Characters In Society In Bram Stoker's Dracula
analytical Essay
1624 words
Vampires have been a pop culture icon for many years being displayed in shows and books such as Vampire Diaries or Twilight. The common theme in these books/movies is the romance between a vampire and a human. Before all of this came to be thought vampires were viewed as more sinister characters who would feed on humans and terrorize towns. In mythology, vampires have been seen as only evil people who kill and hunt to their heart's content, but in more modern society they have been viewed as romantic, attractive characters that everyone would want as their partners. This view point of vampires has changed people's opinions a lot since the time Dracula was written. In Bram Stoker’s Dracula, he used the older views on vampires to display moral …show more content…
In this essay, the author
- Explains that vampires have been a pop culture icon since the time of dracula.
- Analyzes how dracula is not portrayed as evil or good, and it is up to interpretation of the one character he comes in contact with.
- Analyzes how dracula is viewed as an outcast because he does things differently than the other men in the novel. morally ambiguous is said to be a character whose behavior discourages the reader from identifying them as purely evil.
- Analyzes how dracula kills and turns people in good intentions, but he also commits inexcusable things with in the novel.
- Analyzes how dracula uses people to his advantage, but this is not necessarily a bad thing, since most people in society today use people for their own gains.
- Analyzes how dracula's actions can come across as sinister, but with more information it seems his motives could also be honorable.
- Analyzes how dracula is morally ambiguous and develops a good and bad side depending on the person he is with.
Whether or not this society helps people or demoralizes them is up for interpretation. Dracula is viewed as an outcast because he is an alternate character, and he does things differently than the other men in the novel. Morally ambiguous is said to be a character whose behavior discourages the reader from identifying them as purely go to purely evil him and he cannot be viewed as either due to society's rules set on him. It could be argued that Dracula could believe he was doing the right thing by converting Mina and Lucy because they were restricted by Victorian society. Women were supposed to be proper and submissive and Dracula ees this. One of the possible reasonings for him changing one and trying to change the other is to get these two girls out of the light of the society. In Victorian society though people jump to conclusions and anyone who doesn't follow the rules precisely is labeled as evil, but delete the reader can be led to believe that he is just trying to protect himself and choose victims he want to protect as …show more content…
For example the letters of Mina, and the journals of van Helsing and Jonathan Harker. None of the information about Dracula is factual because it is opinions from other characters in the story. The reader is left to decide for themselves. Although it is obvious that direct Dracula kills and turns people in good intentions, he also commits inexcusable things with in the novel. He turns Lucy into the Un-dead and transform her into a bloody killer. Lucy had a good life with a man she loved but when Dracula changed her it changed everything. Lucy's death was a tragedy and throughout the letters the reader can gather it was a painful event at all. “ Entrance she died, and entrance she is undead, too… There is no malign there, see, and so it make it hard that I was kill her in her sleep, "(220) Along with killing Lucy, Dracula also kills a solicitor in the novel. Even though the solicitor does not have a large role it is still The act of killing that can give Dracula the representation of being evil. Within killing Lucy on Dracula's itinerary he also wanted to convert Mina although she was happy with her life. She had a lovely husband and had come into money. She's happy with him and with her life, but Dracula took that away and changed her into the kind of creature he is. The reader can infer that he does this because he doesn't want to be lonely, but still it is a horrible actor
Related
- analytical
- The late nineteenth century Irish novelist, Bram Stoker is most famous for creating Dracula, one of the most popular and well-known vampire stories ever written. Dracula is a gothic, “horror novel about a vampire named Count Dracula who is looking to move from his native country of Transylvania to England” (Shmoop Editorial Team). Unbeknownst of Dracula’s plans, Jonathan Harker, a young English lawyer, traveled to Castle Dracula to help the count with his plans and talk to him about all his options. At first Jonathan was surprised by the Count’s knowledge, politeness, and overall hospitality. However, the longer Jonathan remained in the castle the more uneasy and suspicious he became as he began to realize just how strange and different Dracula was. As the story unfolded, Jonathan realized he is not just a guest, but a prisoner as well. The horror in the novel not only focuses on the “vampiric nature” (Soyokaze), but also on the fear and threat of female sexual expression and aggression in such a conservative Victorian society.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that bram stoker's dracula is a gothic, "horror novel" about the vampire count, who is looking to move from transylvania to england.
