Silvia Venegas

Literature in English
Group 1
TERM PAPER
Thesis:
Archetypes in Dracula respond to universal images but symbols reduce that
universe into a horror context, supported by cultural believes folk tradition and
even social standards in order to reinforce the fantastic elements on this novel
To make an appropriate approach to this work, it is necessary to take into
account the context of the author and his life, since all the literary works are
influenced by the subjectivity of the writer and certainly, his or her
perceptions of life, and the social and economic issues of the time.
Being Irish, Bram Stoker was naturally interested in regional and traditional
legends, including the vampirism, which was an important part of the Irish
folklore. During the Victorian period, it was common to see literary texts
approaching motifs as the life after dead and unfathomable issues for the
human reason; the settings were cemeteries, apparitions and supernatural
elements that caused horror and fear in the readers leaving the certainty of the
reality to move to the fearing of the unknown things.
Dracula is part of the horror stories of the XIX century, incorporating
supernatural elements, instead of the realism characteristic of the previous
period, causing emotional or physical responses as fear and revulsion,
typically caused when something frightening or fearful is seen.
In the novel it is possible to find proper elements than could be classified in
the archetype theory proposed by Carl Gustav Jung. First of all it is important
to clarify what an archetype is, for the purpose of differentiate it and identify
the characteristics and proper elements that define this concept.
The contents of the collective unconscious are denominated archetypes,
underwriting that human beings mind is deeply linked to the past, but not
only to the personal past and the childhood experiences, but also with the
collective experience, that is to say, the past of the species. These experiences,
can be expressed in different ways depending on the context, and the own
reality of each human being. Archetypes prefigure our mind and link it to the
external world.
Nevertheless, it is not easy to numerate the archetypes since there are as much
as experiences in life, additionally; the archetypes are dynamic and outcrop
spontaneously as the instincts, likewise, these archetypes affect directly the
human life impacting the psyche, which reflects a bidirectional relationship
between archetypes and human consciousness. Freud was mentioned this
concept using the term archaic remnants referring to the mental expressions
whose origin goes beyond the personal experiences and transcends to the
collective events.
It is important to show the difference with a symbol; basically, a symbol
depends on the context of the individual and it is possible to assign a meaning
according to this specific context. An archetype is more general that is to say,
universal; an archetype does not depend on a specific reality of a person or an
isolated culture; an archetype could be applied to any culture. The novel also
has symbols extracted from local believes and from the literary work itself.
In Dracula it is possible to identify different archetypes and symbols that the
author uses to cause the effect of horror and the effect of fear in the reader he
wants to manage.
The death: is an archetype and an essential topic along the novel and it
fluctuates between the mortal and immortal, the certainty of the death but the
lack of awareness of what is after that, which in turn causes fear.
In the novel, the characters are part of one of the two, being the mortal
antagonists or the immortal vampires. Earl Dracula is the most representative
character of this archetype since he is able to give the immortality or taking
life, however, this immortality is not a blessing but a condemnation, since the
non-living vampire now need fresh blood and human victims to live is forced
to live without doing it, since the only option is being awake at night and the
only purpose of this life is to drink blood. This means to transcend over the
others. For the Earl and the other vampires there is only one option, the more
they kill, the more they live; a perpetual contradiction.
There are also Morris and Jonathan, the characters that take the life of the
Earl, deciding over his life (and death), and the life of the two principal female
characters of the novel Mina and Lucy, preventing them from becoming non-
living beings, since they prefer to kill Lucy when she becomes a vampire. If it
would had been necessary, they would have taken off Minas life instead of
witnessing Mina turned into a vampire.
The evening hours: the most important scenes in the novel take place in late
hours, since Dracula and his metamorphosis only can be active or awaken at
night; and Mina, when is becoming a non-living, is inevitably awake at night
and sleep during the day; in this case, the setting and the atmosphere that hide
something unknown and potentially dangerous is important to cause the
feeling of horror in the reader
Dagger: the symbolism of this element is quite broad, and could be related
with the cross form it has. In the poems of Tennyson the hero interpose his
spade between him and her lover while they are lying in the same bed; when
Lucy (chap 16) tries to embrace Arthur, Van Helsing puts her away using a
crucifix between them. The crucifix was also compared with the sword; in the
middle age, warriors used the sword as a symbol of Christ or protection. The
dagger is itself a branch of the sword and it is deeply related to erotic images
too.
The ritual: The Earl always uses a specific way to act depending on his
victim; this could be considered as a ritual since it is repeated with each one.
He beats his neck and suckles the blood. A ritual is characterized by a great
solemnity and is part of any religion. Rituals of participation as the sacrifice
are ways to expiate guilt.
Symbols
