The couple also advocated the "elevation of women" in society, and recognized the difficulty of being a woman in Victorian society - something which most Victorian men did not understand or agree with at all (Mills and Taylor 109). Most men held beliefs more like Thomas Gisborne, who urged women to "fulfill their charge" (Gisborne 101), and not share secrets with their servants
Mill and Harriet Taylor, a couple who flaunted convention of the time, advocated happiness above all and divorce when necessary (which was unheard of in Victorian times). They write, "If all persons were like these, [happy] or even would be guided by these, morality would be very different from what it must now be; or rather it would not exist at all as morality, since morality and inclinations would coincide" (Mills and Taylor 108)
Harker's journal notes, "The fair girl went on her knees and bent over me, fairly gloating. There was a deliberate voluptuousness which was both thrilling and repulsive, and as she arched her neck she actually licked her lips like an animal" (Stoker 45)
Dracula, another popular monster at the matinees, was a vampire played by Bela Lugosi and based on the 1897 novel by Bram Stoker. Vampires were the "undead" (Stoker, 1997) who had great power on the one hand, but on the other hand were subject to very simple detection and elimination
The twists in the story and derivations from the novel are plenteous but the overall texture of the film is pleasing to both the eyes and ears. (Higashi, 1978) Many centuries later, Dracula sets his sights on what appears to be his deceased bride in the semblance of Lucy Westerna (Winona Ryder)
The only way they can exist is by sucking the blood of the living. (Hogan, 1986) Sexual decadence permeated 1994's Interview with the Vampire
Bram Stoker's Dracula is full of all the tricks of the trade any good vampire film bears. (Murphy, 1979) Ultimately, Dracula is bound by this affair of the heart and will stop at nothing to make Lucy his for all eternity
Not only does Ellen's action save her husband's life, but it also serves to arouse the vampire. As the shot cuts from the retreating Orlock back to Ellen, their eyeline is on the same plane indicating their visual awareness of each other which "suggests not only Nosferatu's attraction to Nina (Ellen), but her own arousal as well" (Mayne, 29)
All three had brilliant white teeth that shone like pearls against the ruby of their voluptuous lips. There was something about them that made me uneasy, some longing and at the same time some deadly fear" (Stoker 53)
The sound was taken up by another dog, and then another and another, till, borne on the wind which now sighed softly through the Pass, a wild howling began, which seemed to come from all over the country, as far as the imagination could grasp it through the gloom of the night. (Stoker 11) The actual castle is described in a way that makes use of selected imagery to suggest terror and foreboding
People have a need to believe that they are in control of their safety and even in the face of pure evil there are things that they can do to protect themselves. This is evidenced when Jonathan gets ready to leave for the castle and the villagers are standing around providing various physical signals meant to protect Jonathan from evil when he gets to the castle (Stoker pp 14)
Nonetheless, the main aspect of Dracula that has ensured its continuing popularity is its resonance with the Freudian concepts of Thanatos and Eros, which were some of the most important and prominent ideas in 20th Century Wester culture, and continue to be of major importance today. Abraham "Bram" Stoker was born to a middle-class Irish family in Dublin, where he was the third of the seven children to be born to his mother and father, after whom he was named (Tsipman)
This website contains free copies of most of the books, novels, short stories and poems by and a biography of Bram Stoker the author of Dracula.
Learn more about famed Irish writer Bram Stoker, best known for writing the classic vampire tale Dracula , at Biography.com.
Abraham "Bram" Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912) was an Irish author, best known today for his 1897 Gothic novel Dracula. During his lifetime, he ...
Abraham "Bram" Stoker (8 November 1847– 20 April 1912) was an Irish writer, best remembered as the author of the influential vampire novel Dracula.
Bram Stoker's Dracula (or simply Dracula) is a 1992 American romantic horror film directed and produced by Francis Ford Coppola, based on the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker
Britannica Web sites. Articles from Britannica encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. Bram Stoker - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)
Bram Stoker, Writer: Dracula. Bram Stoker was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1847, and gained fame for his novel "Dracula" about an aristocratic vampire in Transylvania.
Abraham "Bram" Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 Aprile 1912) wis an Erse author, best kent the day for his 1897 Gothic novelle Dracula. During his lifetime, he wis ...