Dracula Essay, Research Paper

Dracula

The facet of Dracula that makes it so awful, as opposed to modern-day horror, is that of the strong character of Count Dracula himself. For all of the panic he inspires, The Count has few visual aspects in the novel, alternatively utilizing his mystique to scare the reader. While about all current books and movies in the horror genre focal point on the facets of force and daze entreaty, Dracula uses the component of suspense to capture the reader. By utilizing the component of fright, Bram Stoker keeps the reader turning the pages in expectancy of the following series of terrorizing events to happen.

One of the major factors in the horror of Dracula is that so much of Count Dracula & # 8217 ; s actions are centered around the carnal and bestial, desires which are considered unnatural for worlds. The Count is strictly animal and animate being in nature, doing him so terrorizing for the work forces and adult females that become ensnared in his bloodlust. An illustration of The Count & # 8217 ; s animalistic traits can be found in his visual aspect. With his crisp eyetooth dentitions and instead haired organic structure, The Count surely gives the feeling of being something other than human. As stated in Jonathan Harker & # 8217 ; s diary, & # 8220 ; & # 8230 ; lofty domed brow, and hair turning barely round the temples but abundantly everywhere else ; The oral cavity & # 8230 ; was fixed and instead cruel-looking, with peculiarly crisp white dentitions ; The ears were pale, and the tops highly pointed & # 8230 ; & # 8221 ; ( page 18 ) . This is clearly non a adult male, but some kind of animal in a human signifier. This unnatural being subconsciously horrifies the reader, as it is non clear what to do of Dracula, whether he is a adult male or a animal. By go forthing this component of enigma to the character of The Count, the reader is left with a feeling of suspense. This feeling is frequently lost in modern-day horror/gothic literature and movie, which frequently shows the evil being in all of its hideous glorification. By go forthing these psychological facets of fright and suspense, Bram Stoker writes a genuinely authoritative Gothic novel.

Another of the cardinal factors of the psychological panic in the novel is that of the gender of the lamia. Sexual activity was one of the greatest tabu of Bram Stoker & # 8217 ; s clip, even more so than it is now. Stoker, a extremely spiritual adult male and an advocator for censoring, used this to his advantage when composing Dracula. This connexion is seen early in the novel, when Jonathan Harker is attacked by three beautiful female lamias in Dracula & # 8217 ; s palace. Harker writes in his diary that, & # 8220 ; The miss went on her articulatio genuss, and set over me, merely gloating. & # 8221 ; ( page 39 ) . This sort of dominant female sex

uality is normally both idolized and feared by work forces, as Harker following provinces: “There was a deliberate hot stuff which was both thrilling and repulsive…” ( page 39 ) . This forceful female gender is besides seen subsequently in the novel, when Lucy Westrena is transformed into a lamia, and efforts to take her hubby Arthur to the grave with her on a few occasions. One such juncture occurs when Lucy is on her “death-bed” and says, “Arthur! Oh, my love, I am so glad you could come! Snog me! ” ( pages 168-169 ) . Lucy’s “kiss” would hold meant Arthur’s terminal, had Dr. Van Helsing non stopped it. However, the both the gender and the horror of Dracula is frequently lost in ghastly modern-day novels. Recent films such as The Hunger and Francis Ford Coppala’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula are little more than sapphic lamia movies with noteworthy dramatis personaes. A similar comparing can be made with Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles, which are presently praised as great illustrations of Gothic horror novels. Similar to the aforesaid movies, these and other modern-day Gothic novels lose the sensualness of Dracula.

Finally, perchance the most terrific facet of Dracula is The Count & # 8217 ; s mocking of Christianity. In Bram Stoker & # 8217 ; s puritanical society, Dracula represents a character about like Lucifer incarnate. In his lampoon of Christ, Dracula says, & # 8220 ; Except ye eat the Flesh of the Son of Man, and imbibe his blood, ye have no life in you & # 8230 ; He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my dwelleth in me, and I in him. & # 8221 ; ( page 304 ) . Indeed, Dracula seems to be a entire antonym of Christ and Christian values, wholly base and carnal in his desires, and genuinely some kind of animal from snake pit. However, Christianity is the clear master in this novel, as one of the most powerful devices against The Count is a cross, turn outing that religion and good conquer over immorality.

Dracula is genuinely a authoritative Gothic horror novel of the best sort. Alternatively of concentrating on the violent facets that pervert most authorship in the genre, Dracula uses the elements of fright and suspense. Using adult male & # 8217 ; s natural fright of the sexually unknown, Bram Stoker psychologically terrorizes the reader with dominant female characters that are unsafe menaces to the work forces of the novel. By utilizing reverse Christian symbolism, Dracula is shown as being genuinely evil, but is able to be subdued by Christianity and religion. These elements separate Dracula from modern-day Gothic fiction, and at the same time terrorize the reader much more so than any current signifiers of the horror genre. Ultimately, Dracula will ever be the criterion that Gothic fiction authors will ever endeavor for, but few will accomplish.