But---oh, the writing style! Huge, long, gigantic paragraphs! Dracula reminded me of The Scarlett Letter because, although it did have some interesting elements, it was so long and drawn out. If the filler was cut out, it would have made a compelling short story. He is deathly pale. His fingernails are cut to sharp points. His teeth protrude menacingly from his mouth in clouds of rancid breath… Yet even Count Dracula’s unnerving appearance and the frightened reaction of the local peasants fail to warn Jonathan Harker, a young man from England, about his host. Little does Jonathan know that this is a land where babies are snatched for their blood and wolves howl menacingly from the forest, where reality is far more frightening than superstition. What’s more, it’s going to be up to him to stop the world’s most bloodthirsty predator… Sadly, Van Helsing is one of my main problems with the book. While I love his heroism, his 'Let's-do-it' attitude and his unceasing struggle for Mina's soul, I find him entirely unconvincing as a Dutchman. I wish to God (with a crucifix and everything!) that I could switch off my inner linguist and appreciate the story for its narrative qualities rather than its linguistic aspects, but Stoker has Van Helsing indulge in so many linguistic improbabilities ('Are you of belief now, friend John?') that it quite took me out of the story, again and again and again. I'm aware this is not a problem that will bother many readers, but I for one dearly wish Stoker had listened to some actual Dutchmen before making the hero of his story one. Then perhaps he also would have refrained from making the poor man mutter German whenever he is supposed to speak his mother tongue. ('Mein Gott' is German, Mr Stoker. I mean, really.) Transylvania — filled with popular beliefs about vampires and surrounded by dark forests— seemed perfect, and the Bran Castle presented an excellent starting point. So, Bram Stoker described a castle perched on a steep hill, with a river washing the valley below. Then, inspired by the prevailing supernatural folklore in the region, he masterfully connected countless scattered legends into one single coherent narrative. The novel's depiction of women continues to divide critics. Elaine Showalter writes that Lucy Westenra and Mina Harker represent different aspects of the New Woman. [g] According to Showalter, Lucy represents the "sexual daring" of the New Woman, evidenced by how she wonders why a woman cannot marry three men if they all desire her. [67] Mina, meanwhile, represents the New Woman's "intellectual ambitions", citing her occupation as a schoolmaster, her keen mind, and her knowledge of shorthand. [67] Carol A. Senf writes that Stoker was ambivalent about the New Woman phenomenon. Of the novel's five vampires, four are women, and all are aggressive, "wildly erotic", and driven only by their thirst for blood. Mina Harker, meanwhile, serves as the antithesis of the other female characters, and plays a singularly important role in Dracula's defeat. [31] On the other hand, Judith Wasserman argues that the fight to defeat Dracula is really a battle for control over women's bodies. [68] Senf points out that Lucy's sexual awakening, and her reversal of gender-based sexual roles, is what Abraham Van Helsing considers a threat. [69] Race

Other critics have concurred with Miller. Mathias Clasen describes her as "a tireless debunker of academic Dracula myths". [24] In response to several lines of query as to the historical origin of Dracula, Benjamin H. Leblanc reproduces her arguments in his critical history on the novel. [14] In general Bram Stoker his writing is quite readable but also overdramatic and not very subtle. The themes and moral are simple: central is how the male forces of science (Dr Seward), aristocracy (Arthur), no-nonsense Americans (Quincy) and spiritistic Dutch lyricism (Van Helsing) are needed to face a threat. They even compare themselves to Crusaders, going to the East to destroy Evil.

About Me

Like most places in Romania, Dracula’s Castle is a place of myth, magic and grisly legends. However, it’s mostly a place imagined by Bram Stoker, who needed a mystical setting for his Dracula character. I find Victorian horror so interesting as a microcosm of reaction to social norms of the time, to the buttoned-down and repressed social climate of the time, to the “new moral standards” of the church and the new questions brought up and hidden away by scientific thought. But under the fabric of late Victorian society lay wide ranges of change; the increased marriage rate and idea of the domestic sphere for women giving way to the New Woman, the upper class vs. lower class divide giving way to a new middle class. With the growth of the economy came new ideas of English excellence; with the growth of scientific thought, scientific racism. So, I've come to realize that very few of the classic characters or stories even remotely resemble what you think they will based on their modern counterparts. And in my uneducated opinion, most classics just aren't all that much fun to read. They're boring and filled up with tedious shit that I don't care about, and certainly don't want to read about. <-- Scenery, weather, random feelings about the scenery or weather, etc..

Hogle, Jerrold E. (2002). "Introduction". The Cambridge Companion to Gothic Fiction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. If the atmosphere becomes a bit too real for you, leave the foggy fortress behind and head to Brasov. With mountains that open countless hiking trails for every type of traveller, the city of Brasov is a quintessential stop in Transylvania. Downtown BrasovDearden, Lizzie (20 May 2014). "Radu Florescu dead: Legacy of the Romanian 'Dracula professor' ". The Independent. Archived from the original on 12 January 2021. I guess one of the oddest things that I realized about this horror story was that when Lucy & Mina started turning toward the dark side, they got sexy. You can also still join BIPC events and webinars and access one-to-one support. See what's available at the British Library in St Pancras or online and in person via BIPCs in libraries across London. Some sources say the legal battle lasted only two, [133] while others give the number as three. [135] [136] But my feelings turned to repulsion and terror when I saw the whole man slowly emerge from the window and begin to crawl down the castle wall over that dreadful abyss, face down, with his cloak spreading out around him like great wings."