Dracula - Analysis.

When Bram Stoker wrote his novel Dracula in the later half of the nineteenth century, he could not possibly have fathomed its continuing success for so many years to come. When asking the question what makes a story a valued text you must first ask what does in mean to be valued? Value is defined as having worth in usefulness or importance to the possessor. Dracula is recognised as possessing great worth, or I would not be writing about it now. Dracula has been accepted by our culture as something of value for many reasons. These include; its literary structure, it is an insight into late 19th century values and ideas, as it is one of the best examples of gothic literature ever published, the sexual undertones, and also its appropriation into many forms thus making it ingrained in our popular culture.

Dracula is an epistolary novel, making it unique and refreshing in contrast to other novels of the time grabbing the interests of the readers.

Dracula

Dracula (first edition cover), Bram Stoker's vampi...

English: Bram Stoker (1847-1912), novelist born in...

The combination of journals, letters and newspapers allows the reader to observe the point-of-view of each character and allows stoker to juxtapose the rational world of the of English Victorian reader with the supernatural world of Transylvania. Throughout the novel Stoker indulges the reader with dramatic irony, the reader knows the significance of events long before the characters do. This is demonstrated when Mina seals Jonathan's journal, she does not realize that she is causing a costly delay in understanding the force that is attacking Lucy. This enforces the unusual structure of the text and the text's unusual content.

The Gothic genre presents ideas and images of horror, suspense and paranormal themes within the text. This kind of literary structure allows the reader to experience power over these images and ideas, and make a...