Open AccessThe Chthonic Realm of Our Psyche: Mythic and Moral Aspects of Dracula’s Nature
Author(s) -
Eszter Muskovits
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
interlitteraria/interlitteraria.
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2228-4729
pISSN - 1406-0701
DOI - 10.12697/il.2011.16.1.18
Subject(s) - mythology , psyche , dracula , archetype , realm , morality , literature , psychoanalysis , philosophy , aesthetics , epistemology , art , history , psychology , archaeology
Myths reflect the collective experience of mankind. Certain things recur in world myths. Carl Gustav Jung, Swiss psychologist, psychiatrist and analyst noticed that his patients’ dreams contained a lot of similar motives without being acquainted with one another. He observed that these motives in dreams are akin to motives appearing in myths, tales and legends. These archaic pictures or symbols which are universally recognized, he entitled archetypes. The distant locations of vampiric entities prove that vampirism is also a universal phenomenon. In the following article I intend to explore the essential inherent mythic characteristics of Stoker’s Dracula, focusing on possible conceptions of morality.