Ch. 6 - 10: Dracula - by Bram Stoker
Please use this thread to discuss Chapters 6 - 10 of Dracula by Bram Stoker.
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This is a really good question, and I've thought about it for a few days with no clear answer to give other than how I view him in the first six chapters. This might change as the story progresses and more of his personality's revealed, but so far I see Dracula as highly intelligent and very logical. He understands morality, and it helps him to be more cunning. I've heard it said he's a predator, and I feel that in how he tries to control every situation by controlling his physical space with locked doors and pleas for his guest to stay so as not to venture off and get into trouble. His entire existence is governed by a series of strict rules designed to protect his secret. In this sense, the aging castle helps him because it's virtually a death trap waiting to collapse. So if he says, "Don't touch the walls because they're brittle," you believe him.Mr. Pessimistic wrote:Could Dracula perhaps be a symbol of foreign influence, or more directly, immigrants having a disruptive and destructive influence on English society? He is invading their society and bringing the utmost in darkness and despair.
The Wikipedia page on Bram Stoker is fascinating and detailed. He was an Irish Protestant who became a prominent London theatre manager, and wrote a number of novels.Brooks127 wrote:William S. Burroughs mentioned how writers reveal themselves in their fiction whether they try or not. I suspect that period fears had a hand in creating Dracula but to what extent Bram Stoker actively did this, I have no clue. I'm not a Bram Stoker historian. So I'm speculating. However, one things is for certain. The book came out at a time when science and technology began to seriously challenge religion.
Robert Tulip wrote:The Wikipedia page on Bram Stoker is fascinating and detailed. He was an Irish Protestant who became a prominent London theatre manager, and wrote a number of novels.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bram_Stoker
And this right here, to me, is THE most underrated aspect of the vampire mythos... The immortality and all the knowledge and experience it brings. I feel this gets downplayed so much vis a vis the more emotional aspects, like the sexuality or the evil. I might be inclined to suffer this curse if that would allow me to experience centuries of human existence. Maybe.Brooks127 wrote:... but so far I see Dracula as highly intelligent and very logical.
And I agree. Authors are excellent at detaching themselves from their writing, but I do like detecting the unconscious biases and sentiments that in their work. Things so ingrained in the social conscious that they are super hard to omit. I am no literary critic or analyst, but I do sense these things sometimes.Brooks127 wrote:
Now, the question goes back to yours. Was this done as more than a writing device? My guess is a lot of thought went into constructing Dracula but perhaps not in how some might think. William S. Burroughs mentioned how writers reveal themselves in their fiction whether they try or not. I suspect that period fears had a hand in creating... The book came out at a time when science and technology began to seriously challenge religion.