DRACULA - BRAM STOKER
- Why did we return to the epistolary form?
We get different viewpoints of the same incident which adds to the richness of the narrative and gives us
clues which would otherwise be unavailable had the entire story been told from the perspective of the
narrator. It also makes it easier for us to come to terms with the coincidences in the novel, as well as the
interconnectedness of the characters.
Perhaps, the biggest advantage of using this style is that the author can introduce different voices with ease.
As there is no omniscient narrator, we get a better understanding of the characters since we get to hear their
own perspectives. As readers, we form a greater connection with the characters as we are privy to their
private correspondence which can provide us with intimate details which would seem extraneous in any
other form.
One of the main reasons epistolary novels use journals entries is that they tend to be more believable as the
characters have the freedom to be candid without worrying about judgement. Since they are writing only for
themselves, they can write honestly, no matter how unpleasant the thought. In Dracula, these journal entries
perform another function – we see the characters record their experiences not only to maintain a log but also
to make sense of their thoughts and analyse them. Journaling often proves to be cathartic for them. As
Jonathan Harker says, “For now, feeling as though my own brain were unhinged or as if the shock had
come which must end in its undoing, I turn to my diary for repose. The habit of entering accurately
must help to soothe me.”
The epistolary nature of Dracula successfully develops dramatic irony- the reader knows the significance of
the events long before the characters. We readers are the only ones who are able to compile the narrative
fragments to make sense of events as they unfold.
Capturing the essence of the time and presenting compelling narratives.
- Why did the theme of vampirisim return in an age of industry and discovery?
The vampire is a complicated creature: caught between life and death, at once alluring and horrifying. The
novel reflects the fears that haunted late 19th-century society – fears of immigration, sexual promiscuity and
moral degeneration.
Stoker uses the figure of the vampire as thinly-veiled shorthand for many of the fears that haunted the
Victorian fin de siecle. Throughout the novel, scientific rationality is set against folklore and superstition; old
Europe is set against modern London; and traditional notions of civilised restraint and duty are threatened at
every turn by the spread of corruption and wanton depravity.
Dracula’s forays into London, for example, and his ability to move unnoticed through the crowded streets
while carrying the potential to afflict all in his path with the stain of vampirism, play upon late-Victorian
fears of untrammelled immigration. The latter was feared as leading to increased levels of crime and the rise
of ghetto communities. Dracula creates several lairs in the metropolis, including one in Chicksand Street,
Whitechapel – an area notorious for the Jack the Ripper murders of 1888 – and one in Bermondsey, the
location of Jacob’s Island – the low-life rookery immortalised by Charles Dickens in Oliver Twist.
The act of vampirism itself, with its notion of tainted blood, suggests the fear of sexually transmitted diseases
such as syphilis and, more generally, the fear of physical and moral decay that was believed by many
commentators to be afflicting society. Towards the end of the book the character of Mina, who stands for
everything Stoker sees as morally upright and respectable, observes ‘The Count is a criminal, and of criminal
type, Nordau and Lombroso would so classify him ’.
Sex and the Vampire
Victorian literature tends to present the vampire myth as a sexual allegory in which English female virtue is
menaced by foreign predators. During the course of the book Dracula attacks both Mina and Lucy; but Mina,
due to the traditional Victorian qualities of determination and loyalty towards her husband is able to resist his
advances. The rather more free-spirited Lucy is not so lucky.
Some critics have argued that Stoker uses the character of Lucy to attack the concept of the New Woman – a
term coined towards the end of the Victorian era to describe women who were taking advantage of newly
available educational and employment opportunities to break free from the intellectual and social restraints
imposed upon them by a male-dominated society.
