Preview

Dracula Good Vs Evil Essay

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
724 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Dracula Good Vs Evil Essay
But Then, Who Is The Monster?

Goodness is self-righteous: evil is purposeful. Seems rather counterintuitive doesn’t it? But what truly is good and what truly is evil, or are the two even separate entities to begin with? After all, good and evil is all hinged upon perspective, viewpoint is the key. Can something so obscured by opinions really be quantified? So where do monsters fall then? Who are the monsters? Why is our society obsessed with such monsters both in reality and fiction tales? The answer is rather simple: since we cannot define what good and evil is and we presume monsters fall into the spectrum of evil, we write about them, mold them into what we believe they should be to fulfill our desire for a definitive ideal of good and
…show more content…
In Bram Stoker's novel, Dracula is depicted as the definition of evil. Throughout the novel, there is no doubt about his nefarious intentions and murderous pastimes as he proclaims, “My revenge has just begun! I spread it over centuries and time is on my side “ (Brams 339, ch 22). Thus it is apparent in the novel that Dracula is evil. Brams made his definition of evil quite clear through Dracula’s sexualized, violent, and sacrilegious actions. Evil was elucidated as an overtly sexually driven being, who is fueled by violence, and does not follow God. To Stoker, this was a definite ideal of evil befitting of his time, so then, why are will still obsessed with Dracula today, why has this tale in particular persevered? Again, the clear declaration of Dracula as an antagonistic murderer still fulfills humanity's desire for a definitive ideal of good and evil, over time that ideal has not faded into the background. We as human beings have gravitated towards such a clear-cut definition of evil, and rarely have we come across one so obvious as Dracula’s tale. We yearn for a separate ideal of good like that of Jonathan Harker to defeat the looming threat of evil of Dracula. Thus, we are drawn to Dracula because of how clear-cut the lines between good and evil are in the novel and how we yearn for our reality to parallel this black and white

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Good and evil are polar opposites, yet one cannot exist without the other. To understand this intricate relationship, one must have a clear understanding on what exactly good and evil are. These two are not always so black and white, but good can be defined as acting agreeably with societical and personal values. Evil can be defined as going against those values. However, as societies and humans differ, so do their moral codes. What is seen as good in one society or time may be seen as evil in another. Two more factors to consider are intentions and actions. They are two separate entities. Actions are seen, and judged, by everyone else, but intentions are known only by the doer. This is why there is no clear-cut line between good and evil.…

    • 1002 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Comparative Literature: The comparison between the book Dracula to the movie is that in the movie starts with legend of Vlad the impaler which is not in the book. In the movie Dracula has a shadow that operates separately from his body movements. Character of Dracula is less threatening initially in the book than in the movie. In the movie, Dracula appears as a wolf rather than the wolf escaping from the zoo being controlled by him which is not in the book. Lucy does not seem very ill compared to the description in the book. Dracula only appears as a bat briefly at the end of the movie in the abbey scene, not at the windows of the house.…

    • 124 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The most prominent double that validate how Dracula is a representation of human evil and humans as the double edged sword is between Van Helsing and Dracula himself. Van Helsing is an illustrious doctor sent to take on Dracula. Dracula is the evil while Van Helsing is the representative of all the good in the world. As an authoritative figure in the story, Van Helsing has a thirst for power among the other characters. He feels the need to always take the lead. Dracula is similar in this way, in he has a thirst for blood. His thirst for blood grants his authority over their personal choices and freedoms. For example in Chapter 23, Van Helsing takes control over Mina when he hypnotizes her to try and track Dracula’s movements. In this way, Van Helsing has complete control over Mina. Dracula and Van Helsing use forms of mental manipulations to get what they want. Dracula has a direct mental connection to Mina. Their similarity is apparent when Van Helsing compared himself to Dracula. Van Helsing said, “our old fox is wily; oh! So wily and we must follow with wile. I too am wily and I think his mind in a little while” (Stoker…

    • 1508 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Stoker’s Dracula, by contrast, is refined and enthralling. He has transmutated from a monster of sorts to a mysterious seducer, from a coldhearted “beast” of incontestable evil to a complex human arousing a strange sympathy and blurring the lines between good and evil. Count Dracula is now an attractive, sophisticated aristocrat who moves about easily in polite society. Dracula’s motivation throughout the film is the pursuit of his lost love, reincarnated in Mina Harker.…

    • 1427 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Bram Stoker’s Dracula was written just before the turn of the 19th century; the beginning of this new era threatened a conservative, unchanging culture, and had people of all classes and religions in England on edge. Social fears such as the fall of the British Empire, the beginning of a new movement that would become what we now know as feminism, and changes in gender roles, gripped the nation. It is interesting the note that this not too dissimilar to the fear that gripped the world of the ‘millennium bug’ in 1999. Written and published in 1897, Dracula contains many of the fears that were in the minds of the Victorian public in this dawning age of social change. The British Empire was threatened by unrest and calls for independence in its…

    • 1817 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The words of dracula mean more than is read by most. The Symbols throughout Dracula, have often been thought to mean many diffrent things throughout history. It is believed by most that a large number of the themes are catholic oriented, Which is very understandable due to the books time period and what the book consists of. Also a number of the symbols stood against females being anything but a mother or wife. The battle of good versus evil, in this book, stood for much more than most would pick up, saying that God will protect you and that Christianity will always combat the evils of the world. The constant theme of blood througout the book also shows it connection to the Bible and Jesus.…

