dracula themes

Question 1

how does dracula represent the foreign and the ‘other’

Answer 1

• jonathon’s journey to dracula’s lair
• dracula aiming to take over england as an attempt of reverse colonisation
• dracula coming to england and jonathon going to transylvania
• product of British imperialism

Question 2

how does dracula represent the supernatural

Answer 2

• shapeshifting of dracula
• the image of the vampire

Question 3

how does dracula represent the image of women

Answer 3

• the femme fatale: the three vampire women and lucy
• traditional wife: mina
• incoming new woman: mina through her job and her intellect

Question 4

how does dracula represent the ideals of science

Answer 4

• through the characters of dr seward and van helsing: demonstrate many scientific ideals
• rejection of scientific approaches

Question 5

how does dracula represent good versus evil

Answer 5

• surrounded by darkness/supernatural
• descriptions of physiognomy
• threat to society: all purity is questioned as he enters england
• embodiment of beastliness through his figure: leads to xenophobia
• contrast of lucy and mina

Question 6

how does dracula represent the theme of religion

Answer 6

• idea that power of faith will always triumph evil when dracula dies in the end
• religious imagery: represents battle of good/evil
• the lady who hands jonathon the crucifix which he utilises later on: acts as an object of safety

Question 7

how does dracula represent the themes of sexuality

Answer 7

• lucy’s blood transfusions: deemed as extremely sexual
• lucy’s second death
• the female victims: illustrate the women as vulnerable and sexualised, especially lucy
• the three vampire women: emasculating jonathon as they expose their voluptousness

Question 8

how does dracula represent the theme of power

Answer 8

• dracula’s superiority over jonathan
• mina being dismissed from the final mission as she is a female: patriarchal superiority
• his power to attempt to dominate england

Question 9

how does dracula represent the image of gothic settings

Answer 9

• dracula’s lair
• selby
• the use of the carpathian mountains
• the lair having no mirrors: shaving incident

Question 10

how does dracula represent the theme of transgression

Answer 10

• the image between life and death: death of lucy and her coming back to life as a vampire
• behaviours associated with science vs religion: behaviours surpass the norm
• transgression of sexuality through the scene with the three vampires

Question 11

how does dracula represent the theme of madness

Answer 11

• sanity vs insanity: lucy represents this through her transformation as a vampire
• renfield’s entire character: eats insects and abnormal foods, commonly gets hysteric
• use of the mental asylum

Question 12

how does dracula represent the theme of intellect

Answer 12

• mina’s intellect viewed as the concept of the ‘new woman’ as she has a ‘man’s brain’ and a ‘woman’s heart;
• the knowledge van helsing acquires in regards to vampires
• dr seward’s intellect on individuals in the mental asylum