In my Painting 2 class, which I took in the fall of 2012, my instructor Chris Finley suggested to me that I, being an aspiring and acting art teacher, apply my curricula to myself. So I thought back to my most successful lesson, “Aaagh! Monsters!” In that class, I asked my students, ages 5 through 8 year olds, to create a monster of their own. We did a little research into the monsters other people had created in books, in other appropriate visual media, and throughout history. I then asked them to tell me specific things about their monsters like their names, where they lived, what they ate, and so on, so that they could gain a better understanding of who or what their monsters were and be able to depict them more clearly. The children loved creating something new and distinctly their own. It was a success for me because, for the first time, I had parents coming to me to tell me that their child was so excited to come to my class that day.
However, when it came to applying this same concept to myself, I found that I kept drifting off into darker, non-childlike ideas. Then I came upon a quote that stated so eloquently, “we stopped checking for monsters under the bed when we realized they were inside of us,” and it clicked. Unlike the children’s monsters, my monsters were things inside of me. I let myself delve into the emotions and psychological states of being that haunted me the most and came upon a realization that these were my monsters. Therefore, I let them speak to me in a way that I had never really experienced before. It became apparent that I was nothing more than a vessel for their introduction to the outside world. This awareness got me thinking about what other people’s monsters eat, where they live, and what t...
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...city addressed the cultural fears about scientists playing God. In Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula, the main character Dracula is a vampire portrayed as a monstrous creature who is also enticing and charismatic with the intent on claiming innocence for his own and perverting it to feed his own base needs. Vampires, such as Dracula signified the fears about he breakdown of traditional moral values, fears about sexuality, and fears about moving away from religion to a more secular worldview. Stoker’s novel also played off of the fears of foreigners or the “others” by being based on the real-life monster whose cruel reputation transformed him into the renowned 15th century Romanian leader Vlad the Impaler.
VI. Question Five: How do those monsters affect us individually, both psychologically and emotionally?
VII. Conclusion: What did I learn?
inconveniencing
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 between the lines, Stoker’s true message can be revealed. His personal experiences and the time period in which he lived, influenced him to write Dracula in which he communicated the universal truth that good always prevails over evil. Religion was a big part of people’s lives back in Stoker’s time.
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.
Insanity: “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results” a quote by Albert Einstein that helps sum up humanity’s love for horror movies. People go see horror movies all the time, each time the graphics are clearer and more intense than the last. Are people expecting them to change? If not then why would anyone in their right mind, make a conscious decision to go see the next horror movie knowing what they know, understanding that someone will get stabbed, beaten, shot, or killed? Its simple humans crave them, we enjoy horror but why? In this essay Stephen Kings thesis “I think we’re all mentally ill; those of us outside the asylums only hide it a little bit better” (405). In that statement he provides a twisted example of “Why we crave Horror Movies” claiming it’s mainly because of our mental state. King explains there are many reasons for going to see them, he says we go to have fun, we go to dare the nightmare and we go to re-establish our since of normalcy. All of which I find are strong arguments were he states his case. With his use of urbane humor, he says “the potential lyncher is in almost all of us”(406). King uses practical wisdom to lead his audience to believe that without horror films, humans are all ticking time bombs set to explode from buildup of pathos, just waiting to become another “funny farm crazy” or “Jack the ripper” to some degree or another.
In Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula, Stoker’s use of inverted gender roles allows readers to grasp the sense of obscureness throughout, eventually leading to the reader’s realization that these characters are rather similar to the “monster” which they call Dracula. Despite being in the Victorian era, Stoker’s use of sexuality in the novel contributes to the reasoning of obscureness going against the Victorian morals and values. Throughout the novel the stereotypical roles of the Victorian man and woman are inverted to draw attention to the similarities between Dracula and the characters. Vague to a majority of readers, Bram Stoker uses Dracula as a negative connotation on society being that the values of the Victorian culture are inverted amongst the sexes of characters, thus pointing out the similarities of the characters and the so called “monster” which they call Dracula.
