Literary Merit in Bram Stoker’s Dracula Essay

Although it is rather a subjective concept, literary meritoriousness essentially means the worth, quality, or excellence of a writing intercourse to other well-renowned literary masterpieces. In a Constitutional framework, the absence or presence of literary meritoriousness would determine the governments limits to liberty of expression. To possess literary merit would mean that the work is not obscene. The water parting case of Miller vs. California enumerates key guidelines to ascertain the literary merit of a particular text, to wit1) Whether the average person, applying contemporary community standards would relegate that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest2) Whether the work depicts or describes, in a patently impinge onensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by the applicable state law , and3) Whether the work, taken as a whole lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value. (Miller vs. California, 37 L. Ed. 2nd 419, 43 1 (1973))Fundamentally speaking, in any framework, to have literary merit is to have value.The popularity of Bram Stokers novel genus Dracula has reached such endemic proportions that it has been claimed to be the most recognized book next to the Bible. A straightlaced novel with the distinctive gothic appeal toward the macabre, Dracula has undeniably work a classic milestone in horror fiction. Establishing its literary merit however, is a different matter. A check over from The Athenaeum, an influential periodical in Victorian England described the novel as sensational. The review further statesDracula is highly sensational, nevertheless it is wanting in the constructive art as well as in the higher literary sense. It reads at measure like a mere series of grotesquely incredible veritable(a)ts but there are better moments that show more power, though even these are never productive of the tremor such subjects evoke under the hand of a master. (The Athenaeum, 26 June 1897). E mphasis supplied.The unremitting succession of the bizarre, the vulgar and the fantastic, as explained in the review, would seem tantamount to a lack of involution in the higher literary sense. This observation was supplemented by another review of the same sentimentThe plot is too complicated for reproduction, but it says no little for the authors power that in spite of its absurdities the subscriber can follow the written report with interest to the end. It is, however, an artistic mi hazard to film a whole volume with horrors. A touch of the mysterious, the terrible, or the magic is infinitely more effective and credible. (Manchester Guardian, 15 June 1897). Emphasis supplied.As interpreted, alternatively of relying on the intelligence of the reader to grasp on their own the deduction of subtle nuances and take in the various shifts and twists in the story as it evolves, Stoker instantly and unceasingly bombards the reader with an onslaught of palpable and black horrific scenes as if the reader is too untrustworthy and unsophisticated to act up with subtleties.If there seems to be little literary merit in the quick-witted or scholarly sense, Dracula is still credited for its universal allure. The winding-clothes middle Gazette, in a commentary of Dracula statesthe story deals with the vampire King, and it is horrid and creepy to the last degree. It is in any case excellent, and one of the best things in the supernatural line that we have been lucky enough to hit upon. (Pall Mall Gazette, 1 June 1897). Emphasis supplied.The universal allure of Dracula is probably in its resurrection of the vampire lore in a straightforward, practical and illustrative fashion. A vivid and uncomplicated quote from the novel confirms this I shall cut off her head and fill her mouth with garlic, and I shall drive a stake through her body (Stoker, 261). The novels refreshing simplicity is also evidenced in the following reviewHere, for the latest example, is Mr. Bram Stoker taking in hand the old-world legend of the Were-wolf or vampire, with all its weird and exciting associations of blood-sucking and human flesh devouring, and interweaving it with the threads of a long story with an earnestness, a directness, and a simple good faith which ought to go off the beaten track(predicate) to induce readers of fiction to surrender their imaginations into the novelists hands. (The Daily News, 27 may 1897). Emphasis supplied.While Bram Stokers Dracula is deficient in literary refinement, it nonetheless is considered to have literary merit by virtue of the fact that it captures mans imagination. It certainly has value for having the extraordinary energy to fascinate multitudes across time. Ultimately, its worth, quality or excellence is confirmed by its ceaseless popularity.Works CitedBooksMiller, Elizabeth. Bram Stokers Dracula A infotainment Volume. Detroit Gale, 2004.Stoker, Bram. Dracula. London Penguin Books, 1994.ArticlesDracula. The Athenae um 26 June 1897 235.Dracula. The Daily News 27 may 1897.Dracula, by Bram Stoker. Manchester Guardian 15 June 1897.For Midnight Reading. Pall Mall Gazette 1 June 1897.JurisprudenceMiller vs. California, 37 L. Ed. 2nd 419, 431 (1973).