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Dracula And Vampirism

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Gothic literature originated in the 19th century, having diverged from the larger Romantic Movement. Like the Romantics, Gothic writers embraced the sublime nature and endeavored to evoke deep emotions in their readers. However, their motives were manifested in a fascination with the exotic and eerie human nature and the effects of guilt, evil, isolation and terror on a human being. Authors employ isolated and grotesque settings, supernatural beings and events, combines horror and romance as well as highlighting overwrought emotions. The ability to captivate reader’s emotional experience through the exploration of human weakness has allowed the Gothic genre to continue into the twenty-first century, modifying to reflect current societal concerns. …show more content…

The way by which Dracula feeds, for instance, echo the mechanics of sexual intercourse: he waits to be beckoned into his victim’s bedroom, then he pierces her body in a way that makes her bleed. In the mind of men, this act has the same effect as a real sexual encounter—it transforms the woman from a repository of purity and innocence into an uncontrollably lascivious creature who inspires “wicked, burning desire” in men. Carter also explores sexuality in her lady vampire Countess Nosferatu. From her perspective, vampirism is a figure of menstruation. The Countess is initiated into vampire adulthood with a blood-lust for men: “When she was young...she contented herself entirely with baby rabbits...But now she is a woman, she must have men.” (page …show more content…

It is at the very beginning of the story that the narrator posits the momentous question: “Can a bird sing only the song it knows or can it learn a new song?” (page ). This question constitutes the emergence of human desire within the turmoils of the Countess’ struggle. As a grown-up woman, she has a grown “horrible reluctance for the role” of man-eater. When the handsome bicyclist arrives at the village, a series of images shows the awakening of desire and the possibility of romantic fulfillment in the young lady. With reference to the kiss of Sleeping Beauty, the unique turning up of the card ‘Les Amoureux’, a different nervousness, a seductively caressing voice, her lace négligé, her touch and smile. Although she desires to consummate with the young handsome soldier as she would have had with other country lads, her only option is to turn “her head away from the blue beams of his eyes ... [since] she knows no other consummation than the only one she can offer him” (page 494). Throughout the story, a prominent symbol of her growing sexuality is the Rose. As a symbol for the female genitalia, the Countess’ gifting of the rose to the soldier at the end of the story signifies her unfulfilled sexual

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