Dracula :: essays research papers

Overviewgenus genus Dracula has appealed to readers for almost a century, at least in part because it deals with atomic number 53 of the great human conflicts the struggle betwixt good and evil. Stoker acknowledges the complexness of this conflict by showing good characters attracted to evil. For example, Jonathan Harker, the lawyer who journeys to Transylvania, is almost attacked at Draculas castle by three adolescent female vampires. In fact, he seems to be actually welcoming the attack before it is interrupted by the count. In this scene, as well as others, Stoker suggests that evil, represented by the vampires, is an almost irresistible force which requires great spiritual strength to overcome. It in the end takes the combined forces of a band of men, representing different countries, to defeat the vampiric count. Stokers novel is a symbolic exploration of a conflict which has long troubled humankind.Dracula also has considerable cultural importance. Stoker was not the first generator to make use of the vampire legend. Throughout the 19th century vampires appeared in a number of works, including Sheridan LeFanus Carmilla (1872), which Stoker read as a young man. But it is Stokers version of the vampire legend that has had the most enduring pop appeal and the greatest influence on modern writers and filmmakers. In his arrest Vampires Unearthed, Martin Riccardo tells the story of a survey taken by Madame Tussauds Wax Museum to descend the worlds "most hated person." Dracula ranked fifth. Clearly, Stokers creation continues to capture readers imaginations. scenery Stoker uses a circular structure for his novel, incorporating two settings. Transylvania is the setting for the ascendant and end of the novel, and, since he had never been there, Stoker had to rely on search for his description of the country and its people. The rest of the novel takes regulate in England, a setting familiar to Stoker and his audience.The novel begins with Jonath an Harkers journey to Transylvania on may 3 of an unspecified year. Harker later states that seven years elapse between the events themselves and his compilation of them, so we may assume that the action of the novel takes place from May to November in 1890. Harkers initial enjoyment of a country alter with wonderful new sights, people, and food contrasts sharply with his apprehension as he approaches the counts castle and his terror when he finally realizes he is Draculas prisoner. This section, the first 4 chapters of the novel, has been highly praised for its accurate descriptions of the region and its use of those descriptions to create suspense and terror.