Elements of Plot in Bram Stoker's 'Dracula'.

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PREFACE

This thesis is submitted to the English Department of the Faculty of Letters, Maranatha Christian University, as a partial fulfillment of the requirements for taking the “Sarjana” degree.

For the thesis, I am going to analyze the elements of plot in Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

I would like to express my deep gratitude to Jesus Christ for His blessing, which has given me strength to finish my thesis. I would also like to express my thankfulness to my supervisors for their guidance, which enables me to finish this thesis on time; to my parents, who give me confidence and stand by me whenever I feel depressed; to my lecturers, who have given me all the knowledge; to my friends and to my girlfriend, who always supports me. Without their help, prayers, and support, I would not have finished my thesis on time.

Bandung, May 2006

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ABSTRACT

semenjak pertama kali novel tersebut dipublikasikan.

Saya memilih untuk membahas elemen-elemen plot dari novel ini, karena didalam novel ini terdapat banyak misteri, yang akan lebih mudah untuk dimengerti bila dibahas atau dilihat dari penguraian elemen-elemen plot yang terkandung di dalamnya. Elemen-elemen plot itu sendiri terdiri dari tiga buah aspek, yaitu: yang pertama adalah aspek ketegangan (suspense); yang kedua adalah aspek kejutan (surprise); dan yang terakhir adalah aspek kesinambungan atau disebut juga dengan hubungan sebab-akibat (artistic unity). Dalam pembahasan elemen-elemen ini, saya dapat menyimpulkan, betapa pentingnya element plot untuk pembuatan sebuah novel karena elemen-elemen plot tersebut dipakai untuk merangkai sebuah cerita menjadi satu kesatuan yang bagus yang dapat membuat setiap pembacanya mengerti makna cerita novel tersebut dan menangkap jalan cerita novel tersebut tanpa merasa aneh dan janggal akan kejadian-kejadian di dalam cerita tersebut.

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Novel ini mengisahkan tentang perjalanan Jonathan Harker, seorang makelar tanah dari kota London yang pergi menuju Transylvania, sebuah kota di benua Eropa untuk bertemu Count Dracula yang misterius. Semenjak itu, kejadian-kejadian aneh menimpa Jonathan, dan semua kejadian itu selalu bersangkutan dengan Count Dracula.

Karena Dracula tergolong dalam novel misteri, maka pembaca akan mendapati banyak sekali aspek ketegangan (suspense), dan hal-hal yang membuat semua pembaca bertanya-tanya akan kelanjutan ceritanya; salah satu contohnya adalah penulis mengenalkan pembaca pada sosok Dracula yang secara garis besar digambarkan sebagai sosok yang penuh misteri. Pembaca dibuat penasaran apakah sosok Dracula tersebut di akhir ceritanya dapat berhasil dibasmi atau tidak. Selain itu, sebagai pembaca saya selalu dikejutkan oleh aspek kejutan (surprise) di dalam ceritanya. Disebutkan bahwa Dracula dapat merubah wujudnya menjadi lebih muda sehingga sulit digambarkan apa atau siapa itu Dracula. Namun lambat laun pertanyaan dan kejutan-kejutan yang disajikan dapat tersingkap dengan adanya aspek kesinambungan (artistic unity), sehingga di akhir cerita, pembaca dapat menyimpulkan bahwa Dracula adalah mahluk yang harus minum darah manusia untuk bertahan hidup dan untuk menghentikan aksinya itu, Dracula dapat dibunuh dengan cara ditikam jantungnya.

Setelah membahas elemen-elemen plot dalam novel tersebut, saya dapat menyimpulkan bahwa Bram Stoker adalah seorang pengarang yang handal, dan ia berhasil memadukan ketiga elemen tersebut kedalam satu buah alur cerita. Keberhasilannya dalam membuat sebuah cerita yang baik terlihat dari penyuguhan ceritanya: suasana teror yang sangat mencekam, suasana horor yang sangat kental, dibuat

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dibuat oleh sang penulis dengan begitu menarik dan semua itu dikemas di dalam satu buah cerita yang sangat apik.

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APPENDICES

SYNOPSIS OF DRACULA

The story begins with Jonathan Harker, a young solicitor from London. He

goes to Transylvania to meet the mysterious Count Dracula. After having stayed

in the Count’s castle, Jonathan sees many strange and unusual things which make

him want to leave the castle; yet, after he has searched all over the places in that

castle, Jonathan can not find a way out. Then he decides to leave that horrible

castle, but before he can escape, the Count seizes him and leaves him alone in his

castle and then the Count goes to London.

Meanwhile, in London, Jonathan’s fiancée, Mina is going to meet her

friend, Lucy and stays in her house for awhile. By that time, Lucy has received

three proposals, and she decides to marry Arthur Holmwood while Dr Seward and

Quincey Morris’ proposals are being rejected. Then Count Dracula, who is going

from Transylvania, has arrived in London, where Mina and Lucy are staying.

After his arrival, many strange things happen in London, and Lucy becomes his

victim. Finding Lucy’s condition grow weaker and paler, Mina gets Dr Seward to

look after her. There is something wrong with Lucy’s condition and Dr Seward

calls his mentor, Professor Van Helsing to help him in this case. They try to figure

out, but unfortunately, they can not save Lucy’s life. At that moment, Jonathan,

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who is being held in Count’s castle, has made his escape from the castle and he

goes back to London, where he lives and marries Mina.

