A Comparison Of Count Dracula And Edward Cullen

It’s never exactly rare to find an iconic vampire in vampire literature. Dracula, from Bram Stoker's novel, and Lestat, from Interview with the Vampire, are far from the same but they do appear as similar in readings. They both appear as powerful leaders in the novels. As vampires they share very similar characteristics but the novels surrounding them show less similarities. For example the other turned vampires don’t share the same characteristics and have different outlooks of being a vampire. Although these two novels can be seen as similar, they possess many differences through formatting, setting, and the vampires’ perception of their lives.

Since the beginning of time vampires have been categorized into different "types” and are portrayed in different ways throughout several books. This paper will focus on three vampires from the following books: Dracula by Bram Stoker, and I am Legend by Richard Matheson. Dracula is considered to be the traditional vampire, where it all started, and the vampires in Matheson’s book, follow somewhat Stoker’s concept, but is more of a modern “type” of vampires. Certain vampire elements have been presented, but others have been completely removed or altered. In addition, elements along with appearances are used to infer if the vampire is a form of “the other”. There are two types of vampires; the traditional or modern vampire which can be distinguished based on the elements present in their storyline.

In addition to his actions, much has previously been made of Dracula's physical appearance. However, as Stevenson so aptly puts it, Dracula's physical appearance is only "a convenient metaphor to describe the undeniable human tendency to separate 'us' from 'them' " (140).

Bram Stoker’s Dracula is a commonly referenced novel in modern society, a classic gothic story. From the count on sesame street to the likeable Cullen family of the series Twilight, Dracula has become the model for all modern vampire novels. Few people are aware though that Bram Stoker based Dracula off of a real person. Real life Dracula was not a vampire, however there are many connections both subtle and obvious between the horrifying character that Bram Stoker created and Vlad Tepes, prince of Wallachia, violent ruler of Transylvania. Specifically, there lies parallels between Dracula in Bram Stoker’s novel and Vlad Tepes in the origin and connotations of the name “Dracul”, their affinity for playing games with their victims, and their

Bram stoker has used the technique of visual imagery to describe Dracula’s appearance because he was dark and suspicious The vampire looks this way because in 1897, during the Victorian era many english men and woman feared foreigners and all evil. Therefore, vampires are represented to be evil creatures from the devil, foreigners, dark and mysterious and look like a old

Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” is a story about a Vampire named Count Dracula and his journey to satisfy his lust for blood. The story is told through a series of individuals’ journal entries and a letters sent back and forth between characters. Bram Stoker shows the roll in which a certain gender plays in the Victorian era through the works of Dracula. This discussion not only consists of the roll a certain gender takes, but will be discussing how a certain gender fits into the culture of that time period as well as how males and females interact among each other. The Victorian era was extremely conservative when it came to the female, however there are signs of the changing into the New Woman inside of Dracula. Essentially the woman was to be assistance to a man and stay pure inside of their ways.

Dracula may be blood-curdling but he is not that frightening, to say the least. Just as Jonathan Harker (a lawyer) entered the barren castle in the outskirts of Transylvania, a strange but unique looking man answered the door, and here are Harker’s thoughts: “Within stood a tall old man, clean shaven save for a long white moustache, and clad in black from head to foot, without a single speck of colour about him anywhere” (Stoker 20). As one can see, Stoker really is trying to emphasize his notion of vampire qualities. Once again, Jonathan recollects his thoughts saying:

The films of Dracula and the novel written by Bram Stoker both compare to convey different elements to the plot of this supernatural creature. One element they carry out is how they portray the characters. The first comparison is between the novel and the 1992 Dracula interpretation. For example, the dominate character in the motion picture is Mina Harker. Oppose from the novel, the males of the story is presented more dominate.