Common sense seems to dictate that people seem to hide from reality in their own monsters that they make. People prefer to watch made up monsters. In their imagination, they find a way to defeat their made-up personality, they to get overwhelm on life problems and monster that they can’t fight.
In a time period where science was developing new and controversial ideas, and superstition was slowly being replaced with a more reasoning thought process, a story that combines the two topics was written: Dracula. With movement to the new west, science was slowly gaining more foreground, inventing new technologies such as the telegram and phonograph as well as making advancements like blood transfusions and hypnosis. Additionally a new thought process began to form, one that took away the ability to believe in the seemingly impossible. “In the Blood” author quotes: “Throughout the novel, these self-assured people have to be convinced, with enormous difficulty, that there is something beyond their
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:
In the universe, no one being has complete control over another. In Bram Stoker's novel Dracula, God, Dracula, Nature, and Humanity have some form of influence over each other, whether it be direct control or as the instrument through which another must exert its power. In this paper I will examine the ways that power and control are presented in Dracula.
Stoker uses phenomenal imagery to produce a late nineteenth century setting, located somewhere within eastern Europe. Transylvania, the infamous home to Dracula himself, is described in great detail in Harker’s journal. There, Stoker purposely and meticulously outlines Dracula’s castle and the surrounding town. Stoker manages to do this with a very gothic tone, immediately lowering the societal status of women. In conjunction with Dracula’s gothic tone comes the understanding of male and female traditional roles of the era. The reader sees that there is no hesitation differentiating between the two, as Stoker “ cast[s] men as rational, strong, protective and decisive…[and] women as emotional (irrational), weak, nurturing and submissive.” (Tyson, 82).
Jeffery Cohen's first thesis states “the monster's body is a cultural body”. Monsters give meaning to culture. A monsters characteristics come from a culture's most deep-seated fears and fantasies. Monsters are metaphors and pure representative allegories. What a society chooses to make monstrous says a lot about that society’s people. Monsters help us express and find our darkest places, deepest fears, or creepiest thoughts. Monsters that scare us,vampires, zombies, witches, help us cope with what we dread most in life. Fear of the monstrous has brought communities and cultures together. Society is made up of different beliefs, ideas, and cultural actions. Within society there are always outcasts, people that do not fit into the norm or do not follow the status quo. Those people that do not fit in become monsters that are feared almost unanimously by the people who stick to the status quo.
Since the 19th Century, Bram Stoker’s Dracula has entertained its readers taking them to heights of excitement in the climax
times we have been fascinated with all sorts of tales about monsters and intrigued by myths and
A monster can be characterized by an extreme deviation from the normal standards of society including an internal or external wickedness. In the case of Mary Shelley’s Creature, his appearance overwhelms those who lay eyes upon him. A mere glance can send a villager running for the hills. It was not until the Creature caught a glance of his own reflection that he understood why villagers were so afraid of him. The realization of his ghastly appearance began the monster’s journey into hopelessness. In Peter Brooks’ article he writes, “Self recognition as the ‘filthy type’ completes the mirror stage of the Monsters development.” (Brooks 377). Seeing oneself as ugly and slovenly can cast shadows on even the most compassionate of hearts.
Help prevent children from growing up into monsters. (2006, Jan 23). Redlands Daily Facts. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/379956373?accountid=10244
“Science and religion are the two most powerful sources in the world” and E.O. Wilson firmly believes that “having them at odds is not productive”. Bram Stoker links religion and science in the novel Dracula, by showing how one idea alone will not be enough to defeat the evil creatures in the world and positive outcomes will come from combining these concepts. The religious ideas that the characters depend on instill a fear that continuously motivate them to defeat Dracula. Stoker integrated modern individuals with scientific backgrounds to demonstrate how the ideas which come with science cannot handle the supernatural alone. A beneficial balance between modern scientific technologies and religious faith