Dracula Essay Example for Free

Dracula Essay Good vs. Evil has long been expressed through movies and books throughout history. Batman beating the Joker, Spiderman banishing the Green Goblin, and Arthur and the guys defeating Dracula are all examples of literature based on the theme Good vs. Evil. In Bram Stokers, Dracula, Jonathan Harker represents the good, while the vampire, Dracula, represents the evil antagonist. One thing these four pieces share is that evil never fully overcomes good. They all start off as regular human beings, or on the good side, until their spirit and soul becomes taken over by a sense of evil. Gothic elements, such as, an atmosphere of mystery and suspense, supernatural events, gloom and horror, the tyrannical male, and the woman in distress are all present in these stories. The movie Interview with a Vampire, The Singing Springing Lark, and the story Interview with a Vampire can relate to Dracula because of their themes and gothic elements. The movie Interview with a Vampire is very similar to the story Dracula. It starts off in a dark night scene filled with dull and heavy music. Also, during the fight scene, the setting included thunderstorms and pouring rain. This shows metonymy because the dark and heavy music represents death and terror and the thunderstorms and rain were used to create a setting of darkness and fear. Other gothic elements shown in this movie were Lucy’s pale skin, the castle setting, and the exchanging of blood. In the Lindauer 2 story Dracula, Lucy’s skin starts to become very pale because she has been bitten by Dracula, which is what happened in the movie. This represents the gothic element tyrannical male, because of Dracula’s presentation of overpowering the other characters, more specifically Mina and Lucy. This directly relates to the gothic element women in distress because the women in both stories were treated poorly and were taken advantage of due to their weaknesses. In the story, The Singing Springing Lark, there are also many similarities to Dracula. For example, as in Interview with a Vampire also, most of the scenes take place in a castle. This shows the gothic element setting in a castle. As in most stories, a castle usually represents evil spirits and terror, which Dracula and the Beast both represent. Another gothic element shown is an atmosphere of mystery and suspense. In the story, the prince was hesitant to meet the girl’s family because â€Å"for if a ray from a burning light were to fall on him there, he would be transformed into a dove, and would have to fly with doves for seven years.† This is an important quote because in the story Dracula, the boys had figured out that Dracula’s evil spirit was weakest during the times of sunrise and sunset. If they didn’t get to him before the sun set, his powers were going to be restored. In other words, the change from dark to light represents a change from evil to good. In the story Interview with a Vampire, the plot line is almost exactly the same. For example, â€Å"The mere sight of a bared throat could bring about in me such a taste of arousal that I became like an animal, incapable of language or restraint.† This quote shows tyrannical male because it compares how Armand and Dracula are both similar in the way they kill their prey. They both attack where the blood is rich just like animals do and dominate their prey. It also Lindauer 3 shows a sexual side because the mere fact of killing got both of these characters aroused. For example, â€Å"With his left hand he held both Mrs. Harkers hands, keeping them away with her arms at full tension; his right hand gripped her by the back of the neck, forcing her face down on his bosom. Her white nightdress was smeared with blood, and a thin stream trickled down the mans bare breast which was shown by his torn-open dress.†(Stoker 283) This quote shows women in distress because it describes how Mina, in a sense, was raped. Just Armand, Dracula finds pleasure in killing, and transforming good into evil. One thing that all of these pieces share is that evil never overcomes good. Although evil makes its presence known and dominates at first, good prevails in the end. The movie Interview with a Vampire, The Singing Springing Lark, and the story Interview with a Vampire can relate to Dracula because of their themes and gothic elements. As Theodore Roosevelts once said, The forces that tend for evil are great and terrible, but the forces of truth and love and courage and honesty and generosity and sympathy are stronger than any before.

Hurtful Love and Foolish Hope in Death of a Salesman Essay -- Death S

Hurtful Love and Foolish Hope in Death of a Salesman A father is an important role model in a young man's life; perhaps the most important. A father must guide his children, support them, teach them, and most importantly, love them. In the play Death of a Salesman, written by Arthur Miller, an aging salesman of 63, Willy Loman worked all his life for his children. Happy and especially Biff, his two sons, where his pride and joy and his reason for living. Willy tried as hard as he possibly could to provide for them, to support them, to mold them into men; but he failed. Willy's greatest fault, perhaps, was his inability to see his sons for what they really were. Biff and Happy were never destined to be great men, yet Willy always believed in them. Although Willy's hope is touching, it is also foolish. Willy Loman's blind faith in his son Biff's abilities destroyed Biff's sense of moderation and modesty. Despite Biff's obvious incompetence and mediocrity, Willy vehemently refused to accept his son's failure to "make the grade." Biff "stole himself out of every good job since high school!" (131), yet Willy cannot accept that his son is a "dime a dozen" and declares that Biff is merely failing to spite him. "I want you to know...where ever you go, that you cut down your life for spite!" (129). By blaming Biff for his problems, Willy clears himself of all guilt. Willy cannot realize that it was his ineptitude as a father that created Biff's character. If Willy was a little more aware of his son's situation, his true character, Biff may have realized sooner that he was not "a leader of men." When asked whose fault it is that he never accomplished anything, Biff answered "...I never got anywher... ...r looked up to was nothing more than a "fake", and Biff lost all reason to his life. Everything that Willy taught him was destroyed on that one night. Every rule, every piece of advice, was nulled by that one act of adultery. Willy Loman tried his best to be a good father. He encouraged his sons, he worked all his life for them, and he tried to help them in any way he could. The only problem was, although his heart was there, Willy just wasn't a good father. Willy did his best to raise his sons, but tragically, the more he tried, the worse they became. Ultimately, Willy failed as a father, but he did try his best. He loved his children, in some cases, too much. He loved them blindly, and never once questioned their greatness. Although love like that is touching, it also harmful. Willy's delusions of grandeur for his sons hurt them more than it helped them.

