essay on dracula

by Bram Stoker

Dracula study guide.

The first edition of Dracula was published in June 1897. As late as May of that year, Stoker was still using his original working title for the novel, The Un-Dead. "Undead," a word now commonly used in horror novels and movies, was a term invented by Stoker. Dracula was his most famous novel, instantly a bestseller and perhaps the most famous horror novel ever. It has been made and re-made in film adaptations, been reprinted numerous times, and has continued to sell copies for a hundred years.

Although earlier novels about vampires had been published in England, Stoker's depiction of the vampire has had perhaps the strongest hold on the popular imagination. Stories of vampires or vampire-like creatures exist in all cultures: from China to India to the Incan Empire, variations of the vampire have populated diverse peoples' nightmares and folklore. Stoker researched Eastern European legends, which offer widely varied tales about supernatural monsters. In Eastern European lore, there is not one kind of vampire but many, and "vampire" is not so distinct a category from "demon" or even "witch" as it has become in modern horror movies. Stoker chose freely from among the legends about various Eastern European demons, some of them bloodsucking, and came up with a suitable interpretation of the vampire for his novel.

He also studied Eastern European history. In the prince of Wallachia, Vlad Tepes, or Dracula ("Son of Dracul"), Bram Stoker found inspiration for his tale of an undead nobleman. Vlad Tepes ("Vlad the Impaler") was a fifteenth Christian nobleman who fought against the Turks. He was a defender of his country and his religion, winning the Pope's praise for his campaigns against the Moslems. The times were full of fear for Christendom?Constantinople, the Rome of the East, had just fallen to the ever-expanding Turks. Vlad was also legendary for his cruelty, to Moslem and Christian enemies alike. He was famous for his love of impaling his victims, a method of execution in which it often took days for the condemned to die. After one battle, thousands of Turkish soldiers were impaled at Vlad's command. After Vlad's death, legends about him continued to multiply. Stoker drew on Vlad's legend for the creation of the vampire Dracula.

Stoker was deeply concerned with sexual morality. Although his novel is full of racy subtext?possibly far more subtext than the author intended?his own views regarding sex and morality were in many ways quite conservative. He favored censoring novels for their sexual content?he considered racy literature dangerous for the ways that it nurtured man's darker sexual tendencies. Although Dracula has many scenes that seem to revel in sexual language and sensual description, these pleasures are sublimated to a Victorian and Christian sense of morality. Sexual energy, in Stoker's view, has great potential for evil, but part of the novel's trick is that Stoker is allowed to have his cake and eat it, too. In writing a novel that implicitly conflates sin with sexuality in a moralizing way, Stoker is also given free reign to write incredibly lurid and sensual scenes. The themes of Christian redemption and the triumph of purity carry the day, but the sexually loaded scenes?that of the three female vampires closing in seductively on a powerless but desiring Jonathan Harker , for example?tend to linger longest in the reader's mind.

Dracula Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Dracula is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

How does the zookeeper discuss xenia (hospitality)?

Are you referring to Dracula?

In what year does the novel "Dracula" take place?

Jonathan Harker's first entry in his diary reads, "Wednesday, 3 May 1893.

Seward suspects Dracula has been hiding right next door to them in the asylum.

Study Guide for Dracula

Dracula is a novel by Bram Stoker. The Dracula study guide contains a biography of Bram Stoker, literature essays, a complete e-text, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About Dracula
• Dracula Summary
• Character List
• Chapter 1-5 Summary and Analysis
• Related Links

Essays for Dracula

Dracula is a book written by Bram Stoker. The Dracula literature essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Dracula.

• Dracula as Social Fusion
• Dracula as Feminine
• Dracula: The Self-Aware Mass of Typewriting
• Social Class and Bram Stoker's Dracula
• The Fantastic in Dracula

Lesson Plan for Dracula

• About the Author
• Study Objectives
• Common Core Standards
• Introduction to Dracula
• Relationship to Other Books
• Bringing in Technology
• Notes to the Teacher
• Dracula Bibliography

E-Text of Dracula

Dracula is an e-text that contains the full text of Dracula by Bram Stoker.

Wikipedia Entries for Dracula

• Introduction
• Textual history
• Major themes

Phyllis Roth on the Themes in Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” Critical Essay

The Phyllis Roth critical essay discusses the themes of the Bram Stoker’s Dracula novel. The research focuses on the summary of Phyllis Roth’s critical analysis of the Bram Stoker’s Dracula novel. The research centers on giving a critical response to the Roth analysis.

