The Unconscious Heroe Essay -- Literary Analysis, Bram Stoker

Bram Stokers genus Dracula is a tale that sets its characters on a path of psychological turmoil and high-flown satisfaction. The supernatural nature of the vampire as well as its obviously human form allows unity to analyze these characters as being archetypes of the ad hominem unconscious for the human characters confronting them, particularly the shadow and the anima/animus as postulated by Carl Jung in his text Aion. Furthermore the purely human characters that encounter these vampires, and consequently their own unconscious, by doing so become themselves a ace archetype within their someoneal narrative as postulated by Joseph Campbell in his text The Hero with a Thousand Faces. This is made evident when backsidevas Jonathan Harkers first self-motivated confrontation with Dracula in his sleeping chambers, in which Jonathan cannot vanquish the creature, with the episode in which Arthur Holmwood is successful in destroying the vampire Lucy Westerna. This study will demons trate how the interactions between human and vampire in the fable represent a heroic struggle between a person and their personal unconscious.Carl Jung states He must be convinced that he throws a very long shadow before he is willing to contain his emotionally-toned protuberances from their object. (Jung 7) This sentence best describes the state of Jonathan Harker when he first goes to confront Dracula. Dracula is a projection of Jonathans shadow and gains power over him because of Jonathans ignorance to his own unconscious mind. The text demonstrates that Dracula is a psychological projection and therefore not real through the use of dehumanizing imagery such as referring to him as filthy leech (Stoker 83) and as such a monster. (84). Jung also notes that examining the ... ...on when describing the plunging of the stake into Lucys heart, it proceeds to explain how her body shake and quivered and twisted in wild contortions (254) and describing Arthur driving deeper and deeper the mercy-bearing stake. (254) This scene serves as a metaphor for male dominance as can be seen when considering Freuds notion that subconscious images of wood and sticks represent the phallus in the subconscious. If one continues to follow this reasoning this scene can be perceived as Arthur vanquishing the taboo Lucy with his mighty penis, there by restoring the balance in the creative activity with man on top. Furthermore, if one considers the phallic imagery used, this scene can be interpreted as the consummation of the engagement between Arthur and Lucy, set ahead establishing Arthurs dominance, as in the Victorian age the husband was the passkey of the wife.