42 pages • 1 hour read
A Dowry of Blood
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Background
Literary Context: Bram Stoker’s Dracula
Dracula is an 1897 epistolary novel by Irish writer Bram Stoker. It is widely considered to be the most famous and influential vampire story in the world. In Stoker’s novel, a young solicitor named Jonathan Harker travels from England to Transylvania to meet with his client, Count Dracula, about a real estate deal. Dracula imprisons Harker in his castle. During his imprisonment, Harker encounters three beautiful, unnamed vampire women who try to drink his blood; Dracula stops them at the last minute. Harker escapes, and both he and Dracula journey separately back to England. There, Harker, his wife, Mina, and several of their friends encounter Dracula, who attempts to turn both Mina and her friend, Lucy, into vampires. Harker and his associates kill Lucy after she becomes a vampire. They chase Dracula back to Romania, where they successfully kill the vampire. The year is not specified, but the novel is likely set in the 1890s.
Stoker’s version of vampirism is different from many modern portrayals. Dracula implies that it takes a long time to turn someone into a vampire. The process remains mysterious, but it appears to involve a vampire drinking a human being’s Plus, gain access to 8,500+ more expert-written Study Guides. Including features:
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