What is the message of the novel Dracula?
The novel Dracula was written in 1897 by Bram Stoker. The themes of religion, superstition, imprisonment and love are addressed. The first theme is religion. Count Dracula, as a vampire, represents all the evil in a Christian world.
What is the purpose of Dracula?
One of the messages or themes of Dracula is the conflict between modernity and the ancient world. Stoker suggests that no matter how advanced the modern world’s technology is, there are some things, such as evil, that it cannot destroy.
Where did Bram Stoker get the idea for Dracula?
In Aberdeenshire the ruined Slains Castle at Cruden Bay is thought to be a main inspiration for Bram Stoker’s dramatic setting of Dracula.
What fears does Dracula represent?
Greg Buzwell considers the way the novel reflects the fears that haunted late 19th-century society – fears of immigration, sexual promiscuity and moral degeneration.
How is religion presented in Dracula?
Dracula is in large part a Christian allegory (a narrative in which symbols are used to communicate a Christian theme or message). They use Catholic sacred objects and practices to protect themselves and defeat Dracula even though some of them are Protestant or have no clear religious affiliation.
Why is religion important in Dracula?
A main theme of religion in the book is the representation of the Eucharist from Christianity. The book represents the Eucharist with blood. Dracula can be considered the Anti-Christ, mostly because of the showing of Anti-Christian values and abuses of the Christian religion.
What does the crucifix symbolize in Dracula?
One of the images that Stoker uses in Dracula is the crucifix. The crucifix represents Jesus Christ’s sacrifice for mankind because Christ was killed by crucifixion. When Jonathan Harker firsts travels to meet Count Dracula, a woman who learns of his intentions gives him a crucifix to guard him against evil .
How is the supernatural presented in Dracula?
One of Dracula’s most notable supernatural powers is that he can control animals. At one point in the novel, there is an account of an ‘escaped wolf. Dracula can also take the form of animals, including a wolf, when he disembarks from his ship after the journey from Transylvania.
What are the Gothic elements in Dracula?
Dracula by Bram Stoker has many of the features of the classic Gothic genre. These include motifs like a dark setting, heightened emotions, and the use of a damsel in distress and a mystery plot. In Dracula some of the main themes or universal concepts include transformation and unrequited love.
What forms does Dracula take?
Shapeshifting. Dracula can change form at will, able to grow and become small, his featured forms in the novel being that of a bat, a wolf, a large dog and a fog or mist. When the moonlight is shining, he can travel as elemental dust within its rays.
What is the relationship between science and the supernatural in the novel Dracula?
Dracula shows science both as a strength and a weakness because as part of Gothic literature, Dracula has supernatural characters that cannot be explained by science, but Dracula was also written during the modern period after the Industrial Revolution in which scientific and technological advancements were booming.
How is science used in Dracula?
Characters in Dracula attempt to use science in order to explain a world of chaos and disorder, thereby representing a distinct Victorian anxiety. Throughout Dracula, characters continually attempt to use science in order to solve their problems with the supernatural.