Professor Van Helsing knows that Lucy has unusual disease which can

make her turn into a vampire. Having convinced Dr Seward and his friends,

Professor Van Helsing takes all of them to the graveyard where Lucy’s tomb is. It

appears that Lucy, who has already been dead, is back from her death and

becomes a vampire. In the end, they are successful in destroying the Un-Dead

Lucy, and they are planning to destroy the root of this problem for knowing the

danger of the existence of the Un-Dead. Furthermore, when all of them are

searching for the Count all over the places in London, the Count takes that chance

to attack Mina. They try to stop the Count, but they are too late. He disappears and

they can not find the Count anywhere. Mina’s life is in danger. They must kill the

Count in order to save her life before she turns into a vampire, but the Count has

run to his homeland, Transylvania. Without wasting any time, they begin to chase

the Count. With their great efforts, finally they are successful in destroying the

Count. Mina’s life can be saved.

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BIOGRAPHY OF BRAM STOKER

Bram (Abraham) Stoker (1847-1912) is an Irish novelist, Bram Stoker is

now remembered for his horror novel Dracula, which has become legendary. Bram Stoker was born in Dublin in November 1847. He is third child from

seven children. His father was a civil servant at Dublin Castle. When he was still a

child, Bram Stoker had an illness which made him lay down on bed until he was

in age of seven; however, when he was sixteen, he went to the Trinity College,

Dublin, where he finally became a fine athlete. Not only was Stoker a student of

pure mathematics, but he was also an active speaker with philosophical Society.

While at university, he began to be interested in theater after watching a

performance made by the actor Henry Irving. Stoker followed his father’s steps in

his first career to work in the civil service in 1870, but his interests in the arts

made him wrote dramatic criticism and short stories until 1878, when finally the

actor Henry Irving appointed him to become an actor manager at London’s

Lyceum Theater. Stoker had written several short stories which appeared in

magazines, but his name and his reputation as an author is well known because of

his novel Dracula, which was first published in 1897. His other works are: The

Snake’s Pass (1890); and The Lair of the White Worm (1911). Bram Stoker continued his writing career until he died in April 1912.

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closely follow the plot of the original novel of Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992), a film by

Francis Ford Coppola, which was produced by Columbia Pictures.

Bram Stoker’s Dracula is a horror novel. According to Murphy in Understanding

Unseens, ‘These novels may be about monster, supernatural power (especially those of

evil), or places and buildings (especially castles) where strange and frightening

happening occur. Some examples are: Frankenstein (Mary Shelley); Dracula (Bram

surprise, and artistic unity. According to Laurence Perrine’s Story and Structure

‘Suspense is the quality in a story that makes the reader ask “What’s going to happen

next?” or “How will this turn out?” and impels him to read on to find the answers to these

questions.’ (Perrine, 1974: 45).

UNIVERSITAS KRISTEN MARANATHA

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Besides the three main chapters, I will present the Bibliography and Appendices,

which consist of the synopsis of the novel and the biography of Bram Stoker.

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CHAPTER THREE

CONCLUSION

After having analised the elements of plot in Bram Stoker’s Dracula_{, I come to}

the conclusion that Bram Stoker is a good writer because of his success in producing a

good story which makes the readers feel satisfied after having read the novel. In order to

make a good story, the author has to unite those three elements by arranging them in the

plot of the story.

Most of the elements of suspense in Bram Stoker’s Dracula_{are full of mysteries}

in order to make the readers wonder as well as question about either the fate of some

characters or the plot of the story itself. The readers ask whether the group of men can

destroy Count Dracula on time before Mina turns into Un-Dead or not. Not only does the

suspense make the readers anxious about what will happen next, but it also gives tension

in the readers’ minds by some events which show terrifying situations, and ghastly

atmosphere. It makes the readers feel that they are being brought into the story and

experience the story as if they were one of the characters in the novel. It appears in the

story when the group of men are trying to destroy Lucy, who has become the Un-Dead at

the graveyard in the middle of the night.

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horror novel is to make the readers feel the tension as well as the terror of the story in the

readers’ minds.

From the reasons above, I come to the conclusion that Bram Stoker is successful

in uniting those three elements into the plot of the story so that the story becomes relevant

and interesting to read, owing to the fact that the three elements of plot, which are

suspense, surprise, and artistic unity mix together in one plot of the story. It is not

surprising that Bram Stoker’s Dracula_{turns out to become legendary ever since.}

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

REFERENCES

Kenney, William. How to Analyze Fiction. New York: Monarch Press, 1996.

Murphy, M.J. Understanding Unseens. London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd, 1972.

Perrine, Laurence. Story and Structure. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Inc, 1974.

Shaw, Harry. Dictionary of Literature Terms. New York: McGraw – Hill Book

Company, 1972.

INTERNET WEBSITE

The Literature Network. 2000 – 2006. Jalic LLC. 25 October 2005

<http://www.online-literature.com>.

Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 2006. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 12 March 2006

<http://en.wikipedia.org>.

<http://www.alibris.com>.

Hamberg, Cynthia. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein Page. 12 March. 2006

<http://home.tiscali.nl/~hamberg>.

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PRIMARY TEXT

Stoker, Bram. Dracula. England: Penguin Popular Classic, 1994.

Elements of Plot in Bram Stoker's 'Dracula'.

PREFACE

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PREFACE

_{………... i}

TABLE OF CONTENTS

_{………... ii}

ABSTRACT

_{... iii}

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

1.1.

Background of the Study………... 1

1.2.

Statement of the Problem... 3

1.3.

Purpose of the Study... 4

1.4.

Method of Research………... 4

1.5.

Organization of the Thesis………...4

CHAPTER TWO: