The settings presented are also dark and eeire, and Dracula himself lives in solitude with no other companion. The film adaptation of Bram Stoker’s ‘Dracula’ is just as reliant on the conventions of Gothic fiction (a genre that was extremely popular in the early nineteenth century when the book was written) as the novel, making it not only follow nicely in the novel’s footsteps but also proving to be a chilling delight for the viewing audience. Gothic fiction traditionally includes elements such as wild landscapes, eerie castles, darkness, and decay, isolation, security, the supernatural and innocent maidens threatened by unspeakable evil. Stoker has utilized all of the above and consequently, as does this film adaptation. An example of this would be in the theme of isolation as Dracula’s castle is hidden in the recesses of Transylvania, kept away from civilization of any description.
“How does ‘Shadow of a Vampire’ appropriate the earlier texts of Nosferatu and Dracula and create something new?” Shadow of a Vampire (2000), directed by Elias Merhige, is a film that recreates the making of the 1922 film ‘Nosferatu’. Shadow of a Vampire distorts the reality of what actually went on whilst filming Nosferatu yet appropriates the text to make it entertaining and scary. As Nosferatu is based on Dracula by Bram Stoker, Shadow of a Vampire also becomes an appropriation of this text, mainly using the elements of gothic to create what is essentially a horror movie. An appropriation that adds to the scary nature is the behaviour of Nosferatu director Friedrich Murnau. Murnau’s behaviour is questionable from the early stages of the film.
The theme of doubling occurs when a pair of characters can be described as two sides of the same coin, though one usually represents the evil or hedonistic side of the other. Doubling is a recurring theme used in many Gothic novels but is also used in novels like ‘Wuthering Heights’ and the play of ‘MacBeth’. Mary Shelley frequently uses the theme of doubling through her novel ‘Frankenstein’ through how she structures the personalities and appearances of the characters. The most common use of doubling is between the characters of Victor Frankenstein and his monster. It is said that the monster’s ‘hideous looks’ represents Victor’s abnormal personality.
Forward thinking in Dracula. In Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Stoker challenges the Victorian mind in ways that had never been done before. The novel is written in a way to fool readers to think the story is true. He covers subjects of religion, sex and the supernatural in an attempt to expand the shallow thinking of the time. The character of Dracula rarely appears in the text after the first few chapters to create a sense of mystique for Dracula, and by doing so proves Dracula is supernatural.
Bram Stoker’s Dracula was written in a time of great change. His story had many interesting themes that where symbolic. According to shmoop.com, blood may be one of the most symbolic themes in the story (shmoop.com). The character, Renfield, says, "I tried to kill him for the purpose of strengthening my vital powers by the assimilation with my own body of his life through the medium of his blood – relying, of course, upon the Scriptural phrase, 'For the blood is the life.” He is referring to the idea that by drinking another’s blood you are able to, in some way, take their vital powers. We can relate this passage to the Christian faith and taking communion.
As preoccupied with propriety as the Victorian era was, it always surprises me to read a classic from this period that could just as easily have been written a hundred years later. Dracula, a novel by Bram Stoker, was published in 1897, but it reads like any horror novel written today. The novel is so modern, in fact, that it has inspired many movie adaptations, two of the most recent being Bram Stoker's Dracula in 1992 and Van Helsing in 2004. Toward the beginning of the novel, when Jonathan Harker is trapped in Dracula's castle, Harker's journal tells how he was waylaid by three female vampires while resting in an ancient section of the castle: "I could feel the soft, shivering touch of the lips on the super-sensitive skin of my throat,
Even during the decapitation of Lucy, there are hidden sexual meanings. Though the detailed account is never explicitly sexual, it is hard for an alert reader to avoid noticing their sexual suggestiveness. Arthur plunges his stake into Lucy’s body, driving it deeper and deeper. Seward records “The body shook and quivered and twisted in wild contortions.” These prominent sexual themes lure many a reader to “Dracula”, as for the gothic theme it allows the reader to make a protected contact with these sexual ideas in a sense experiencing “safe thrills.” The fact that Count Dracula is the sexual predator of members of the bourgeoisie has significance as at this time the middle classes defined themselves against the aristocracy through self-regulation of behaviours, particularly sexual behaviour as is prescribed within the Christian
Dracula is a book with many hidden surprises. One of the hidden surprises is the elements of Gothic literature Dracula contains. The first is setting in a tall building such as a castle. Jonathan Harker first encounters the Count at his castle in Transylvania. Another element is an atmosphere of mystery and suspense.
Constantinescu 1 Paul Constantinescu The Vampire Myth October 17, 2008 Dracula's Effect on Others Bram Stoker's novel Dracula tells the story of the greatest vampire that anyone has ever seen. After Dracula comes to London and preys on Lucy, many people from different worlds come together to finally rid London and the rest of humanity of the Count. In the novel, Dracula interacts with many people, sometimes bringing out their best qualities, yet sometimes bringing out their worst ones. He brings out a sense of responsibility and a sense of protection in some, while bringing out a sadistic side in others. Firstly, the novel begins with a young man, Jonathan Harker, who is on his
Kathryn Goers ENG 346: Virtue and Vice in Gothic Literature Dr. Timothy Decker 5 November 2012 Sexuality? Predator vs. Victim Women in several known horror narratives, stories, and films, are highly sexualized. They aren't always seen as human, and are treated as victims. In his novel, Dracula, Bram Stoker is no different from other horror writers.