Those who took a hostile attitude towards the New Woman saw her either as a mannish intellectual or, going
to the opposite extreme, an over-sexed vamp. Stoker certainly portrays Lucy as racily ‘forward ’in her
desires. Lucy’s moral weakness allows Dracula to prey repeatedly upon her during the night, and only a
series of desperate blood transfusions from each of her former suitors – a sickly symbolic echo of Lucy’s
desire for three husbands (and thus three lovers) – delay, for a while, the inevitable. As Lucy joins the ranks
of the ‘undead ’she herself becomes a vampire.‘ With a careless motion, she flung to the ground, callous
as a devil, the child she had clutched strenuously to her breast, growling over it as a dog growls over a
bone ’(ch. 16). For Stoker, Lucy’s decline from the Victorian feminine ideal to the perceived selfish
unnaturalness of the New Woman is complete.
Dracula and Modernity
Bram Stoker includes numerous references to the very latest ideas and inventions in his novel. Dr Seward
keeps his diary using a phonograph which was a relatively new and expensive piece of technology in 1897;
similarly, references to Kodak cameras, portable typewriters, telegrams being sent across Europe and the
blood transfusions carried out by Professor Van Helsing all reflect the rapid technological changes taking
place in the late-Victorian period.
The entire novel is presented in the form of letters, diaries and newspaper cuttings: so the scientific method
of observing and recording information is integral to both the structure of the book itself, and to the attempts
of Van Helsing and his friends to destroy Dracula. Set against this atmosphere of scientific advance,
however, are the intangible concepts of religious faith and the supernatural. Van Helsing may use blood
transfusions in an attempt to keep Lucy alive, but he also resorts to garlic flowers and crucifixes to hold the
vampire at bay. Throughout the novel there is a sense that Dracula, with his ability to pass through keyholes
like a mist and his affinity with bats, rats and wolves, represents the inexplicable; an alien force which
science on its own cannot defeat. Early in the novel Jonathan Harker observes the Count climbing lizard-like
down the outside of the castle walls. Unsurprisingly the sight shakes him to the core. Returning to his room
he writes ‘… in my diary in shorthand all that has happened since I closed it last. It is the nineteenth
century up-to-date with a vengeance. And yet, unless my senses deceive me, the old centuries had, and
have powers of their own which mere “modernity” cannot kill ’(ch. 3). Dracula suggests modernity and
science may have their limits and, faced with the supernatural figure of the Count, Harker fears such limits
may have been reached.
Victorian Sexuality and Repression
The Victorian era was known for its strict moral codes and sexual repression. The theme of vampirism in
Dracula allowed for the exploration of repressed desires and forbidden sexuality. The vampire's seductive
and alluring nature, as well as the theme of blood as a symbol of life force and eroticism, tapped into the
unspoken desires and fantasies of the era.
Fear of the Other
Dracula also reflected the fears and anxieties surrounding immigration and the "otherness" of different
cultures. Count Dracula, an Eastern European nobleman, represented a foreign and unfamiliar threat
infiltrating the supposedly safe and civilized world of Victorian England. The novel tapped into the
xenophobia and fear of the unknown prevalent at the time.
CHAPTER I-IV
Jonathan Harker: Lawyer, intellectual, educated, hard-working 19th century Englishman.
Shorthand: Jonathan keeps his journals in shorthand, when he's in Dracula's castle. This is a method of rapid
writing by means of abbreviations and symbols, used especially for taking dictation. (Stenografi) It is a
coded writing, impossible to be read easily.
With shorthand, he can record his impressions rapidly.
Munich-Vienna Voyage: We're going to analyze the second stage of the Victorian period. In the golden age,
we see the discoveries of the new places, the enlargement, the powerful England. We're going to see
different nations, and geographies. We'll witness historical, cultural, national and imaginary tales.
Jonathan notes all the places, and he notes exact dates of arrivals and departures from those places. He also
takes "mem"s of some recepies of exotic dishes. He's a neat, a very organized person.
“The impression I had was that we were leaving the West and entering the East”
The first paragraph is filled with geographical places, nations, and governments.
Jonathan makes a perfect research about Transylvania, and he learns that this small area is composed of
different nationalities from south to north. This small place is the whirlpool of supersitions.
“The strangest figures we saw were the Slovaks, who were more barbarian than the rest, with their big
cow-boy hats, great baggy dirty-white trousers,”
Jonathan is reflecting his ideals in his journal. He makes comparisions of the nations he find so far.
