The Use Of Horror In Bram Stoker's Dracula And Mary Shelly's Frankenstein

1372 words - 6 pages

A screeching scream, a dark alley, a thundering storm, lightning developing over imaginative shadows, the beat of a heart, ear shattering like an army of drums. The feeling of curiosity is at its climax, the fearful question is yet to be asked: what is waiting behind that corner? Horror is the answer. The evil monsters of the night are what people's imaginations turns to. Power, love, jealousy and death are elements that play an important role in horror. These fearful thoughts, a source of enjoyment for many, have fueled for centuries the desire of horror fiction. In Bram Stoker's Dracula and Mary Shelly's Frankenstein, horror is a tragedy.In both books studied, the two main characters ...view middle of the document...

Evil is associated with ugliness. In these two novels, Frankenstein and Dracula, it is more common to see evil being beautiful, alluring, and seductive in many cases. Dracula is in love with Mina Harker. He wants her so bad that he uses his charm at first and then his seductive power. He whispers saying, "One day or night you will be mine". Mina is no match for this and instantly shows affection. His love is so great that it leads him to his downfall. The creature in Frankenstein wants love in his life but he never gets it. As much as it hurts them to be alone, both Dracula and the creation want love in their lives. It is so sad that both characters never do experience true love the old fashion way. Dracula with his powers and the creature never experiencing at all."Narcissism is the major difference between the horror fiction and our lives. The monsters are no longer due on Maple Street, but may pop up in our own mirrors at any time"(Stephen King)This is taken in the sense that instead of running away from the horror and being afraid of it, the horror that is in these novels are there for readers to be a part of and to be able to relate and see a reflection of their own lives. With no love, out comes the one thing that ruins lives, jealousy.In Frankenstein, the creation is perceived as a negative being. His loneliness is of the literal sense being that he has no care giver, no teacher, no companion, nor does any other individual want to help him in his situation. He asks his creator,"Make me a companion?"But Frankenstein refuses. This persuades him to take out anger. He is jealous of Frankenstein because Frankenstein does have a love and for someone to play god and create a being like the creature should not have the privilege of having a love. The creature feels that he is worthless and that he does not meet the standards of society, because of this, he is jealous of everyone. Dracula's jealousy is that of Jonathan Harker because he has true love. True love is when two people love each other and show the same affection for each other, true love is not when one person uses their powers to make other people love them, thus being in the case of Dracula and Mina Harker. Both Dracula and the creature are sad and abuse their powers by killing people as a result of a solution. Dracula understanding that he has no love says:"Blood is life and it shall be mine"This means that he has given up on love with Mina Harker and tries to satisfy his own needs by turning his goal into his lifeline, blood. He realizes that...

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