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dracula character analysis essay
dracula character analysis essay
perception of women in dracula
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Dracula as the Persecuted Outsider in Bram Stoker's Dracula
Bram Stoker's Dracula is highly acclaimed and has received many different interpretations which deal with complex symbolisms and metaphors. These interpretations often require a great deal of knowledge in psychology, political science, anthropology, and other non-literary disciplines. These interpretations may be valid, as they are related to the disciplines on which their arguments are based, but the true power of the novel is due to a very simple theme that lies beneath the other, more convoluted interpretations. This theme is the universal concept of identity: us versus them. This criticism sets aside outside disciplines and focuses on the literary motif of identity. John Allen Stevenson gives an in-depth criticism of this work based mostly on anthropological ideas, but he states that Dracula is a representation of "fears that are more universal than a specific focus on the Victorian background would allow" (141). He brings up the concept of "universal" ideas but fails to pursue them on a universal scale. The truly universal theme involves the perception that Dracula is a monster. But Dracula is not a monster - he is simply a persecuted outsider.
In this interpretation, it is important to seperate the actions of the characters from what those actions represent in relation to the theme of identity. Count Dracula is shown to be a vampire - a monster who engages in horrific, violent acts, but these acts of violence are merely Stoker's vehicle for presenting the difference between the Count and the other characters. His vampirish actions are not to be taken literally. "Dracula" is not a work of fantasy - it is primarily a realistic novel with one fantastic charact...
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...safe once Dracula left, but the pursuit and slaying of him represents society's wish to remove him entirely from their minds. The killing of Dracula is not literal--he is only dead to society because they refuse to acknowledge his right to be different. Thus, Dracula is the victim of this story, not the ones society felt he victimized.
Works Cited
Arata, Stephen D. "The Occidental Tourist: Dracula and the Anxiety of Reverse Colonization." Victorian Studies 33.4 (Sum. 1990) : 621-45.
Stevenson, John Allen. "A Vampire in the Mirror: The Sexuality of Dracula." PMLA 103 (1988) : 139-49.
Stoker, Bram. Dracula. 1897. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1992.
Wasson, Richard. "The Politics of Dracula." English Literature in Transition 9 (1966) : 24-27.
Zanger, Jules. "A Sympathetic Vibration: Dracula and the Jews." English Literature in Transition 34 (1991) : 33-44.
In the novel Dracula, Bram Stoker shows that society alienates people that are different. The character Count Dracula reveals society assumptions by representing the idea of alienation and considered as an outsider when society won’t accept him because of his behavior.
Carol A. Senf uses a critical theory lens when she picks apart Bram Stoker’s Dracula. The majority of literary critics interpret this popular myth to be the opposition of good and evil, they turn a blind eye to the more specifically literary matters such as method of narration, characterization, and style. Carol Senf’s critical essay “Dracula: the Unseen Face in the Mirror” she believes that Stokers novel “revolves, not around the conquest of Evil by Good, but on the similarities between the two” (Senf 421). Her argument is as follows:
Warren, Louis S. "Buffalo Bill Meets Dracula: William F. Cody, Bram Stoker, and the Frontiers of Racial Decay." The American Historical Review 107.4 (2002): 127. JSTOR. Web. 9 Mar. 2010.
Birge, Barbara. "Bram Stoker's DRACULA: The Quest for Female Potency in Transgressive Relationships." Psychological Perspectives. 1994. 22-36.
While the character of Renfield is ostensively extraneous to the central plot of Dracula, he fulfils an important role in Stoker’s exploration of the central themes of the novel. This paper will examine how Renfield character is intertwined with the three central themes of invasion, blood and otherness. Firstly, through Renfield’s inner struggle we learn that he is ‘not his own master’ (Stoker, 211). The theme of invasion is revealed by the controlling and occupying powers of Count Dracula. Secondly, the reoccurring theme ‘the Blood is the Life’ (Stoker, 121), is portrayed throughout the novel and has been interpreted through Stoker’s character Renfield. Then finally, a look at the social construction of the ‘other’ in Dracula and how, through Renfield, who is ‘unlike the normal lunatic’ (Stoker, 52), the Count emerges as the ‘other’ of all ‘others’.
