Dracula Novel by Bram Stoker - Essay Example

Dracula Dracula is novel written in 1897, the gothic horror novel just like any other addresses several facts albeit in an imaginary horrific setting thereby creating a conducive ambience for the author to compare good versus evil. From the epistolary format to the unnatural characters, the author of the famous employs specific features with the view of provide an effective comparison between good and evil in the society and the existence of the two. While he portrays the position of evil, he corroborates the claim that the goo must always exist alongside the evil in order for the universe to balance. Despite the several evil he portrays in the novel, he positions the evil strategically alongside the evil thereby providing a detailed understanding of both. The author presents his plot in a serial manner addressing several themes in the form by comparing good and evil in several contexts including male versus female among many other contexts as the discussion below portrays. Among the most evident themes in the novel is the role of women in the Victorian cultures. The early society had specific gender roles with the women retaining a reserved position in the predominantly male society. Johnathan Harker is a professional male lawyer who embodies modernism and civilization in the novel. His gender in the novel is strategic and a well thought after decisions (Stoker 21). The author of Dracula could not assign the role to a woman owing to the nature of the society at the time. As explained earlier, women had a reserved role; they subordinated their men with most of their roles attached to their sex. The author introduces the first female characters in the novel at Dracula’s castle. One night when Hacker ventures out against Dracula’s stern warning, he runs into a group of three fierce female vampires. Known as the Brides of Dracula, the three female vampires are strategic to the success of the plot and they typify the evil in women. Numerous tales including the story of human creation all allude to the role women played in necessitating sin. Several societies have therefore attached bad luck to women thereby evidently blaming them for the rise of evil in such societies. The portrayal of women in the novel as vampires and are among the first vampires Dracula encounters in the novel is in corroboration of the claim, the role of women in evil. Hacker is a young male properly educated in matters of law. Dracula on the other hand is an employee who works hard and strives to make legal money a feature that compels him to solicit the services of the young learned Hacker. The two main characters are strategically male. The first time the author introduces females in the novel; the three are Dracula’s mistresses and embody evil. The sexist culture in the early Victorian society discriminated against women. Women served particular feminine roles including being mistresses to the rich prospective males. The author captures this effectively by positioning the three female vampires as such in the plot. Furthermore, the primary role of the three women in the novel is to represent evil. They are not ordinary women and their roles include representing evil that threatens to devour Harker on his first night out. Additionally, when Dracula eventually leaves Harker at the castle, he leaves him with the brides who attack him. He barely leaves with his life a feature that portrays the evil nature of women in the novel. The role the three brides play represents the extent of evil as they threaten to kill Harker. The author further portrays the comparison between good and evil by comparing the role of progressive versus primitive. He adopts the two strategically in developing his plot thereby succeeding in telling two sides of the story. He portrays two societies; one is a modern English society. The society where Harker comes from, people in this society appreciate civilization and are educated. Harker is a lawyer a feature that portrays the extent of civilization in the society as people develop various careers. In the progressive nature of the society and the civil ays that the people in the early Victorian society appreciate, Harker trusts his clients owing to the existence of effective laws coupled with his beliefs most of which do not include the height of evil he witnessed at the castle. As such a civilized and educated individual, Harker leaves his noble society and travels to the castle to offer his legal advice to a client. Through Jonathan Harker, the author portrays the civilized aspect of the society thus providing a typical representation of good. The author develops a mundane society back at the castle; such is a retrogressive society in which law and order do not prevail. The only law in the castles is the stern warning Dracula gives to Harker on his arrival. He warns him not to venture out of his room at night. Such is a contradiction to the liberal society Harker had known back home. Besides the lack of lawlessness, the author portrays a level of greed at the castle that Harker had not experienced especially in his own civilized society. On his first night out at the castle, he runs into the brides of Dracula who threaten to kill him. However, Dracula saves him but only because he needs his legal advice and knowledge. The scene portrays Dracula’s ignorance in legal matters and greed in equal measure. The fact that he later abandons Harker does not help either as such portray his retrogressive and self-centered nature. The action and conflicts at the castle effectively compare and contrast good and evil as the author attributes different features to the different characters. Dracula is callous and represents the retrogressive feature of evil. When he abandons Harker at the castle once he believes that he had obtained the information he deserved, Dracula forgets the role and essence of Harker in his society. He therefore considers killing him as an appropriate way of avoiding to pay him. The death of such a learned individual is retrogressive and a discouragement to the society’s endeavors to develop. Furthermore, he forgets the endeavors he underwent in order to obtain his legal advice. Dracula is likely to seek additional services later in life, given his greedy nature he may even need legal services again owing to the high number of people he hurts in the society. He does not consider the possibility of Harker’s usefulness in the future thereby opting to kill him. Harker on the other hand represents progress in the society. he believes in offering his services in order to earn descent life, he trusts his clients and travels far and wide in order to provide the much needed services to his clients. Such is the case in any civilized society. Additionally, the author of the novel succeeds in portraying the comparison in the form of foreign versus domestic. Vampires for example are mystic creatures associated with the early European cultures. The placement of the creatures in the novel therefore corroborates such claims. However, the author introduces the creatures progressively thereby portraying their domestic essence and role in manifesting the difference between good and evil. At the castle, Dracula had domesticated evil in the form of the vampires among other evil creatures. The bloodthirsty creatures personified the evil in the society. the fact that Harker travels from the city to the castle with the aim of offering his services to Dracula only to meet evil portrays good as a foreign feature in the society while evil which exists in the form of the vampires at the castle as a domestic feature. In a summary, the author understands the role of both good and evil in defining the two. The definition of the two exists in the description of the other. The author thus succeeds in comparing the two by creating two characters each representing the either of the two Dracula represents evil with his castle being the evils’ nest. Harker on the other hand represents good. Every feature of the two characters corroborates the element they represent in the novel. As such, the author thus adopts the comparative structure in portraying the difference between the two as discussed above. Work cited Stoker, Bram. Dracula. London: Archibald Constable and company, 1897. Print. Read More