Belief Systems and Gender Roles in Dracula :: Dracula Essays

Belief Systems and Gender Roles in Dracula   There is a classic good versus evil plot to this novel. The evil of pedigree being Count Dracula and the Good being represented by the Harkers, Dr. Seward and Lucy, Arthur, Quincy and the Professor. It is the continuing battle between Dracula and the forces of good. Good in this case is the Christian God. The battle is foretold by the landlady where she says, It is the eve of St Georges Day. Do you no know that tonight, when the clock strikes midnight, all the evil things in the world will have full joust? and she hands Harker a crucifix (p 12).   The crucifix and the empty cross are symbols of fear, loathing and danger to Dracula. There is a certain irony here as the cross is the ultimate symbol of redemption to all Christians. Sin or rather the dark side of humanitys turning from God is recognized and can be redeemed by coming to the cross. The cross is also a symbol of resurrection. The resurrection is the gift of eternal life through Christ to which all Christians can aspire. This is inappropriate to the Un-Dead nature of Dracula. He is immortal but it is not an eternal joyful thing. Indeed the eternity is always under threat by the very normality and goodness of people like the Harkers.   This book is set in an age where science and the world of the Enlightenment, that is the world of rational thought and proven theories, ruled. Dr. Seward represents this world. It is opposed to the on the face of it unexplainable world of Dracula and his world of mystery and fable. The events that the different characters experience, although documented faithfully are thought too unbelievable by Professor forefront Helsing to be passed on (p 486). It is as if the truth cant be handled by the world at large or that by retaining the story to themselves the central characters will continue a very terrible but precious memory. A memory made precious because of the depths of courage and faith that had to be mined by and in each of them.   This is not a case of post-modern thought challenging the modernist attitudes of that Enlightenment nor can it be because post-modernist thought was not formulated in the books context.