Throughout ‘Dracula’, Stoker presents the idea of ‘foreigner’ through the characterisation of Count Dracula and Professor Van Helsing, who are the two main outsiders in the novel. Dracula, being a supernatural creature, is of Transylvanian descent which makes him such a poignant character. On the other hand, Van Helsing is a Roman Catholic, and is of a Dutch background, which also highlights him as a foreigner within ‘Dracula.’ In this essay I will explore how these two characters are represented and the intention behind the idea of ‘foreigner.’
The novel Dracula by Bram Stoker has plentiful examples of key concepts we have examined in class including: Purity and impurity, magical thinking, strong emotions such as disgust and shame, , formalization, and myth. In this essay I will summarize events that take place within the novel when the protagonists deal with Dracula and then relate these events to the key concepts to demonstrate why the characters view him as dangerous, and therefore something to be avoided completely.
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
In Bram Stoker's "Dracula", Dracula is portrayed as a monster made evident by his gruesome actions. An analysis of Dracula shows that: shows his evil nature in his planning, brutally killing Lucy Westrenstra causing a violent response from Dr. Seward and others, and how his evil ways lead to his downfall. To characterize Dracula in one way, he is a ruthless, cunning monster who uses tricks, torture, and wits to manipulate people to his will. However when he trifled with some courageous people, he had no knowledge that it would be his undoing.
Similar to almost every piece of literature ever created, Dracula by Bram Stoker has been interpreted many different ways, being torn at from every angle possible. Just as one might find interest in interpreting novels differently, he or she might also find interest in the plot, prose, or theme, all of which ultimately lead to the novels overall tone. Throughout the novel, it becomes blatant that the novel contains an underlying theme of female incompetence and inferiority. Through a true feminist’s eyes, this analysis can clearly be understood by highlighting the actions of Mina and Lucy, the obvious inferior females in the book. Through Stoker’s complete and utter manipulation of Mina and Lucy, he practically forces the reader to analyze the co-existence of dominant males and inferior females in society and to simultaneously accept the fact that the actual text of Dracula is reinforcing the typical female stereotypes that have developed throughout the ages.
Spencer, Kathleen L. “Purity and Danger: Dracula, The Urban Gothic, and the Late Victorian Degeneracy Crisis.” English Literary History 59.1 (1992): 197-226
A reader’s anxiety accelerates from altering the story from Jonathan Harker’s journal to Mina Murray’s letter when Jonathan commits to escape from Dracula’s castle. While Jonathan stays at Dracula’s castle coercively, as he depicts himself as “a veritable prisoner, but without that protection of the law which is even a criminal’s right and consolation” (40), he always seeks for an opportunity to g...
Podonsky, Amanda M. "Bram Stoker's Dracula: A Reflection and Rebuke of Victorian Society." Student Pulse: The International Student Journal. N.p., 2010. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.
While the character of Renfield is ostensively extraneous to the central plot of Dracula, he fulfils an important role in Stoker’s exploration of the central themes of the novel. This paper will examine how Renfield character is intertwined with the three central themes of invasion, blood and otherness. Firstly, through Renfield’s inner struggle we learn that he is ‘not his own master’ (Stoker, 211). The theme of invasion is revealed by the controlling and occupying powers of Count Dracula. Secondly, the recurring theme ‘the Blood is the Life’ (Stoker, 121), is portrayed throughout the novel and has been interpreted through Stoker’s character Renfield. Then finally, a look at the social construction of the ‘other’ in Dracula and how, through Renfield, who is ‘unlike the normal lunatic’ (Stoker, 52), the Count emerges as the ‘other’ of all ‘others’.
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.