Dracula which was written by Bram Stoker in 1897, is known and considered as the origin and birthplace of vampires. The horror classic, Dracula has been adapted book-to-screen since the day it was written. But this Dracula essay example will be mainly about Bram Stoker's Dracula directed by Francis Ford Coppola in 1992. Coppola's version of the movie is widely prestigious as being the closest and most 'accurate” to the novel. Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula and the Dracula by Bram Stoker will be examined in terms of the major changes in character developments and the storyline along with female agency and position.
When it comes to the comparison I would like to start off with an apparent structural difference; Bram Stoker's novel is a collection of letters, quotes from diaries, and as is the case with Dracula newspaper clippings, ship logs and even a recorded diary on wax cylinders. The opening chapter of the novel gives information about the region, its people and superstitions. Stoker’s novel starts with Jonathon Hawker's journal as he travels to Transylvania in order to finalize a property transaction for a client who actually is Count Dracula. Stoker portrays Dracula as a 'monster' who is feeding upon and horrifying his victims without showing any mercy. In contrast to the novel, Coppola's Bram Stoker’s Dracula starts out in 1452 with the tragic story of Vlad the Impaler (In the novel neither there's a mention of Dracula’s centuries-old heartbreak nor any clear parallels are drawn between Dracula and Vlad the Impaler), who leaves his home to fight the Crusades and returns to find that his beloved wife, hearing she was dead, had killed herself. He loses his faith because he feels that there is no justice for his fate; he goes further and curses God. The loss of Elisabetta changes him; a noble and religious man turns to an evil and villain creature. Thus, once more they put all the blame on women and accuse them of being a 'cause”. As Margaret Montalbano once stated in her article Bram Stoker’s Dracula to Bram stoker's Dracula, “In the opening segment the hero is turned to villain through the action of woman and dividing the line between good and evil(388) 'this prologue of Brom Stoker's 'Dracula' simultaneously posits 'woman' as the metaphysical 'cause' of vampirism'(387)
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Coppola creates a difference between the novel and film by adding this kind of background story and setting up the romance that is seen later in the movie. Hence in the movie version, we see Dracula's human-like feelings (his obsession with Mina) rather than only a cold crucial monster. This kind of character change that we encounter with Dracula also applies for other characters such as Lucy and Mina; two Victorian women are present quite differently throughout Coppola’s movie. For instance; Lucy is presented as a naive and proper Victorian lady in Stoker's novel who obeys the strict moral codes of Victorian society. But in Coppola’s version, some of the concealed female agency and sexuality are highlighted and applied in an exaggerated way; Lucy is depicted as a debased, sexually unquenchable young lady who kisses all her suitors and even Mina.
Another big difference between the movie and the film is that in Coppola's version Mina is shown as Dracula's reincarnated Elisabetta and she regains her memories from her past and slowly falls back in love with Dracula. Thus, the dynamic of the work changes at the end of it. In Stoker's novel, there is no such a thing as reincarnation and Mina hates and despises Dracula because of what he did to her best friend Lucy and for ruining her life, she is willing to give her everything to fight him off and stays loyal to her husband and the others. On the other hand, Dracula himself is not in love with Mina, either. The atmosphere which was created by Coppola is way different from what was written in the novel. One of them is the part where Mina’s process of turning into a vampire, in the novel, Dracula forces Mina to drink his blood from the cut on his chest.
In Coppola’s movie, Dracula leaves the choice to her, indeed he loves her so much and does not want her dear love to be a monster like him but Mina insists on becoming a vampire. She utters that she wants to be what he is, to see what he sees and be with him in eternity. Additionally, Coppola gives freedom to Mina by allowing her to be able to choose to have an affair with the villain and drink his blood willingly to join him in eternal life. The Victorian readers would not have approved of such a woman because of their strict moral codes and they would have judged her for not being faithful and pure but in Coppola’s version, he assists the contemporary viewers to see her as a woman who acts at her own will.
Coppola’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula differs from the novel through the ending of it due to the love story between Dracula and Mina. In the movie, Dracula uses Mina to cast a spell to help the sun go down quicker while being chased by Jonathan Harker and Quincy Morris. They chase him right up to the gates of Castel Dracula. The mechanics of the scenes are pretty consistent with the novel, right down to Quincy getting mortally wounded in the final part before stabbing Dracula in the heart. Mina and Dracula manage to enter the castle. In the novel though, as soon as Dracula was stabbed in his heart, he turns in dust, and finally, Mina gets rid of Dracula's curse.
There is one last prologue to Jonathan’s journal dated seven years later which indicates that they are happy and even have a child. Thus, the end of the novel complies with the norms of Victorian society. Coppola’s version, however, ends back where it started and Mina and Dracula bid farewell to each other on the steps in the chapel, and then Mina chops off Dracula’s head and kills him to set both of them free. In the last scene of the movie Coppola gives permission and power to Mina as a woman to kill Dracula unlike the Stoker’s novel (in the novel Jonathon leaves Mina behind while chasing Dracula in order to keep her safe because, for him and The Victorian Society, women are not as strong as men to deal with a monster like Dracula) Thus, the curse that began four hundred years ago, no longer remains.
Lastly, the overall tone and premise of the novel are still alive and well, even if Coppola puts creative liberties in his work such as giving an active role to women and showing their free will. Moreover, knowing that there is a hundred years between the novel and the movie, Coppola manages to produce the finest adaptation of Stoker’s novel to date by overcoming the difficulties of moving from one medium to another.
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