Why is Dracula written in the form of letters and diary entries?

Well, I think its written in letters etc, because it gives a sense of reality, after all it is a book about vampires, werewolves and based around a gothic genre. I mean if you ask me, I don't really believe in that stuff, but the book does however give the reader a sense of suspension of disbelief. This basically means that even though the reader may not believe in what's happening in reality, they suspend this thought and believe it, giving them a sense of adventure. Its almost like watching a James Bond movie, where James Bond literally NEVER DIES, sometimes people like to watch the film and believe that everything that happens is amazing and supercool, whereas some people (like me) think what the hell is going on? He would never survive jumping off a 50 story building after going through a fire blazing car crash? Its like that's just ridiculous. On the other hand, its adventurous and exciting to watch it without these thoughts in your mind.

The invasion of privacy throughout the novel is another thing that makes us want to read further, having the diary entries of two peoples conversation in front of us makes us want to find out more about the secrets, this way we can interpret the characters and the drama from a different aspect, its almost as if the reader is meant to be a third character, this is what makes it exciting, this is what suspends our disbelief!

Sex and Dreams in Chapter 3 (Baby in a bag) WTF?

Can we just establish, this dude, Sigmund Freud is WEIRD! But interesting.. So I read chapter 3 and found that the chapter is full sexual imagery (PORN) to be precise. Anyway Harker sees Dracula slithering 'lizard like' down the wall of the castle, Harker sees this happen twice, then realises he needs to explore Dracula's castle further he visits other rooms similar to his but notices the rooms are furnished in a better way compared to his, after writing the diary entry he falls asleep and sees a dream.... or does he???? Where three vampire brides visit him by the moonlight, the women look similar to Dracula and cast no shadows, one of the brides approaches Harker with her sharp teeth when the Count arrives they are given a 'baby in a bag' and are gone?

So looking at how Sigmund Freud interpreted dreams, and comparing the symbols etc with what we have read so far through Dracula the entire book seems to be one big sexual fantasy? Hmm, it does sound bizarre and far fetched at first, but can be quite interesting if we look further into the meaning and significance of the symbols. For example; Freud states that castles, mansions, entrances and landscapes represent female genitalia, (hollow objects) then things like teeth and playing/moving objects like sliding, slipping and breaking branches are symbols of masturbating. So putting these together represents a crude image in terms of Sigmund Freud's psychoanalysis, so the stimuli we get when we are sleeping is what makes us dream right? So then this increases when we wake? After all freud says "If such withdrawal was possible to achieve, the sleeper would risk not to wake up again". So is Freud saying we see these dreams naturally in that the stimuli encourage these thoughts in out mind leading us to dream? CONFUSED.COM!

Moving on... Harker's encounter with the vampire women must be the most sexulised parts of the narrative. His response to their approach brings him humiliation and shame that he is uncertain that his experience may have been more than he imagined.

Christopher Marlowe!

I really enjoyed the group discussion we had today about the whole Christopher Marlowe and Christianity aspect towards "Dr Faustus". I liked filling in the table then talking, and listening to what other people thought about him and the religious side to it. I then also researched him in Wikipedia, and read about his early life and his background, funnily enough he is very similar to Shakespeare! I liked the part on his death and how people believed he faked his death and then discreetly wrote under the name of Shakespeare.
Overall I feel that the first lesson was a success, my favorite part was the group discussion! Now I am looking forward to reading the three texts!

Doctor Faustus

Reading the chorus today really gave an introduction to the play. Reading each line then listening to sir's explanation was informative, as was the reading of the opening scene. So far I'm enjoying Doctor Faustus' character and his qualities which can be debated to an extent, and how he talks in the opening through third person. The language he uses may not be simple to understand, similarly with Shakespeare, but he does however have meaning which links into his character.
Another interesting exercise in todays lesson was when we 'drew' Faustus (to a certain degree) and quoted him along with his qualities and his basic character, again interlinking this with characteristics of a gothic character. Doing this made it clearer to understand his true nature and and why he had made certain decisions. Overall a fun and enjoyable lesson!

English Gothic Architecture!

Looking back at todays lesson, one thing I was inspired to look further into was english gothic architecture. As I am a huge fan of architecture and want to study it, it made sense for me to blog about it.
The earliest buildings are known to be built around 1144, these buildings are still here today, Westminster Abbey, Durham cathedral and Canterbury cathedral. The gothic idea came from France, it was inspired by a building named Basilisque Saint-Denis.
Romanesque buildings usually used round arches, high ceilings, lancet windows and naive isles. These were all made from stone similarly to the Norman style architecture. Windows would be subdivided by closely parallel mullions, these would express as much light and gave a sense of openness along with the dark stone, Interiors of this period often feature tall columns of more slender and elegant form than in previous periods.vaulting became more elaborate, with the use of increasing number of ribs, initially for structural and then aesthetic reasons. Universities and churches started to be built in this style, to this day places like The Divinity School Oxford are still very popular for their unique shapes and sizes.

