The society that Beowulf lives portrays the values of heroism and honor which is replicated extensively in the story. The poem further states that Hrothgar, the king, was accorded victory in war and hence his kinsmen followed him. Additionally, he was honest, generous, did not break promises made, dealt out rings and he was popular, a warrior and protector of his clan. This according to Danes makes for a ‘good king’ (Stoker, 2009). The poem states that women in Beowulf was that of ‘peace weaver’ – meaning women were married from one tribe to another to instill peace between the tribes.

Answering Questions

1. The society that Beowulf lives portrays the values of heroism and honor which is replicated extensively in the story. The poem further states that Hrothgar, the king, was accorded victory in war and hence his kinsmen followed him. Additionally, he was honest, generous, did not break promises made, dealt out rings and he was popular, a warrior and protector of his clan. This according to Danes makes for a ‘good king’ (Stoker, 2009). The poem states that women in Beowulf was that of ‘peace weaver’ – meaning women were married from one tribe to another to instill peace between the tribes.

The Monsters in the poem were Grendel and his mother and a dragon who engaged in a fight with Beowulf. Grendel, a descendant of the Biblical Cain, is accustomed to attacking and eating anyone he finds in Herot. His Lineage helps to describe his character and personality of violence and hatred. Such evil deeds are portrayed by the monsters. The evil resides outside the community considering they come and attack at night. After their death, Beowulf cuts the head of Grendel and returns home with it.

The poet unites the Christian God with pagan imagery – the fate that befalls man. These images were used in a Christian setup.

“he examined the hilt,

the relic of old times… and the flood destroyed the tribe of giants.”

The poet described the hilt of the sword on Grendel’s mother in a mix of pagan – the tribe of giants – where women had powers and roles and Christian story of the great flood the sweeps women from such positions.

2. In the reading Dracula, the Victorians are afraid of being close or relating those that were socially scorned. For instance, Dracula mocks Van Helsing’s group that the girls they love are his and soon they will all be his. In reference from Dracula film versions this translates into men fearing for their safety. The thought of a Dracula creates a picture of nocturnal people that can transform to creatures with long canine teeth with great thirst for human blood (Stoker, 2009). The difference between the monster in Dracula and the monster in Beowulf lies in the fact that the Dracula resides within the community with the people, for instance when Dracula lands in England he starts to undertake his evil deeds while the monsters in Beowulf reside outside the community where Beowulf went to Grendel’s layer to kill.
3. Jonathan Harker is a fictional character and a protagonist in the film Dracula. He is quiet, business-like person, clever and energetic. The first time trouble faced by Harker was when he got to hotel Count Dracula and received a letter that told him to take ‘diligence’ where he would go to Castle Dracula on a carriage. The hotel owner were afraid for him and advised him to go with a crucifix. Count, according to the film, is the other name of the Dracula – Count Dracula (Stoker, 2009). In the eyes of Harker, Dracula posed no threat to him considering him tossing the only book that would have saved him, The Book of the Vampires. He was however cautious of his behaviour when he got into Dracula’s home.

Mina is a unifying force, connecting the main characters for a main goal. She is child-like and highly maternal, additional some characters attribute her to be angelic.

Lucy is childish, sweet and vulnerable. She is a passive character who is easier for the Dracula to attack adding to her physical appeal to men; Morris, Seward and Arthur.

Dr. Seward is part of the Crew of Light that is involved in fighting the Dracula. He is loyal, not easy to anger, intelligent and romantic.

Quincey Morris is well educated, funny, and straight forward. His role was to fight the influence brought by the Dracula.

Renfield is a patient in an asylum. He is a lunatic, sensitive (to the movements of the Dracula), and sympathetic that Mina may get hurt.

Arthur Holmwood does not add any journal entries to the novel but just a few letters. He is humane (he cried when Lucy died).

Van Helsing is well educated, ignorant and eccentric. In the novel he is a vampire hunter who stands out.

Lucy Westenra has the problem of being vulnerable, her purity is turned to evil through her feeding of a child. The novel described her as blonde, and naturally sexy. She becomes related to the Count Dracula in their desire for blood.

Theme Questions

As we move from the West to East, Harker viewed the East as having splendid bridges that had noble widths and depth and moved them over the traditions of Turkish rule. These were common in his travel literature.

The novel has varied traditional iconic symbols. For instance there is the skeleton on a clock showing the hour of midnight. There also the stake driven into Lucy’s heart so as to drive out evil. The stake is an unambiguous symbol for the penis. The weird sisters in the traditional culture represent witches. They appeared in Harkers dream and nightmare and appeared to offer Harker sexual pleasure.

4. The Dracula controlled, through the letters, Harker’s communication with the external world. The first two letters states that Harker was leaving the castle while the third letter was meant to represent his death sentence by the Dracula. The dramatic irony that arises from the use of the letters is that they are used to create hope for Harker that he is alive. However, he is about to be killed by the Dracula. We as the readers are aware that this is not the case and that the Dracula wants to kill him.

Van Helsing plays a vital role for Lucy. He makes every effort to help Lucy who is in distress. Lucy’s thirst for blood makes her want to bite Arthur, though Van intervenes and she calls him her true friend. Mina is impressed by the effort played by Van Helsing. However, the others like Dr Seward are skeptical and that the attacks to the children were made by Lucy.