Cosi †What Does Lewis Durig the Direction of the Play Besides Money Essay

‘Cosi’ written by Louis Nowra is a play that, explores the themes of love and fidelity, illusion and Delusion and identity and madness all explored through the events of the main character Lewis and the mental patients he works with. Lewis initially directs the play ‘Cosi Fan Tutte’ for the money but finds himself gaining more than just money as the play concludes. Throughout the play Lewis is able to grow and learn as a person through the play. This includes Lewis gaining new views on love and fidelity, His growth in confidence throughout the play, all while he gains a new positive respect and view on the mentally ill. Initially in the play Lewis’s feelings and attitude towards the mentally ill are highly negative but as he begins to work with them through directing the play he begins to see them without his previous mindset. â€Å"just leave† he says to himself on context of directing the â€Å"nuts† However Lewis progresses he starts to see them as normal humans, this is confirmed when near the end Act 1 where Nick says â€Å"they’re nuts† and Lewis defends the patients. Initially Lewis believes that the patients are dangerous and if they forgot to take their medication they could â€Å"go berserk† however as the play progresses Lewis’ views are shown to change the more time he spends rehearsing with the patients. This indicates his change in character and his dedication to helping those that he once viewed very negatively. By the conclusion of the play it is evident that Lewis has gained knowledge and new outlooks in regards towards the mentally ill and through the directing of the play Lewis was able to break past the stereotypical opinions and realize â€Å"They are ordinary people who have done extraordinary things, thought extraordinary thoughts. † The most important of all themes shown through ‘Cosi’ is definitely Love and Fidelity. Lewis begins the play with really no opinion towards love and fidelity other than what he had heard from Lucy, but as the play continues and advances towards the conclusion of the play Lewis learns and forms is own opinion that love and fidelity is actually important in any day and age. When Lewis is first asked about fidelity by one of the patients he responds with â€Å"Love is not so important nowadays† this is shows that he doesn’t really seem to have too strong opinion on the matter, and that it is of very low importance as well as he is following social norm and mainly influenced by the opinion of Lucy that fidelity is old fashioned. However, through great amounts of work with the patients and exposure to their thoughts and views on fidelity creates great insight for Lewis. Lewis gradually gains a new perspective on fidelity, which is greatly influenced by Henry when he says â€Å"My mother only loved my father, no one else. He died in Korea and she loved no one else but him. † Showing that even during war times people still can find time for love and that it is not just â€Å"an emotional indulgence for the privileged few† this also inspires Lewis to end his relationship with Lucy when he states â€Å"without love the word wouldn’t mean much. † Lewis begins the play with a very shy and introvert personality, presenting that he is lacking self-confidence. These characteristics are straight away evident within the opening scene of the play, when the play describes Lewis as â€Å"fumbling in the darkness†. This is suggesting that Lewis is has no great strive to do things in life and lacks motivation. This is also extremely obvious to the reader when Lewis at the beginning of the play when he suggests â€Å"we could do the Exception and the Rule† but then is bullied by the other patients particurly Roy into changing the play the patients will perform to ‘Cosi Fan Tutte’, however as the play progresses the patients begin to get on Lewis’ nerves, teaching him to take control of situations gain confidence in himself not only to direct but to have his own. Nowra shows this in the very last line of the play where he states to himself â€Å"time to turn out the lights† and the theatre goes black.

South African Rule, The Aparthied, And Nelson Mandela

SOUTH AFRICAN CHANGE IN RULE, THE APARTHIED, AND NELSON MANDELA By the year 1910, Britain had granted South Africa self-rule and they were no longer under British law. This gave South Africa the opportunity to become its own nation developing its own laws and way of ruling. South Africa at the time was mostly African Americans with the small minority of people being white. During this time in the year 1918, a young black boy was born to a tribal leader named Gadla Mandela. This boy was named Rohihlahla Mandela. His first name means â€Å"troublemaker†. He would later be named Nelson by a primary school teacher he had. No one could have known what his life would become as the years went on. Young Nelson grew up in the village of Transkei where the people spoke the language called Xhosa. He was always a very intelligent kid with a good sense of self-government because he was being raised by a tribal leader and always around other older confident leader type men and ch iefs. Nelson quickly learned to stand up for what he believed in life and fight for what he felt was right. These values were what got him into trouble in later years. He would get into trouble disobeying the laws of even his own tribe by refusing things such as arranged marriage and other traditions of the tribe. Nelsons father died in the year 1930 and another tribe leader raised him. He was well educated and attended the University of South Africa, graduating in the year 1942. He