What Does Orlok Symbolize Dracula

Count Orlok in the 1922 movie Nosferatu, directed by F. W. Murnau as well as Count Dracula in Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula symbolize maladies . Orlok symbolizes a plague through his animal-like demeanor. Dracula on the other hand is representative of a sexually transmitted disease. During the early 1900s, diseases (plagues and sexually transmitted ones) were a threat to humanity around the world. Civilians feared the invasion of outsiders into their countries. They feared that newcomers would taint the pompous culture that they had worked so hard to create. This was especially true when it came to the mindset of Western Europeans. Both vampires come from Eastern Europe, which was looked down upon by the Westerners for being less established

Orlok has a bald head, emaciated claws, and an overall unhuman presence. He creeps around but mostly remains hidden. He lives in isolation much like Dracula does, however he does not have as much contact with the outside world. Orlok is a more apparent and open threat to society. He is viewed as a walking plague. In the film, the Book of Vampires claims “that name rings like the cry of a bird of prey. Never speak it aloud” (Murnau, Nosferatu). This shows

Dracula tells the group supporting the force of goodness that he has already begun his revenge. He states “I spread it over centuries, and time is on my side. Your girls that you all love are mine already” (Stoker 325). This ownership of women is possible through sexual acts that claim a woman’s body. Once a woman loses her virginity she becomes impure and is thus susceptible to sexually transmitted diseases. This stresses the desire for an ideal Victorian woman. An ideal Victorian woman stays loyal to her man and therefore decreases the chance of spreading diseases that make society so fearful. In this way, loyalty would ensure protection from sexually transmitted diseases (contrived from people other than the woman’s husband). Mina, of Dracula, is in this way able to be cured from vampirism. She would not have been so lucky however if she had been bitten by Orlok. No one, especially during that time period, could have been protected from a disease such as the one he wreaks. Even if one remains loyal to her husband and refrains from sexual activity, she can still be inflicted by a plague. This can be seen through Ellen from