The Roth critical essay on the Bram Stoker’s Dracula novel is very entertaining, educational, and touching. In terms of summary, Phyllis Roth emphasized the secrets of Bram Stocker’s Dracula novel. Royce MacGillwray stated “Such a myth lives not merely because it has been skillfully marketed by entrepreneurs but because it expresses something that large numbers of readers feel to be true about their own lives.” (Byron 11).

Maurice Richardson shows Dracula as “a quite blatant demonstration of the Oedipus complex… a kind of incestuous, necrophilous, oral-anal-sadistic all-in-wrestling match” (Byron 11). In addition, Carrol Fry emphasized that the female vampires represent “the fallen women of the 18 th and 19 th century fiction” (Byron 11).

The women vampires are depicted as sexually aggressive who can easily verbally attack. Richardson characterizes the Dracula story as relevant to Freud’s research indicating that the morbid dread character represents repressed sexual desires; Count Dracula is a morbid dread person. Blake Hobby (23) proposed Count Dracula is seen as a person who is characterized as having lustful anticipation of his successful sexual consummation. In addition, Jonathan Harker eagerly anticipates kissing the three sexually aggressive women vampires.

Likewise, the three women vampires fight to be the first to kiss Jonathan. Vampires are depicted as being death, morality, immortality, and aggressive sexual desires. The story discusses the jealous rivalry of the sons and the father for the mother, originally belonging to the son. Likewise, sexual rival ensues among the three suitors, including the rejected Dr. Seward, for hand of Lucy, who eventually turns into a vampire.

Dracula is shown as making love with both Lucy and Mina to the jealous disgust of the two women’s suitors. In fact, Van Helsing reminded Mina, in front of her suitors, “Do you forget that last night he (Count Dracula) banqueted heavily and will sleep late”. The Val Helsing quote reminds Mina of Count Dracula’s sexual intercourse with Mina (Byron 18).

Count Dracula fumes with jealousy when he discovers Jonathan in the same room as his three women vampires. Dracula furiously states to the three women vampires “How dare you touch him, any of you?”(Byron 19). The story ends up with Dracula destroyed and Van Helsing saved. Likewise, Lucy is destroyed and Mina is saved.

In terms of response, the manner and style of writing of Roth’s critical analysis of the Bram Stoker’s Dracula novel was written in exceptional manner and style. The author uses quotes from the original Bram Stoker’s Dracula novel.

The writer uses the quotes to show proof of the author’s understanding of the Bram Stoker’s Dracula novel. The author gathers many evidences to prove that the entire Bram Stoker’s Dracula novel is grounded on sexual aggressiveness. The novel depicts the women as sexually aggressive. The Roth discussion ends with a big bang. She closes by stating who survived in the Bram Stoker’s Dracula novel. The author also ends by mentioning who perished in the same novel.

The author finally closes the curtain on the Bram Stoker’s Dracula novel by majestically mentioning Van Helsing’s quoted line “We want no proofs; we ask non to believe us! This boy will some day know what a brave and gallant woman his mother is. Already he knows here sweetness and loving care; later on he will understand how some men so loved her, that they did dare so much for here sake” (Byron 21).

Further, Christoph Haeberlein (11) stated that the author’s effect on the mind is very thought enlightening. Before the reading the book, one would generally predicate the theme of the author’s writing is based on fear. However, as one reads the Roth writing, fear is set to the sidelines.

Sexual desire and family are the major themes of the Roth critical analysis. The author vividly shows the vampire women as persons hungry to dive into bed with a male partner. In crystal-clear manner, the author describes Count Dracula as a pleasing lover. The same author points to Count Dracula as a jealous person.

Dracula is shown as both a person who needs love as well as gives love. Just like human beings, Count Dracula does not want his sexual objects of desire to be grabbed by other males. The author creatively metamorphoses the Bram Stoker’s Dracula novel from a horror novel to a love story environment. Furthermore, Carol Davison (166) proposed the Roth critical analysis affects the readers’ emotions.

The readers are emotionally entertained by Roth’s unique interpretation of the Bram Stoker’s Dracula novel. The emotion of happiness will crop up as the readers realize that the Bram Stoker’s Dracula novel is not a horror story. The viewers of the Bram Stoker’s Dracula novel will understand that the novel is filled with love conquests. The story includes emphasis on the women vampires as person needing love and willing to give love to any person who comes to their path.

Likewise, the Roth critical analysis of the Bram Stoker’s Dracula novel specifically describes the vampires, including Count Dracula, have similar preferences to both fall in love and to need love in return. The readers of the Roth critical analysis will eagerly comprehend the author’s message of love and family life. The author clearly discusses Dracula’s failures. Just like other regular persons, Count Dracula has the same problem of resolving failures in life.