- Analyzes how stoker symbolizes three different types of women: the pure, the tempted and the impure.
- Analyzes how the men in bram stoker's dracula believed that lucy could be saved in death, which would return her to her purer and more socially respectable state.
- Analyzes how dracula uses blood to symbolize an erotic relation and link between the donor and the receiver.
- Analyzes how dracula portrayed the threat of female sexual expression along with a switch from male dominance to female
- Analyzes how stoker subtly hinting at lucy's inner promiscuity in "dracula" depicted a sexual scene between lucy and her fiancé, holmwood.
- Explains that bram stoker's dracula is a reflection and rebuke of victorian society.
1398 wordsRead More - The Characters Of Vampires In Dracula, By Bram Stokers Draculaanalytical essayVampires have long been an icon that challenges the idea of ‘myth’ while also being a perfect example of the term itself. Long before Bram Stokers Dracula, there was Carmella, the lesbian vampire. Before this there were the ancient Greek tales of the Lamia, who are best described by Lawson "....the chief characteristics of the Lamiae, apart from their thirst for blood, are their uncleanliness, their gluttony, and their stupidity" (LAWSON) that would suck the life essence of children. The difference with the vampire, however, is that while other monstrosities of literature and entertainment are considered mostly a natural evil, that is, in and of themselves capable of harm to general human interest, vampires are a commentary of relationships through a sort of
In this essay, the author
- Explains that vampires are an icon that challenges the idea of ‘myth’ while also being a perfect example of the term itself.
- Analyzes tyree's comparison of vampire ideas throughout time, focusing on contemporary vampires and their meaning in society.
- Analyzes how lafanu (writer of 1872 lesbian thriller carmilla) remarks of the victim in her isolated home. vampires and those who have dealings with them have a deeply ingrained lonely status.
- Analyzes the importance of vampires needing someone else in dracula and let the right one in. tyree overlooks foreign assimilation and predatory hierarchy.
- Analyzes how dracula demonstrates predatory hierarchy through the character renfield, who preys upon flies, but also saves some to trap larger insects, to attract worms who attract birds.
- Analyzes how eli is always made as an outsider in a similar way to dracula. her survival is dependant on hakan to procure food for her, which she cannot do.
- Analyzes how tyree's false friendship in let the right one in and dracula shows that both vampires are more than evil at the beginning of their respective novels.
- Explains that vampires use false friendship for a means, but that means is larger than just feeding upon. vampires are social commentaries, and their feeding is pedestrian as people do to each other constantly.
- Analyzes how edward, bill, and eli defend the fragile bodies of their younger lovers against enemies living or undead. they aren't false friends, but wish for an end to their interminable loneliness.
- Analyzes how tyree places importance on the myth of the vampire requiring something universally understandable to everyone. dracula and eli represent foreigners coming upon a land and sapping it of their resources.
- Analyzes how tyree assumes that vampires represent a simple instinct and that let the right one in tells the tragedy of such an instinct. the myth of the vampire is equal to that of humanity.
1665 wordsRead More - The Role Of Survival In Dracula By Bram Stokeranalytical essayDracula is a mythical creature designed to wreak havoc on the lives of mortals through the terror and intimidation of death by bite. Vampires are undead beings that kill humans for their blood to survive. Human blood is the vampire’s sustenance, and only way of staying alive. Throughout time, humans have come up with ways to repel vampires, such as lighting jack-o-lanterns on All Hallows Eve, placing garlic around the neck, a stake through the heart, sunlight, etc. Both beings have a survival instinct, whether it be hunger or safety, both are strong emotions. In the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker, the characters Lucy, John, and Van Helsing strive for survival, therefore killing Dracula.
