Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula relies heavily on the construction and deconstruction of binaries. Arguably the most prevalent and important of the various binaries are good versus evil and dark versus light. At the beginning of the novel, Stoker establishes a clear line between good and evil. Basically, Dracula is evil: everyone who hunts him is good. However, as the novel progresses, the clear line between good and evil begins to blur. As the novel progresses, one can certainly ask: what actually constitutes a monster? Is Dracula a monster? Here, Stoker allows readers to develop sympathy for his evil character. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Although Dracula is bloodthirsty, driven by revenge, seeking immortality, expanding his territory, and reproducing offspring, Stoker includes a romantic side to his monster. Dracula appears as a lonely man. When Jonathan arrives at his castle, Dracula welcomes him as a being to communicate with, not just a bag of blood. Instead of immediately killing Jonathan upon his arrival, Dracula showed Jonathan the utmost hospitality, keeping him well fed and comfortable, despite still being imprisoned. Presented as a dapper creature, Dracula possesses a charismatic presence. When spotted by Jonathan and Mina out and about, Dracula tries to blend in with society and not annex himself as a monster. But at the same time, Dracula's posing as dapper allows him to appear as both bait and trap. Dracula is misunderstood, he rebels against morality and society and this makes him a monster and, at the same time, an antihero. For most of the novel no one had any sympathy for Dracula, he was only seen as pure evil. However, towards the end of the novel Mina reveals that she pities Dracula. She considers him a "poor soul" and is convinced that, although he has devastated her friends, Dracula is "the saddest case of all" (Stoker 269). Although Mina reveals her true feelings for Dracula, one has to wonder whether it is because she genuinely feels pity for the creature, or whether she feels compassion for him because he is slowly turning into a monster like him, and realizes that he may have to. they meet the same fate. Defying the odds and breaking the binary between good and evil is Reinfeld, Dr. Seward's eccentric mental patient who straddles the line between good and evil. Reinfeld is undoubtedly a sociopath and can be classified as a monster. He likes to do carnage and play God, and essentially becomes Dracula's puppet, but at the same time Reinfeld is a tragic character. Unlike the other humans in the novel, temptation, sexual desire, or his own virility do not drive Reinfeld, but he is not driven by the same carnal motives as Dracula. A special case in the novel, Reinfeld experiences extreme moments of clarity and extreme moments of madness, leading the audience to believe that he has no control over what he is doing. In contrast to his own monstrosity, Reinfeld attaches himself to Mina and shows true compassion for the woman, making himself not evil, but at the same time not good. Darkness versus light and good versus evil collide when you think of Lucy Westerna. At the beginning of the novel, Lucy is depicted as the perfect, blonde, virginal Victorian woman. The innocence shown by Lucy attracted the dark and evil Dracula to consume this innocence and leave only evil. However, the innocence that Lucy portrays on the surface is not necessarily true. Stoker portrays Lucy as a young, attractive woman who plays with men's emotions and uses them as she pleases. In a letter to.