There are many gothic conventions in ‘Dracula’, and this is what makes it an eerie delight for the viewers, as well as making it fit into the ‘gothic’ genre. The movie is cleverly adapted from the book, sharing the same title- that was scribed by Bram Stoker. Some very common gothic elements include the theme of isolation and security. Both of these things can be seen in ‘Dracula’ The theme of isolation is presented by the way Dracula’s castle is shown to the viewers- dark, isolated from any form any other form of civilization in the middle of a great landscape consisting of myriad and secret passageways and being a ruin in itself. The settings presented are also dark and eeire, and Dracula himself lives in solitude with no other companion.
Many people were taken in by this nineteenth-century writer’s harsh outlook on life in his work. One is capable of only imagining the things that Edgar Allan Poe has, throughout his deeply saddening and depressing time here on earth, brought to life in his writing by simply printing in words different sections and scenarios of his ambiguous life. Edgar A. Poe lived a very somber orphan life which later became the foundation to the origin of his gothic nature and writing. Poe is recognized as a genius who reinvented the gothic tale of mystery and horror for his time (Introduction 1). Poe placed the reader inside the tortured minds and lives of people confronting the supernatural.
Brahm Stoker’s “Dracula” highlights concerns prevalent within the Victorian era, shown through characters, symbols and themes throughout the novel. Prior to this, Samuel Taylor Coleridge worked within the Romantic era absorbing a multitude of radical political and theological ideas, ideas which often underpinned his works. Coleridge’s “Christabel” confronts concerns surrounding universal human characteristics, particularly those most prominent within his era, such as female purity and innocence. In contrast to these more traditional beliefs, “Blood; The Last Vampire” articulates anxieties surrounding the breakdown of a society and the repercussions of this in relation to a younger, more contemporary society. The “dark side’ within these texts are often projected through a singular symbol, character or theme that is unaccepted or feared by its surrounding society.
In this essay I am going to compare and contrast how certain characters are portrayed in the novels Dracula (1897), The Turn of the Screw’(1898) and the poetry of Edgar Allan Poe, focusing on physical descriptions, events, linguistic techniques and the significance of symbols whilst also taking into account the historical context of the Victorian period. Looking at my selected poems of Edgar Allan Poe’s work the women, although all adored by the narrators, are portrayed as physically weak as many die from a ‘cold’. This is apparent in ‘Annabel Lee’ where Poe writes ‘That the wind came out of the cloud by night, Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee’. This concept that Annabel Lee died from the mere coolness of the wind seems hyperbolic, which puts emphasis on the fact that women were regarded as incredibly frail. There are no adjectives used to describe the wind as tempest-like or extraordinary, reinforcing the fragility of women.
Blade Runner Essay Question: In what ways does a comparative study accentuate the distinctive contexts of Frankenstein and Blade Runner? Answer: Through texts composers have been able to highlight and examine key ideas relative to their specific context. A text has the ability to bring to the forefront its contextual ideas in a engaging manner. In Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein the context is highlighted through 19th century ideas of Gothicism and Romanticism in an entertaining but concerning manner. Additionally, Ridley Scott’s feature film Blade Runner depicts a dystopian world devastated by capitalism, greed and technology which were primary concerns in the context of the 1980’s.
Judith Halberstam’s 1995, Skin Shows: Gothic Horror and the Technology of Monsters novel includes a chapter entitled, “Making Monsters: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.” In this chapter Halberstam rethink’s Gothic horror in the sense of Frankenstein’s and the Monster’s motives and roles in Mary Shelley’s novel. Halberstam breaks down the chapter in six different sub-sections: “Monster Making,” “Monstrous Forms,” “Visual Horror and Narrative,” “Sexual Horror and Narrative,” “Pulp Fiction,” and “Gothic Realism” (Halberstam 28-52). Theses six sub-sections have a similar theme. Halberstam tries to define the true meaning of monstrosity. She does this by dissecting the humanistic view of a monster and what kind of characteristics a creature needs to posses in order to be defined as a monster.
Shakespeare has employed pathetic fallacy, as the wild weather foreshadows the unnatural events that are going to occur. Therefore, Shakespeare has used chaotic and conventional gothic weather imagery to conform to the genre. In comparison, Act 2 takes place in Macbeth’s castle. Immediately, the idea of a castle is a stereotypical setting that belongs to the gothic for its old, archaic and medieval connotations. In
They share the technique of interior narrative, so we understand what the major characters are thinking and what the motivations are for their actions. However, while the big questions about human nature may not have changed substantially since the early 19th century, the world is now a very different place and the textual forms clearly express that difference. Shelley’s Gothic novel becomes Scott’s film noir/crime fiction/sci-fi film, and the way the ideas are explored, and the audience for these ideas, are both very different. Frankenstein was published in 1819, when political upheaval in parts of Europe and major advances in science and medicine were challenging established ideas about people and society. The novel asks us to consider what it means to be a human being – can a human being be “made”, as the Creature is?
The idea of doubling is a central theme in Mary Shelley’s gothic novel Frankenstein. This theme reveals itself in a variety of ways, predominantly with the parallels between Frankenstein and his creature, but it also is apparent from the dualities in other characters, the language and images used and in the structure and form of the novel itself. Victor Frankenstein and the physical creature are the most obvious example of doubling. One way in which Shelley shows how the two are a reflection of each other is through the therapeutic way nature affects their souls. Early on in the novel during his nervous breakdown Frankenstein he says that the ‘season contributed greatly to my convalescence.’ This soothing effect nature has on the mind is replicated when the creature, after having endured a hellish, bitterly cold winter alone, finds that ‘spring cheered even’ him, inducing feelings of ‘gentleness and pleasure’.
The way that Poe composed the tale has many people, to this day, analyzing the psychological terror and horror embedded within. It is considered that every detail and/or event is ‘related’ and ‘relevant’. Poe had an impressive ability to create highly emotional aspects into his works, as portrayed in The Fall of the House of Usher. Poe creates a very mysterious and terrifying atmosphere through different gothic elements as well as the use of first person character which established the terror and horror throughout the gothic tale. The use of metonymy represents the actual mood created within the story as well as the main characters’ feelings towards the house of Usher.