Quote:
“This vampire which is amongst us is of himself so strong in person as twenty men; he is of cunning more than mortal, for his cunning be the growth of ages; he have still the aids of necromancy, which is, as his etymology imply, the divination by the dead, and all the dead that he can come nigh to are for him at command; he is brute, and more than brute; he is devil in callous, and the heart of him is not; he can, within limitations, appear at will when, and where, and in any of the forms that are to him; he can, within his range, direct the elements; the storm, the fog, the thunder; he can command all the meaner things: the rat, and the owl, and the bat—the moth, and the fox, and the wolf; he can grow and become small; and he can at times vanish and come unknown. How then are we to begin our strike to destroy him? How shall we find his whereabouts; and having found it, how can we destroy, (Stoker 464)?”
Comment:
An important theme that has been consistent between the monsters in novels as well as other monsters, is that they reflect the values and status quo of the time and place in which they were created. Typically monsters are seen as the villain, and are created so that the main character; the hero can destroy. With this in mind it is not far-fetched to believe that the authors or novels such as Frankenstein or Dracula would take values that are looked down upon as inspiration for their monsters. In Dracula this can be seen in many different forms, such as Dracula and the other vampires expressing their sexuality and being sexual beings. Though this was unheard of and looked down upon in both men and women during this time period, it is even more extraordinary to see women portrayed in such a way (during a time when a woman’s purity meant everything). In the quote above the heroes of the story are talking about Dracula and his characteristics as a vampire. This includes his powers of being able to transform into different animals and fog. Though the part of this quote that I found most interesting was their attention to him being dead and necromancy. They mention that he is dead and that he is the work of the devil. Through the way this paragraph continues it is implied that Dracula has gained his powers because of his death and his association with the devil. I believe this really reflects the time period because it shows the fear and rejection that was shown towards anything supernatural or outside of Christaian beliefs. Vampires and Dracula are an extreme version of this, but historically this fear mongering towards different groups of people can be seen in the Salem Witch Trials, or to other religious practices to name a few examples.
Question:
What other characteristics that are looked down upon during this time period were used to make Dracula the monster? How has the way people view vampires changed over time?
