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Use of supernatural elements in literature
Gothic literature keyterms
Gothic elements dracula
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Recommended: Use of supernatural elements in literature
Dracula, a gothic novel by Bram Stoker, prominently displays three gothic motifs -- the supernatural, entrapment, and nightmares. Throughout the entirety of the novel, the main characters were being harmed or attempting to destroy the vampire, Count Dracula. Without this supernatural character there would not have been a plot line to the story. Count Dracula makes his victims feel physically entrapped as well as entrapped in their own mind. The characters in the novel that had direct interaction with Dracula seem to confuse reality with nightmares, making it hard for them to understand what was happening to them. Without these three main gothic motifs Dracula would not portray the same message.
The supernatural element of this story started
This realization led to the feeling of entrapment. The obvious form of entrapment the characters felt was the entrapment of the body. Dracula had locked many of the doors in his castle and Jonathan was forbidden to open them. When Jonathan was in Dracula’s castle he was trapped and could not escape. If Jonathan were to leave the castle, Dracula would summon the wolves. If Jonathan was to leave, the wolves would have an easy meal. Jonathan could not receive or deliver any information to the outside world without the knowledge of Dracula. Renfield felt trapped inside the lunatic asylum and even begged Dr. Seward to release him. In the last chapter of the book Dr. Van Helsing asked Mina to come sit by the fire and she was not able to move. At the end of the novel Mina instructed Dr. Van Helsing to stay inside of the Holy circle to ensure this safety. Many of the characters were physically trapped at different times but many of them also felt trapped within their own
The transition to becoming believers was very mentally exhausting for some people. There were many times during Jonathan’s stay in Transylvania that he thought he was going mad. Renfield knew that Dracula was in his mind on several occasions. At the very end of Lucy’s life there would be moments where she would act as a vampire before she had officially died. Mina called herself unclean on many occasions even though she exemplified exceptional character everyday. These characters were constantly struggling with their own thoughts and did not know how to control the things they were thinking. Many of the main characters in the novel felt as if they had gone insane, but in all reality their fears had become terrible realities.
The feeling of entrapment added to the urgency in the tone and mood. Often times when one is trapped he starts to panic. Since the novel was written in first person point of view from the viewpoints of the main characters in the book, the reader felt the same sense of panic that the characters felt. After the characters had been “released” from their entrapment feeling, they were dreading the thought of being trapped again. The character’s feeling of entrapment undoubtedly added to the feeling of urgency, panic, and dread in the tone and mood of the
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.
Life is a cruel. It, will attempt to take one down; it will humble one; it will attempt to break many down. In moments one may not know what to do, instead he/she must a find a way to use what they have around them as an advantage to defeat the problems that stands their way. Throughout dark fiction, authors utilise different elements as a tool to defeating the antagonist. the story Dracula uses completely different approaches in taking down the mighty Dracula. In the novel Dracula, Bram Stoker effectively employs the different elements that are used to defeat Dracula. Stoker effectively demonstrates the elements that are used to destroy Dracula through act of Religion, the aspect of Science and the setting.
...are depicted in many instances in order to draw upon a source of superstition for added affirmation. Finally, original narrative elements are conceived in order to bring together a central theme of unity, which stresses the teamwork by which the protagonists defeated the vampires. Bram Stoker applies these elements to create an enriching, compelling plot in the novel Dracula.
It can be argued that the theme of light VS darkness is used to good
Through the gothic writing of Stoker, there was a huge intimidation of Dracula coming forth from it. “Stoker spared no effort to present his demonic vampire as dramatically as possible” (Leatherdale 105-17). With this sinister presence of death, people start to panic. As a vampire hunter, it was Helsing’s job to help notify people on how to rid themselves of this demon. Stoker portrays survival in the form of teamwork between the men and women of the novel. These characters soon take survival into their own hands. “‘We must trace each of those boxes; and when we are ready, we must either capture or kill this monster in his lair; or we must, so to speak, sterilize the earth, so that no more he can seek safety in it’” (Stoker 373). At this point in the novel, the characters know about the existence of vampires. The consequences are also put on top priority. The men know of the consequences, yet still want to go after this demon. “By chasing Dracula, the men risk being sentenced to an immortal life as a vampire. This immortality is endless time lived in physical form” (Poquette 35). Knowing the risks of hunting a vampire, the characters ignore them to protect their loved ones. A vampire hunter is an important factor in the novel because without one, the other characters wouldn’t know what to do. Stoker chose right in including
In “The Beast In The Cave”, H.P. Lovecraft develops a suspenseful plot in order to build tension throughout the story that inevitably leaves the reader feeling disturbed and the story hanging. The plot itself is seems simple, but is complicated at the same time. Victoria Nelson talks about how Lovecraft’s stories tease the reader “with the tantalizing prospect of utter loss of control, of possession or engulfment, while remaining at the same time safely contained within the girdle of a formalized, almost ritualized narrative”. With “The Beast In The Cave”, the protagonist faces only one conflict throughout the story making it a simple plot line; however, the predicament he is in provides the complexity and tension that Lovecraft creates in other stories as well.
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; These factors include setting, actions of each vampire, the initial reactions to news of them, and how their presence affects the people who live within the region the vampires inhabit.
Dracula by Bram Stoker is an authentic Gothic novel that manages to hit on every Gothic literature aspect. Gothic literature is usually set in an isolated setting and has a dark, mysterious, and evil tone. In this type of literature, there are usually dark castles, palaces, presences of supernatural beings, and religion. The book Dracula is about a Count from Transylvania that goes to London in search of new victims and a group of Victorian citizens who end up defeating him and his evil ways. The use of setting and atmosphere in Dracula is filled with a world full of mystery and fear. Bram Stoker manages to capture the Gothic element with his use of castles, symbols, and isolated setting.
Dracula’s peculiar actions begin when Johnathan Harker takes a Journey to help Dracula with some business. When Harker was getting
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). Assuming that Bram Stoker’s Dracula sets the archetype of the vampire, it is clear that modern vampires have demonstrated a decrease in the Gothic horror despite similarities in the Gothic imagery
physical entrapment. All of the characters in the novel feel the need to escape their
...l. After discovering this, Van Helsing, Dr. Seward, Quincey, and Arthur hunted her, and killed the evil soul that had taken over her body. She then truly dies and is left in her natural, humane state. Also, Jonathan facing Dracula is another example of good versus evil, as seen when Jonathan wrote that “when the Count saw [his] face, his eyes blazed with a sort of demoniac fury, and he suddenly made a grab at [his] throat. [Jonathan] drew away, and [the Count’s] hand touched the string of beads that held the crucifix.” (21). Jonathan unknowing put himself in danger by entering the Count’s castle, in which there was only evil. He could only protect himself by possessing religious objects, of which the Count, a demonic character, was afraid of. Good and evil was also demonstrated through the relationship between kind and purely good characters opposing evil characters.
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’.
‘Dracula’ is a novel that probes deeply into people’s superstitions, fears and beliefs of the supernatural. The creature Dracula is an evil being with no concern for others, he kills for his own ends and cannot be stopped, and this is what makes ‘Dracula’ truly frightening.
The use of hypnotism is extensive throughout the last few chapters of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Van Helsing places Mina in a hypnotic state or trance numerous times in order to locate Dracula and to learn about his premeditated actions. Stoker’s great use of hypnotism is what leads to Dracula’s destruction in the end. However, what influences Stoker to use hypnotherapy in order to kill off the most important character in his book? Taking a New Historical approach can help a reader understand how Stoker was influenced by his culture to incorporate hypnosis into Dracula and why he chose it as a method for destroying Dracula, while healing Mina.