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Dracula

Literary Character
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

The iconic vampire from Bram Stoker’s 1897 Gothic novel, embodying themes of foreign invasion, sexuality, and the uncanny in literary horror.

Detailed Definition
Dracula, the Transylvanian nobleman who preys on the living, embodies seductive evil and the fear of the foreign. In poetry, he symbolizes primal desire, the undead, and the corruption of the familiar by the exotic.
Example
Example in poetry:
In Bram Stoker’s "Dracula" (adapted into poetic form by various modern poets), the Count symbolizes foreign invasion and sexual dread; In Sylvia Plath’s “Daddy,” Dracula imagery conveys vampiric patriarchy; In Anne Sexton’s “Transformations,” Dracula represents gothic male predation; In modern queer poetry, Dracula is reclaimed as a figure of forbidden desire; In Derek Walcott’s “The Sea is History,” Dracula echoes colonial blood-sucking; In Tracy K. Smith’s “Watershed,” Dracula symbolizes historical trauma that refuses to die.
Additional Notes
Dracula, the vampire from Bram Stoker’s novel, symbolizes foreign invasion, repressed sexuality, and the fear of the Other; in poetry, he evokes gothic dread, immortality as curse, and the allure of the predatory—his aristocratic menace contrasts with modern anxieties about disease, degeneration, and the erosion of boundaries between life and death.
Also Known As
Prince of Darkness Nosferatu Transylvanian Count
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