ipl-logo

Dracula By Bram Stoker: Theme Of Good And Evil

1144 Words5 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Symbolism of blood dracula

Lacey Schooler
Dr. Michelle Buchberger
English 112
4 June, 2023
Vampires VS Humans
Thinking humans and vampires could ever coexist was a mistake. Vampires have the most ill intentions with humans wanting to turn them into human-killing, blood-sucking vampires; while humans try to end the vampires so they can’t cause harm to anyone else. This is a clear competition between good and evil. We can see the theme of good and evil in many TV films, art, books, and plays. One book that portrays the theme of good and evil is Bram Stoker’s 1897 Dracula. This is shown through events that have occurred throughout the story and through the actions the characters carry out. Many symbols are also brought into the limelight of the story that accumulates to …show more content…

Blood is first mentioned in chapter three when Dracula brings up his ancestry but makes a very special statement, “Blood is too precious a thing in these days of dishonorable peace; and the glories of the great races are as a tale that is told” (Stoker 20). Dracula is reminiscing about his family tree by connecting blood to one’s ancestry. He also brings up that the great wars between the races have diminished, but Dracula thinks they should be brought back. This could be perceived in different ways but this could be a clear hint towards an upcoming war versus good and evil later on in the story that could transpire. The next time we see blood mentioned in a great quantity is when Lucy gets mysteriously sick with heart failure. Lucy’s heart failure causes her to look very pale and seem almost drained of blood. We find out that Lucy will need multiple blood transfusions to make her look and feel better. During the transfusion, when blood is being pumped back into Lucy’s body, it seems as though she is coming back to life from receiving the blood, “As the transfusion went on something like life seemed to come back to poor Lucy’s cheeks . . .” (Stoker 55). This ultimately shows that Lucy’s body enjoys blood and sooner or later will become a creature of the night just to get more in her …show more content…

It’s most common to see in Eastern Europe, which is where Bram Stoker’s 1897 Dracula is based. We see garlic being used to keep Dracula away from Lucy at night while she was sick. Dr. Van Helsing gave Lucy garlic flowers, a garlic wreath, and is seen decking the room with garlic. One night while Dr. Seward was watching over Lucy, he noticed that she started moving around uneasily, “I sat down by her, and presently she moved uneasily. At the same moment there came a sort of dull flapping or buffeting at the window. I went over to it softly, and peeped out by the corner of the blind . . . I could see that the noise was made by a great bat . . . and every now and again struck the window with its wings” (Stoker 69). This bat was Dracula trying to get into Lucy’s room while she slept to do something to her but couldn’t get in because of the garlic surrounding the room. During the bat flapping on the window we see Lucy taking the garlic wreath from around her neck, hastily dr. Seward puts it back on her and then she awoke. We see garlic being used again after Arthur, Dr. Seward, and Quincy killed Lucy after discovering she was an undead, “The Professor and I sawed off the top of the stake, leaving the point of it in the body. Then we cut off the head and filled the mouth with garlic” (Stoker 91). The garlic in Lucy’s mouth is a precaution to make sure she does not come back to life and hurt any more

Show More
Related
778 Words | 4 Pages

Dracula’s deceitful traits carry over to his victims that become

Read More
1161 Words | 5 Pages

Dracula learns that the group are plotting against him and feeds Mina his own blood to control her. In the final fight, humanity wins over the creature as they can kill him and Mina’s mind from his “spell.” The premise

Read More
2358 Words | 10 Pages

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

Read More
1522 Words | 7 Pages

As Mathews explains, "Stoker… links the vampire to the East and the colonized subject who threatens to destabilize and subvert the dominant Western discourse" (Mathews 86). This reveals Stoker's fear of the East as a source of contamination, spreading its toxic ideas to the pure and superior Western society. The novel itself also includes a quote that supports this idea. The quote states, "This was the being I was helping to transfer to London, where, perhaps, for centuries to come he might, amongst its teeming millions, satiate his lust for blood, and create a new and ever-widening circle of semi-demons to batten on the helpless" (Stoker 75-76). This passage shows that Dracula's move to London represents a dangerous threat to

Read More
1196 Words | 5 Pages

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

Read More
889 Words | 4 Pages

All throughout the story there is conflicts between the good and the evil. In Stokers novel it’s a battle between the good and the evil. The good defeat Dracula by using Christian references. All throughout the book is a holy war.