In this essay, the author
- Explains dracula is a mythical creature designed to wreak havoc on mortals through the terror and intimidation of death by bite. vampires kill humans for their blood to survive.
- Analyzes how lucy was unable to show her survival instinct and ward off the vampires because of her lack of knowledge.
- Analyzes how stoker introduces dracula through john meeting the count. with knowing that malevolent beings exist, john takes precautions on how to protect himself.
- Analyzes how stoker portrays survival in the form of teamwork between the men and women of the novel.
- Analyzes how stoker portrays survival through instinct, learning from mistakes, and finding the yearning to live after wishing for death.
1002 wordsRead More - A Morally Ambiguous Character In Bram Stoker's 'Dracula'analytical essayIn novels it is not uncommon for characters to be identified as morally ambiguous. It can be extremely difficult to identify a character as purely evil or purely good. In the novel Dracula, Bram Stoker presents a morally ambiguous title character, Dracula. Dracula can be seen as evil by the obvious: he is a vampire that bites people to get their blood. But on the other hand, Dracula can also be seen as good. Dracula is not purposely trying to kill people, he is just trying to protect himself. Lots of people believe that they can understand and analyse other people and try to come up with conclusions on how that person is but Stoker shows how in some cases, analyzing a person cannot easily be done. Most people are not black and white. Their
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how bram stoker presents a morally ambiguous title character in the novel dracula.
- Analyzes how dracula kills lucy, a sweet victorian woman who didn't deserve to be bit by him. when evil is being hidden as something good, it hurts the people that love and care for her.
- Opines that dracula is so intimidating that jonathan harker is frightened by him and feels powerless when he is around.
- Analyzes how dracula's intentions are not cynical but rather good. he could have attacked the men easily, but instead he chose to run away from them.
- Explains that dracula's outlandish actions aren't evil, but he is good and wants the best for his family.
- Explains that dracula isn't written from his point of view, but from the other character's perspective, which could lead to readers getting a faulty picture of him.
- Analyzes how dracula's ambiguous actions contribute to the story as a whole because readers don't know his true intentions.
1038 wordsRead More - Over the centuries vampires have been creatures of mystique and intrigue to our society. They represent danger, death, lust, and allure. They are immortal, and often sexualized beyond the bounds of the puritanical values that still guard modern society. Due to these traits they are practically irresistible to the reader and have fascinated society for centuries. While vampirism can take on multiple forms, with each form possessing its own specific set of traits that allow it to successfully prey on the living, the official definition for a vampire in literature is: “The vampire as ghost or revenant; as monster or deformity; and as reanimated corpse, revenge-seeking emanation of the dead. (Huggan, 192) Early mythological vampires date back centuries
In this essay, the author
- Explains that vampires represent danger, death, lust, and allure. they are immortal and sexualized beyond the puritanical values that still guard modern society.
- Explains that vampire fiction finds its origins in the early 18th century serbia after a spree of killings led to the official exhumation of two peasants suspected of the post-mortem crimes.
- Analyzes how the first recorded work of literature detailing vampires is a german poem titled der vampir written by heinrich august ossenfelder. the poem is also strongly religious centric, as the seducer and vampire has been scorned from his society.
- Analyzes how carmilla, written by joseph sheridan le fanu, is one of the earliest works of vampire literature, predating bram stoker's dracula by 26 years.
- Describes le fanu as slender and graceful, but her movements were languid. her complexion was rich and brilliant, her features were small and beautifully formed; her eyes were large, dark, and lustrous.
- Analyzes how carmilla's presence is characteristic of a classic vampire horror work as the vampire attempts to gain power over his or her victim with beauty or seduction. the vampire is stabbed through the heart and cleansed with holy water.
- Analyzes how salem's lot by stephan king is a modern twist on classic vampire horror. it is warped significantly from its original form by modernization and challenging the belief system of the western world.
- Analyzes how the vampires in salem's lot symbolize the evils that exist within the town, and how they mimic the ten commandments of the torah.
