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. As Jonathan found himself lying in a hospital bed after being held prisoner by Dracula, he was thought to be delirious by his doctors and nurses.
However, it is apparent that this characterization of Dracula as a god figure is negative, a perversion of religion, because vampires are cast as abject monsters. Though they resemble God-like figures, they are considered “a blot on the face of God’s sunshine; an arrow in the side of Him who died for man” (Stoker 253), and thus are perverted parodies of religion. For example, as Mina begins to turn into a vampire, her unwitting consumption of vampire blood and the scar on her forehead, referred to as a
Starting Jonathan Harker, a lawyer who hired by the firm to assist count’s properties and plans. Little did he know that he is manipulated by Dracula, he is imprisoned clueless until unnecessary and things began to initiate, leading him what the real Dracula is. The antagonist, Count Dracula gives thrill to the story, making it undeniably suspense. The scene then shifted to England, where Mina, Harker’s fiancé lives. Mina Murray is a perfect embodiment of innocence, purity and virtuous being.
Aside from its hold as a horror novel, Dracula endures because it serves as a reminder of how society is constantly in flux: authority figures fall to the powerless, tradition is confined by progress, and human values are rediscovered somewhere in the midst. The Victorian Era is known for its pious and sexless society where women only expected to be wives
The gypsies, as well as other ethnicity who are seen as allying with Dracula, are altogether portrayed as representing uncivilisation, savageness, and barbarianism. It also suggests any form of resistance against the British Empire, including attempt of blood contamination, immortal sexual behaviors, and the marginal ethnicity themselves, will eventually be defeated. At the final battle to defeat Dracula, the gypsies were depicted as the escort of Dracula. Despite their strength and training, the army, surprisingly , is simply defeated by a young solicitors from the city London, whose“impetuosity, and
However, the imperialism of Dracula, reflecting the “Outside” aspects of Dracula is still observable. Dracula serves as a superior figure who possesses tremendous seduction power to the women who originally belongs to the “good” men’s group and turns them into the opposite of their original group. The statement of Mina “Leagued with your enemy against you.” (Stocker 337) quite voices the anxiety and fear of the good men’s group. Also, the image of the women after being transformed into vampires encounters an entire change. The purity of women is forever lost and instead they turn voluptuous and demanding and thus become otherness, which deepens the fears of losing masculinity of the “Good” men’s group.
and obtains the title, which trigger an arrogant and self-absorbed thinking leading to madness and finally, death. The play seems to bring up the question, whether Macbeth is fully responsible of his own destiny, or under control of fate. In the first glance, the play seems to take rather fatalistic direction, meaning that we are powerless to make decisions as they are inevitably determined by supernatural power (Hugh 1)) It is due to the presence of supernatural forces throughout the whole play that systematically fulfills the prophecy; therefore the witches represent the idea of fate in the play. However, Shakespeare seems to rather intertwine fate with free will and perhaps even promotes the second philosophy as the play evolves. Free Will over Fate in Macbeth This theory is obvious in a scene, where Macbeth is consciously deciding to kill king Duncan.
For example, Dr. Montague sees the house as a simple run-down family home, in the name of science he is trying to prove that the house has no real phenomena happening inside of it. However, Eleanor sees the house as a typical haunted house because she wants to believe in the mystery of the house. “The house was vile. She shivered and thought, the words coming freely into her mind, Hill House is vile, it is diseased; get away from here at once” (Jackson 23). In contrast, Dr. Montague’s view tells something different of the house “No, the menace of the supernatural is that it attacks where modern minds are weakest, where we have abandoned our protective armor of superstition and have no substitute defense” (Jackson 102).
The supernatural as a warning mechanism Firstly, a number of supernatural predictions and paranormal occurrences in both tragedies serve as symbolic warning mechanisms that can potentially prevent tragic affairs of all main characters. In addition to verbal warnings, characters in Macbeth and Julius Caesar observe strange behaviour of animals and abnormal incidents, suggesting that something unnatural is about to take place (Amuthenu 2014). In Macbeth, the protagonist 's encounters with three witches trigger his dormant ambitions to replace Duncan as a king, and Macbeth 's actions follow his own personal logic rather than reacting to external stimuli. In Act 4 Scene 1, Macbeth observes three apparitions and a procession of eight kings that
Also they do not sleep in the coffin or burn in the sunlight. 'Twilight ' blood suckers do not sleep, in the sunlight they shine like diamonds. These characters seem to be normal forever young teens with bizarre feeding habits. In the same time Dracula is presented with some super powers as hypnosis, telepathy, shape shifting (when he changed into a wolf) and super strength. In the opposite to the ‘Twilight’ vamps Dracula has more then call of blood problems, he is sensitive to garlic, holy water, stakes and crucifixes.