The author illustrates through the chapter that the monsters in literature are really depictions of mankind’s own faults and deeply rooted capability of malice, consequently, when they show up in literature, it is not for the sole purpose of spicing up the plot. Many of the monsters in literature serve as cautionary tales to remind people, especially the youth, that many of life’s dangers come from within or out of someone else’s selfishness. In the book, vampires are associated with the predators of the world who will destroy you for their own personal gain. This broadens the spectrum of vampires to include socialites, bullies, and even common thieves. The destructive desires that lead people to tear apart others can also be turned inward.…
Bram Stoker’s Critique of Victorian Gender Norms and An Unconventional Pathway for Victorian Women to Advantage Their Social Standing The novel “Dracula” written by Bram Stoker appears on the surface to be a traditional 19th century gothic text, but after closer examination, Stoker’s novel develops into a glass shattering feminist novel embedded with ideas about gender norms. Stoker uses the characters in “Dracula” to provide examples and critique for both traditional and nontraditional representations of masculinity, femininity, and gender roles in the Victorian period. Additionally, by incorporating vampirism, Stoker is able to present the feminine qualities that Victorian women should and should not peruse to improve their societal standing.…
1. In the years since Stoker’s novel, vampires have become a movie fixture; in America and throughout the world. 2. Silent versions of the vampire tale include Les Vampires (1915), a French film; Nosferatu (1921), a German film; and London After Midnight (1927), an American film.…
Phenomenon of vampires is highly incorporated in today’s popular culture with a large number of books, films, and TV-series about them emerging every year. Still, many people cannot deny that Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” is an exceptional literary creation that stood at the origins of the cult of vampires. Not only did this Victorian novel, written in 1897, become a landmark piece of gothic literature, but also it defined the contemporary form and image of vampires and paved the way for multiple interpretations in modern culture. Nevertheless, “Dracula” is not just an outstanding horror fiction book. It is also a profound insight into Victorian age – a defining time in the history of the Western world, when so many cornerstones of society began…
Supernatural stories have been around for the longest but when it comes to vampires, there's Vlad the impaler he was the prince and ruler of Wallachia, nicknamed dracula son of the dragon which later came to be the son of the Devil.gave rise to the name vampire Count Dracula . Now there's Dracula a movie fictional character that is a super natural human that feeds on blood, superhuman strength, and…
The history of movies is often dominated by repetition of common concepts that are deemed to be a reflection of the society on a modern day perspective. Peter Bradshaw thus dissects the Twilight depicting some of the modern day misconceptions and their role in the film. The movie separates its self from other movies through its emphasis on content incorporation and goes an extra mile to redefine the mystery behind vampires through a twist that also includes love.…
Throughout the novel, Stoker makes references to modern conveniences for instance Dr Steward maintains his journal using a phonograph, which was considered new and expensive during the time of Dracula's writing, even Mina Murray is shown using modern technology by typing her letters on a type writer. Both instances give the novel a sense of credibility, since it seems that everybody in England is trying to walk into the future of progress as well as advancement. Even though the novel begins in a ruined castle, the setting moves to the modern setting of Victorian London, where ironically the advances in technology make it easy for Dracula to prey on its civilians because of their blindness to the connection between the supernatural and modernity.…
American Author Project: Elizabeth Kostova Although there were many people who tried to re-create Bram Stoker’s Dracula, only Elizabeth Kostova was able to really capture the true essence – albeit 113 years after the original was written in the first place. Even though nobody can compare to the Bram Stoker original, Elizabeth Kostova did entirely get the ideas written down in such a way that it was easy to tell she paid attention to the tiniest of details. Elizabeth Kostova is important to American Literature because she keeps classic tales in her modern-day stories, only twisting minor details and leaving the root story in place, almost as if to teach somebody today the original story and make it more relatable and understandable. Elizabeth Kostova has had an interesting life.…
Purpose and questions. This essay has 2 main goals. The first goal that will be concentrated on now is to find the similarities and differences between the two vampire characters Edward Cullen and Count Dracula and how they are portrayed in terms of aspects of behavior, actions, life and appearance. The aim is the following questions: How is Edward Cullen portrayed in contrast to Count Dracula?…
In this pre-rational, I’ll be exploring the Gothic genre in regards to its history, development, the key elements that classify certain literature as Gothic and the authors that made this genre successful. Next, I’ll examine the themes and content of my chosen text, Dracula and how it classifies as gothic literature in regards to the key elements. I’ll also discuss a handful of adaptations made based on Stoker’s Dracula over the centuries and how well they did regarding their interpretation as well as what I have learned from them. Finally, I’ll explain the development of my creative piece, Hell Hath No Fury; outline the premise of the story, how I’m changing the gothic genre, the research I have done so far and will need to do, and why…
Directed by Ridley Scott, Kingdom of Heaven is one of the greatest films made by the film company Fox, which is based on the real story of the Crusaders. The film started with the unwilling entry to the Crusades of the protagonist Balian, a French blacksmith whose wife killed herself and who wanted to find outlet of his emotion and find salvation from his fault of killing his half brother in a moment of rage by fighting the holy war to protect the holy land of Jerusalem. When he reached Godfrey who turned out to be his father, the soldiers of the church chased after Balian. During a confrontation with the church soldiers, his father Godfrey was shot by an arrow and soon dead due to the poisoning arrow. Before his death, he bestowed his leadership…
Shadow of the Vampire portrays the adaptation of Nosferatu especially the intentions dedication of the director, Murnau. Murnau requires acting methods that are extreme and sometimes deadly in order to achieve an immortal film, one that will be remembered and live forever. The physical film and camera are symbols of immortality that will kill the characters, like a vampire. The beginning of the film, Shadow of the Vampire, is the portrayal of the creation of the famous horror movie, Nosferatu, based on Bram Stoker’s Dracula.…
95), ‘Dracula’ and ‘Lady Audley’s Secret’ similarly represented the fear that modernity may fail because of the past (Badowska 2009, p. 158). That is, that the past continually resurrects, interferes with the present and therefore doesn’t allow space for modernity to prevail. This is explicitly represented in Braddon’s novel, when Lady Audley’s hidden past continually threatens to overthrow her future despite all her attempts to stop it. While in ‘Dracula’, Stoker’s heroic cast is mainly made up of upper class occupations that are evidence of the modern approach to medicine and justice (Botting 1996, p. 96), but as the group comes across a feared supernatural being from the past, their modern occupations can’t aid…
There are a few common Gothic themes in Bram Stoker’s novel, Dracula. One of the most evident themes is entrapment. Another undeniable theme in the novel is sex. Besides these two subjects, the traditional theme of good versus evil appears. These three themes are customary of Gothic literature due to their mysterious and sometimes dark nature.…
Upyr, upier, sanguisuga, brucolacus; this demon of the night is known by many names around the world (Steiger 81). However, it is more commonly known in english by the name of vampire. The vampire is considered to be the most famous monster in the world. Many cultures around the world tell tales about the dead coming back to life to feast on the blood of mortals. These tales inspired many works of literature, allowing the myth of the vampire to spread far and wide, increasing their popularity as time advanced.…