5. There is a parallel connection between evil and sexual acts. For instance draining Jonathan’s blood is defined by the female vampires as a ‘kiss’. The only way not to become a victim is Christian redemption. Additionally, there is a connection between natural and supernatural state; when they die they acquire peace and salvation like in the case of Lucy who was evil but would be saved after her death. Religion here is used as a means of warding off evil and saving those afflicted. They too do have their symbols that resemble their works, for instance the cross for Christians. Women in Christianity are to submit to their husbands for instance Mina was to submit to Harker. The end of the novel is met with redemption and the characters live happily than before. This relates to most movies where the ending is a good one.
6. Bram stoker shows the Count Dracula as a terrible creature while Coppola shows the readers that a truly evil person can be loved. The monster could not be sympathetic considering his 19^th century sensibility as he was most hunted from violent pursuers (Stoker, 2009). The contrast that exists between the concept of monster in the 19^th century and a shift to 20^th century is that monstrosity was not accepted and a move to acceptance has taken place in popular culture (John, 2007). For instance the Dracula from Coppola’s postmodern shows Dracula as being emotional and complicated, hence using the ideologies of love and impressing using ‘new age’ ideals. This contrast Stokers concept of monster that was hated and often killed.
7. In the book, Peter Hawkins is depicted as a good man who likes Jonathan and Mina, while in the movie he is depicted as an unscrupulous man who sends Jonathan to Romania aware of the threat. Jonathan in the book is seen to be attacked by the three vampire brides before leaving for England, on the other hand the movie that Harker is harmed by the three vampires by drinking his blood before he escaped. I would prefer the movie as it brings out the thrill and tells the story better.

The novel is cast by Van Helsing and Jonathan Harker as the main characters (Stoker, 2009). Their costumes bring out the life period lived, the 70s they lived which is traditional in nature. In the cinematography, the movement of the movie and development is quite appealing.

8. Prometheus is a cultural hero who is credited with creating man from clay. He defies gods and enables progress. The significance stated on the title page shows the purpose of the book. The book depicts Walton as a failed writer set to explore the North Pole and increase his knowledge for fame. Walton is not mentioned anywhere before (Milton, 2010). The Walton’s crew finds Victor Frankenstein who is in search for the huge person as observed by Walton’s group. Frankesntine while telling Walton his story, describes ‘the monster’ as a ‘wretched devil’ which I believe suits it. The ‘monster’ is an archetype of varied horrific creatures.
9. Victor being the creator of the ‘monster’ was supposed to take care of it. In the Shelley says that we should be keen on the impact brought about by technology lest it brings harm. Using Rousseausian educational theory, the monster learns through direct observation, from this his education develops extensively (Milton, 2010; Shelley, 2013). However, the crimes committed by the ‘monster’ are blamed on Victor due to his rejection of it based on appearance. Rousseau adds that monster are created based on his theory which could be through social influence like alienation.
10. The film starts by the crew noticing Victor and heard of the monster later, while the in the book, they crew saw the monster first and later met Victor (Milton, 2010). The cast used in the film was quite promising, but the characters used in the novel did not fit as in the film. For instance, the relationship between Elizabeth and Victor was not affectionate though the film shows they were actually engaged, this was quite confusing.
11. The film begins by Walton’s crew noticing Victor who they heard of the monster from, while the novel, they crew saw the monster first and later met Victor. The cast used in the film was quite promising and brought out the story (Milton, 2010). However, the characters used in the novel did not fit as in the film. For instance, the relationship between Elizabeth and Victor was not affectionate though the film shows they were actually engaged, this was quite confusing.
12. Paradise Lost is a detective story as it is memorable; Victor tracks back to the events that took place with the monster from creation to it becoming evil. The characters are supposed to be witty, stand out from the rest (Milton, 2010). In this case Walton and Victor stood out. Moreover, the crime has to be significant like the evil spread by the monster. The solution has to be obvious, how to solve it.
13. Hyde is evil considering he trampled on a small child who had bumped into him in the street and later beat an old man. This is common in all mankind in terms of their intentions and thoughts, it can however be suppressed through managing one’s anger (Louis, 2013). Moreover, no one person can be all evil, certain elements of good traits are prevalent in either their thoughts or actions.

The coexistence of evil and good comes with a number of problems. The good nature of Dr. Jekyll is subdued by the evil nature of Mr. Hyde. It was the desire by Dr. Jekyll to mask and taste life to the fullness that has led to the negative outcome.

14. The switch to the dark side is illustrated when she tries to manage her sadness from her mortal lover’s death that she performs a spell that brings him to life. Her psychological dilemma is illustrated by Hitchcock by switching her from bank heist to a film with dark psychological undertones that is brought about by her relationships.

Norman Bates was more frightening than other monsters a she had a split personality; he spied on women before killing them with a sharp knife, on the other hand, he appeared harmless (Greven, 2013).

There is a huge contrast between psychological horror films from traditional monster films, psychological films create discomfort by exposing their fears and vulnerabilities that arose from a material like monsters.

15. Norman’s psycho/ sexual development is in the oral stage. This is seen where he east candy all the time. This is infancy stage where tries to relate to the world through oral fixation (Greven, 2013). The film shows characters that are stuck in their private traps, these traps personal problems that each and every is facing and no can really ran away from them. Additionally, the film states that there is no escape.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

Greven, D. (2013). Psycho-Sexual: Male Desire in Hitchcock, De Palma, Scorsese, and            Friedkin. Texas: University of Texas Press.

Gummere (2007). Beowulf. Kansas: Wilder Publications.

Louis, R. (2013). Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde. Emerald: Start Publishing LLC.

Milton, J. (2010). Paradise Lost. San Fransisco: MobileReference

1. John (2007). Post/Modern Dracula: From Victorian Themes to Postmodern Praxis. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

Shelley, M (2013). Frankenstein (The Modern Prometheus). MA: Higher Read LLC.

Stoker, B. (2009). Dracula. New York: Plain Label Books.