In fact, Dracula’s failure is very evident. Count Dracula succumbs to defeat at the end of the story. Count Dracula fails to prevent Jonathan from entering and having love intentions on his three female vampires. In turn, Count Dracula instructs the three females to replace their attention from Jonathan to another child. In addition, the Roth critical analysis painstakingly discusses Count Dracula as a good father of the family.

The average father will do whatever is necessary to protect and care for one’s family members. In addition, the typical father does not want his children to violate any of his instructions. Doing so would be a violation of the children’s respect for their father, Count Dracula. As a father, Count Dracula, only means the best for his wife, Mina, and his children.

Likewise, the Roth critical analysis of the Bram Stoker’s Dracula novel influences the readers’ character. The readers will learn that one’s character is important. The readers are persuaded to put love and family above all else. The same author invites the readers to defend one’s territory, market segment, property, love interest and ownership from intruders.

The author of the Roth critical analysis understandably impresses on the readers to create and defend one’s character at all times, even to the point of endangering one’s life. Count Dracula died trying to protect his territory, market segment, property, love interest and ownership from all intruding parties. Lastly, the Roth critical analysis explains that Count Dracula was successful in some of his characteristic endeavors.

Just like ordinary human beings, Count Dracula was not as successful in other character challenges. The tragic end of Count Dracula clearly shows that the head vampire is just like other human beings. Normally, human beings either win or loss in their characteristic ventures. The author clearly shows that the most important factor is not the winning or the losing in one’s everyday struggles.

On the other hand, the author puts priority to the theory that all persons, including the vampires of the Bram Stoker’s Dracula novel, must prioritize taking a stand on every issue. Winning or losing the struggle to defend one’s side of the struggle is secondary to standing for one’s beliefs and convictions. Based on the above discussion, the Phyllis Roth critical essay discusses the arguments of the Bram Stoker’s Dracula novel. The summary of the Roth critical analysis focuses on love and family life, just like normal human beings.

The critical response to the Roth critical analysis shows that Count Dracula, the three woman vampires, Jonathan, Lucy, Mina, and the other characters need to both give love and receive love, just like other human beings. Indeed, the Roth critical essay on the Bram Stoker’s Dracula novel is exceptionally entertaining, exceedingly educational, and superbly touching. In terms of recommendation, the readers should treasure and implement the many critical teachings of the Roth critical analysis.

The readers must understand that love and family are what drives every person, including the vampires, to live. The author of the Roth critical analysis strongly states that the average person, especially Count Dracula, will go out of one’s way to protect and care for one’s family and love interest. Lastly, death is nothing when compared to fighting for one’s market segment, property, love interest and ownership from all encroachers.

Bram Stoker

• Literature Notes
• Essay Questions
• Book Summary
• Character List
• Summary and Analysis
• Chapters 2-4
• Chapters 5-6
• Chapters 7-8
• Chapters 9-10
• Chapters 11-13
• Chapters 14-16
• Chapters 17-19
• Chapters 20-23
• Chapters 24-25
• Chapters 26-27
• Bram Stoker Biography
• Critical Essays
• The American Horror Film and the Influence of German Expressionism
• Selected Filmography
• Cite this Literature Note

Study Help Essay Questions

1. Discuss the supernatural powers of the vampire and the limitations imposed upon the vampire.

2. Trace the gothic elements found in Dracula.

3. While at first Renfield seems extraneous to the plot, how does he ultimately serve a definite function?

4. Discuss the peculiar inversion of Christian values found in the novel.

5. Discuss the techniques which Stoker uses to give a sense of verisimilitude to the novel.

6. Discuss the importance of having the vampire be a member of the aristocracy and prey upon refined young ladies rather than upon "ladies of the street."

7. Discuss the various sexual implications found in vampirism — say, for example, seduction through the neck.

8. Discuss the implication that Dracula is merely an evil presence rather than a real character.

Previous Quiz

Next Cite this Literature Note

Bram Stoker

Everything you need for every book you read..

Dracula contains a long meditation on "proper," socially-sanctioned love, and "improper" relations of lust and seduction. Much has been made of this aspect of the novel, particularly in 20th-century criticism, and with good reason: it is impossible to separate the act of Dracula's forcible blood -sucking, directed at unsuspecting women, from the process of violent seduction and sexual assault.

