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I Am Legend Vs Dracula Comparison Essay

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Erin Mulroy Mrs. Marcia Wilson Horror Through Centuries Honors 13 May 2024 Dracula Vs. I Am Legend The earliest evidence of vampirism was from an Old Russian text from 1047 A.D., while the term “vampire” earned its debut in the 1700s from German myths. From its ancient origins in folklore to its modern incarnations in literature and cinema, the concept of the vampire continues to fascinate and terrify audiences worldwide. While vampirism has been around for quite some time, the novel “Dracula” by Bram Stoker shaped the way we look at the modern vampire today. Later, in the mid-20th century, Richard Matheson reimagines the vampire mythos in a post-apocalyptic landscape in his novella, “I Am Legend.” Through a comparative analysis of the supernatural allure and scientific intrigue surrounding vampirism, Bram Stoker's "Dracula" and Richard …show more content…

“Dracula,” written in 1879, describes Count Dracula as a figure shrouded in mystery, allure, and malevolence. Dracula is depicted as a centuries-old vampire of Transylvanian origin, with a chilling and charismatic presence that both seduces and terrifies those who encounter him. At the heart of his character lies an insatiable thirst for blood, which drives him to prey upon unsuspecting victims, spreading his curse and perpetuating his immortal existence. Jonathan, the protagonist of the story who is visiting Castle Dracula to sell an estate in England to him, describes Dracula saying, “[h]is face was not a good face; it was hard, and cruel, and sensual, and his big white teeth, that looked all the whiter because his lips were so red, were pointed like an animal’s” (Stoker 155). Dracula is depicted as an ancient vampire who spreads his curse by biting and turning others into vampires, thus perpetuating the cycle of vampirism. Conversely, “I Am Legend,” published in 1954, follows the post-apocalyptic life of Robert Neville, the last surviving human in a world

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The greatest model of the past is Dracula. Braudy gives detail relaying to us that Dracula’s origin story was based off “Vlad the Impaler” who was “defending the Christian Romania”. Showing historical facts based on a religion that Vlad defended and he protected, which states his savior offered up his body and blood for the forgiveness of sins. Dracula, and all other vampires, source of food is blood, showing an origin story instead of just an idea, turned it into a fable with a drastic twist of a nightmarish character. Braudy also states “we can't escape from the dark lore of the past '' Dracula is here now and will be there in the future.

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No horror novel has achieved the notoriety of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Vampires today would not be so popular in horror if not for Stoker’s revamped version of the classic Eastern European bloodsucker. Having come at a time when xenophobic novels were extremely popular, Dracula has kept its relatability despite the test of time. Aside from its hold as a horror novel, Dracula endures because it serves as a reminder of how society works alongside authority figures and the powerless, and from its definition of human values.

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The resurrection of the vampire myth coincided with the fears experienced during nineteenth century England. Warwick discussed the closing of the century and the manifestation of this myth: The very existence of a modern myth is something of a curiosity as it appears to defy the kinds of explanations usually offered in terms of ‘mankind’s deepest fears’ and the eternal and universal nature of those fears, and rather to imply a concentration of culturally specific horrors (Warwick 202). Her statement proves true in the sense that the vampire is culturally specific.

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The horror genre of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, combined with mild eroticism is able to draw in readers due to the fact that Stoker is able to intricately weave suspenseful sexual scenes/scenes of desire throughout the novel—making it clear that

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Gothic horror novel Dracula, the title character makes only several relatively short appearances, some of which are while in disguise. Throughout the novel, Stoker keeps Count Dracula in the shadows, both literally and figuratively. This essay will describe these appearances and analyze Stoker’s use of them to determine what effect they might have on the impression of the character and the novel overall. It will be claimed that by keeping his title character hidden for much of the novel, Stoker’s Dracula is made much more frightening to the reader. Human beings tend to fear the unknown, and by leaving Dracula to the imagination,

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In the novel Dracula, author Bram Stoker creates a peculiar situation that pushes the main characters to decipher the supernatural from reality. Originally thought of as a myth, Dracula quickly becomes something more than the supernatural. By slowly building the conflict of Dracula himself, Stoker depicts all stages of the change from believing that Dracula is a fictitious character to being face to face with Dracula himself. As he terrorizes the lives of the characters in the novel, they soon come to the realization that Dracula is more than what they formerly believed, and in actuality he is their harsh reality.

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Moreover, Stoker’s novel placed in motion an entire vampire culture during the 20th and 21th century, which eventually established an enduring place myth around Transylvania, and implicitly Romania, as the home of vampires

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