This anthology contains three term papers.
The first paper is about the characters in the novel "Dracula". When Abraham "Bram" Stoker wrote his novel between 1890 and 1897, he chose his characters wisely. It contains eight main characters, only two of them female. The remaining six male figures all play a special role and fulfil a certain stereotype. It is the aim of this paper to display these roles and show how the characters stand in contrast or even resemble each other.
The second paper is about the actual themes of the novel. It explores some of the themes and has a look at how far those themes have actually been constructed. It starts out by making the rather extreme claim, that there is no Dracula at all in the novel.
The third paper will give an overview about the role of women in the Victorian era during which "Dracula" was written. This is important in order to identify to what extent the main female characters - Mina Harker and Lucy Westenra - go conform to those former roles. Their characters and respective roles in society will be analysed arguing that Mina represents a role model of a Victorian woman and Lucy an example of a fallen woman.
Table of Contents
- Anonymous: Characters in Bram Stoker's “Dracula” (2008)
- Introduction
- Techniques of Characterisation
- Major Characters
- Count Dracula
- Jonathan Harker
- Mina Murray
- Lucy Westenra
- Dr. John Seward
- Arthur Holmwood
- Quincey P. Morris
- Dr. Abraham van Helsing
- Minor Characters
- R.M. Renfield
- Other characters
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Katharina Reese: Deconstructing Dracula: The Reality Behind the Myth (2009)
- Bibliography
- Katharina Zeiger: Female Characters in Bram Stoker's "Dracula" (2013)
- Introduction
- The Role of Women in the Victorian Era
- Mina Harker: A Portrayal of the Victorian Woman
- Lucy Westenra: A Portrayal of the Fallen Woman
- Conclusion
- Works Cited
Objectives & Themes
This anthology provides a multifaceted literary analysis of Bram Stoker's "Dracula" through three distinct scholarly essays. The overarching objective is to deepen the understanding of the novel by exploring its characters, narrative techniques, and underlying societal implications, offering diverse interpretations beyond a simple horror story.
- Detailed analysis of major and minor characters and their roles in the narrative.
- Examination of characterization techniques, including explicit and implicit methods.
- Exploration of feminist arguments concerning female sexuality and Victorian gender roles within the novel.
- Investigation into psychological interpretations, questioning the literal existence of Dracula and the sanity of protagonists.
- Contrast between traditional and modern societal aspects, as depicted through characters and themes.
- Discussion of the novel's narrative structure, particularly its epistolary form, and its impact on interpretation.
Excerpt from the Book
Deconstructing Dracula: The Reality Behind the Myth
As I said in the beginning, I want to bring up the thesis, that there is no Dracula at all in the novel. Dracula himself is a construct. And if Dracula is a construct of the minds of the protagonists, all criticism which takes his actual presence as given is undermined. If there is no Dracula, most of the arguments of the feminist critics are undermined. Let me explain in detail what I mean by saying that.
First of all: how can I say that Dracula doesn't exist and what is the textual evidence for such a claim? The most obvious answer is, for starters, the formal aspect. I want to start here, because that aspect makes my theory at all possibly. The novel was written in the epistolary form, that means it consists of a variety of letters (and some newspaper clippings). Those letters content of the conversation between the main protagonists of the novel. Although this form is meant to create a certain sense of authenticity – and that's what it does – it can also very easily be turned around. Because I say that due to the lack of an omniscient and, even more importantly, objective narrator, we cannot determine whether the incidents did really happen in the way they were reported. They could (and I'm just giving examples for hypothesis here) be consciously falsified to give an excuse for the staking of an innocent woman (Lucy) and Dracula. Or, they could be the result of a condition of some kind of psychological disorder, which causes the main characters to be delusional and paranoid, and eventually escalates in the killing of an innocent man, who, by some incident drew the attention by the protagonists on himself.
Of course one could argue now, that it is a lot of characters who would all have to suffer of the same disease in order for the events to go down as they did. I do not want to go too deep into the field of medical, or rather psychological research here, but I want to raise awareness to the fact that there is actually a condition which does just that. It is known under the name "folie-a-deux" or rather “folie-a-plusieurs” (the former describes a condition which is limited to two persons, the latter describes the same phenomenon which has affected a group of people).