“They are very picturesque, but do not look prepossessing. On the stage they would be set down at
once as some old Oriental band of brigands. They are, however, I am told, very harmless and rather
wanting in natural self-assertion.”
Western superiority is emphasized. Colonial attitude of the English people towards East. They are not civil
people, they are barbarians. Jonathan is enjoying his oriental journey as an English man. He enjoys their
meal and outfits of the people.
“It is the eve of St. George’s Day. Do you not know that to-night, when the clock strikes midnight, all
the evil things in the world will have full sway? Do you know where you are going, and what you are
going to?”
- What is the importance of St. George's Day?
The connaction between Saint George's Day and the evil being set free.
The belief is that moroi (living vampires), witches, and other dark creatures must gather all the evil power
they can between midnight and the dawn of the saint's holy day, so it is unsafe to go outside on that night.
A common ritual is to prepare and eat a whole lamb, which is an ancient practice possibly related to Slavic
pagan sacrificial traditions and the fact that St. George is the patron saint of shepherds. It is also believed to
be a magical day when all evil spells can be broken.
“Ordog”—Satan, “pokol”—hell, “stregoica”—witch, “vrolok” and “vlkoslak”—both of which mean the
same thing, one being Slovak and the other Servian for something that is either were-wolf or
vampire.”
As a logical English man, Jonathan has no belief of superstitons.
Hegalian opposition: The West is depicted as a scientific and innovative world while the East is
superstitious and uneducated.
“Suddenly, away on our left, I saw a faint flickering blue flame”
- What is the importance of the blue flame?
The locals believe that the blue flames indicate locations where treasure is buried, but that it's cursed.
Dracula implies that it's a fools errand, later in the conversation.
“I must have been asleep, for certainly if I had been fully awake I must have noticed the approach of
such a remarkable place.”
Sleeping and dreaming: Dracula hypnotized Johnattan because he didn't want him to see the path to the
castle.
Freud: The importance of dreams and states of sleep are related with hypnotises.
Dracula can access the minds of horses and wolves.
Dracula has an ability to connect and control the minds of the living creatures.
In his dreams, our character can remember all his memories.
- What are the psychological innovations of the last decade of the 19th century. (Freud's theories
about sleep and hypnosis)?
Hypnosis: Hypnosis is a human condition involving focused attention, reduced peripheral awareness, and an
enhanced capacity to respond to suggestion.
Altered state theories see hypnosis as an altered state of mind or trance, marked by a level of awareness
different from the ordinary state of consciousness. In contrast, non-state theories see hypnosis as, variously, a
type of placebo effect, a redefinition of an interaction with a therapist or a form of imaginative role
enactment.
During hypnosis, a person is said to have heightened focus and concentration and an increased response to
suggestions. Hypnosis usually begins with a hypnotic induction involving a series of preliminary instructions
and suggestions.
The words hypnosis and hypnotism both derive from the term neuro-hypnotism (nervous sleep), all of which
were coin in the 1820s. The term hypnosis is derived from the ancient Greek hypnos, "sleep", and -osis, or
from hypnoō, "put to sleep" the suffix -is.
Modern-day hypnosis started in the late 18th century and was made popular by Franz Mesmer, a German
physician who became known as the father of 'modern hypnotism'. Hypnosis was known at the time as
'Mesmerism' being named after Mesmer.
Freud's Dream Theory: Freud believed dreams represented a disguised fulfilment of a repressed wish. He
believed that studying dreams provided the easiest road to understanding of the unconscious activities of the
mind. His theories state that dreams have two parts: a manifested content, which is the remembered dream
after we wake, and a latent content, or the dream that we do not remember which is considered part of the
unconscious. He proposed that the latent, or unremembered, dream content is composed of three elements:
the sensory impressions during the night of the dream, the residues left from the day before, and the id's
drives that are already part of the dreamer.
Freud believed that the repression by the super-ego is weakened during sleep due to the absence of voluntary
motor activity. This creates an increased possibility of subconscious impulses from the id reaching
consciousness. According to the idea that Freud proposed, the dream is considered the guardian of sleep.