Blood: is part of the religion and is an ambivalent symbol that could represent
death and live at the same time. In the Leviticus book of the Old Testament
the only found reference is a prohibition to drink it: For the life of the flesh
is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an
atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement
for the soul. The atonement for sins is in the blood, because it contains
the life, but due to the bloodshed of that element
Semiotic of the places
There are prompt references to rural places, at the beginning; Jonathan needs
to be far away from the civilization to achieve the gloomy event of the
narration.
London is another important place. Dracula wants to go there to look for fresh
blood. During the XIX century, England was divided into two. The West End
was the center of government, wealthy residences and leisure, while the East
End where London is located was 'unknown England', Dracula's association
with the East End links him with foreigners, especially Jews from eastern
Europe and 'oriental' foreigners, as well as with an area associated in the
collective unconscious with crime and violence.
Magic elements: Are part of the fantastic literature, since it is necessary a
magic element to protect from some fantastic event. The garlic, the crucifix
and the hosts are re-signified, and the fact of being a survival element
necessary to the protection against Dracula.
Undoubtedly, all these archetypes and symbols tend to reinforce the
supernatural elements of the novel. Therefore, fantasy is a constitutive aspect
of Bram Stokers work which could be analyzed throughout Todorovs
Introduction to Fantastic Literature.
Todorov defines fantastic literature as the ambiguous presentation of
seemingly supernatural forces, making the reader or even the characters
hesitate about reality. The reader has a deep sense of confusion with what
Freud called The uncanny since it is not possible to see if the event of the
story is familiar or strange or both at the same time. This sensation is
paradoxical and generates fear and rejection to the situation due to the
confusion raised in the reader.
The fantastic needs three conditions. First of all, it is necessary that the world
of the characters belong to the world of living but there is a constant hesitation
between a rational or an unexplained reason of events. It means that even
strange events demand real conditions. Dracula has human being features; he
is rich and represents aristocracy, he has got power, servants, richness and
possessions. He is a high English class prototype, who inductively manages
circumstances in order to reach his pretentions. The Earl discriminates
between his victims in a rational way, especially for Lucy, a rich girl having
enough dignity for his aspirations.
In the novel, there is always a constant feeling of uneasiness and uncertainty
that is more evident when Lucy is dying but anyone could do anything to save
her. She belongs to the world of the living people; it means she belongs to the
world of the reader itself.
In second place, the hesitation of the character is also experienced by the
reader, making catharsis and feeling identified with the character and his or
her attitudes and the circumstances surrounding; and finally, the reader needs
to adopt an attitude towards the situation and the events of the story, there is
also a confusion between the moments of dream (or wakefulness) and reality,
in this sense, the reader and some characters are always doubting if the
situation is real or just a creation of another character.
But fantastic literature is not only a genre focused on this phenomenon; on the
XIX century, the intention was also explain and introduce to the culture taboo
themes as the necrophilia, rapes, and incest, which couldnt be approached in
other way. In this century literature cannot be separated from the moral project
of the century.
Gothic stories are part of the fantastic literature; the settings commonly used
are rundown structures as manors or castles, in these places there are always
secret passages, hidden doors leading away and secret rooms with scary
things. In the novel, the castle is barely explored by Jonathan and when he
decides to go further, discovers the horrifying secrets of the Earl, his fifty
coffins and finally him immobile in one of those as a living dead. is catch by
the female vampires. Also the jail where is confined Renfield is repugnant and
loathsome, since he is trying to please Dracula collecting spiders, flies and
sparrows to offer their lives to the Earl.
As conclusion, the character could be defined as amoral. The impression on
the reader aims to be confusing in the sense that no matter the end but the
means. Dracula could be interpreted as a misunderstood hero with the ballast
of immortality, the Sisyphus of a vampire; a dichotomy of greatness and
misery.
There is also a particularity with the characters and the isolation and
distancing from the real world that could be physical or psychological and
sometimes emotional and Jonathan Harker is part of these three items since he
is isolated from his friends, from his lover and from his reasoning, he feels he
has lost his mind due to all the events he cannot explain



Bibliography

Calvin S. Hall - Vernon J. Nordby "Conceptos fundamentales de la
psicologa de Jung" (1977)
Carl C. Jung "Acercamiento al inconsciente" . Los arquetipos y lo
inconsciente colectivo. Carl Gustav Jung. Trotta editors. 2002. Spain
Freud, Sigmund. The uncanny. Penguin classics edition. 2003. 240
pages.
Robert Eighteen-Bisang & Elizabeth Miller. (annotated and transcribed)
Bram Stoker's Notes for Dracula: A Facsimile Edition. Bram Stoker,
McFarland & Company, 342 pages
Stoker, Bram. Dracula. San Diego (California) Baker and Taylor. 2012.
525 pages.
http://www.literarylondon.org/london-journal/march2004/davies.html
http://www.biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/scripture/01-1_004.pdf