Description of the novel, characteristics of the characters and the author of "Dracula"

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

The author of "Dracula" is Irish writer Bram Stoker. He wrote a fascinating story about a vampire count at the end of the 19th century. The book was first published in 1897. Today it is one of the most popular plots in world literature.

The novel "Dracula"

The author of "Dracula" began work on the work back in 1890. It was then that the first images of the future immortal novel arose before him. He came up with an old man who slowly rises from a coffin and a girl who hugs her beloved and reaches for his throat to bite.

There is an original version of this novel, in which the protagonist remains nameless, but he already has the title of earl. At the same time, the action of the work developed not in Romanian Transylvania, but in the Austrian land of Styria.

Already at the end of 1890, the idea of the novel changed. The author of "Dracula" Bram Stoker carefully studied Eastern European folklore. There he found a book about the rulers of Wallachia and Moldavia. It was from there that he scrupulously wrote out all the information about the Wallachian prince Vlad Tepes, who became the prototype of the protagonist of the novel.

Also, some researchers argue that changing the original intentthe author of "Dracula" decided after meeting with the Hungarian local historian, famous traveler Arminius Vamberi. It was he who told the writer about episodes in the history of the Danube region.

According to another version, the author of the novel "Dracula" was influenced by a visit to the Scottish castle of Slanes. And Stoker's son claimed that his father's idea was born when he saw the vampire king rising from the coffin in a dream.

Description of the novel

Jonathan Harker, an aspiring lawyer from the English capital, arrives in Transylvania. This is how Dracula begins. The author of the book describes the reasons for his business trip. Harker needs to secure a real estate deal for a local aristocrat named Dracula.

The Count acquires an abandoned abbey. He is immortal, so he constantly needs new possessions. Dracula leaves Harker with his three brides and leaves the castle in a box of native soil.

At this time, the lawyer's fiancee visits her friend Lucy, who lives in the coastal town of Whitby. A ship arrives there without a single crew member, and the captain lies dead at the helm.

At this time, Lucy begins to lose a lot of blood. To help her, fiancé Arthur Holmwood seeks help from Dr. Seward, who runs a mental hospital.

Seward, meanwhile, has a curious patient. His name is Renfield. For an unknown reason, he eats spiders and flies and repeats that he is waiting for the arrival of his all-powerful master. Seward examines Lucy, but cannot figure out what is wrong with her. For advice, heinvites his colleague - Professor Van Helsing. He specializes in rare diseases. Van Helsing establishes that Lucy's illness is connected with otherworldly forces. He gives her a blood transfusion, takes measures that are completely incomprehensible to the rest. For example, he places garlic all over her room. But all in vain. Lucy dies of an unexplained illness.

Letter from Harker

The bride of a young lawyer receives a letter from her fiancé. It turns out that he spent a month and a half in a hospital in Budapest with a fever. She comes to him, the young play a wedding and go home. At the same time, Harker is always depressed. In London, he recognizes one of the passers-by as Count Dracula. Book author Bram Stoker talks about how strange things start to happen after Lucy's funeral. There are reports in newspapers of mysterious attacks on children being bitten on the neck by a "ghost lady".

The heroes of the novel discover an empty coffin in Lucy's grave in the cemetery. It turns out that the girl became a vampire. Van Helsing is forced to kill her by piercing her heart with an aspen stake. He then cuts off her head and stuffs garlic in her mouth. The professor guesses that Count Dracula is behind all this. At the moment, the vampire is hiding in Carfax Abbey, which he bought with the help of Harker.

Suddenly, the Count attacks Mina and frees his slave Renfield.

Escape to Transylvania

Dracula is trying to hide from his pursuers in his family estate inTransylvania. But the heroes of the novel follow him, seeking to punish evil.

Mina comes to the castle with the professor. Van Helsing cracks down on the count's three brides. At this time, the men are trying to overtake the gypsy camp, in which the box with Dracula is being transported.

The decisive battle begins near the castle. Most of the gypsies die, and Morris also receives a fatal blow. Sunset is approaching - the time when vampires can gain their full strength. Literally moments before dark, Harker manages to open the box containing Dracula. With a special Gurkha dagger, he cuts the vampire's throat. Morris finishes by stabbing the heart with a hunting knife.

Dracula turns to dust in the blink of an eye. And Morris dies peacefully, surrounded by friends.

Count Dracula

Count Dracula author Bram Stoker describes his character as a creepy aristocrat who feeds on the blood of mere mortals.

It is a generally accepted fact that Vlad Tepes became the prototype of the vampire. This is a real-life historical figure. In history, he was also known as Dracula. Literally translated from Romanian, this means "dragon".

At the same time, characterizing this hero, many researchers urge not to associate a fictional character with a real ruler. Although there is a clause about the alleged identity even in the text of the novel itself. But in most adaptations of this chilling story, this subtlety is completely ignored.

Van Helsing

Dracula's main adversary in the novelbecomes Professor Van Helsing. He is a metaphysical philosopher, Ph. D. Specializes in the study of the occult. At the very beginning of the novel is located in the Netherlands, in Amsterdam.

He comes to England to help cure Lucy Westenra, who is suffering from an unknown illness. He is presented to the characters of the work as a specialist in rare and mysterious diseases. It is Van Helsing who discovers signs of a vampire bite in Lucy's illness. This characterizes him as an insightful and attentive researcher.

It is believed that the prototype of this character could be the Hungarian historian Arminius Vamberi, who told Stoker a lot about Hungary and Eastern European folklore.