Gothic conventions Essay Example for Free

Gothic conventions Essay Dracula, as described in the play, can take many forms of different creatures. Ranging from a wolf to a mist. These creatures are described well in the play and create an atmosphere of suspense for the reader. It also shows just how strong Dracula is. This vampire which is amongst us is of himself so strong in person as twenty men This quotation shows us just how strong Dracula is and Bram Stoker describes this well by comparing Dracula to a living thing such as man. It gives us a good idea of just how strong Dracula is/becomes. In the play it describes the many forms that Dracula can take: The storm, the fog, and the wolf; he can grow and become small; and he can at times vanish and come unknown. This describes very well the different forms that Dracula can take and the last bit of the sentence just creates that extra bit of suspense, which can take this play to the next level. and he can at times vanish and come unknown This is the phrase which kicks in that extra bit of suspense and gets the reader wondering what this means and how Dracula does it. It overall draws a better picture of the creature himself and what is achievable for him. He can transform himself to wolf, as we gather from the ship arrival in Whitby, when he tear open the dog; he can be as bat He can come in mist which he create This is another of the forms that Dracula can take and as you progress on with the story you get a better and better image of Dracula and the powers that he has within him. Another one of the conventions is the weirdness of Dracula and how different he is in relation to the rest of mankind. He eat not as others. Even friend Jonathan, who lived with him for weeks, did never see him to eat, never! This is very weird, as we all know because every living thing needs to consume something in order for its body to keep functioning and to stay alive. But it seems as though Dracula is very different compared to humans as Jonathan, who had lived with him, had never seen him eat. This must mean that there is another way in, which Dracula consumes which has not yet been discovered. This part of the story creates suspense and gets the reader thinking about what Dracula exactly is and how he differs humans. It gets the reader thinking about how Dracula survives and what he survives on. He throws no shadow; he make in the mirror no reflect This is another phrase, which creates suspense for the reader and shoes just how weird Dracula is and once again it gets the readers thinking just what Dracula is. As we know everything and anything can throw a shadow as long as it is solid. The laws of physics tell us that. But Dracula somehow doesnt throw a shadow. This means that he is defying the laws of Physics, which once again shows how unusual and how inhuman like Dracula is. The last quotation which gets the reader wondering about Dracula is He can see in the dark-no small power this It isnt a small power indeed as no human can do this, which ultimately confirms just how inhuman Dracula is. The convention of the journal will be looked at next. Minas journal has a lot to reveal about Dracula and her encounter with him. The first quotation I will take is the parted red lips, with the sharp white teeth showing between; and red eyes This is a quote which strikes fear into the mind of the readers and it gives a fairly good description of Dracula. The sharp teeth instantly gets you thinking and gives u a sense of fear as u begin to picture what this person may look like. The red eyes also instantly puts fear into the minds of the readers as it describes Dracula in a very fiery/inhuman way. The word monster may come into the readers minds as they read this phrase. Silence! If u make a sound I shall take him and dash his brains out before your very eyes Here we are getting pretty gruesome as the writer takes a more graphic approach to the threat that Dracula makes to Mina. The very thought of someones brains being dashed before you instantly sends a shiver up your spine and gets you very involved in the passage as your brain instantly gathers an image of what it would look like if you were to be there. This slowly paints a better picture of Dracula and what he is capable of and what he has done before. Another chilling quote from Dracula is: You may as well be quiet; it is not the first time your veins have appeased my thirst This is a very chilling quote, which refers to the blood in Minas body. It gets the reader thinking about whether or not Dracula is about to do what they think he is about to do. But straight after there is another quote, which describes just how unusual and powerful Dracula is: strangely enough I did not want to hinder him. I suppose it is a part of the horrible curse that this happens when his touch is on his victim This quote gives an image of Dracula to be very inhuman like just like the others. It gets the reader into the story line and makes the reader believe more and more that Dracula is truly supernatural. But it seemed that a long time had passed before he took his awful sneering mouth away. I saw it drip with the fresh blood This can only be the action of a supernatural, as no human would even think of consuming someone elses blood. Dracula is a natural vampire as this sentence finally suggests and just shows what lengths the supernatural go to. Once again here a monster like image is created of Dracula and the instant feeling of fear kicks in as you read the sentence. The main reason that this sense of fear is created by the writer is because of how graphic the script becomes and how detailed it is and once again this instantly creates a picture in your mind of Dracula commencing with these gruesome acts. When my brain says Come! to you, you shall cross land or sea to do my bidding This describes a sense of power, which comes from Dracula. This is typical as power is one of the Gothic conventions, which is used in this story to good effect as Dracula commands his presence and shows his power. Straight after this we go from power to the gruesome side of Dracula: With that he pulled open his shirt and with his sharp nails opened a vein in his breast This is very gruesome and creates a sense of sickness for the reader but its all in the nature of Dracula as the story shows and Bram Stoker makes this very graphic once again which sends shivers up the readers spine. But even this is not enough. The writer goes one step further here as he goes into more graphic content When the blood began to spurt out, he took my hands in one of his, holding them tight, and with the other seized my neck and pressed my mouth to the wound, so that I must suffocate or swallow This once again is very sickening as it goes into great detail of how she is made to press her mouth against the blood spurting breast of Dracula. This creates a sickening image, which causes the reader to react in a way where he/she just wants to put the book down. As we move on to another extract in the story. We come to the part of the story where the Professor encounters Dracula himself.