Britain feared that the diversity of nations would weaken their imperialistic power since they had a strong national character. According to Arata, the fear of dissolving into vampires is the fear of ‘dissolving into Roumanians’ (cited in Gelder 12). Stoker’s vampirisation symbolises colonisation, or more likely reverse colonisation: “Stoker tackles the issue of colonization and the metaphoric revolt of the “inferior” East visible through Count Dracula’s desire to become a part of the English society.” (Lukić and Matek 6). Dracula returns colonisation to the main colonisers. Harker discovers Dracula’s enthusiasm about England, apart from significant business interests: “The books were of the most varied kind, history, geography, politics, political economy, botany, geology, law, all relating to England and English life and customs and manners.”(Stoker 22).
Introduction Literature has proved to be throughout time a powerful tool for creating enduring myths, legendary characters and fictional stories, making thus the truth irrelevant as long as the narrative was gripping. Such aspects, together with the context and period into which a novel was written brought to life stories that have become immortal and are going to last for eternity. This seems to be the case of the 19th century author Bram Stoker, who, upon fact, legend and fiction brought to life his eponymous vampire: Count Dracula, a sinister and monstrous predator who thrived on the blood of living souls. Regarded by many as the defining work of Gothic fiction, Stoker’s fin-de-sìecle novel achieved a pervasive hold on Western imagination, transforming it into one of the most lasting literary myths of all times. Hence, it comes as no surprise that when we say “vampire” we immediately think of Dracula, and such has been the superstition created around this character that nowadays it is impossible to allude to Romania, and particularly to Transylvania, without thinking of it as the home of Dracula.
A good answer is given by Carol A. Senf in his book The Vampire in the 19th Century English Literature where he notes that such beliefs go far beyond the place itself, and that “the vampire was simply one more example of a mysterious subject that appealed” (1988: 21) by virtue of its Orientalism. As he explains it Dracula symbolized an idea of the sensational that attracted the reader, and not the essence of Transylvania or its historical
When we think about gothic fiction it is hard not to think about Dracula, a renowned novel written by Irish author Bram Stoker. It was published in 1897 and has set the foundation of the vampire villain character, which is still popular today. Although our current popular culture altered vampire-fiction immensely, Bram Stoker’s Dracula still remains the most popular vampire-fiction novel there is. The plot is set in the late nineteen century and we can say it is written in epistolary form, as a collection of letters and journals of the main characters. It begins with a business trip of a young English lawyer Jonathan Harker, who is traveling to Transylvania to meet with Count Dracula.
Somehow he arrives safely to the castle that was out of condition and meets Dracula, who was described as a very nice and welcoming gentleman. Later on, Harker finds out that Dracula is a man that has unnatural magical powers, and Harker feels like he is held in custody. One of the days that he was in the castle, three female vampires tried to assault him, but Dracula put an end to it and said that he belongs to him. Jonathan was scared for his life, so he tried to
The role of female characters in Bram Stoker 's "Dracula" and its movie adaptation by Francis Ford Coppola Gothic novel made its breakthrough with Horace Walpole in the late 18th century, when the term 'gothic ' was used to describe something barbarous or medieval. In the late Victorian era, Bram Stoker wrote "Dracula", a novel written in a form of journal with a monster living in a castle full of mysteries that ought to be revealed within the atmosphere of gloom and terror. After the first publication in 1897, its movie adaptations, which "constitute a simpler attempt to make texts 'relevant ' or easily comprehensible to new audiences and readerships via the process of proximation and updating" (Sanders 19) have begun. The most famous ones are "Nosferatu" by F. W. Murnau in 1922 and "Bram Stoker 's Dracula" by Francis Ford Coppola 70 years later, analyzed more minutely in the essay. In most of the adaptations the emphasis is on the character of the Count
Dracula was a novel that exemplified the many fears and desires in the 19th century society. Readers acquire a better understanding of the events that take place through different characters’ eyes. Moreover, Jonathan Harker a young lawyer sets across Europe on a business trip to assist the Count Dracula. Harker left behind his loyal fiance Mina Murray a humble
When compared to how influential it was during the Victorian era, Dracula has become increasingly significant over the past decades. This can be attributed to the fact that, in actuality, the story only acquired its legendary classic status in the 20th century, when the cinematic versions appeared. In order to write the masterpiece described by many as “the sensation of the season” and “the blood-curdling novel of the century”, Bram Stoker had to engage in extensive research of vampirism; as a matter of fact, a Romanian prince named Vlad was Stoker’s inspiration for the main character of Dracula. Thus, the story of the mysterious aristocrat who lives in a castle in the remote region of Transylvania, Romania, became play and film. In the three years it took to write his gothic romance, Stoker researched a lot about vampirism.
Later on, when Lucy is in need of another transplant, Van Helsing, the man in charge of the operation, hints that it might be inappropriate for someone else to transfer blood into her. Him hinting at this idea shows that the process is in fact somewhat sensual, since having someone else 's blood into her might affect her fiance. Stoker makes several references to Old English literature throughout Dracula, Hamlet is especially referenced several times. In this quote, Lucy speaks of her fear of the night and of sleep. “Well, here I am to-night,
After, Edgar Allan Poe died his rival Rufus Griswold, decided to expose and criticize his work worldwide. But instead he continued Edgar Allan Poe’s fame by making a world wide spread throughout. Inside the article it even proclaims how far horror has come from Edgar Allan Poe by explaining “Today, Poe is recognized as one of the foremost progenitors of modern literature, such as horror and detective fiction, which represent the essential artistic manner of the twentieth century” (Edgar Allen). This bluntly explains how horror is very much included in daily life still continuing in our society and how well people indulge into this theme. Edgar Allen Poe was able to relate common lifestyle to his stories creating people to have some relation towards some of his stories.