To give a brief overview of what the disorder is about, I want to give a brief quote from the online dictionary Wikipedia, which defines “folie-a-deux” in the following way:
“Folie à deux (translated, "a madness shared by two") is a rare psychiatric syndrome in which a symptom of psychosis (particularly a paranoid or delusional belief) is transmitted from one individual to another. The same syndrome shared by more than two people may be called folie à trois, folie à quatre, folie à famille or even folie à plusieurs ("madness of many"). Recent psychiatric classifications refer to the syndrome as shared psychotic disorder (DSM-IV) (297.3) and induced delusional disorder (folie à deux) (F.24) in the ICD-10, although the research literature largely uses the original name." (All highlights and italics have been taken from the original source.)
I would like to play with the assumption a little further, because it would contradict most of the arguments which I have given before. I would like to start out from the point where I say that Dracula did never exist in the way in which the main characters perceive him.
Summary of Chapters
Anonymous: Characters in Bram Stoker's “Dracula” (2008): This essay provides an in-depth analysis of the characterization techniques used by Stoker, followed by detailed descriptions of the major and minor characters in "Dracula," exploring their roles, traits, and interrelationships within the novel.
Katharina Reese: Deconstructing Dracula: The Reality Behind the Myth (2009): This paper puts forth a controversial thesis suggesting that Dracula may not literally exist within the novel but could be a psychological construct or a manifestation of shared delusion among the protagonists, supported by an examination of the epistolary form and psychological theories like "folie à deux."
Katharina Zeiger: Female Characters in Bram Stoker's "Dracula" (2013): This essay investigates the portrayal of women in "Dracula" against the backdrop of Victorian gender roles, specifically contrasting Mina Harker as the ideal Victorian woman with Lucy Westenra as a "fallen woman" who challenges societal norms, and how their fates reflect these roles when confronted with vampirism.
Keywords
Bram Stoker, Dracula, character analysis, Victorian era, female characters, gender roles, feminism, vampirism, psychological interpretation, folie à deux, literary criticism, narrative structure, Gothic novel, characterization techniques, sexuality
Frequently Asked Questions
What is this work fundamentally about?
This anthology fundamentally explores various critical interpretations of Bram Stoker's "Dracula," focusing on its characters, narrative strategies, and social commentary, particularly concerning gender roles and psychological themes.
What are the central thematic areas?
The central thematic areas include character analysis and development, the role of women in Victorian society, the depiction of female sexuality, psychological readings of the narrative, and the impact of the novel's epistolary structure on its interpretation.
What is the primary goal or research question?
The primary goal is to provide a comprehensive and critical overview of "Dracula," ranging from detailed character studies to challenging the literal existence of the antagonist, and examining how the novel reflects and comments on Victorian societal norms, especially regarding female agency.
Which scientific method is used?
The essays primarily employ literary analysis and textual interpretation, drawing on methods of character study, feminist criticism, and applying psychological theories to literary texts to deconstruct the novel's meaning and implications.
What is covered in the main part?
The main part of the anthology includes an in-depth examination of major and minor characters in "Dracula," a provocative argument questioning Dracula's existence as a psychological construct, and a comparative analysis of the female protagonists, Mina Harker and Lucy Westenra, in relation to Victorian ideals.
Which keywords characterize the work?
The work is characterized by keywords such as Bram Stoker, Dracula, character analysis, Victorian era, female characters, gender roles, feminism, vampirism, psychological interpretation, folie à deux, literary criticism, narrative structure, Gothic novel, characterization techniques, and sexuality.
What controversial thesis does one of the essays propose regarding Dracula's existence?
One essay, "Deconstructing Dracula: The Reality Behind the Myth," controversially proposes that Dracula may not exist as a physical entity but rather as a psychological construct or a shared delusion ("folie à deux") among the protagonists, questioning the objective reality of events in the novel.
How are Mina Harker and Lucy Westenra presented in relation to Victorian female ideals?
Mina Harker is portrayed as an ideal Victorian woman, embodying purity, duty, and intelligence while conforming to societal expectations. In contrast, Lucy Westenra is depicted as a "fallen woman" or "New Woman," expressing desires that challenge Victorian moral and sexual codes, ultimately leading to her tragic transformation and destruction.
What role does the epistolary narrative form play in one of the analyses?
In "Deconstructing Dracula: The Reality Behind the Myth," the epistolary form is crucial as it lacks an objective narrator, allowing the author to question the reliability of the protagonists' accounts and suggest that the reported events might be subjective experiences, delusions, or consciously falsified narratives.
- Quote paper
- GRIN Verlag (Hrsg.) (General editor), Katharina Reese (Author), Katharina Zeiger (Author), 2026, Interpretation of Bram Stoker's "Dracula", Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.hausarbeiten.de/document/1700784
