Bram Stoker’s Dracula, a Mythological reading

Abstract

This paper deals with mythological elements in Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula. It discusses the mythical topos of Transylvania, seen as an exotic land, a scene for romantic events and characters. This place becomes a territory of passage, with mysterious forests, mountains, and a castle placed at the heart of the mystery. The un-dead / immortal Dracula is seen as a character of classic mythology / immortality, the story of life after death, and elements rooted in folklore — both Romanian and Irish. Because of the censorship in the Victorian Age, Bram Stoker placed the seeds of mythology encoded in his text. For his contemporaries, Dracula appears as evil and must be killed. The next generations disseminated the mythology of Dracula, each according to their cultural level and taste, from Nosferatu to The Vampire Diaries.