Dracula Essay, Research Paper

Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

? Romans. XII. 21

Evil often triumphs, but never conquers.

? Joseph Roux

The two quotations from above explain that evil never conquers because good always overcomes it. A good example of this is the book Dracula by Bram Stoker because the author expresses the nature of good vs. evil. Dracula wants to come to London because he wants to turn everyone into vampires.

The basic background of the book Dracula is when Jonathan Harker, a realtor who is sent to Transylvania to complete a transaction with Dracula so he can come to England. What Harker does not know is that Dracula has a plan for world domination. Well, while Harker is on a train to Transylvania he enters ?the east, a section of Europe whose peoples and customs will be for the most part, strange and unfamiliar? (Dracula, 20). Harker arrives at Bistritz on the eve of St. George?s Day, ?a night when evil things in the world have full sway? (Dracula, 21). When Harker first sees this, he is unconcerned about these superstitions. Then he sees something that is very peculiar. An old woman is very afraid of the word ?Dracula.? She offers Harker a gift of rosary to protect him of evil spirits. After she gives him the rosary, he starts to feel uncomfortable going to the Borgo pass on the following day. The Borgo pass is very important because this is the place where Dracula?s carriage will await Harker. Well on the next day, a crowd of peasants gather around the carriage mumbling linguist words that seem to have some kind of link to the word vampire. Then the ?whole crowd makes the sign of the cross and point two fingers at Harker? (Dracula, 30), to wish him a safe journey. When the carriage dashes by the country peasants, they knell and cross themselves. Until this point Jonathan Harker does not know the ?Dracula beckons Harker into his castle and into a horrifying adventure with the supernatural? (Lidston 546).

The only evil character in this book is Dracula, ?an old man and is clean shaven, except for a long white Victorian mustache and he is clad all in black? (Dracula, 55). ?He speaks in perfect English and welcomes Harker inside, shaking his hand with an ice-cold, vice-like grip? (Dracula, 55). Dracula explains to him that he will no be able to make the trip to London, but one of his trusted servants will be going along with Harker back to London. After supper Jonathan analyzes Dracula and notices one very strange feature, his mouth is thick and white; they cover sharp white teeth, which stick out over his lip. What Jonathan does not know is that those teeth are canine teeth only found in animals. There are exceptions, for instance, vampires have these teeth so they can puncture the human?s carotid vessel in their neck and suck their blood. The first time that Jonathan sees Dracula?s cannibal teeth grow is when Harker starts shaving. He accidentally cuts himself and Dracula leaps for his throat so he can suck his blood. Harker touches his crucifix and Dracula?s ?demonic fury? vanishes. The strangest event that Harker notices in Dracula?s castle is ?Dracula emerge from his room on the floor below, slither out, head downward, in lizard fashion, with his cloak spread out around him like great wings? (Dracula, 179). This shows that ?Dracula is not a person. He is a presence, an absence that requires concealing? (Wolf, 368). This tells Harker that something is very wrong with this man. He recalls how the peasants behaved very strangely. Then he recalls how the woman acted when she heard the word ?Dracula,? and after that Harker knows that this man is the fearful demon known as Count Dracula. To make sure that this man is actually a vampire who is known to be evil, he plans to encounter Dracula when it is daytime. Harker goes to Dracula?s room and notices that his room is empty except for a door that is partially opened. Harker goes downstairs into a basement-like area and a stench of death makes Harker almost vomit. At the bottom of the stairs, Harker finds fifty coffins filled with earth. In one of the coffins he finds Dracula. Jonathan said that it looked as if Dracula?s youth was renewed. Then Jonathan saw a very repulsive sight, Dracula had a blood in his mouth and a trickle of blood on his lip. Harker then finds a shovel and starts to slash at Dracula but after all those slashes he notices that it only grazed his forehead. He gets so scared that he runs upstairs and while on the first floor of the castle he starts to hear coffins start to open. Harker realizes that he can no longer stay in this evil damned castle. This is the beginning ?of the migration to England with the design of populating the country with fellow vampires?

(Lovecraft 458).

