The Lore Of Dracula By Bram Stoker

“There is reason that all things are as they are...” (Stoker 17). Outlasting countless other tales of its time, Bram Stoker’s lore of “Dracula” began as and still continues to be a classic, frightening novel and despite how some would classify it on only a single one end of the spectrum, it holds true elements of both literary and commercial fiction. He uses various techniques of writing, such as the epistolary plot structure and dramatic irony, and elements, including suspense, to present an unexpected, fear-inducing concept based on the xenophobic idea of the Victorian era. In its time, Dracula’s specific aspects were deemed horrific to the xenophobic Victorian society as it entered into the realm of the unknown and completely went against

Other than being remade into other forms such as movies and cartoons, Dracula was a relatively new concept during the time of its publication and had a major impact to its surrounding society. Today, the novel’s uses of multiple unique elements of writing such as dramatic irony, the everyman, and suspense/mystery continues to speak to the interests of readers. In addition, the character itself, like any other supernatural beings, including ghosts and witches, naturally intrigues us just based on the population’s love of getting scared for entertainment; Dracula is depicted, in the novel, as a completely evil and manipulative character that feasts upon the lives of mortals for his survival. Throughout the course of “Dracula,” Stoker used an epistolary form of writing not only for its prevalence in the Victorian era, but also for its effectiveness in portraying first person point-of-views and first-hand accounts for multiple characters. By doing so, he was able to make readers feel as if they themselves could have walked in the characters’ shoes. Because it was an epistolary format and readers knew exactly what each character knew and did not know, his application of dramatic irony became clearer than other literary pieces as well. Dramatic irony was used in the course of the novel in multiple ways. The Victorian readers already knew of the vampire concept by the 18th century and Dracula was written in the early-mid 19th century. As they read the novel, they generally would have known what Dracula was, and had an idea similar to what we think now, before Jonathan Harker’s realization of Dracula’s intentions (Stoker 22). Another way dramatic irony was added in the novel was the placement of each journal. For instance, readers were notified first of Jonathan’s experiences in his journal and then Mina’s journal was revealed with her wondering about the condition of her