evil inspiration
Jack the Ripper and Vlad (Dracul) the Impaler helped influence Stoker's creation of Dracula. Jack the Ripper, the infamous serial killer around the late 1880's, would cut his victim's heads off to see the blood. This blood lust and way of destruction are embedded in Stoker's novel. A stake through the heart came from a different source. Vlad the Impaler was known for torture of many victims by staking them with wooden stake, the way that one must kill a vampire. Stoker also stole Dracula's name from his patronomic name. Dracula means dragon, and it helped influence Count Dracula's lizard-like nature.
Freudian Psychology
Dracula was published in 1897, the last years of the Victorian Era. The new ideas of Freudian psychology and the exploration of repressed memories and the unconscious would lay the foundation for a fictional yet realistic world of vampires.
"I was not a bit sleepy, at least so I thought; but I must have fallen asleep, for, except dreams, I do not remember anything until the morning when Jonathan woke me." (275)
This quote pertaining to Mina's attack shows Stoker's use of the unconscious in his novel. It shows how the mind has the ability to play tricks on us and hide things from us, for the knowledge of an attack would have proven quite useful in this situation.
"I was not a bit sleepy, at least so I thought; but I must have fallen asleep, for, except dreams, I do not remember anything until the morning when Jonathan woke me." (275)
This quote pertaining to Mina's attack shows Stoker's use of the unconscious in his novel. It shows how the mind has the ability to play tricks on us and hide things from us, for the knowledge of an attack would have proven quite useful in this situation.
Medical capabilities
Stoker embedded medical capabilities that were relevant to the time in his work. He included advanced forms of psychiatric therapy which can be experienced in the scenes with Dr. Seward and Mr. Renfield. He includes blood transfusions in his novel to replenish the blood supply taken by Dracula. Furthermore, he adds a little philosophy into his work including Renfield's idea that consuming life will lengthen one's own.
sources
Cherry, Kendra. "Sigmund Freud - Life, Work and Theories." About.com Psychology. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Jan. 2013.
Joslyn, Ricky, and Spencer Jacoby. "History of Victorian England." Victorian Era Project. N.p., 1 Mar. 2008. Web. 9 Jan. 2013.
Stoker, Bram, and Brooke Allen. Dracula. New York: DK Pub., 2004. Print.
Joslyn, Ricky, and Spencer Jacoby. "History of Victorian England." Victorian Era Project. N.p., 1 Mar. 2008. Web. 9 Jan. 2013.
Stoker, Bram, and Brooke Allen. Dracula. New York: DK Pub., 2004. Print.