Jonathan and Mina Harker , and Arthur (Lord Godalming) and Lucy , are the novel's two primary romantic pairs. Their loves follows remarkably similar tacks, but the former survives, and the latter, sadly, does not. An early romantic intrigue in the novel is Lucy's entertaining of three suitors: Dr. Seward , Arthur, and Quincey . But this "romantic intrigue" so typical of Victorian novels is only a prologue, in this novel, to the actual drama of Lucy's life—the fact that she is bitten by a vampire, and becomes a vampire herself. Thus, not only is Arthur robbed of his future wife—he must participate in her "true killing" (that is, the freeing of her soul from the cycle of undeadness). Van Helsing believes that Arthur will be able to let go of his love for Lucy by helping to drive a stake through her heart and cut off her head. It is a gruesome, if necessary, end to their love.

On the other hand, Mina and Jonathan have a love characterized by mutual help during times of illness. First, Mina cares for Jonathan after his nervous collapse, prompted by his stay at, and escape from, the Castle Dracula. Later, Jonathan fights bravely to kill Dracula—to release him from his own undeadness—in order, also, to free Mina from Dracula's spell. Opposed, then, to these "natural" processes of romantic love are the processes of demonic possession and seduction. Harker is "seduced" by the Three Sisters at Dracula's castle, though he manages to avoid falling into their clutches. Dracula "seduces" both Lucy and Mina. In the former case, he suggestively "penetrates" Lucy's neck while Lucy, who had been sleepwalking, is sprawled over a mossy embankment, outside. With Mina, Dracula is found forcing Mina to suck Dracula's own blood from a cut in his abdomen. This, also highly sexually-suggestive, creates a bond between the two that can only be broken by Dracula's true death.

Thus, at the end of the novel, the killing of Dracula allows Jonathan and Mina to live together as husband and wife, and to start a family—this is considered the "natural" outcome of a Christian marriage. Meanwhile, the others of the group, those whose hearts were broken by Lucy, find their own separate loves in time and marry as well.

Romantic Love, Seduction, and Sexual Purity ThemeTracker

Romantic Love, Seduction, and Sexual Purity Quotes in Dracula

Well, now I promise you that when I am done with him you shall kiss him at your will. Now go! go! I must awaken him, for there is work to be done.

At least God's mercy is better than that of these monsters, and the precipice is steep and high. At tis foot a man may sleep—as a man. Good-bye, all! Mina!

I am very, very happy, and I don't know what I have done to deserve it. I must only try in the future to show that I am not ungrateful to God for all His goodness to me in sending to me such a lover, such a husband, such a friend.

Once again we went through that ghastly operation. I have not the heart to go through with the details. Lucy had got a terrible shock and it told on her more than before, for though plenty of blood went into her veins, her body did not respond to the treatment as well as on the other occasions. . . .

Come to me, Arthur. Leave these others and come to me. My arms are hungry for you. Come, and we can rest together. Come, my husband, come!

We women have something of the mother in us that makes us rise above smaller matters wen the mother-spirit is invoked. . . .

First, a little refreshment to reward my exertions. You may as well be quiet; it is not the first time, or the second, that your veins have appeased my thirst!

We are truly in the hands of God. He alone knows what may be, and I pray Him, with all the strength of my sad and humble soul, that He will watch over my beloved husband . . . .

Now God be thanked that all has not been in vain! See! the snow is not more stainless than her forehead! The curse has passed away!

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• Bram Stoker’s Dracula: Essay

One of the human’s most distinct emotions is fear, specifically that in which surfaces as the result of the unknown. Fear is an emotion generally associated with anxiety – a powerful feeling that is brought upon by worry, dread and trepidation. To dread something that is unknown is often the result of foreshadowing, which is a dominant literary component of the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker.

Stoker’s effective use of foreshadowing has an influence on the most evident effect in his novel: the effect of anxiety. As the multiplicity of the characters increases, the story itself thickens with the underlying emotion of fear.

Therefore, as the story continues through a one-person narrative, the reader becomes equipped with the capability of predicting certain fears through evidently frightening circumstances prior to the character’s ability to do so.

It becomes evident that the novel operates on fear quite early on. Within the first chapter of the book – Jonathan Stoker’s leading journal entry – distress begins to surface throughout his journey to his initial encounter with Dracula.

Jonathan is an English solicitor who is embarking on his first professional venture, in hopes of selling real estate to Count Dracula. Originally, Jonathan keeps his journal in order to later be able to tell his fiancée Mina Murray of his journeys. However; it soon becomes the primary text responsible in large parts for keeping him sane.

