Historical Context of Dracula
Basically, the film tells the story of how a number of historians from different
generations, connected by different family ties, encounter the truth of the legend of
Dracula, and must try to escape from the vampire and his pursuit. This novel is best
described as a modern gothic travel novel as it takes the reader through a series of
journeys in Turkey, Romania, and Bulgaria during the 1930s, 1950s, and 1970s.
These countries are located on the borderlands between East and West and are also
places where the historical conflict between Vlad Tepes or Vlad the Impaler (the
historical person on whom Dracula is based) took place. This brings the main
characters into constant contact with a range of different cultures. The novel is
concerned with the liminal state of the characters, the conflict and The brutality of
Christianity to which Vlad the Impaler belongs(Höglund, 8).
Over the years, numerous stories have been told about vampires, including the legend of Dracula. In 1897, reflecting the fears of Victorian society, Bram Stoker published his novel Dracula on the basis of religious myth. This study investigates the religious perspectives by touching on the anti-Christian values, biblical imagery and the Evangelicalism movement that emerged in the Victorian era, highlighting the ambiguousness of the religious perspectives illustrated in Dracula. Namely, the character Van Helsing and his associates call on Catholic forces, demonstrating the homiletic viewpoint against vampirism prevalent in the Christian religion. At the same time, Dracula reveals a superstitious mentality, as a moral thought reveals impurity through application of religious materials such as the communion wafer or crucifix. In this sense, Dracula represents the purification of a society that is at odds 9 with religion in terms of its anti-Christian leanings. As such, the contradictions in Dracula are irresolvable in light of its religious perspective in gothic literature, with Stoker evincing contradictory opinions about both vampirism and the Christian religion through the lens of Evangelicalism. Some indications of religious allusion represent vampire hunters as Catholic forces fighting the evil forces in Dracula. The aim of the study is to explore the sadism of vampirism in contrast to Christianity, shedding light on the Jewish and anti-Christian conflicts in the book by analyzing its symbols of good versus evil, as well as its religious elements represented by vampire hunters as Catholic forces fighting against the forces of evil. Moreover, the study portrays anti-Christian values through the murder of innocent people by Dracula and discusses how the Ten Commandments place the vampire in a demonic category. Apart from Dracula's savagery, the study also explains the "bliss of life" mentioned in the Bible(AtiÅŸ, 6)
History of Dracula's novel
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