- Analyzes how twilight by stephanie meyers does not follow the normal trends of gothic-vampire literature, and instead exhibits a starkly different type of hysteria than that which caused carmilla and salem's lot to be penned.
- Explains that the transformation of vampires over the last several centuries has been decided mostly because of the culture surrounding s of such fiction when they penned their respective works.
2090 wordsRead More - Sexuality In Literature Essayanalytical essayFirstly I will look at sexuality and sexual deviancy in vampire literature; vampires are often representative of the manifestation of ‘evil’ in society, they are ‘the other’ and are used to portray undesirable moral characteristics. It is not a surprise, then, that vampires are often written as being sexually deviant- especially female vampires. Women living in Britain in the Victorian era were forced to comply with the ideals of society at the time for their gender, they were supposed to be submissive to their husbands, meek and domesticated, this was known as ‘the angel in the house’, a popular term coined to describe the ‘ideal’ Victorian woman. In gothic literature, women are usually portrayed in one of two ways, as ‘the angel in the house’ or a ‘femme fatale’. Female sexuality was seen as being very deviant and scandalous at the time, women were supposed to be virtuous and virginal, it is obvious, then, that female vampires should be sexual. Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897) was written at a very important time, both in the midst of the Victorian era and also at a time of an emergence of a new role for women, the ‘new woman’. The ‘new woman’ was educated, more openly sexual, and sought autonomy from her male counterparts
In this essay, the author
- Explains that vampires have been a popular figure in literary works for almost 200 years, from john polidori's the vampyre (1819) to stephenie meyer’s twilight (2005).
- Explains that vampires represent the manifestation of evil in society and portray undesirable moral characteristics. dracula (1897) was written at a time when women were supposed to be virtuous and virginal.
- Analyzes how lucy is transformed into a vampire in the novel, and perhaps mina is spared the same fate as her friend.
- Analyzes how the twilight books conflate bella losing her virginity with the loss of other things, including her sense of self and her very life. meyer is a mormon with strict religious beliefs.
- Analyzes how stoker suggests to the reader that the sisters do not create children, but consume them.
- Describes dracula's three sisters as a direct representation of female sexuality.
- Analyzes bram stoker's "kiss me with those red lips": gender and inversion in dracula.
1515 wordsRead More - Dracula, by Bram Stokeranalytical essayIn the year 1897, Bram Stoker releases the crown jewel of the 20th century: his vampire epic Dracula. Ever since Dracula, Transylvania, and castles have been associative of vampirism, the world has become “bloody”. There are slight deviations to the novel, but the majority of them are fairly partial to the novel. Worldly views show Dracula as an old man with a new face. The inception of Bram Stoker’s Dracula has been the melting pot of the recreations and incarnations of the world’s deadliest, bloodsucking vampire, Count Dracula.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how bram stoker's vampire epic dracula is a melting pot of recreations and incarnations of the world’s deadliest, bloodsucking vampire.
- Analyzes how bram stoker based his vampire on vlad iv dracula, a romanian tyrant known as the "impaler".
- Analyzes how count dracula's numerous "avatars" come into play in the novel.
- Analyzes how dracula is the first u.s movie based on the blood-sucking vampire and the novel he is in.
- Explains that count dracula is the only vampire with roles in movies, films, television shows, novels, etc. nearly 1000 times. the movies and other incarnations share a similar concept with the book.
- Explains that count dracula is the lasting legacy that bram stoker leaves on this earth. he is never able to hide from the aura of vampirism and awe.