The final means of transportation liable for getting Jonathan to the Count’s castle is that of a carriage. Upon boarding it, Jonathan notes how “[he] felt a little strange, and not a little frightened. [He thought] had there been any alternative [he] should have taken it, instead of prosecuting that unknown night journey” (Stoker, p.12).

This is a point in which the feeling of anxiety surfaces within the reader and this feeling is intensified when Jonathan writes “…a dog began to howl somewhere in a farmhouse far down the road – a long, agonized wailing, as if from fear” (p.12), and in response to the realization that such howling was created by a pack of wolves, transcribes that “[he] grew dreadfully afraid” (p.13).

It is evident to the reader that this is foreshadowing for a series of events yet to come – a series of events with seemingly negative associations or consequences. Jonathan accentuates his fear for the unknown when he writes that “all at once the wolves began to howl as though the moonlight had had some peculiar effect on them” (p.14) and by noting that the effect was out of the ordinary, it is made obvious that the reasoning behind the acting out of the wolves is both unclear to Jonathan, as well as uncommon.

Another primary factor associated with the surfacing of anxiety is that of confusion. Confusion is a constituent that often leads to stress and stress to worry – all stepping stones toward the more intensified emotions of fear and anxiety.

Upon the conclusion of Jonathan’s worrisome journey to the Count’s Castle, he shook Dracula’s hand and noted that “the strength of the handshake was so much akin to that which [he] had noticed in the driver, whose face [he] had not seen, that for a moment [he] doubted if it were not the same person to whom [he] was speaking” (p. 17).

Jonathan’s brief – yet seemingly important – contemplation about the possibility of Dracula holding the position of both the operator of the carriage and the Count himself ignites the emotion of worry within the reader; and also equips the reader with the capability of now fearing for Jonathan’s overall safety.  

However, it is not until the physical description of the Count himself that the fear of Jonathan’s safety is solidified. Jonathan goes on to describe Dracula by writing “His face was a strong – a very strong – aquiline, with high bridge of the thin nose and peculiarly arched nostrils; with the lofty domed forehead, and hair growing scantily round the temples, but profusely elsewhere. His eyebrows were very massive, almost meeting over the nose, and with bushy hair that seemed to curl in its own profusion.

The mouth, so far as I could see it under the heavy mustache, was fixed and rather cruel-looking, with peculiarly sharp white teeth” (p.19). By regarding the Count’s teeth as peculiar – Jonathan emphasizes that his physical description deviates from what he and readers would now consider the norm, and such an abnormality stresses the anxiety supplementary to the unknown; resulting in the preliminary sense of fear toward the Count himself.

Jonathan records that the Count did say “You may go anywhere you wish in the castle, except where the doors are locked, where of course you will not wish to go” (p. 23). After spending a short amount of time within the Count’s castle – Jonathan reaches the realization which was in a small sense dreaded by readers all along; he comes to terms with the fact that “The castle is a veritable prison, and [he is the] prisoner!” (p.29).

Anxiety is at this point in the novel an extremely dominant emotion conveyed by the reader, as by this point it is accepted that Jonathan is in danger, yet the reasoning behind why it is he that has been placed in a seemingly horrific situation remains unclear. This steady lingering of the unknown could be considered responsible for the continuation of anxiety throughout the duration of the novel.

It is now in which the readers are asking the same questions as the character. Who is Dracula, and what is the reasoning behind Jonathan’s captivity? The audience’s fear of the Count himself is strengthened when Jonathan writes how “[his] very feelings changed to repulsion and terror when [he] saw the whole man slowly emerge from the window and begin to crawl down the castle wall over that dreadful abyss, face down , with his cloak spreading out around him like great wings” (p.38).

Jonathan refers to the Count’s actions as “lizard like” (p.38), and emphasizes his emotions when writing “I feel the dread of this horrible place overpowering me; I am in fear – in awful fear – and there is no escape for me; I am encompassed about with terrors that I dare not think of…” (p.38). Dracula’s now obvious deviations from that of both societal norms and human behavior leaves readers hypothesizing and theorizing Dracula’s capabilities and motives.

It also leaves the audience faced with the decision as to whether or not Jonathan is simply mad; as it is clear that such a circumstance is ostensibly impossible. The surfacing of such impossibility, again, heightens the emotion of fear in regards to the unknown. The readers are posed with the question of how could these impossibilities occur.

The reader’s equally intensified sense of worry in regards to Jonathan’s safety is solidified when Jonathan writes “Whilst I live on here there is but one thing to hope for: that I may not go mad, if, indeed, I be not mad already. If I be sane, then surely it is maddening to think that of all the foul things that lurk in this hateful place the Count is the least dreadful to me; that to him alone I can look for safety, even though this be only whilst I serve his purpose” (p.40).