    • 840 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    One question has puzzled men who try to answer it since the beginning of human existence, this question being which of the two is stronger, good or evil. The question has been addressed throughout history in many cultures and in many different ways. It is seen often in literature and can be presented through many techniques. In Bram Stoker’s Dracula, the eternal struggle between good and evil is played out between two characters who are sharp contrasts to one another, Count Dracula and Abraham Van Helsing. These foil characters are used by the author to illuminate an important theme of the novel, the power struggle between good and evil.…

    • 922 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Dracula is a blood sucking, devious, evil vampire that many people have heard of. Dracula is known for being a fictional character, but Dracula was actually based off of a real person. Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia, was the person behind the cruel Dracula. Even though Dracula is a fictional character Vlad and Dracula have a lot more in common than what people will expect them to; given that one is just a made up vampire character from the head of someone who was believed to have been a madman to the Prince of Wallachia. Vlad the impaler was born while Dracula was created, both used different ways of torment on their victims, and both men had a weird taste for something unique.…

    • 572 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Dracula Dynamic Quotes

    • 566 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Vampire stories have been popular for years. One such vampire is Dracula of Bram Stoker’s novel. Dracula drives the plot in many ways, but he is not always the nice guy. Not everyone like him; in fact most are scared of him. Dracula is dynamic, but the antagonist for several reasons. Dracula is evil, scares everyone, and he kills a lot of people.…

    • 566 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Bram Stokers, Dracula, from the late-Victorian era, is one of the best stories of vampire folklore. Dracula was tall, dark, handsome, and mysterious with immense sexual character. His snow white teeth which outlined his rosy red lips made us fantasize of him and ultimately become obsessed. The overwhelming fascination of Stoker’s novel has created individuals to overlook the true metaphoric mechanism behind the story. “Technologies of Monstrosity: Bram Stoker’s “Dracula””, Judith Halberstam points out the metaphor in which Dracula was created. Halberstam argues how Dracula was created as a metaphor for anti-Semitic representations and stereotypical sanctions of the Jew. Halberstam validates her hypothesis by comparing Dracula to physical characteristics of the Jew. Furthermore, she expresses the relation of blood and gold, race and sex, sexuality and ethnicity that consequently relate to the Jew. On the other hand, Kathleen Spencer, “In Purity and Danger: Dracula, The Urban Gothic, and the Late Victorian Degeneracy Crisis”, tries to relate the unconscious and conscious sexuality of Stoker and cultural identities. Spencer focuses on the ‘fantastic’, the urban gothic, romantic revival, and Mary Douglass’s purity and danger to justify her hypothesis. Both these texts provide great examples for the metaphors and symbolism which is hidden in the text of Stoker’s novel.…

    • 1425 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    I read Dracula as a criticism of an individualistic search for power. Take away the supernatural elements and the story is of a man who gains power by ruining the lives of others. Bram Stoker’s motivation for writing Dracula was likely not one-dimensional. While there is the obvious attempt to play on the fear of foreigners, I think it is incredibly important to remember that Dracula is not the typical foreigner. Even when you disregard the fact that he is a vampire, he is still a count. There is quite plainly an element of class warfare. The story is interesting because it paints Dracula as evil and makes sure to leave out any elements of his past. He is pure evil with no redeeming factors. He doesn’t have the innocent start of Frankenstein, the upstanding alter ego of Dr. Jekyll, or some…

    • 631 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    I first met “Shock Illusionist” and “Anti-Conjurer,” Dan Sperry, back in 2011. His morgue-nificent Magic Show was the headlining act at the now defunct Times Scare New York City, which was located on (the infamous) 42nd Street. Times Scare NYC featured: a year-round haunted house, restaurant (with two bars) and a lounge. Its old fashioned theatre was reminiscent of the Midnight Spookshows, and this is where Dan Sperry regularly performed to amaze audiences. The building that housed this atrocious attraction was once a crematorium during the Roaring Twenties, and some have claimed it was truly haunted.…

    • 1595 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Since the eighteen century, vampire stories have played a strong role of popularity in literature and cinematic environments. The continuous changes of vampires have taken the vampire legend from something feared to something desired. Between Dracula and Twilight it has been over a hundred years. These two novels are a great example of vampire’s evolution. However, both novels have elements of narrative device, they are both written from multiple perspectives, and both were turned into a film. Although Twilight and Dracula are pieces of literature that share a vampire story, there are three important differences that characterize each one.…

    • 548 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “There is reason that all things are as they are...” (Stoker 17). Outlasting countless other tales of its time, Bram Stoker’s lore of “Dracula” began as and still continues to be a classic, frightening novel and despite how some would classify it on only a single one end of the spectrum, it holds true elements of both literary and commercial fiction. He uses various techniques of writing, such as the epistolary plot structure and dramatic irony, and elements, including suspense, to present an unexpected, fear-inducing concept based on the xenophobic idea of the Victorian era.…

    • 1029 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The story starts off with a young Englishman named Jonathan Harker. He travels to Eastern Europe in order to sell some property to Count Dracula. The antagonist is a reclusive but seemingly normal “man” from Transylvania. This section of the story takes place from the view of Harker, who decided to chronicle his adventures abroad for his fiancée, Mina Murray.…

    • 554 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays