Dracula as an iconic horror novel
The strongest feeling of humans is fear. It exists as one of the primal instincts and as one of the most sophisticated, unknown phenomena. During all human history, fear follows people in the superstitions, dread before the dark, occult rituals. All these elements become an inseparable part of human culture. The so-called gothic literature founded the horror genre’s principles which should be followed in order to create a good horror novel. One of the brightest novels in the genre is Dracula by Bram Stoker. The story of love and fear gained spectacular popularity. There were novels before Dracula and a lot of writings after. However, there were no novels which could compete Stoker’s genius. At the current …show more content…
The book is full of the symbols, metaphors, and techniques which made it a real horror. The main dreadful element of the novel is the count. The figure of Dracula gathers all leading horror elements in one character which makes him so attractive and dangerous at the same time. Dracula is a vampire, a monster with a human part which makes him incredibly dangerous. The count is not a vicious monster but the tragic lover who wants to restore his life in an unnatural way. This vulnerability creates compassion to the character, despite the fact that he can cause significant demolition. Dracula is unknown, and that is why he is scary. Locations where the plot takes place are ancient castle and the modern London; old versus new. As well as characters, Dracula stands as an embodiment of ancient fears and Van Helsing is a harbinger of light. This rivalry is eternal and both characters play their roles well. Moreover, the novel is full of Christian symbols such as churches, crucifix as a weapon against evil, and a metaphorical battle between the spiritual and the carnal.With Dracula there is relief from horror in the pseudo-exorcism of the vampiric Thing (Botting, 287). Despite the absolute of cosmic fear, Dracula is horrible because it looks realistic. The narrative method of Dracula is to assemble a collage of purportedly authentic documents, most of them in the first person (Acocella). This technique emphasizes the fact that it could happen with each
The strongest feeling of humans is fear. It exists as one of the primal instincts and as one of the most sophisticated, unknown phenomena. During all human history, fear follows people in the superstitions, dread before the dark, occult rituals. All these elements become an inseparable part of human culture. The so-called gothic literature founded the horror genre’s principles which should be followed in order to create a good horror novel. One of the brightest novels in the genre is Dracula by Bram Stoker. The story of love and fear gained spectacular popularity. There were novels before Dracula and a lot of writings after. However, there were no novels which could compete Stoker’s genius. At the current …show more content…
The book is full of the symbols, metaphors, and techniques which made it a real horror. The main dreadful element of the novel is the count. The figure of Dracula gathers all leading horror elements in one character which makes him so attractive and dangerous at the same time. Dracula is a vampire, a monster with a human part which makes him incredibly dangerous. The count is not a vicious monster but the tragic lover who wants to restore his life in an unnatural way. This vulnerability creates compassion to the character, despite the fact that he can cause significant demolition. Dracula is unknown, and that is why he is scary. Locations where the plot takes place are ancient castle and the modern London; old versus new. As well as characters, Dracula stands as an embodiment of ancient fears and Van Helsing is a harbinger of light. This rivalry is eternal and both characters play their roles well. Moreover, the novel is full of Christian symbols such as churches, crucifix as a weapon against evil, and a metaphorical battle between the spiritual and the carnal.With Dracula there is relief from horror in the pseudo-exorcism of the vampiric Thing (Botting, 287). Despite the absolute of cosmic fear, Dracula is horrible because it looks realistic. The narrative method of Dracula is to assemble a collage of purportedly authentic documents, most of them in the first person (Acocella). This technique emphasizes the fact that it could happen with each