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. As Duncan Light so perfectly phrased it in his book The Dracula Dilema: “such is the mythology that has grown up around Transylvania that many in the West are surprised to learn that Transylvania is a real place” (2012: 28). The Occidental’s misconceived view of this unknown region on the very edge of Europe, together with Stoker’s sinister description of
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).
Heathcliff and Catherine have long been identified as inhuman, as a much quoted comment by Dante Gabriel Rossetti shows: “The action is laid in Hell – only it seems places and people have English names there” (qtd. in Krishnan 4). If one is willing to accept that Catherine's ghost haunts Heathcliff after her death, defining this ghost as a vampiric entity is anything but absurd, as long as one does not equal 'vampire' with Dracula as described in the first chapter. An impartial reading reveals a great number of similarities between the depiction of Catherine and Heathcliff and common vampire tropes. Wuthering Heights shares a type of anti-hero with the first vampire narrative, an archetype which was later imitated by the most influential vampire
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.
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
In order to fully understand this development, some influential works should not go unmentioned. As mentioned before, it was Bram Stroker 's novel Dracula which defined the vampire narrative more than any other literary work. Stoker selected featured from folklore and literary vampires, added ideas of his own and combined them into a strong archetype. “The way ancient tradition, such as folkloric elements of vampires or the influence of early demon forms […] were intertwined with cutting edge technology, such as the used of shorthand, Dr Seward 's phonography and Van Helsing 's blood transfusion, allowed for the creation of what is essebtially the vampire 's passport into the twentieth century and its manifestation once again as a socially relevant
It overlaps his life and times with the historical background of the characters in the novel and parallels the author in a world of an entire transformation from the political revolution and the cathedral in a vortex of a sudden innovation from the printing revolution. Victor Hugo reportedly didn’t hide his anger toward the imprudent demolition of the old buildings and the disorderly reconstruction in a destructive manner; accordingly, his analogy in the argument to the relationship between architecture and books through language is absolutely attractive. Through a variety of metaphors somewhat poetic, he says that architecture has engraved the history of mankind within the edifice and has conveyed that edifice to the next generation; then he declares that the role of architecture will be replaced by the publication as a result of the invention of metal type casting. Notwithstanding this long story that is not really related to the main
He illustrates how in Transylvania "there is hardly a foot of soil in all this region that has not been enriched by the blood of men, patriots or invaders" (Arata 628; Stoker 27) and then asks Jonathan: "Is it a wonder we were a conquering race?" (Arata 628; Stoker 34). Arata illustrates how the Count 's invasion of the empire foreshadows its decline by quoting Jonathan 's prediction that "[t]his was the being he [Jonathan] was helping to transfer to London, where, perhaps, for centuries to come he might, amongst its teeming millions, satiate his lust for blood, and create a new and ever-widening circle of semi-demons to batten on the helpless" (Arata 629; Stoker 53/54). Through Jonathan 's prophecy, the reader feels as though not only London but the empire itself (with all its values) is under
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
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.