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Bram Stoker's Use Of Religion In Dracula

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Christianity in Europe before the Victorian Era was a part of everyday life and widespread throughout the country. With historians analyzing the bible for accuracy and the publishing of Darwin’s, The Origin of Species, many educated churchgoers began to question their faith. In the novel Dracula, Bram Stoker incorporates religious symbols along with references to Christianity to communicate his position on the issue of fleeting faith. By expressing the power religious symbols have, the effectiveness of superstition compared to science, and spiritual character actions; Stoker creates a pro-Christian piece of propaganda to express the need for religious faith in a society with increasing reliance on scientific reasoning.
Through the use of religious symbols, Stoker shines light on the idea that strict scientific …show more content…

The strength of superstition is first imposed on the reader after Dracula first touches the crucifix around Jonathan's neck. Harker comments, "...his eyes blazed with a demonic fury...an instant change in him, for the fury passed so quickly I could hardly believe..."(31). The use of "blazed" is an important descriptor that strongly symbolizes flames and anger and expresses the distaste within Dracula as he is exposed to the cross. Hell is a place of eternal torment where sinners, who chose to exclude God from their lives, go to spend their afterlife. The Bible verses, Revelation 21:8 and Matthew 25:46, refer to hell as “a fiery lake of burning sulfur” and expresses the victims “will go away to eternal punishment”. This vivid description and the diction used in this quote draws up a very strong connection between the Count’s fiery eyes and Hell. This connection is important as the process of vampirism can also be seen as the damnation of one's soul, a very similar situation to that of a sinner who has been banished to Hell. The word "demonic" in this passage is used to superimpose the Devil to Count Dracula in order to show the power of Christ.

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