Discusses concepts of Thanatos and Eros in Bram Stoker’s masterpiece, Dracula.
Bram Stoker’s masterwork and greatest novel, “Dracula”, has been and remains one of the most culturally pervasive novelistic tropes of the last 100 years. Indeed, in multiple film versions, as well as in the novel and myriad other mediums, it remains a deeply pervasive cultural idea. The paper shows that part of the inspiration for the story no doubt takes elements from Stoker’s own life and fictionalizes and dramatizes them to the point where the elements of personal struggle remain only as barely audible echoes within the text. Nonetheless, the paper shows that the main aspect of Dracula that has ensured its continuing popularity is its resonance with the Freudian concepts of Thanatos and Eros, which were some of the most important and prominent ideas in 20th century Western culture and continue to be of major importance today.
Indeed, the very concept of a Vampire is one that uniquely combines and links Thanatos and Eros in a strange and complex fashion that no normal figure in literature (even Masoch) could do. Indeed, one need only consider the very basic element that differentiates vampires and humans: vampires feed on humans. In order to fulfill their desires, their literal cravings, vampires must feed on human blood and kill them in so doing. Thus, in the very concept of what they are, vampires combine their most literal urges and desires (eros) with the legitimate and necessary connection of human death (Thanatos). The two are so completely and inextricably linked that to think otherwise would be the very apex of foolishness.