Bram Stokers Dracula: A Struggle to Maintain Victorian Upper and Middl

The prim men and women conveyed in Bram Stokers genus Dracula are pure and virtuous members of the upper and warmness class. However, cover behind this composed and civilized conception of England lies a dark and stung underbelly. This underbelly is the lumpenproletariat, whom Karl Marx defined as "the lowest and most degraded naval division of the proletariat the down and outs who make no contri onlyion to the workers cause". straitlaced culture discriminated against these vagrants, who were seen non only as shiftless and immoral, but perilous as well. Sex was taboo and purity was held sacred to the Victorian middle and upper class, but prostitution and sexually transmitted diseases ran rampant among the lumpenproletariat. The abounding strive to be pious and good, but consider those of lower kind standing to be less than human. The reaction of the characters in Dracula to the crime of the vampires can be likened to the Victorian conception of the lower classes. They were seen as a hedonistic but powerful force, with the collective capacity to termination the sufficient citizens way of life. In this sense, the smart can be viewed as a struggle to maintain quality Victorian traditions against the traditions of the lower class. This paper volition examine the similarities between the vampires and the perception of the lower classes in regards to superstition, sexuality, inequality and the "preying" of the lumpenproletariat on the respectable middle-class. It will also examine the signs evident in the novel of the Victorian mindset.           Dracula is an aristocrat with a castle and noble title, but in reality he is more associated with the lumpen. While trapped in Draculas castle early in the novel, Jonathan discovers that he has no hired help, has been execute menial tasks such as bed-making and table setting in secret, and pull down acting as the horse-carriage driver. He slumbers in dirt, much like the homeless, and is meandering(a) for most of the book. The Count associates himself most clearly with the lumpenproletariat in the form of a horde of gypsies who "attach themselves as a rule to some grand noble"(49). They even do his bidding "The gypsies have given me these"(50) Dracula says of Jonathans ill-fated letters. Dracula attempts to hide his lumpen nature and exude an aristocra... ... " standing(prenominal) and foul" air (111). Vampires and the poor are projected as animal-like, and twain prey on others.     Since the vampires in Dracula can be seen as a representation of the lower class, we can draw some assumptions. If champion draws this parallel to its logical conclusion, the battle with the vampires, it can be seen that in the end the lower class and their perceived values are soundly get the better of by the righteous ruling class, and the threat is expelled from Britain. However, this ruling class d oes not come out of the battle unscathed, and the Victorian tradition is mostly lost. By reading Dracula as a battle to maintain Victorian tradition, one can more fully understand the actions of the characters. Their prudishness, Sewards scientific fond regard to logic, and the idea of the fall from grace take on a refreshing meaning in the light of such an understanding. Just as the characters in Dracula cling to their humanity, so too do they cling to their upper-class values in the face of the lower class.Works CitedStoker, Bram. Dracula. England Pengiun, 2003.defn"Lumpenproletariat". Oxford English Dictionary. http//dictionary.oed.com