Dreams allow a gratification of certain drives through a visual fantasy, or the manifest content. This reduces
the impact of these drives from the id, which might often cause the dreamer to wake in order to fulfil them.
In layman's terms, dreams allow certain needs to be fulfilled without the conscious mind needing to be aware
of such fulfilment. However, the manifest content is not comprehensive, because it consists of a distorted
version of the latent content.
Freud, Düşlerin Yorumu isimli kitabında rüyaların amacının bilinçdışı arzuların yerine getirilmesi olduğunu
söyler. İç dünyamızın derinliklerinde bilincimizin dışında varlığını sürdüren arzularımız, bilincimiz
tarafından kabul edilemez olduğundan, savunma mekanizmalarımız aracılığıyla gizlenir. Rüyalarda ise
benliğimizi tehdit etmeden örtük bir şekilde kendilerini gösterirler. Bu anlamda rüyalar, hem arzuları
doyuran, hem de uykunun korunmasını sağlayan bir yerde durur.
Freud, rüyaları bir “kaçakçı” ya benzetir; yani keyif verici ama yasak olanı denetimden gizlice geçirmeye
çalışan kişi. Aynı zamanda, uyuma arzusunu da doyuran, uykuyu koruyan bir “bekçi” gibidir. Bu yüzden
rüyalarda, bilinçdışı arzular, kişinin benliğini tehdit edecek, kişiyi uykudan uyandıracak kadar açık bir
şekilde de kendini göstermez.
Bilinçdışı, dolayısıyla bilinçdışının ürünü olan rüyalar da zamansızdır. Geçmişte olan mı görülür, yoksa
geçmiştekinin gelecekte arzulanan hali mi görülür; belirsizdir. Yani geçmiş ve gelecek iç içedir, belki
bildiğimiz anlamda olan zamanın dışındadır.
“When the Count saw my face, his eyes blazed with a sort of demoniac fury, and he suddenly made a
grab at my throat. I drew away, and his hand touched the string of beads which held the crucifix. It
made an instant change in him, for the fury passed so quickly that I could hardly believe that it was
ever there. “Take care,” he said, “take care how you cut yourself. It is more dangerous than you think
in this country.” Then seizing the shaving glass, he went on: “And this is the wretched thing that has
done the mischief. It is a foul bauble of man’s vanity. Away with it!” and opening the heavy window
with one wrench of his terrible hand, he flung out the glass,”
“Up to now I never quite knew what Shakespeare meant when he made Hamlet say:—
“My tablets! quick, my tablets!
’Tis meet that I put it down,” etc.,”
- What is the function of the referances of Shakespeare?
Dracula is a modern adaption to Macbeth and Hamlet—Bram Stoker, the author of Dracula, borrows plots
and traits from Shakespeare’s works.
"My tablets! Quick, my tablets! ‘tis meet that I put it down” . Both Hamlet and Harker have the knack of
writing everything down. Keeping a journal of some sort is their way of coping with horrific, ongoing events
and their terrifying thoughts. Writing their thoughts down is what keeps them sane. Without this quote in
Hamlet, it is unlikely Stoker would have chosen to write Dracula as an epistolary novel because a majority
of Stoker’s ideas branched from Shakespeare’s plays, due to his friend and actor Henry Irving. As it stands,
Stoker retrieved the idea of an epistolary novel, along with the foundation of the character, Harker, through
Hamlet and his fixation of marking down events. Often times Stoker would work behind the scenes of
Irving’s plays and on occasion, direct them. The majority of them at this time were Shakespeare.
“In the moonlight opposite me were three young women, ladies by their dress and manner.”
“I felt in my heart a wicked, burning desire that they would kiss me with those red lips.”
Johnathan is aware that he's going to die.
He's on the edge of living and dying.
At the moment he's fantasizing the female ghosts, and he has desires.
Freud says that people generally want to live and feel the instinct of life. If you're under the instinct of life,
you want to live.
Eros (love) : Life instinct, our desire to live.
Sometimes referred to as sexual instincts, the life drive deals with basic survival, pleasure, and reproduction.
