To what extent is Dracula a conventional Gothic protagonist

To what extent is Dracula a conventional Gothic protagonist? Within the Gothic genre, features of the Gothic protagonist include sharply contrasting character traits, some degree of tragic stature, a striking physical presence, an element of the sexual, and an association with the bestial. Stoker presents Dracula with greatly contrasting traits, from the impeccably polite and courteous host who greets Harker at the door, to a raging psychopathic monster. The aristocratic and noble nature of Dracula's heritage gives him charisma and credibility, on first encounter he seems strange but eccentric, however this lulls Harker, and obviously his female victims, into a false sense of security: "The light and warmth of the Count's courteous welcome seemed to have dissipated all my doubts and fears." Stoker reveals Dracula's true self slowly and subtly, so as to build tension, such as when Dracula touches Harker and he feels: "a horrible feeling of nausea." This imagery hints at the horror of Dracula's true character, which is finally revealed when he encounters the Brides: "But the count! Never did I imagine such wraths of fury, even in the demons of the pit!" Stoker presents the count as being: "lapped in a storm of fury," foreshadowing the terrible storm at Whitby when Dracula arrives on English soil. Stoker's uses the imagery of hell to describe Dracula's rage, writing: "his eyes

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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