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Stoker's Use Of Supernaturalism In Dracula

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Abraham Stoker was born in Ireland, North of Dublin, on the 8th of November 1847, but he would be known as simply “Bram Stoker”. Stoker’s parents were Abraham Stoker and Charlotte Mathilda Blake Thornley. Abraham “Bram” Stoker was baptized in the church of Ireland, which he attended with his parents. Stoker was in a family of seven children, having two older siblings and four younger ones. Stoker became incredibly sick as a child. During these times of sickness, Stoker would have his mother read horror stories to him. It was around this time that Stoker began writing ghost stories. Stoker recovered from his illness and went on to attend private school.
Stoker attended college for 6 years. At college Stoker was an athlete, showing no signs …show more content…

The religious aspect of Dracula is obvious to say the least, ranging from the weaknesses of Dracula to the motives of the heroes. Mathias Clasen explains how “Count Dracula embodies ‘bad’ supernaturalism” because of his malicious intent and vile methods, while the “vampire hunters embody ‘good’ supernaturalism” through their Christian ethos (Clasen). The religious appeal is shown in how Dracula is a strange evil being who spreads his malice intent in weird and disgusting ways, such as forcing Mina to drink his blood, while the band of vampire hunters do the work of God in removing the unholy abomination. There are also many holy symbols throughout the story, especially crucifixes. One example is when a dead captain is found with “a crucifix, the set of beads on which it was fastened being around both wrists and wheel” (Stoker 68). The point here is that Dracula could not rip the captain away from the crucifix, even though the captain was dead. Furthermore, the experienced Dr. Van Helsing states that the crucifixes hold much more power than Dracula. When explaining the vampire’s powers, Van Helsing states that “[Dracula] is nothing” in comparison to “things that are holy, as this symbol, [his] crucifix” (Stoker 206). This further cements the fact that divine symbols have greater power than the

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According to the Victorian Web, a new and budding author named Bram Stoker entered the world in the year 1847, on the eighth of November. From a young age, Stoker loved to read about folklore, and later on in life he aspired to be an author. Although Stoker published several stories, only in the year 1897 did he publish his most well-known novel, Dracula. After this success, Stoker went on to write several other novels, and eventually died in the year 1912. (Scarborough)

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Bram Stoker's Dracula is filled with interesting symbology and religious comparisons. Dracula is a gothic novel set in late 1800s Britain and Transylvania. Dracula is an epistolary, meaning it is told through a series of journal entries, news clippings, etc. It’s like the written version of found film. Dracula draws from many old myths for its villain and is the basis for the modern vampire.

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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.

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Also, when traveling to Transylvania, Van Helsing creates defenses for Mina Harker by forming a “Holy circle” consisting of the men in the novel, which he believes will “[ward] away Dracula’s [followers]” (Gray). Van Helsing is also described to rely heavily on Christian ritual when he places the “piece of Sacred Wafer” upon Mina Harker’s forehead, a method believed to protect her from Dracula’s attacks (Stoker

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In Bram Stoker’s gothic novel, Dracula, the overall and fundamental theme of the book is given away the further you read, expressing Stoker’s view of religion. The novel is an account of the paths taken by many different characters such as Count Dracula, Van Helsing, Jonathan Harker, Mina Murray and Lucy Westenra. Since this poem was written with ideas focused primarily on the concepts of evil, as it was viewed during an appearingly-conservative nineteenth and twentieth century society, the book can be seen as a parallel to Eliot’s and others’ own religious quests. While Bram Stoker attempts to acquaint the reader with a frightening tale on the accounts of a dreadful vampire named Count Dracula, he also expresses the goal of strengthening

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Dracula is implied to be a God-like and/or Christ-like figure. As a so-called “Un-Dead,”(Stoker x) he is a being that, like Christ, has been resurrected and is immortal. Similarly, the vampiric act of drinking blood evokes the act of communion, in which Christ’s blood, represented by wine, is drunk. The zoophagy of Dracula’s disciple Renfield also evokes the idea of communion, as his consumption of animal bodies corresponds to Christian disciples consuming eucharist bread, which represents the body of Christ. This idea of Dracula as a God-like figure is seen in Renfield’s worship of him: “I am here to do Your bidding, Master.

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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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He is supposed to represent science and advancement, yet he relies in the use of old fashioned or ancient practices to resolve conflicts in the novel. Dracula himself has been roaming the world for centuries; he is ancient. In a way his practices are ancient

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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 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

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The topic I have chosen for my essay is how Dracula is meant to remind society of the importance of religion, specifically Christianity, in Stoker’s time. I intend to do this through analyzing symbols in Dracula, drawing connections between these symbols and Christianity, and analyzing the implications Stoker attempts to make. I chose this topic because vampires and their sacrilegious implications, such as burning when touching a cross, have always been of interest to me, hence why I chose to study Dracula in the first place. My thesis is: Stoker uses Count Dracula as symbol to represent what society may become if they abandon religious beliefs.

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