Dracula: The Picture Perfect Ideal of Gothic Literature

Dracula contains a lot Gothic conventions which incite the reader. A convention is the main point of a specific type of writing, for example in Dracula there is the use of journeys/quests, diaries, letters, journals, weird places and strange creatures. These conventions are essential in the story of Dracula and it is important to understand them. Dracula, just like any other gothic piece of writing has a villain/vampire-Dracula, a hero-Jonathan Harker and a victim-Mina. Van Helsing also plays a main role as the slayer of Dracula.

The Gothic crosses boundaries into the realm of the unknown, arousing extremes of emotion through the catalyst of disassociation and subversion of presence. Gothic literature utilises themes of the supernatural to create a brooding setting and an atmosphere of fear. The Gothic dimensions of Poe’s fictional world offered him a way to explore the human mind in extreme situations, and so arriving at an essential truth. The Gothic theme of the importance of the intuitive and emotional and the rejection of the rational and intellectual is prevalent throughout The Raven, The Black Cat, and The Tell-Tale Heart. This is coupled with the convention of transgressive, encroaching insanity, ubiquitous in Gothic literature.

Gothic novels have many different characteristics: they evoke terror both physical and psychological, they have character that keep themselves isolated in time or space from contemporary l... ... middle of paper ... ... Shelley’s Frankenstein truly displays the true essence of what a Gothic novel should represent through the many different characteristics of a Gothic novel. Mary Shelley takes these few basic characteristic and transforms them into a true representation of a Gothic novel. The transformations of these basic Gothic characteristics are what allowed Mary Shelley to create her outstanding and prominent Gothic novel, Frankenstein. Works Cited “Gothic Novels.” The World Book Encyclopedia. Ed.

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 of 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- it horrifies us and reinforces our sense of boundaries and normalcy” (Halberstam 13).

Mary Shelley does an excellent job when making this novel a gothic novel. With her compelling writing, she creates a setting that is dark and gloomy to make the reader scared and intrigued, she incorporates a sense of mystery with the murder of a innocent boy, which intrigues the reader to figure out who did it, and Shelley magnificently bridges a large gap between the supernatural world and the natural world and makes both become

However, gothic novels typically feature wild and remote settings, such as haunted castles or wind-blasted moors, and their plots involve violent or mysterious events. Sometimes events are represented in an uncannily macabre way. Occurrences in such novels feature melodramatic violence and often, strange psychological states are also explored. The word 'Frankenstein' has become synonymous with monsters, originating from Mary Shelley's tragic saga about a pioneering and well-meaning disciple of science and his almost-human creation. There were several factors which influenced the writing of the book.

The House of Seven Gables as a Gothic Novel To be a paradigm of a Gothic novel, The House of Seven Gables needs to include many elements, all which center on the ideas of gloom, horror, and mystery. The action of a Gothic novel takes place in a "run-down, abandoned or occupied, mansion or castle," which often include secret passages, doors, and compartments (Encarta). The mansion also adds its own flavor and variety to the atmosphere of mystery and suspense in the novel by providing a dark and gloomy setting where the story takes place. The basis of mystery and suspense in the atmosphere of the novel feeds off of "an unexplained or supernatural event" in the present or from past generations (Harris). The unexplained event in the novel is a result of ancient prophecy in connection with the history of the mansion, or the earlier generations, and explains the negative vicissitude in future present generations.

Such descriptive words as shroud, grave-worms and corpse all create a sense of reality. They are harsh and produce internal horror. In all I think that Frankenstein can be classed as classically gothic novel. It contains continuous references to typically gothic features. Such scenes as the creation of the creature and the frequently occurring deaths all help to analyse the novel.

In the late 18th and early 19th century, gothic ways of living were very common in the Eastern part of Europe, especially in the medieval times. A convention can be described as a standard feature or an ingredient of a particular sort of writing and in Dracula Bram stoker uses many Gothic conventions to excite the reader. Bram Stoker uses many Gothic conventions throughout his novel in forms of journeys and quests, the use of diaries, letters and journals, sinister buildings and most importantly strange creatures. Stoker also relies heavily on the conventions of Gothic fiction, a genre that was extremely popular in the early nineteenth century. Gothic fiction traditionally includes elements such as gloomy castles, sublime landscapes, and innocent maidens threatened by indescribable evil.

The two Gothic novels, Dracula and Frankenstein, introduced two of the most terrifying characters throughout all of literature. Bram Stoker, the author of Dracula, and Mary Shelley, the author of Frankenstein, both present elements of terror and create a tense mood and a frightening picture. In both of these novels the other characters are not able to see these evil creatures actions. Although both of these novels depict truly evil minds, Dracula is far more terrifying than Frankenstein due in part to its bloodthirsty vampires, mysterious deaths, and dark gothic tone. Dracula is indeed the more bone-chilling story of the two.