Welcome Post

Welcome to my classic novel study blog. In choosing my classic novel, it struck me that there was only one correct choice for me, Dracula. This novel particularly intrigued me as I wanted to figure out the history and evolution behind the vampires that we know and love today. In the following weeks I will be critically analysing the novel Dracula, by Bram Stoker. What makes this book interesting is that although it was published over 100 years ago, people continue to study it and it is still influencing the writing of today.  This novel begins by following the seemingly naive accounts of Jonathan Harker in his arrival at Count Dracula’s castle. Harker being the optimist continues to go ahead with travelling to Dracula’s castle despite the locals warnings. Upon arriving at the castle a series of  eerie events unfold, eventually leading to the understanding that Count Dracula is a blood thirsty vampire. After merely escaping with his life the novel switches styles, going from only the diary writing of Harker to a much broader range of people including Mina, Lucy and many others. The antagonist Count Dracula travels to England where all of the characters live and brings with him all of the eerie events and wreaks havoc on the city of Whitby.  In the end it is a nail bitter and a classic good versus evil story where we are left worrying about the well being of the characters.

Stoker, the author of this classic was born November 8th 1847 near Dublin.  Stoker started out writing theatre reviews where he became famous in his own field. He then moved up to creating works such as “A Star Trap” and “Mick the Devil”. After marrying his love, actress Florence Balcome, Stoker published his most famous novel Dracula in1897.  From there he went on a writing spree, writing novels such as The Man, The Lady of the Shroud and The Liar of the White Worm.

In the following posts what I hope to achieve is a better understanding about where our recent fascination with vampires began and in what ways has this novel has become a classic. I would like to understand why this novel, 100 years later is still able to captivate people’s imaginations. Surely the information provided above is just the beginning of what I will learn about this novel. I hope to be able to compare and contrast our concept of vampires and horror today with that of the late 19th century. I hope all of you will enjoy reading my blog in the coming weeks.