Why I was Scared of Reading Dracula - 1112 Words

I was scared by the novel. I found the novel difficult to finish reading and I didn’t enjoy reading it. Usually I have no trouble reading books but with Dracula, my fear of the plot, the character and the topics in the novel prevented me from being able to read the book before I go to bed, which unfortunately is when I normally read. I think the fear I experienced when reading the book was mainly due to the circumstances under which I read it. In the time when people were first reading Dracula, vampires and other supernatural themes weren’t really something anyone had thought of writing about, so the readers were caught up in the idea that there could be vampires living in the same down as themselves and their families. To the readers back†¦show more content†¦... Beware how you meddle with him, or you’ll have to deal with me.† (Stoker, 1993:55). Although the female vampires initially resist Dracula’s power, they eventually succumb to his au thority and leave Jonathan Harker alone. The construction of the female vampires also opposes the construction that we have of women of the time when the novel was written. W are sown through the descriptions of Mina Harker and Lucy Westenra and also from Jonathan Harker’s thoughts on the female vampires and other women he encounters, that the women of the time when this novel was written were expected to be pure, passive, conservative, affectionate, sympathetic and angelic. They were also assumed, and almost expected, to be weak-minded, this makes women seem as if they need a husband to protect them and provide for them. It can also be seen in the novel that sexually aggressive or sexually available women were seen as a threat to proper society. It also appears that a women’s innocence is extremely valuable to men, for example a women like Mina Harker, even though the promiscuous women in the book, such as the three female vampires and the un-dead Lucy, are strangely attractive to men. Along with the discourse of femininity, I also found the discourses of medicine and science within Dracula fascinating. In general I have a very strong interest in almost anything science related, in particular within the fields of biology and medicine. Therefore I found the recountsShow MoreRelated Why is Dracula such a great horror story? Essay985 Words   |  4 PagesWhy is Dracula such a great horror story? In my opinion Dracula is a great horror story because it is highly entertaining in its idea of vampirism, its atmospheric descriptions, powerful characterisation and the horrific death of Lucy. The novel is also interesting because of the religious perspectives, such as the use of garlic, holy water and the crucifix as weapons against evil. Jonathan Harkers journey to Count Draculas home is described in great detail. 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