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A brief summary of the dracula by bram stoker
Dracula literary analysis
Critical analysis on Dracula
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More handpicked essays just for you.
A brief summary of the dracula by bram stoker
Dracula literary analysis
Critical analysis on Dracula
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Throughout the Victorian era, probably one of the biggest worries was the role of women in society. In “Dracula”, Bram Stoker makes most of the women in his story as very sexual and some as pure. The pure women in society were liked and the impure were considered evil and tempting. Throughout the story, Mina is the perfect fit for the “angel of the house” by remaining smart and loyal and she is seen as heroic and strong in the end because of it. Mina’s relationship with Harker represents the traditional part in society that women should play in the Victorian age.
His novel, Dracula, tells the tale of five people who encounter and have to deal with the evil undead vampire Count Dracula, who terrorizes them and even causes two out of the five to become undead like himself. Thankfully, the group eventually discovers a way to eventually vanquish Dracula once and for all, and by the end of the book they destroy him, preventing him from terrorizing the people of Europe once and for all. Stoker explores several significant themes in this book, including the theme of deception. In Dracula, Stoker uses the theme of deception with the characterization of Dracula,
The central idea of this excerpt from Dracula was the fear of the prisoner living in the castle of Count Dracula who felt trapped and alone. The authors use of first person point of view of the prisoner was able to develop this central idea of fear because prisoner was able to describe his feelings first hand living in the castle with the Count as well as emphasize the thoughts that were scattered inside of his head during this time. An example of the author using first person point of view to help develop the central idea of fear was when the prisoner had realized that he was helpless in the situation of his current living conditions. The prisoner said "I think I must have been mad for the time, for I have behaved much as a rat does in a trap" (lines 4-5).
Evil, love, wisdom, slavery, and sacrifice are all ideas that take human form and are demonstrated throughout the gothic novel Dracula. The character of Dracula demonstrated evil, while the character of Mina Harker represented love. Van Helsing accurately portrayed the idea of wisdom, and Quincey Morris showed sacrifice. Additionally, Jonathan Harker perfectly symbolized the idea of slavery. Each character in Dracula can be connected to an idea; therefore, there are many examples of personification throughout the entirety of the novel.
Interestingly even after Mina is helping track Dracula, the men limit Mina regarding the situation due to her being a women. This example of how the men treat Mina is crucial because the men have a higher societal power they pre-determinately judge Mina 's role. Stoker uses Dracula along with Jonathan 's relationship with Mina to introduce the concept on how easily someone is controlled due to the social hierarchy. This proves the world is unjust although modern times have started to change societies monstrous prejudices that result in dehumanization.
To begin with women roles have changed over time and has continued to evolve over generations. In Dracula by Bram Stoker women’s roles in society has been defined very differently as of today’s society. As this book has been written in the nineteenth century the beliefs of society have focused on the gender roles of men and women. Men are often classified to be upper class in the social status who possesses authority and freedom unlike that of the women of that time. The two characters Mina Harker and Lucy have portrayed different individual characters of being a woman and have shown their strength, power, determination while conquering their fears.
In Dracula, Bram Stoker makes a contrast between two types of women in this novel. Women who are in the vampire state are vastly more powerful than the everyday human woman, but seem to still be subordinate. Towards the end of late 19th Century, the new woman develops toward the economic change as well as the sexual changes in society, with both men and women struggling to find a sense of this new order. The new woman was strong, finding a sense of independence and men were beginning to become terrified of their own woman. Stoker explains his idea behind the characters of the women in Dracula, he believes that “for women to deny their traditional role was to deny their womanhood, to challenge the distinctions between women and men upon which
One such way that the author does this is by waiting so long to present the main protagonist in the story in his human form. In doing this it seems that Stoker is intending on the reader to tie together several ideas that are merely grazed in reading. For instance, Harker notices that he has never seen Dracula never eats or drink. Also, while Jonathan Harker cuts himself shaving the Count lunges for his neck only to retreat upon touching the beads around his neck. In the moment that Harker discovers the crate of earth below the castle, “There lay the Count, looking as if his youth had been half renewed” (58).
Bram Stoker’s Dracula presents a tale of mystery and horror as heroes embark on a journey to save England from falling into darkness. While Count Dracula embodies the characterizations of darkness and death, he can hold a hypnotic influence over his victims personifying forbidden desire and temptation on all that fall under his curse. These qualities allow Stoker to criticize Victorian England’s views of desires and share how these unfulfilled desires will fall into temptation and lead to a darker path. Furthermore, he uses these qualities to criticize the male view of women, showing this by symbolizing the effects of not having crucial information with Mina Harker. Count Dracula is depicted as a charming and sinister man whose presence is magnetic and hypnotic to anyone who stands near him, allowing
Feminist Reading: Dracula between Beauvoir’s and Roth’s Ideas In her article, “Suddenly Sexual Women in Bram Stoker’s Dracula” Phyllis Roth argues that Dracula is a misogynistic novel which is obvious in the system of power in which men are dominant and active figures whereas women are just followers and obedient to their system. She draws on Simon de Beauvoir’s idea that “ambivalence as an intrinsic quality of Eternal Feminine”, in order to show that women are victims to men powers. In her chapter, “Myth and Reality”, Beauvoir discusses the way that anybody in the society, specially men, doesn’t do their job in taking a step towards the oppressed women, but to act just like what the system of myth impose them to act.
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
At first glance, the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker appears to be a typical gothic horror novel set in the late 1890s that gives readers an exciting look into the fight between good and evil. Upon closer inspection, it becomes apparent that Dracula is a statement piece about gender roles and expectations for men and women during the Victorian age. Looking at the personalities, actions, and character development of each of the characters in Dracula bring to light startling revelations about Victorian society and how Stoker viewed the roles of men and women during this time period. To really understand Dracula, it is important to note that this novel was written during a time “of political and social upheaval, with anxieties not just about the
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,
Although written and published in Victorian England where the culture revolves around societal constraints and restrictions of expressing sexual desires, Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” has many scenes that seem to revel in sexual language and sensual description, yielding indications of repressed lust and sexuality. Such sexual connotations are not directly expressed, but camouflaged by vampire attacks and the act of blood sucking. Rape, one of the erotic overtones recurring throughout the novel, illustrates how penetration and blood sucking function as an insinuation of sexual intercourse, at the same time revealing different expectations the Victorian society imposes upon women. Several rape scenes are disguised through the use of symbolism
During the Victorian period in which Dracula was written, morals and ethics were often strictly enforced. Some of the morals that were upheld had to do with personal duty, hard work, honesty, as well as sexual proprietary. It was very important during this period that one was proper in their sexual behaviors and conventional in whom they had sexual relations with. However, during this period, many authors sought to challenge the ‘norm’ with ideas of reform and change and Bram Stoker was no exception to this. In his novel, Dracula, Stoker provides a critique of this rigidity in his portrayal of Dracula and Dracula’s relationship with Jonathan Harker.