Foreshadowing, Mood, Mythical Parallels, and Narrative Elements in Drac

Foreshadowing, Mood, Mythical Parallels, and Narrative Elements in Dracula      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the novel Dracula, by Bram Stoker, there is much evidence of foreshadowing and parallels to other myths.   Dracula was not the first story featuring a vampire myth, nor was it the last.   Some would even argue that it was not the best.   However, it was the most original, using foreshadowing and mood to create horrific imagery, mythical parallels to draw upon a source of superstition, and original narrative elements that make this story unique.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Anyone who has ever seen one of the several adaptations of Dracula as a movie will know that it was intended to be a horror story.   Stoker goes to great lengths in order to create an atmosphere of terror and villainy, while hinting at exciting things to come.   Straight from the beginning of the book, foreshadowing is utilized to hint at horrifying future events.   As Jonathan Harker was about to depart for Castle Dracula, an old lady accosted him and said, "It is the eve of St. George's Day.   Do you not know that to-night when the clock strikes midnight, all the evil things in the world will have full sway?"   (Stoker, 4).   However Harker leaves anyway, despite the warning.   Thus the reader is fully aware that something awful is going to happen to him.   This quote makes one's mind think of possible future events, thus creating imagery.   Every writer aspires to create good imagery, and Bram Stoker is particularly go od at doing so.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Another example of foreshadowing unfolds when Harker is being transported to Castle Dracula by the mysterious and tenebrous driver.   "Then, as we flew along, the driver leaned forward, and on each side the passengers, craning over the edg... ...are depicted in many instances in order to draw upon a source of superstition for added affirmation.   Finally, original narrative elements are conceived in order to bring together a central theme of unity, which stresses the teamwork by which the protagonists defeated the vampires.   Bram Stoker applies these elements to create an enriching, compelling plot in the novel Dracula.       Works Cited Birge, Barbara.   "Bram Stoker's DRACULA:   The Quest for Female Potency in Transgressive Relationships."   Psychological Perspectives.   1994.   22-36. Gutjahr, Paul.   "Stoker's Dracula-Criticism and Interpretation."   Explicator.   Fall 1993.   36-40. Holland, Tom.   "A Sure Fang."   New Statesman.   Feb. 19, 2001.   40-42. Keats, P.   "Stoker's Dracula."   Explicator.   Fall 1991.   26-29. Stoker, Bram.   Dracula.   Tom Doherty Associates:   New York, 1988.