What was Bram Stoker trying to portray when he wrote Dracula? As a gothic novel, Dracula reveals a fixation not just on horror but also with folk legend. The reality of the book f the book is of great magnitude since Stoker told the story through a method consisting primarily of journal entries. Dracula shows examples of sexual repression, religious pressure, and gothic lore.
In Stoker's and Dracula's time, society forbade public views of sexual nature. Stoker spoke out against it through Dracula. The biting, way of infecting others with Vampirism, was viewed as sexy in the books time. Jonathan Harker fell asleep in one of the rooms forbidden by Count Dracula. "Lower and lower went her head as the lips went below the range of my mouth and chin and seemed to fasten on my throat." Lines like this show the provocative nature of a vampire bite and pushes along Stokers ideas.
In Dracula, the Catholic religion was put forth as the only way to battle against Count Dracula and his army of Un-Dead and to preserve your soul. This also makes other religions look inferior because none of the characters practiced them, nor used them at any point during the story line. The Cross and the Host were the only way of attacking and hurting the vampires. Through out the book the characters prayed The Son, The Father, and The Holy Spirit. This shows that the Catholic Church was very strong. The citizens of Romania, and even Dr Van Helsing of Germany were all Catholics.
Lots of gothic lore, myths, and stories follow Count Dracula and the Vampire history. Published works about Vampires came out as early as 1819. The Vampyre by Dr. John Polidori, a friend of Lord Byron's, and Carmilla, a short story, by Sheridan Le Fanu in 1871 Vampirism has plagued folk lore since ancient times, and traces of Vampirism can be found as far as East China. Throughout the Middle Ages an even into the Modern Era, reports of corpses rising from the dead have achieved widespread belief.