Read More
1367 Words | 6 Pages

According to Tadlock, Bram Stoker in Dracula uses the “force of God and His religious symbols to avail against the Un-dead.” For instance, the crucifix is the first Christian symbol to be introduced when an “old lady… [took] a crucifix from her neck [and] offered it to [Jonathan]” as a ward to protect him from Count Dracula’s potentially harmful attacks (Stoker 4). Also, Van Helsing’s and Dr. Seward’s attempts to defend Lucy Westenra and Mina Harker against Dracula’s attacks involve delving into Christian rituals, for it is implied that the vampire is powerless against all that is Holy (Tadlock). Helsing’s initial method of treatment for Lucy Westenra involves lacing her room with garlic (an action derived from religious superstitions), which he believes will act as a defense mechanism against the Count (Stoker 113).

Read More
825 Words | 4 Pages

Lucy Westenra is the best friend of Mina Harker and thus the second female main character of the novel. Stoker describes with Lucy a representative of the New Women movement, as the time was seen by the British population. She is single and lives with her mother, who is suffering from heart disease. Her family, that was once very prosperous, consist only of herself and her aging mother. She is Dracula’s first victim /vampire child in England.

Read More
711 Words | 3 Pages

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.

Read More
1015 Words | 5 Pages

Blood is the necessary cornerstone of all animate life on the planet Earth. As we know it is what keeps us alive and makes our bodies work, though, in the novel Dracula, author Bram Stoker puts a spin on what we know about blood and how it can be perceived. Blood is something that drives the story from beginning to end, with it being the source of food and driving force for Dracula, as well as something that keeps our group of protagonists, Jonathan, Mina, and Van Helsing alive. Without blood, Dracula ceases to exist if he does not take and consume it, and without keeping their blood the humans also cease to exist. Though the novel does stay true to these practical and realistic ideas of blood, there are also many literary and metaphorical

Read More
449 Words | 2 Pages

The beginning of Jazz and what it brought to the American culture. Jazz resulted in the rebellion of the young youth differently than the past music. The reason Jazz influenced the youth as it did is because most music can speak to the soul. Music can make you think of people and memories. It can also make you smile or want to sing along or dance or maybe even feel like crying.

Read More
935 Words | 4 Pages

For example, Dr. Seward states in his diary, “We then waited whilst Lucy made her toilet for the night, and when she was in bed he came and himself fixed the wreath of garlic round her neck” (Stoker 113). Later, Dr. Seward states, “Then we cut off the head and filled the mouth with garlic. We soldered up the leaden coffin, screwed on the coffin-lid, and gathering up our belongings, came away” (Stoker 186). Garlic is a potent natural antiseptic; it was a widespread treatment for infections and ailments around the time Stoker wrote Dracula. Because of its real properties, garlic is a symbol of protection.

Read More
811 Words | 4 Pages

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.

Read More
1406 Words | 6 Pages

In contrast, most vampires in Meyer's Twilight are portrayed as having a strong desire to be ‘good.’ Edward and his family actively work to resist their natural thirst for human blood and instead choose to feed on animals. They see themselves as protectors of humanity rather than as predators, and their actions reflect this. “The vampire's appetite for

Read More
548 Words | 3 Pages

The character Lucy is described as the most innocent character in “Dracula” which is why she is loved by both the characters in the novel as well as the reader. Lucy is thought to be a more traditional woman, in the sense that she is chaste and pure, making her more desirable. She has three different men proposing to her and has the ability to choose the one that she likes the best. Lucy’s purity is sought after because this is how a traditional Victorian woman should act in the eyes of society.

Read More

More about Dracula By Bram Stoker: Theme Of Good And Evil

Related Topics

Open Document