While we tend to think of life instincts in terms of sexual procreation, these drives also include instincts such
as thirst, hunger, and pain avoidance. The energy created by the life drive is known as libido.
Thanatos (death) : Desire to die.
He theorized that humans are driven toward death and destruction, famously declaring that "the aim of all
life is death." Freud believed that people typically channel this death drive outward, which manifests as
aggression toward others. People also can direct this drive inward, however, which can result in self-harm or
suicide.
Freud based this theory on clinical observations, noting that people who experience a traumatic event often
recreate or revisit it. For example, he noted that soldiers returning from World War I tended to revisit their
traumatic experiences in dreams that repeatedly took them back to combat.
From these observations, he concluded that people hold an unconscious desire to die but that life instincts
largely temper this wish. In Freud's view, the compulsion to repeat was "something that would seem more
primitive, more elementary, more instinctual than the pleasure principle which it overrides." Thus, Thanatos
stands in stark contrast to the drive to survive, procreate, and satisfy desires.
Johnathan is about to die.
He's trying to find a way to get rid of the castle. He's under the influence of eros instinct, he's fantasizing
women, he's lustful.
Dracula is also under the life instinct.
Johnathan is also under the influence of thanatos. He's in between life and death.
If he's going to be sucked to death, why not by females?
“This man belongs to me! Beware how you meddle with him, or you’ll have to deal with me.” The fair
girl, with a laugh of ribald coquetry, turned to answer him:—
“You yourself never loved; you never love!”
“Yes, I too can love; you yourselves can tell it from the past. Is it not so? Well, now I promise you that
when I am done with him you shall kiss him at your will. Now go! go! I must awaken him”
Dracula is in love with Jonathan.
“I dared not wait to see him return, for I feared to see those weird sisters.”
The faith sisters.
“ There lay the Count, but looking as if his youth had been half renewed, for the white hair and
moustache were changed to dark iron-grey; the cheeks were fuller, and the white skin seemed rubyred underneath; the mouth was redder than ever, for on the lips were gouts of fresh blood, which
trickled from the corners of the mouth and ran over the chin and neck”
Blood gives youth to Dracula.
CHAPTER V
Mina is a working woman. She's an assistant schoolmistress. She's trying to educate herself.
She's a perfect example of New Woman.
Stenography: The process of writing in shorthand. Greek: Stenos (narrow) and graphein (to write).
Lucy is a fragile, sensetive girl.
“I sympathise with poor Desdemona when she had such a dangerous stream poured in her ear, even by
a black man. I suppose that we women are such cowards that we think a man will save us from fears,
and we marry him.”
“Why can’t they let a girl marry three men, or as many as want her, and save all this trouble?”
Phonograph: Gramafon, a record player.
CHAPTER VI
Whitby: Port city, not crowded.
A nice setting for a gothic novel.
No hustle of the city life.
Isolated, silent, closed city.
There are old houses, graves, legends related to dead sailors.
CHAPTER VII
Mina copies a page from the "Dailygraph" to her journal about a shipwreck.
“The sequel to the strange arrival of the derelict in the storm last night is almost more startling than
the thing itself. It turns out that the schooner is a Russian from Varna, and is called the Demeter. She
is almost entirely in ballast of silver sand, with only a small amount of cargo—a number of great
wooden boxes filled with mould.”
- What is the meaning of the name of Dracula's ship?
History
A ship named the Dmitry ran aground in a storm and was wrecked on the beach below Whitby Abbey in
1885. It had sailed out of Narva, in what’s now Estonia.
Stoker’s fictional vessel, the Demeter, out of Varna, in what’s now Bulgaria, ran aground in a storm and was
wrecked on the beach below Whitby Abbey.
The similarity of names — Dmitry/Demeter, Narva/Varna — is almost certainly not a coincidence; Stoker
was very familiar with the circumstances of the wreck of the Dmitry.
Mythology
1-) Demeter oversees life and death; this ship symbolically and literally brings death to England.
2-) Demeter was pursued by Poseidon, the god of the sea; the name of the ship foretold its destruction.