It is throughout the duration of the initial introductory journal pieces, as documented by Jonathan Harker, that the reader’s sense of anxiety is developed.

Stoker’s effective use of foreshadowing has a persuasive influence on the dominant effect of anxiety throughout the novel; and the continuation of this theme is carried on throughout the multiplicity of characters that are presented, including Jonathan’s wife Mina Harker.

The theme of anxiety is derivative in large portions to both the reader and the character’s fear of the unknown – the accompanying theme that remains constant within the novel as well, which is a result of Stoker’s effective use of literary schematics.

In conjunction with this surface the reader’s evident distaste for Count Dracula; as such anxiety has ultimately resulted in fear of his character, accompanied by the audience’s lack of knowledge in regards to his capabilities.

It was said by Einstein “in time we hate that which we often fear” (Bartlett, 112), and such a statement is proven to be true through the reader’s interpretation of Dracula as seen through the eyes of Jonathan Harker.

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Gothic Elements Of Dracula Essay

Dracula, Bram Stoker’s most well known novel, was written during the Gothic Era (1800-1865). Writers of gothic literature often created feelings of fear and mystery by focusing the plot on an ancient house that was used to harbor secrets or a place of refuge from a dangerous character. (Kennedy n. p. ). Stoker used some characteristics of the Gothic Era, such as descriptions of gloomy settings and the use of supernatural events, (Marinaro n. p. ). in addition to using the social conventions of London, England in the 1890s in order to write a piece of literature that will remain a prime example of the Gothic Era.

Stoker’s use of multiple dismal environments created a sense of angst in the reader, which helped lead to the classification of Dracula as a Gothic novel. Jonathan Harker’s encounters with the town’s people while on his way to Count Dracula’s castle was the first time the reader felt uneasy. The innkeeper at the hotel explained to Harker it was the eve of St. George’s Day, the night where “all the evil things in the world will have full sway” (Stoker 7). Multiple guests stared at Harker as he left for the coach, while others proceeded to give him gifts as forms of protection from whatever may try and harm him.

When we started, the crowd round the inn door, which had by this time swelled to a considerable size, all made the sign of the cross and pointed two fingers towards me … he [a fellow passenger] explained that it was a charm or guard against the evil eye. ” (Stoker 9-10). His experience riding in the coach left Harker frozen with fear when he finally reached the castle. “It grew colder and colder still, and fine, powdery snow began to fall, so that soon we and all around us were covered with a white blanket.

The keen wind still carried the howling of the dogs, … I grew dreadfully afraid, and the horses shared my fear. The driver, however, was not in the least disturbed. He kept turning his head to [the] left and right, but I could not see anything through the darkness. ” (Stoker 18). Harker noticed the amount of wealth that surrounded him as he was exploring the castle, but took note there were no mirrors and the sound of wolves could always be heard. “But still in none of the rooms is there a mirror. There is not even a toilet glass on my table, and I had to get the little shaving glass from my bag before I could either shave or brush my hair.

I have not seen a servant anywhere, or heard a sound near the castle except the howling of wolves. ” (Stoker 29). During his second walkthrough of the castle, Harker discovered a dark stairwell leading from the count’s bedroom. He eventually came across the count lying in a box of earth after following an odor at the bottom of the stairs. “I descended, minding carefully where | went for the stairs were dark, being only lit by loopholes in the heavy masonry. At the bottom there was a dark, tunnel-like passage, … There, in one of the great boxes, of where there were fifty in all, on a pile of newly dug earth, lar the Count!

He was either dead or asleep. I could not say which, … no beating of the heart. ” (Stoker 69-70). The suspense the audience felt while reading about dreary surroundings helped people accept Dracula as a Gothic novel. Supernatural activities, events that happen in nature that cannot be explained or man cannot control, (Marinaro n. p. ). were often the main components of Gothic literature. Not only was one of the main characters a vampire, he attempted to turn other characters into van with the help of his three assistant female vampires.

Although the reader most likely knew Count Dracula was a vampire from prior knowledge, Harker realized this during a shaving incident with the count. “This time there could be no error, for the man [the count] was close to me, and I could see him over my shoulder. But there was no reflection of him in the mirror! … I saw that the cut had bled a little, and the blood was trickling over my chin … his [the count’s] eyes blazed with a sort of demoniac fury, and he suddenly made a grab at my throat. ” (Stoker 38). One of the turning points in the novel ccurred when Harker’s fiancee, Mina, noticed two red points on Lucy’s neck after seeing a dark figure leaning over her. This incident foreshadowed Lucy’s transformation into a vampire.