904 wordsRead More - Use Of Empiricism In Bram Stoker's 'Dracula'analytical essayEven at the ending, there still is suspense after Dracula is killed because it was anticlimactic. My only question, is “Who is this ‘we’ mentioned when Dracula is talking about Transylvania’s past and the battles?” That one unanswered question leaves suspense because it makes it seem like there are more vampires not really mentioned in the book. I believe that Stoker purposely used his word choice to show good and evil because he used the word “voluptuous” to describe the three evil women and also described Lucy when she turned/passed away. I believe that Stoker uses British womanhood to show weakness since Lucy was the first one bit and that if she did not get help then she would have passed away faster and would have transformed into a vampire and would continue terrorizing little kids. However, I believe that through Mina, Stoker uses a new form of British womanhood to show a strong woman that after overcoming an obstacle can rise above it and work with the men to defeat evil. I think Mina is my favorite character in Dracula because she does just that. She did not just get saved and not do anything, she got saved and then used her visions to help the men find Dracula. That is what I admire about her. She is a strong woman. I like the suspense in the end of the book with how Dracula just dies and then everyone seems to live a happy life, however, I would have ended the book with a better “fight scene” that would have proved that Dracula was either the only vampire or that there were more. I think Stoker uses word choice to denote good and evil in Dracula and does an excellent job in doing so by describing the three women and then adding on to Lucy when she
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how bram stoker's dracula includes themes of death, love, and sex. his use of empiricism utilizes the idea that everything is happening "now".
- Analyzes how stoker uses the "sexiness" of the voluptuous women to try and tempt harker.
- Analyzes how stoker writes about mina and lucy, showing that they are not evil, but caring and good.
- Analyzes how the word "voluptuous" is used to symbolize lucy turning from good to evil, but when dracula is interrupted in turning mina, the intimateness is broken.
- Analyzes how stoker uses the word "voluptuous" to describe the three women in the book. the word is used to denote that they are unclean and evil.
- Analyzes how stoker shows empiricism and shows how women can rise above challenges with the help of men.
- Opines that stoker uses word choice to denote good and evil in dracula by describing the three evil women and then adding on to lucy when she turned.
1776 wordsRead More - Dracula Essayanalytical essay...ughout the book, the reader can see a story of a new type of woman emerging in the 19th century. At the end of the story Van Helsing speaks of Mina and Jonathan’s newborn son and how he is going to be the new age man that will accept the new age woman and understand a woman who not only is motherly and loving, but also proud, strong, and independent. Mina now represents the new age woman just as much as she did the traditional woman in the beginning, and in the end the men fought to save her life. Stoker wrote Dracula to prove a point that the new age woman will eventually emerge as the leading type of woman and the traditional woman will be no more. Although Mina isn’t the drastic new woman that Lucy was, she shares many similar characteristics and is as strong and powerful as the new age woman, with the intelligence and motherly love that the traditional woman had.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how bram stoker uses the contrasting characters of lucy westenra and mina murray to depict this evolution in women and paint an image of the reaction to this advance.
- Analyzes how mina murray embodies the traditional women that were commonplace in the late 19th century.
- Analyzes how lucy westenra is the antithesis to mina. stoker punctuates on lucy's lecherous and emotional personality.
- Analyzes how lucy's illness slowly, but laboriously takes over her body, symbolizing the slow progression of the old fashioned woman into the new age woman.
- Analyzes how van helsing speaks of mina and jonathan's newborn son and how he is going to be the new age man. stoker wrote dracula to prove that the young woman will eventually emerge as the leading type of woman.
789 wordsRead More - Good and Evil in Dracula by Bram Stokeranalytical essayWhat if in between good and evil did not exist? Where would you stand? Today, it is believed that everyone was born with the slightest bit of evil in them. In the Victorian Era, this theory would be considered very wrong, because one would either be all good, or all evil. In Dracula, by Bram Stoker, good versus evil was symbolised throughout the book as two antithetical forces without an in between. By clearly demonstrating the relationship between the dualistic ideas of intuition versus logic, good characters facing figures comparable to the devil, and symbolism within the natural world, Bram Stoker effectively recounts a “holy war” between the antagonistic forces of good and evil.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how bram stoker depicts a "holy war" between the antagonistic forces of good and evil in dracula.
- Analyzes how intuition opposing logic in dracula demonstrates a form of good versus evil in the victorian era.
- Analyzes how good and evil were expressed in the various aspects of the natural world, such as light and dark and life and death.
- Analyzes how the relationship between good and evil is demonstrated in dracula. van helsing, dr. seward, quincey, and arthur hunted lucy and killed her evil soul.
635 wordsRead More