3-) Demeter is attributed as bringing law to civilized society; this symbolizes Harker’s profession.
The Demeter, like the Count himself, exists in an in-between state — undead, unreal, unnatural, Other. In
Greek mythology, Demeter was the goddess of fertility and the harvest, who rescued her daughter
Persephone from abduction to the underworld by Hades, and so the name alone of Dracula’s ship suggests
slippage between worlds.
In the ancient times, uneducated people were eating random things and die because of poisining. There were
many deaths coming from the toxic materials around. These deaths were thought to be mysterious. People
would bury their loved ones, but they would only faint. They dig up from their grave, they lose their balance
from odours and stiffness and they want to stable their bodies. That's why they walk with their arms strech.
Sleep-walking is quite similar to these ressurections from ancient times.
Lucy is the member of the Un-Dead stories because of her sleep walking.
This is why Dracula chose him.
We have legends of Un-Dead in this chapter.
CHAPTER VIII
“I was sorry to notice that my clumsiness with the safety-pin hurt her. Indeed, it might have been
serious, for the skin of her throat was pierced. I must have pinched up a piece of loose skin and have
transfixed it, for there are two little red points like pin-pricks, and on the band of her nightdress was a
drop of blood”
Dramatic Irony: People don't understand Lucy's bite-marks.
There is always an explanation about the superstitions.
The characters are under the influence of the 19th century scientific developments.
Renfield: “The bride-maidens rejoice the eyes that wait the coming of the bride; but when the bride
draweth nigh, then the maidens shine not to the eyes that are filled.”
To complete the analogy, Renfield had been obsessed with his dark pets--spiders and the rest--which, like
bridesmaids, foretold the coming of the main attraction (Dracula). Renfield says to the attendant in this
chapter that "the master is at hand." When Dr. Seward asks Renfield about his pets, Renfield says, "I don't
care a pin about them." Renfield (the eyes that wait the coming of the bride) no longer rejoices in the
bridemaidens (spiders, etc.). They no longer attract his attention (shine not), because his eyes are filled with
the bride who draweth nigh/near (Dracula).
With this analogy/metaphor, Renfield is simply explaining that his dark pets were only interesting to him
because they foretold the coming of the dark master. Now that the master is at hand, his pets no longer
"shine."
Carfax: A chapel, the new house of Dracula.
CHAPTER IX
“I do not know if it was all real or the dreaming of a madman. You know I have had brain fever, and
that is to be mad”
Reflection of the expectation of the age.
Finding a logical explanation.
The illness of Lucy is beyond science.
Through Van Helsing, we find the scientific aid for the supernatural occurances.
Helsing combines these two diverted things.
Till the death of Lucy, we look to the diversion of science and supernatural.
CHAPTER X
“I would give the last drop of blood in my body for her.”
Blood-sucking is a sexual connotation.
Four lovers of Lucy give their blood to her.
Lucy gives her blood to Dracula.
CHAPTER XI
The Escaped Wolf
- What is the reason for Dracula to use a wolf to get into Lucy's home?
In Dracula, wild animals, such as bats and wolves, are used to symbolize insatiable appetites for evil. The bat
seeps into the subconscious, while the more blatant wolf inspires instant terror, but both are destructive.
CHAPTER XIII
A Hampstead Mystery - "Bloofer Lady"
“The Kensington Horror,” or “The Stabbing Woman,” or “The Woman in Black.”
Stoker uses the real events of the society.
The practice of Lucy : The children were sexually abused in the late period of 19th century.
Stoker criticizes the sexual abuse of the children.
Lucy is deceving the children by playing with them.
Week 14 - Notes
Picaddily: The heart of England, filled with rich people. Domain of the upper-class people. Dracula is trying
to adopt himself to the upper-class of England. Dracula deals with the upper-class, Lucy was his main target
since she's the fiancee of a Lord.
With the death of Dracula, everything related with vampirism vanishes, including the journals.
If Dracula was murdered in England, there would be an ongoing fear.
There is a terror of invason of colonised groups in England. Dracula represents a foreign nation, and he's
trying to invade England and he's trying to change the blood of the English nation.