The title character and antagonist of Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula is an easily recognizable character in the Western canon. Without ever reading the book or watching any of the countless movie adaptations, people will craft vampire characters with feelings and behaviors nearly identical to those of Dracula. However, Dracula’s success is not because it was the first novel of its kind. Vampiric literature had been around for at least a century, and two works, Varney the Vampire and Carmilla, were popular at the time of Dracula’s publication. Why has Dracula become the stereotypical vampire figure when there are other well-rounded characters of the type? The answer

Vampires have been a huge part of popular culture for hundreds of years. Even before Dracula, there was still stories roaming around about mythical creatures of the night that killed people and sucked their bodies dry. The movies and stories such as the vrykolakas of Greece, and of course Dracula have followed the tradition of keeping these mythical creatures as terrifying and frightening as possible. However, recently a different take has been on the vampires with the uprising of Twilight, we’ve seen a shift from the frightening view of these creatures, to a bigger focus on the erotic attraction of the vampire specifically to female audiences. By exploring the works of the vrykolakas, Dracula, and Twilight I am going to explain how the vampire has evolved, and how the audience has changed along with it.

A complicated kind of figure and possibly a portrayal of “both erotic anxiety and corrupt desire, the literary vampire is one of the most powerful archetypes bequeathed to us from the imagination of the nineteenth century” (Gordon and Hollinger). It seems that as times and cultures change that each “age embraces the vampire it needs” (Gordon and Hollinger). Before the 1970’s, the quintessential vampire was Bram Stoker’s Dracula; the mesmerizing cultured, yet sinister Eastern European Count. Since then, resulting from multiple publications, including Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles and Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight, the depiction of a vampire has changed, because of the “ongoing transformations in the broader cultural and political mise-en-scene” (Gordon & Hollinger). It has been mainly through cultural

Vampires have aroused a perennial fascination within humanity since their fictional materialization into history. However, it is over the course of the last century that these creatures have become an iconic symbol of mystifying horror and inexplicable desire. Recently, the vampire has undergone modifications that are imperative when considering two of the most notable vampires ever fashioned: Count Dracula and Edward Cullen. The dissimilarity between the appearance, behaviour, surroundings, and supernatural disadvantages of Bram Stoker’s 19th century Count Dracula and Stephenie Meyer’s 21st century Edward Cullen reflects the contrasting societies from which these vampires emerged.

If you were to ask people 10 years ago what came to mind when they thought about vampires, you would probably get answers that described frightening creatures that lurk in the night in search of human blood. These perceptions are usually brought on from one of the most famous vampire stories ever written; Dracula. Bram Stoker’s Dracula tells the story of Count Dracula and his bloodthirsty journey from his castle in Transylvania to the shores of London. Where he searches for blood from both men and women, while his enemies seek to destroy him and rid the world of his evil. In more recent years the tables have turned due to the widespread popularity of the Twilight series novels as well as the film adaptions. The Twilight series originally written by Stephanie Meyer, recounts the love story of Isabella Swan a human teenager who risks it all when she falls for Edward Cullen a vampire forever frozen at the age of 17. Due to its popularity, lots of people visualize the main vampire in the series, Edward Cullen, when they think of the undead. With his devilishly handsome features, bad boy allure, and ability to make all the girls of Forks high school swoon, Edward Cullen and his family of “vegetarian vampires” are redefining the modern view of vampires.

When people hear the term vampire they usually go into certain directions with their thoughts about them. Some people may think of the sparkly, secluded vampires from Twilight or attractive, moody vampires from Vampire Diaries. In Aubrey Sherman’s book “Vampires: The Myth, Legends, and Lore” she says, “When you hear the word vampire, probably the first image that comes to mind is that of a tall, dark, handsome man with luminous eyes, clothed in a fine black tuxedo enveloped by an exquisite opera cloak” (Sherman 19). Here it’s pretty clear that she is going in the direction of Dracula, a seductive, well-dressed Vampire. When I read this it really made think about vampire’s images and how they have been distorted so much in time. There are the ones in their different cultures that

“Dracula” by Bram Stoker has been one of many novels to survive their eras into the present era simply because readers can still find a sort of truth in the words. While the world has transformed greatly since the time that “Dracula” was written, the infamous vampire haunts modern day society with bright red lips and ghoulish skin ready to be embodied into another remake. Even though Count Dracula died in the novel, readers have not been able to kill him off in waking life because he masks himself in the subconscious of the reader. The issues that “Dracula” addresses are alive and kicking today such as the growing independence of women in a patriarchal society, conflicts over difference and what it embodies, or the growing distinction between