with ghosts, monsters, demons, and ghouls, there is one being that resonates in everyone’s mind. The idea of these creatures can be found in almost every culture on the planet in one form or another. They prey on the weak and they feast on the blood of their victims. They are compared to a fox for being quick and cunning, but also rather seductive in their nature. With their unholy existence one can only describe them as almost demonic. So what is this horrid creature? Well it is none other than the vampire, a creature as old as time itself. Throughout history there have been many different variations of the vampire, each with their own unique abilities. But one cannot help but mention
When Victorian Era, England is brought up in most context’s it is used to exemplify a calm and more refined way of life; however, one may overlook how the children of this era were treated and how social class systems affected them. Samuel Butler’s The Way of All Flesh is a novel written to take a closer look at the life of children growing up in the unfair social hierarchy of Victorian Era England. Butler’s main characters are Theobald and Ernest, who grow up during the time period; Overton, who is Ernest’s godfather, is the narrator of the novel and provides insight into Theobald and Ernest as they mature through the novel. Theobald is the son of a wealthy, strict, and abusive father who treats him with no mercy, but leaves him with a rather significant inheritance from his Christian publishing company, at his death. Ernest is the son of Theobald, who beats him with a stern fits over even the pettiest things in
Humphrey, Robert. "Ideals of the Victorian Woman as Depicted in ‘Dracula’." The Artifice. N.p., 11 Mar. 2014. Web. 6 May 2014. .
Victorian Women were highly held back in their full potential. Their main role in the household was to “be happy - a sunbeam in the house, making others happy” (Hardy, E.J. 1887). On top of this, Women in the Victorian era were not allowed to display their sexuality or “tempt” men in public; they were meant to be submissive and meek (Causey S., 2008). The Victorian era lasted from 1837 til 1901, with women being punished everyday for crimes that are nowadays just part of living for a woman. Bram Stoker was born during this era and wrote his most famous novel, Dracula (Miller, E. unknown). One of the main discourses in this novel is that of Women and their Morality of the time.
As it has been established by Mighall, Jonathan’s sexual and perverse writings of his experience in Dracula’s castle are to compensate for and explain the high level of anxiety as well as to contain it one place: “eroticizes the monstrous to contain it or explain it? Writing up his accounts of how he thinks monsters should be represented. He dwells on the sexual, transforming the supernatural into ‘an erotic spectacle’” (Mighall 228-9). Dracula represents larger political and social issues such as the fear and anxiety of reverse colonialism as well as the collapse of the British Empire. He further symbolises the collapse of patriarchal society with the New Woman idea. Count Dracula serves “as a reminder to Britain of the undesirable “diversity” of Eastern nations” (Gelder 11). Stoker presents Britain’s view on the foreign and unknown through Jonathan Harker’s perspective. At the beginning of the text, he notes in his journal: “It seems to me that the further east you go to the more unpunctual are the trains. What ought they to be in China?” (Stoker 2). However, it could be argued that Dracula views the modern world as monstrous and perverse. This is evident as Van Helsing and his group are trying to destroy his existence with the help of new technologies. Therefore, technology is monstrous as it is taking over the person as well as outsmarts
Over the years people have given new out looks on the original vampire, Dracula. He was a tall non-attractive looking man who would never come out during the day. Hollywood however has made new vampire stories such as Twilight, True Blood, and The Vampire Diaries/The Originals that have new ideas of a vampire. These novels/books all have differences, but some still have key characteristics of the original vampire.
Literature is representative of the time in which it is produced. Literature can reflect societal views, attitudes, and fears.Vampire literature, in particular, often represents the fears of a society.In the Victorian Era, a time of intense sexual repression, it was common for vampire stories to reflect the fear of sexuality that was rampant in society.
The Victorian England setting and culture of “Dracula” by: Bram Stoker attributes to many stylistic components and character behaviours in the novel. One of which is the behaviour and actions characters express that are a result of sexual repression. In Dracula, sexual repression is best expressed by the character’s desire to create. This desire is exemplified by the way Dracula creates other vampires, Lucy’s sexual desires, and the men’s expression of aggression. The creation of other Vampires is evident through events including Dracula’s aggressive encounters with Lucy and Mina, and the fact the Dracula is building up a Vampire army. Lucy’s sexual desires are exemplified through her longing to have sex with multiple men and how she compares
Over the course of cinematic history, many filmmakers have attempted to recreate the chilling, unprecedented world of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Arguably very few have succeeded, for the majority of directors tend to avoid the pervasive sexuality inherent in the novel. It is a difficult task to achieve, considering the blatant imagery surrounding sex and vampirism, such as the reproduction following a vampiric encounter and the phallocentric nature of the violence committed both by and against these creatures: penetration is involved in their hunting, and one must impale them with a stake in order to destroy them. Readers are thereby forced to admit that Dracula is, in fact, a highly eroticized piece of literature, though whether or not Stoker himself was aware of this suggestiveness, we cannot be sure. The most successful effort at capturing that sexual energy on film has been Francis Ford Coppola's 1992 movie, Bram Stoker's Dracula. In fact, it has often been proposed that Coppola’s version is too carnally focused in comparison to the original work, which leads a viewer to wonder about the purpose in this overt sexualization. It can be concluded that adding copious amounts of eroticism to the film is directly related to Coppola’s strive to depict Count Dracula as more human rather than monster, and sexuality in his film serves as a balance so that the lines between good and evil are blurred. Evidence for this deduction is found in three scenes in particular: Jonathan’s seduction by Dracula’s vampiric wives, Lucy’s demonic transformation, and Mina and Van Helsing’s relationship during the climax of the story.
From Transylvania to Hollywood, vampires have transformed from unfamiliar, mysterious personalities to one of the most dominant monsters in the horror genre today. Vampires are one of the oldest and most noted creatures in mythology, with many variations of them around the world. Although the most famous version is Bram Stoker’s Dracula, many variants have come before and after telling of the same legend with their own added ideas and modifications to relate to their cultures. Today, there is a multitude of literary and film works that convey and resurface peoples’ fear of vampires. As gothic works like Dracula, by Bram Stoker and Scooby-Doo! and the Legend of the Vampire directed by Scott Jeralds share certain traits reflective of the genre;
Victorian literature is a representation of society at the time. These Victorian authors have expressed their concerns with the dangers of the restrictions of society and the effect it has on women. Both “The Yellow Wallpaper and Wuthering Heights show the repression of women, the dependency on men, but also the resistance to a patriarchal society and its norms.
I’ll Have My Blood Low Fat and Carb Free, Please. Gothic imagery and themes include castles, coffins, monsters and strange lands and pose the background to the classic Gothic novel. The Gothic element is synonymous with the horror and uncanny- a feeling rather than form, in which transgression is the central topic (Wisker 7). The vampire is a figure that transgresses society’s limits to form the central dynamic of the Gothic. “We enjoy seeing the limit transgressed-