Mephastophilis

Mephastophilis appears as a devil in the play, he is a worker for Satan. Critics say that he searches the souls of men that are corrupt, Farnham explains, "Nor does Mephistophiles first appear to Faustus as a devil who walks up and down in earth to tempt and corrupt any man encountered. He appears because he senses in Faustus’ magical summons that Faustus is already corrupt, that indeed he is already 'in danger to be damned'.
Critics have viewed the play from a Christian perspective and thought that Marlowe has 'invented' a saints life, complete with the “sinful” early life (a student of divinity), “conversion” (to the Devil), reception into the Church (of Lucifer), “temptation” (by the Good Angel) which is overcome by help (of the Bad Angel).
However, Mephistophilis does warn Faustus of his regret for losing God and the joys of heaven. He wants Faustus’ soul but also may want to save him from the mistake he made. "Christianity speaks of hell for those who cast it aside. But, says he to Mephistopheles as he delivers to him the agreement to surrender his soul at the end of twenty-four years, 'I think hell’s a fable.' 'Ay,' says Mephistopheles, 'think so still, till experience change thy mind
I really enjoy Mephastophilis character because of his humor, even though he is a 'devil', I am puzzled at to see that he is not as evil as he sounds, in fact he is more guiding and cautious, but does he act like this to trick Faustus or is he really built to characterize an evil soul eating devil?

Comedy Scene, Faustus

I like the clowns character in this scene, Wagner meets him in an unnamed place, he offers him food and lavish clothing. The clown then meets the two devils Baliol and Belcher who convince the clown to become Wagners servant, funnily enough by terrifying him, "And so hungry that I know he would give his soul to the devil for a shoulder of mutton though it were blood raw". Humor? but why in such a play thats so dark and serious? Critics believe somebody other than Marlowe wrote this particular scene, its understandable. The clown is a representation of a person who is stupid, possibly something of a bumpkin figure, and apparently also unemployed, ragged and hungry. Even though he is uneducated there is a side to him that helps him in defense against Wagner, he realises his sinister side. So the clowns not so stupid after all? In structure the scene involves striking offer, could this be a representation of when Mephastophilis and Faustus were negotiating terms with his soul? We can see in this scene that the clown is Faustus, he makes decisions based on thoughts and not on reality, furthermore the clowns employment is as Wagners servant, implying a parallel in which Fautus is becoming merely a servent of Lucifer, and the omnipotent master he wants to become.

I like the fact that this play is set to be gothic, dark and macabre, however, it has a comedy scene in the middle of it, could this be a contrast of a dark and lighter scene or could it be something lighter for the audience to view as their could be an even darker scene unveiling?

Overall I feel that the scene works well with the contrast, and I do believe that the clown is a representation of Faustus' character as they share many similarities and the irony of this juxtaposition between the two works well.

The random leg pulling, then the grapes? Really though?

So I just read through Act 4, towards the end there was a bizarre scene where a character called a Horse Courser who is a horse trader and seeks to drive an advantageous bargain. He seems to believe himself more articulate than he really is, getting names wrong and asking inappropriate questions, his sinister tendencies to mistrust are pushed to an extent when pulls off Faustus' (false) leg.

Ambitions are beginning to fall - Faustus has definitely began to fall, his ambitions are definitely heading in the wrong direction, (although this was more in Act 3), as at the stat of the play Faustus' ambitions were set extremely high, he wouldn't settle for second best. "I'll have them fill the public schools with silk" he certainly wanted to be recognized right? It seems to me as though Faustus doesn't want this power, as he wanted at the start, "Of power, of honor, of omnipotence"he just wants to be famous. I do think however Mephastopheles has had an influence on Faustus' sudden change on his mindset, like in Act 3 he was discouraging Faustus' ambitions.

Mephastopheles, THE NEW FAUSTUS! - Lately Meph has been doing everything for Faustus, is he just getting lazy or has he lost his enthusiasm? Well towards the end of Act 4 Meph begins to do everything for good ol' Faustus, like he gets the Duchess her grapes.
I do feel that Faustus is falling, he isn't how he started, is this because of Meph or has Meph taken over Faustus???