“There was undoubtedly something, long and black, bending over the half-reclining white figure. I called in fright, ‘Lucy! Lucy! ‘ and something raised a head, and from where I was I could see a white face and red, gleaming eyes. ” (Stoker 132). Lucy’s transition to the un-dead continued as Dracula visited her at night and slowly drank her blood. The results of her extensive amounts of blood loss were seen when friends checked on her in the morning. She was ghastly, chalkily pale. The red seemed to have gone even from her lips and gus, and the bones of her face stood out prominently … Lucy lay motionless, and did not seem to have strength to speak, so for a while we were all silent. ” (Stoker 173). After Lucy’s death, Dracula needed another to transform another woman, Mina, into a vampire in order to gain further access to the men of England.

The main character’s burst into the bedroom to see Harker laid out on the bed and Dracula forcing Mina to suck the blood from his own chest. With that he [the count] pulled open his shirt, and with his long sharp nails opened a vein in his breast. When the blood began to spurt out, he took my hands in one of his, holding them tight, and with the other seized my neck and pressed my mouth to the wound, so that I must either suffocate or swallow some of the … ” (Stoker 413). Harker was almost turned to an un-dead after he fell asleep in one of the locked rooms of the castle and was visited by the three female vampires. “The girl went on her knees, and bent over me, …

Lower and lower went her head as the lips went below the range of my mouth and chin and seemed to fasten on my throat. ” (Stoker 55-56). The idea of separate spheres, men belong at work and outside the house while the women were at home completing chores, was very prominent during nineteenth century London. Although men have always been known to have jobs and were the main providers for the family, jobs for women outside the home became popular during the late 1800s. (Emsley n. p. ).

An example of separate spheres took place when Van Helsing was adamant about Mina uninvolved with the plan to kill Dracula. She [Mina] has man’s brain, a brain that a man should have were he much gifted, and a woman’s heart … But it is no part for a woman. ” (Stoker 335). Stoker also makes it clear that Harker is the main breadwinner between him and Mina. While Mina works as an assistant schoolmistress, Jonathan works and travels for a real estate firm. “We went thoroughly into the business of the purchase of the estate at Purflect. When I had told him the facts and got his signature to the necessary papers … ” (Stoker 34).

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Elements of Gothic Literature in Bram Stoker's Dracula

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Words: 1912 |

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Published: Jun 29, 2018

Words: 1912 | Pages: 4 | 10 min read

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Introduction, dracula: gothic elements.

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Research Paper On Dracula

Bram Stokers classic novel, "Dracula" (published in 1897). Within the novel of "Dracula" characters are seen struggling involving repressed emotions and yearnings. To explore into the characters, motivations and overarching themes in "Dracula", this essay reaches into these conflicts within the initial four chapters. This piece delves into the correlation, between Sigmund Freuds theories and principles, with the unconscious minds of the characters, which includes Dracula and Johnathan Harking. Through Freud’s theories, it seeks to uncover how Freudian concepts focus on how hidden desires and fear manifest within the characters. In this work, I aim to demonstrate how these internal conflicts impact character actions. Sigmund Freud created the …show more content…

Despite the fact that Count Dracula displays unusual behaviours and disturbing incidents, Harker remains unable to acknowledge his fear or uneasiness. He chooses to minimise his thoughts by dismissing them as exhaustion or different cultures instead of confronting them directly. His inability to admit his actual feelings suggests that he may be trying subtly to suppress them in order to feel more in control of this unfamiliar and maybe dangerous situation. For example, Jonathan Harker encounters a strange situation at Dracula's Castle when he is attempting to shave in front of a mirror. Harker realises that Count Dracula, who is standing behind him, isn't visible in the mirror, even though he can see his own image. Harker starts questioning his senses after making this unusual discovery and wonders whether it was the lights or his thoughts are misleading him. Nonetheless, this interaction represents Harker's developing anxiety about Dracula and his subconscious awareness of Dracula's supernatural power. Despite his growing uneasiness and worry, Harker tries to dismiss the absence of Dracula's reflection by sticking to his logical justifications. (Stoker, 1897). Jonathan Harker occasionally displays weakness or has unpleasant experiences which go against the norm of what one considers to be a man. When Harker meets the three alluring vampire women at Dracula's castle, this is a good example of this. Initially, Harker's attraction to the ladies could represent repressed urges or desires that he must resist because of morality or social standards. Harker is first drawn to the ladies, but as their sexual attempts get more intense, he starts to feel intimidated and overwhelmed. In society, masculinity is often linked to traits such as strength, leadership, and independence. However, Harker's request for help

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Bram Stoker

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Questions & Answers

Why does Jonathan Harker first travel to Transylvania?