The heroes who play a major role in killing Dracula and ending his master plan to take over the world are Mina Murray, Lucy Westenra, Arthur Holmwood, Dr. John Seward, Quincey P. Morris and Dr. Abraham Van Helsing. Mina Murray is the fianc?e of Jonathan Harker; Lucy Westenra is Mina?s best friend and later on becomes one of the un-dead, and Arthur Holmwood is the son of Lord Godalming and later on becomes the king after his father dies. John Seward is the supervisor of the lunatic asylum; Quincey P. Morris pays for the tracking of Dracula and Dr. Abraham Van Helsing is in charge of the strategy for tracking down Cont Dracula and he knows a lot about vampirism. Mina gets a letter from Budapest saying, ?Jonathan is recovering in our hospital from brain fever. Please come and pick him up? (Dracula, 230). Immediately after Mina receives the letter she gets ready to go to Budapest. When Mina is on her trip to pick up Jonathan, a vampire bites Lucy and her mother dies of a heart attack. Dr. Helsing is called in to check Lucy and her bite marks. He tries to give her blood transfusions but they do not help the situation. In order for the vampire, also known as Count Dracula, not to return to Lucy, her friends put garlic all over her room. When Mina and Jonathan return to London, they decide to have a walk in the park. Jonathan notices a figure that is very familiar to him, ?a figure that gave him the brain fever and that gave him all the nightmares,? (Summers 567) that figure is Dracula. As time progresses Lucy?s condition worsens and soon enough they had to put her in her final resting place. Dr. Helsing notices something strange occurring to Lucy, she is turning un-dead. Arthur Holmwood and Dr. Abraham Van Helsing decide to go to Lucy?s grave and release her spirit. Holmwood feels like he is doing something wrong by letting her spirit be released. Dr. Helsing tells him that he is the only one that can release her spirit because he was the only one that actually knew her real well. Holmwood decides that he must do this and he drives a stake through his lover?s heart, cuts off her head and stuffs garlic in her mouth.

The end of Dracula came soon after Mina was bitten. Dr. Helsing puts a cross on Mina?s forehead to see if she was borderline and it burned a crucifix right into her forehead. This proved that the only way that Mina could be returned to he normal self is by killing Dracula. Now Harker, Holmwood, Mina, Quincey, and Dr. Helsing go out to find the fifty coffins of earth. The group found forty-one of the original fifty coffins that Dracula scattered all over London so he can complete step one of his world domination. They found the coffins by hypnosis. Dr. Helsing hypnotized Mina and she was able to telepathically talk to Dracula. On October 2nd a few days after they found the forty-one coffins, Jonathan receives a letter telling him that the final nine coffins are located at Carfax. They go to Piccadilly, Dracula?s house in Carfax and they only find eight coffins. Dr. Helsing discovers the grave of the three female vampires Jonathan met in Dracula?s castle and he performs the purification ritual which puts an end to the female vampires. He then finds ?a large tomb more lordly than all the rest upon which is one word: Dracula? (Dracula 400). Dr. Helsing crushes a holy wafer and places it in the coffin. When he leaves the castle, he places a holy material around the castle entrance so the Count can never return to it. On November 6th Dr. Helsing notices a group of gypsies around a cart. Dr. Helsing some how knows that the cart is carrying the final coffin which has Dracula inside. Arthur, Seward, Jonathan and Quincey fight the gypsies until they reach the coffin. When Quincey finally reaches the coffin, he gets stabbed by one of the gypsies. Jonathan and Quincey rip off the lid and inside they find Dracula, covered by un-holy dirt. As the sun rises, Jonathan cuts off Dracula?s head and Quincey drives a knife through Dracula?s heart. Everyone stands there to ?see how the body of an evil man? (Maurice 758) disintegrates. Before Quincey dies, he notes that the crucifix on Mina?s head has disappeared meaning that the vampire curse has been lifted off of her. Mina and Jonathan got married and they named their child Quincey. Both Lord Godalming (Arthur Holmwood) got married and so did Dr. Seward.

As a science fiction writer, Bram Stoker expresses that evil is always overcome by good in his masterpiece Dracula. The evil character Count Dracula is a vampire who wants to move to London and turn everyone into vampires. To demolish his plan Jonathan Harker, Mina Murray, Arthur Holmwood, Dr. Seward, Quincey P. Morris and Dr. Abraham Van Helsing come out and put an end to his world domination. ?Is that the end of Dracula? We will never know? (Har-el).

Lidston, Robert. ?Bram Stoker.? World Literature Criticism.

Detroit: Gale, 1992. Vol.6

Lovecraft, H.P. ?Bram Stoker.? World Literature Criticism.

Detroit: Gale, 1992. Vol.6

Richardson, Maurice. ?Bram Stoker.? Contemporary Literary Criticism.

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Stoker, Bram. Dracula. London: Dent, J.M., 1993

Wolf, Leonard. ?Bram Stoker.? World Literature Criticism.

Detroit: Gale, 1992.Vol.6