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Nosferatu And Dracula Comparison Essay

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This essay will compare two versions of Dracula: the book by Bram Stoker published in 1897, and the movie Nosferatu directed by Werner Herzog in 1979. The question is; did director Herzog make a good adaptation of Dracula? No, he did not do a good job. The three points used to prove the thesis are: There is not enough investigation on the vampire (Nosferatu), Renfield should not have sent Jonathan on the trip, and finally Dracula’s behaviour, and appearance should be different. There is not enough vampire investigation in Nosferatu. There should have been more time spent exploring vampire legends, and methods to kill Nosferatu. In the movie the characters from the book Quincey Morris and John Seward did not exist, and they were big contributors …show more content…

In the film and the book, Renfield is a maniac in the book being diagnosed with zoophagia syndrome (a compulsion to eat insects, or live animals), and in the film he is also a maniac but there is no diagnosis. Shortly after the movie starts, Renfield invites Jonathan to his room, and asks him to leave for the Counts castle that day which almost 1700 miles away in Transylvania. Jonathan agrees and leaves that very day. It just does not make sense for Jonathan to obey such a crazy man. In Bram Stokers Dracula, Jonathan was sent to Transylvania by his book Peter Hawkins, who was a well known businessman. In Stokers book, Jonathan was in the scenario where he could trust his boss because Mr. Hawkins was first of all, mentally stable, and second, had a good reputation. In the film, Renfield was not at all mentally stable, nor had a good reputation. Also Renfield had his own character in the book known as the “weird guy” or the “maniac”. In the film he had the characteristics and personalities from the book, but he was also the boss of Jonathan Harker. If Harker was a modern, civil person, then why would he listen to someone that is locked in room, guarded by people?Renfield should not have sent Jonathan to Nosferatu’s castle, and Nosferatu should not have had the appearance he

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