At the beginning of the novel, Harker has just been promoted from solicitor’s clerk to solicitor. He works with another solicitor named Peter Hawkins, who was hired by Count Dracula to find and purchase a house in London. Hawkins begins suffering from gout, so he sends Harker in his place to go over the details of the sale with the count. Harker is there to help the count with any legal documents, and also to help the count practice his English.

Where do Jonathan Harker and Mina get married?

Harker and Mina get married in a hospital in Budapest. He recovers there after escaping Dracula’s castle, and Mina hurries to be by Harker’s side when she learns of his illness. Relieved to be reunited, the couple “beg the Superior to let [their] wedding be this afternoon.” Their marriage day is significant because Harker gives Mina the diary containing notes from his time at the Castle, which she later reads in order to save Harker’s life.

Who gives Lucy blood transfusions?

As Lucy grows weaker and sicker, Dr. Seward realizes she must be losing blood, although he does not know how. He decides to treat her with blood transfusions, and he first takes blood from her fiancée, Arthur Holmwood. However, as the effect of the transfusions wears off quickly, Lucy ends up receiving transfusions from Dr. Seward, Van Helsing, and Quincey Morris so that “the poor pretty creature…put[s] into her veins the blood of four strong men.”

Why does Holmwood stab Lucy with the stake?

When Van Helsing explains the plan of how they will stab Lucy, he argues that they are actually saving her soul and freeing her from eternal torment; whoever does so will have the satisfaction of knowing that “it was [his] hand that sent her to the stars.” Since Holmwood would have been Lucy’s husband if she had not transformed into a vampire, the other men acknowledge his right to be the one to free Lucy from the curse. Driving a stake through her heart is presented as a way in which Holmwood shows his love for her, and offers Lucy the protection from vampirism that he could not give her before.

Who is killed in the final confrontation with Dracula?

When they catch up with the wagon carrying Dracula’s coffin, Morris, Harker, Holmwood, and Seward have to fight the Gypsies who are guarding it. In the struggle, the Gypsies stab Morris and he dies soon after. Before he dies, Morris gets to witness Dracula’s destruction and notices the mark disappear from Mina’s forehead. Morris dies saying that he is proud to have given up his life in service of a good cause: “It was worth for this to die!”

How does Dracula become a vampire?

The novel never explicitly explains how Dracula becomes a vampire, but Van Helsing hints at Dracula’s backstory in Chapter 18. There, Dracula is discussed as having studied black arts and alchemy at the academy of Scholomance in Transylvania. Otherwise, the reader knows that his body was buried in his castle, after having earned a foreboding reputation in his mortal life as a voivode, or military leader.

Why does Dracula want to move to England?

In Dracula’s view, Transylvania has reached the limits of its purposefulness. He no longer holds the same power there that he once did, as the locals are wise to his ways. The idea of London’s modernity and fast-paced lifestyle is attractive to him; the city would offer a feast of fresh victims for him to conquer.

According to Van Helsing’s instructions, how can a vampire be defeated?

Van Helsing instructs Dr. Seward, Arthur, and Morris that they must decapitate Lucy’s corpse, stuff garlic in her mouth, and drive a wooden stake through her heart. As Lucy’s feminine beauty returns following being staked, Van Helsing reiterates that this will save her soul from eternal damnation.

How does Dracula die?

Van Helsing and Mina take to the castle, where Van Helsing defeats the three female vampires. Meanwhile, Dr. Seward and Morris hunt Dracula down by horse, while Arthur and Jonathan search by boat. When they manage to reach him as the sun sets, Jonathan, meaning to decapitate Dracula, stabs him in the throat. Morris simultaneously stabs Dracula in the heart with his bowie knife. In his final moments, Mina sees a look of peace on Dracula’s face before he crumbles to dust. 

What prompts Van Helsing to join the hunt for Dracula?

Dr. Seward calls upon his former teacher, Van Helsing, to look into the troubling developments concerning Lucy’s worsening condition. Dr. Seward trusts Van Helsing as a foremost expert when it comes to strange diseases (Seward even once saved his life prior to the events of the novel), and Van Helsing is more than willing to promote otherworldly ideas as explanations for what has been happening to Lucy. He identifies her situation as that of vampiric influence, and leads the charge in identifying how her condition, and Dracula himself, may be stopped.

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