There is a relief in the end, everything about the foreign invasion is deleted.
Dracula de-raced Lucy.
Vampirism is a colonisation of the body.
We see an attempt of colonisation by Dracula, with his different houses and boxes around England.
The book is also a different view of Marxism.
Dracula represents the money power and richness.
Capitalism is like a vampire sucking the blood of working-class.
Czarina Catherine
Catherine the Great, was the reigning empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796. She came to power after
overthrowing her husband, Peter III. Under her long reign, inspired by the ideas of the Enlightenment, Russia
experienced a renaissance of culture and sciences, which led to the founding of many new cities, universities
and theatres, along with large-scale immigration from the rest of Europe and the recognition of Russia as one
of the great powers of Europe.
- What is the significance of naming the ship Czarina Catherine in Bram Stoker's Dracula?
In Dracula, the significance of the name "Czarina Catherine" lies in its association with Russian history and
folklore. The name Czarina Catherine references Catherine the Great, who was a prominent and influential
Russian Empress in the late 18th century.
The use of this name for the ship carries several symbolic implications. First, it adds an element of historical
and cultural depth to the story, as Catherine the Great was known for her expansion of the Russian Empire
and her efforts to modernize and Westernize the country. This connection to Russian history adds a sense of
grandeur and weight to the events unfolding in the novel.
Catherine the Great was also known for her strong personality and assertive rule. By associating the ship
with her name, it suggests a parallel between the powerful and ruthless nature of Catherine the Great and the
malevolent character of Dracula. This connection reinforces Dracula's status as a formidable and cunning
antagonist.
By naming the ship Czarina Catherine, Stoker evokes a sense of grandeur and power associated with the
Russian Empire and its historical figures. This choice of name adds to the mystique and aura surrounding
Dracula, hinting at his long history and his connection to influential figures of the past.
Additionally, the use of a Russian name for the ship may also serve to create a sense of exoticism and
foreignness, adding to the atmosphere of the novel. It adds an element of the unknown and unfamiliar,
aligning with the theme of Dracula as a foreign entity invading England.
- What is the relation between Marxism and Dracula?
In "Dracula," some scholars argue that there are elements that reflect Marxist themes and concerns. One
interpretation suggests that Count Dracula, as a wealthy aristocrat who exploits the labor of his subordinates
and maintains a vast estate, can be seen as a representation of the ruling class. He is portrayed as a parasitic
figure who preys upon the common people, draining their lifeblood to sustain his own existence. This
interpretation suggests that Dracula symbolizes the exploitative nature of capitalism and the ruling class.
Another connection that has been made is the idea that the characters in the novel who fight against Dracula,
such as Van Helsing and his team, can be seen as representatives of the working class or the proletariat. They
come together, forming a collective force to combat the oppressive power of Dracula. This interpretation
draws parallels to the Marxist notion of class struggle and collective action against the ruling class.
"Capitalism is like a vampire sucking the blood of the working class"
This is a metaphorical statement that draws a parallel between the exploitative nature of capitalism and the
predatory behavior of vampires.
In Dracula, Count Dracula can be seen as a representation of power and privilege, while the working-class
characters, such as Jonathan Harker, Mina Murray, and their friends, represent the exploited class. Dracula
preys upon the common people, draining their lifeblood to sustain his own existence, which can be seen as a
metaphor for the capitalist exploitation of labor. The vampire's thirst for blood is comparable to the insatiable
hunger for profit in a capitalist system.
Furthermore, the idea that capitalism extracts value from the working class, leaving them depleted and
exploited, can be seen in the way Dracula's victims are weakened and transformed through his actions. They
lose their vitality and agency, mirroring the loss of agency and exploitation that can be associated with the
working class under capitalism.
Marxism
Marxism is a socio-political and economic theory developed by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in the 19th
century. It provides a framework for understanding and analyzing the dynamics of capitalism, class struggle,
and social change. Marxism seeks to critique and transform capitalist societies by advocating for the
liberation of the working class and the establishment of a classless, socialist society.
