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September 09, 2005
Krogstad or Dracula?
Foster, How to Read Literature Like a Professor Intro through p. 22 -- Drama as Literature (EL 250)
Foster depicts Dracula as “a nasty old man, attractive but evil, violates young women, leaves his mark on them, steals their innocence-and coincidentally their usefulness.” This is parallel to the following scene from A Doll House.
Krogstad. I promised to get you that amount, on certain conditions. Your mind was so taken up with your husband's illness, and you were so anxious to get the money for your journey, that you seem to have paid no attention to the conditions of our bargain. Therefore it will not be amiss if I remind you of them. Now, I promised to get the money on the security of a bond which I drew up.
Nora. Yes, and which I signed.
Krogstad is an older man in whom Nora decided to trust a secret with. He helped her by giving her a loan; however Nora made a mistake that Krogstad spotted. In this scene Krogstad blackmails Nora and tries to get a better position at the bank. This blackmail could also be seen as an older man (Krogstad) stealing a young woman’s (Nora) innocence. Nora innocently tried to save her husband and yet Krogstad is taking advantage of her as Dracula would, according to Foster.
Posted by AndrewLoNigro at September 9, 2005 02:32 AM
Comments
But Dracula doesn't really "take advantage" of anyone--though I guess that can be left to your interpretation.
Dracula offers eternal life to the two young women that he feeds from. What does Krogstad offer Nora, Andrew?
All Dracula is feed and seduce. Yes, I will admit that he does take the innocence away, but he gives a dark gift in return.
Posted by: Lou Gagliardi at September 10, 2005 09:59 PM
Do you think vampires like this can ever be redeemed?
Posted by: Katie Aikins at September 11, 2005 11:24 PM
WEll, I disagree with you lou because I feel, like Andrew, Krogstad does take advantage of Nora because he knows that Nora has no other choice- the only person that she could borrow the money from, without getting in trouble, was him. And, technically Krogstad does not give away a gift, because he will be recieveing it back at a later time. A gift is what you give away with no expectancy to get it back. It was not a present it was a loan, which was expected to get paid off over time.
Posted by: Gina at September 14, 2005 09:39 PM