Lucy was unaware of Dracula visiting her at night because Dracula was able to put her in a trance and control her actions and the way she thought. This shows that Dracula is capable of attacking humans without letting his victims be conscious of his attack. This parallel is another example of Victorian society's fear of communicable disease because it could secretively invade Victorian England, similarly to how Dracula secretively invaded Lucy's room and attacked
One of the differences between Frankenstein and Edward Scissorhands is that in Edward Scissorhands Edward was accepted into the community, while in Frankenstein the monster was made to feel like a villain. It is shown in Edward Scissorhands when an Avon lady took him home to live with her family. The moment she arrives at her house with Edward everyone wants to know who he is and they all want to make friends with him. While in Frankenstein the monster is treated like he is an animal. This is shown when he is in the cabin with Agathe and Felix rocks up and threatens to shoot the monster.
When Lucy turns from an innocent girl to having a sexual personality, Stoker could be trying to show the potential for both the good and evil in a woman. As a vampire, we see Lucy do things that were against her virtues while living. She attempts to seduce Arthur, she feeds off a child and then throws it to the ground, and becomes furious when Van Helsing presents a crucifix to her. She completely changes from her innocent ways. This light and dark aspect that Lucy portrays as a natural and a supernatural shows the duality of a woman.
Mina Murray Harker is a woman to inspire many. Bram Stoker, author of the classic gothic horror novel Dracula, intentionally creates the character of Mina Murray Harker to do just that - inspire women. Throughout Dracula, Mina goes through a multitude of ups and downs, like any character in a book. However, Mina is not like any other book character.
Her life has left her to Dracula, her soul is assumed trapped, and her flesh remains the same. The process even corrupts Lucy into a nightmarish version of herself. In her UnDeath Lucy specifically feeds on the blood of children (Stoker 198). It’s almost like Dracula corrupted Lucy into a dark version of motherhood. Instead of protecting children, she predates
Dracula traps Jonathan Harker in his castle, but he finally escapes without the Count killing him. Dracula then sucks Lucys blood and turns her into a vampire. At this point everyone is against the bloodsucker. Since Lucy died, well turned into a vampire. Lucys friends have to stab her in the heart and cut off her head.
When Lucy turns into a vampire, it is made a point to describe how she appears and behaves in opposition to the Lucy we were introduced to before her death. With Lucy as a vampire it gives her many virtues she didn’t possess when she was alive. In this novel she is portrayed as a predatory. The importance of being a virgin in the 19th century is perceived through Lucy’s transition into a ‘she-devil’ once Dracula takes away her purity. A person like Lucy, her sexuality is viewed as offensive, is apparent that the gender categories are challenging to gender categories more than
As she is sick, Arthur gives her a blood transfusion to try to help her become better but when it does not work, she is stabbed in the heart to go back to her original beauty and die. Lucy in the book shows how the ideal Victorian woman can so suddenly turn into the bad, evil, sexual woman that was unacceptable. Throughout the novel, Bram Stoker showed in detail what was considered to be the ideal Victorian woman through the character Mina. He also showed how women were sexualized, misbehaved, and evil through the behaviors of Dracula’s three daughters.
After four unsuccessful attempts at a blood transfusion, Professor Abraham Van Helsing concedes that modern medicine and science cannot explain Lucy’s condition, rather vampirism must be at work. He counsels Seward for his inability to diagnose vampirism: ‘you are a clever man, friend John; you reason well, and your wit is bold; but you are too prejudiced... Ah, it is the fault of our science that it wants to explain all; and if it explain not, then it says there is nothing to explain’ (Stoker 204). Stoker is seemingly criticising scientists at the fin de siècle for their lack of open mind and inability to consider possibilities beyond the reach of contemporary science. Rosemary adds ‘the narrative gestures more specifically toward popular debate about science by arguing that it is their very reliance on scientific rationality that makes the English so vulnerable to Dracula's threat’ (274).
A battle between good and evil is a common plot to Dracula. The forces of evil, Count Dracula and other vampires (the un-dead), try to take over Britain. The novel heroes Dr. Van Helsing, Dr. John Seward, Johnathan Haker, Quincy Morris, and Arthur Holmwood are the first responders for this evil invasion of the British Empire. In the novel the characters Dracula and Van Helsing play a major role for being the leaders of their respective groups, therefore they controlled the actions of their groups. Dracula’s actions in the novel have the purpose to flourish the rise of the un-dead, while Van Helsing’s actions aim to preserve and protect the human race.
Lit, ETC, ETC” (Stoker 130) and is using the newest technology, he is also a connoisseur of vampires and superstitious methods how to destroy them. His knowledge of medicine and folklore enable him to solve Lucy’s condition as he explained to Harker “You are a clever man, friend John. You reason well, and your wit is bold, but you are too prejudiced.” (Stoker 202). He puts garlic flowers in Lucy’s room and tells Arthur that the only way to kill a vampire is to drive a stake through their heart.
What would it be like to be a vampire? What would it be like to have a vampire in one’s life? What were the vampires of folklore like? These topics will be reviewed throughout this essay by comparing four of the vampire books and movies. All the vampire movies have some similarities and differences but four literature pieces in particular will be gone through in this comparison.
The downfall of Lucy Westerna and the arrival of Dracula arose fears in which only challenging their sense of humanity and understanding of the world could they be able to overcome the dangers which had surrounded them. A sense of urgency is created in when Bram Stoker uses exclamation marks, as the turn of Lucy begins. “Arthur! Kiss me!” she states it as if it must happen now, or it never will.
In order to defeat Dracula, the protagonists use both religion and rationalism; as a result, arguments in favour of both sides of the debate are presented, which makes it impossible to reduce Dracula to one side or the other. The vampire hunters rely heavily on faith and religious objects, such as crucifixes and the eucharist, which presents an argument in favour of looking beyond rationalism and science to faith. As noted above, Dracula, by his fantastic nature, is something that defies reason, and thus religion is necessary to explain what rationalism cannot. Van Helsing makes a case for this when he urges “I want you to believe… in things you cannot.…I heard once of an American who so defined faith: ‘that which enables us to believe things
Dracula is a household name; however, the actual meaning is not as well known. The novel Dracula by Bram Stoker contains a unique story, one which due to the structure of the book there are multiple main characters. The book is written in the form of letters, allowing the focus to be on many different people and viewpoints. Dracula starts out with Jonathan Harker an, Englishman, who takes a trip to Transylvania to meet Count Dracula. On his way to the castle he is warned of the dangers of Dracula, however, Jonathan chooses to persist.
