Compare The Use Of Motifs And The Associations Of Blood In Bram Stoker’S ‘Dracula’ And ‘Tess Of The D’Urbervilles’ By Thomas Hardy

Compare The Use Of Motifs And The Associations Of Blood In Bram Stoker’S ‘Dracula’ And ‘Tess Of The D’Urbervilles’ By Thomas Hardy

Compare the use of motifs and the associations of blood in Bram Stoker’s ‘Dracula’ and ‘Tess of the D’Urbervilles’ by Thomas Hardy
1David Punter commented that, ‘at the heart of Dracula, is blood.’ Blood is used as a motif in both novels to represent blood associated with ancestry, rather than just knowing the obvious, literal blood in which we as readers read. Blood can be used to imply sexual acts and its impact on the people. Importantly, it is used to represent the importance of ancestry and its consequences on the lives of ordinary people. The dictionary defines blood as ‘ a vital or animating force’. Blood is vital to both Dracula and Tess in different ways; for the Count it is a life-line and for Tess it is a way for her family to become financially comfortable. In both novels blood is used as a symbol for colour which shapes its’ characters and its surroundings. 2Dr. R. Campbell-Thompson gives us an insight as to what a vampire could be. He quoted a prayer which describes vampires, ‘they spill their blood like rain, devouring their flesh and sucking their veins. / They are the demons of full violence, ceaselessly devouring blood.’ This graphic description emphasizes the horrors of a vampire.
Blood is a central symbolic motif, which both protagonists in ‘Dracula’ and ‘Tess of the D’Urbervilles’ need. Tess needs to look for her supposed bloodline for money to help her family, for their financial survival. Dracula needs to consume human blood in order to try and carry his bloodline through others, such as Jonathon Harker, because he is the final member of his bloodline. In ‘Tess of the D’Urbervilles’ it says ‘Don’t you really know, Durbeyfield, that you are the lineal representative of the ancient and knightly family of the D’Urbervilles.’ From this we can see that it is the blood connection to the renowned family that is a lifeline for the Durbeyfields who are living in comparative poverty. The word lineal...