Key principles of Marxism include:
1. Historical Materialism: Marxism views human history as a series of class struggles shaped by the material
conditions of society. It argues that economic systems, such as feudalism and capitalism, determine the
social and political structures of a given period.
2. Class Struggle: Marxism focuses on the conflict between the bourgeoisie (owners of the means of
production) and the proletariat (working class). It asserts that capitalism creates inherent class contradictions
and exploitation, with the bourgeoisie extracting surplus value from the labor of the proletariat.
3. Dialectical Materialism: Marxism incorporates a dialectical approach, influenced by the philosophy of
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel. It sees society as evolving through contradictions and conflicts. Marxist
dialectics analyze how contradictions within capitalism, such as the conflict between labor and capital, lead
to social change and revolution.
4. Labor Theory of Value: Marxism argues that the value of goods and services is derived from the socially
necessary labor time required for their production. It criticizes the capitalist system for its exploitation of
labor, where workers' surplus value is appropriated by capitalists as profit.
5. Dictatorship of the Proletariat: Marxism advocates for the overthrow of the capitalist system and the
establishment of a transitional phase known as the dictatorship of the proletariat. In this phase, the working
class holds political power, dismantles capitalist structures, and paves the way for the eventual creation of a
classless, communist society.
6. Critique of Capitalism: Marxism critiques capitalism for its inherent contradictions, such as
overproduction, economic crises, alienation, and inequality. It argues that the pursuit of profit under
capitalism leads to social alienation, where individuals are disconnected from the fruits of their labor and
commodified as wage laborers.
Marxism has had a significant influence on various fields, including economics, sociology, political science,
and cultural studies. It has inspired socialist and communist movements worldwide and remains a source of
critical analysis and debate about the nature of capitalism, social class, and social change.
-Marxism is a socio-political theory that focuses on the struggle between different social classes and the ways
in which the ruling class exploits the working class. It examines the dynamics of power, economic relations,
and social inequality.
Marxists believe that if the working class makes itself the ruling class and destroys the basis for class society
(private property, or what Marx called "Bourgeois Property"), there will be a "classless society." In this
society, no social classes are in conflict, and there is no government anymore
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic and social system characterized by private ownership of the means of production
and the pursuit of profit. In a capitalist system, individuals, private businesses, and corporations own and
control the resources, factories, land, and other productive assets. The main features of capitalism include:
1. Private Property: Capitalism emphasizes the right to private ownership of property, including land, capital
goods, and businesses. This allows individuals and companies to have control over their assets and use them
to generate wealth.
2. Market Economy: Capitalism relies on a market-based economic system where the production,
distribution, and pricing of goods and services are determined by the forces of supply and demand. Prices are
set through voluntary transactions between buyers and sellers in competitive markets.
3. Profit Motive: Capitalism is driven by the pursuit of profit. Individuals and businesses seek to maximize
their financial gains by producing and selling goods and services at a price that exceeds the cost of
production. Profit serves as an incentive for investment, innovation, and economic growth.
4. Competition: Capitalism encourages competition among businesses, as multiple firms strive to offer better
products or services to attract customers. Competition is believed to lead to efficiency, lower prices, and
innovation, benefiting consumers and driving economic progress.
5. Free Enterprise: Capitalism promotes the idea of economic freedom, allowing individuals and businesses
to make their own choices regarding production, consumption, investment, and employment. The
government's role is generally limited, primarily focused on maintaining the rule of law, protecting property
rights, and enforcing contracts.
6. Division of Labor: Capitalist economies typically rely on a division of labor, where individuals specialize
in specific tasks or professions. This specialization increases productivity and efficiency by allowing workers
to develop expertise in their respective areas.
Capitalism has been associated with several advantages, including economic growth, technological
advancements, and individual freedom. Proponents argue that it provides opportunities for innovation,
wealth creation, and higher living standards. However, critics argue that capitalism can lead to income
inequality, exploitation, environmental degradation, and market failures. Different countries adopt varying
degrees of capitalism, with some incorporating elements of government intervention and regulation to
address these concerns and promote social welfare.