Propp/Todorov’s Theory

Todorov’s TheoryCycle

Vladimir Propp/Trodorov’s Theory

• Vladimir Propp was a Russian formalist scholar who came up with a narrative theory based on character types and functions in 1946. He originally applied this theory to fairytales but it is now applied to all narratives. Propp said that narratives tend to have all or most of the following character types; hero, villain, hero’s helper, donor, dispatcher, false hero, princess and father. The ‘princess’ is not necessarily a princess, it is in basic terms the hero’s reward and the ‘father’ traditionally in fairytales would be the princess’s father, in other narratives in would simply be the ‘princess’s’ protector. In 1969 Tzvetan Todorov who was a Franco-Bulgarian Philosopher, also created a theory of narrative. He said that each film has a set pattern and follows in five stages; the film begins with an equilibrium (a sense of normality for the characters), the disruption, and set out to repair it (by solving the problem that normality then gets disrupted, the characters then recognise ), in this section their will be lots of smaller disruptions, this may cause disagreements as to what the major disruption is, it is what initially the characters are trying to repair; finally, a new equilibrium is put into place.

Dracula• Dracula was made in 1958, it is a British horror film, based on Bram

Stoker’s novel ‘Dracula’. The film stars Peter Cushing as ‘Van Helsing’ and Christopher Lee as ‘Count Dracula’. The story begins when Jonathan Harker arrives at Count Dracula’s castle in Klausenberg; he starts writing in his journal and reveals his intentions to kill Dracula. However Harker’s plans are interrupted when he wakes up to find he has been bitten, he then hides his journal in a Virgin Mary Inn outside of the castle, and goes to kill Dracula but instead Dracula ends his life and turns him into a vampire. Dr. Van Helsing then goes to Klausenberg to look for him and is given Harker’s journal by a lady at the Inn. When he arrives at the castle he discovers Harker in a coffin and stakes him through the heart

Applying Propps theory to Dracula • When applying Propp’s theory of narrative to Dracula, you can see the clear

character types; the Hero is Van Helsing as he is on a mission to kill Dracula thereby saving the lands, this helps people and saves innocent lives, which is a heroic thing to accomplish, thus making him a prime example of a traditional hero. The Villain is Dracula, he kills innocent people; getting in Van Helsing’s way of killing him to save everyone from the terror. The ‘Princess/reward is for Van Helsing to kill Dracula, as it is his main goal and therefore it will be a reward at the end of the journey, to have achieved his goal. The Hero’s Helper is Arthur Holmwood as he is Helsings sidekick on the journey to find Dracula and executing him for good. The Donor is the lady at the Virgin Mary Inn who gives Helsing Harker’s journal, which helps him find out what happened to Harker, making him aware of Dracula; consequently, the Dispatcher is the friendship between Harker and Helsing, as if they were not friends then Helsing would have had no drive to end Dracula’s reign of terror and then the narrative would not make. There is neither a ‘Father’ nor a ‘False Hero’ in the narrative which concludes Propps theory.

Applying Todorov’s Theory to Dracula

• By applying Todorov’s theory of narrative to Dracula, I can clearly see how the theory is established; at the beginning of Dracula, the equilibrium is when Jonathan Harker arrives at the castle posing as a librarian, the disruption is when Harker gets bitten by Dracula and then dies and becomes a vampire himself. The recognition of this disruption is when Van Helsing gets given Harker’s journal and then finds him as a vampire in a coffin at the castle, therefore realising that Dracula is real. The repair process then starts when Helsing and Holmwood form an alliance and go looking for Dracula and ‘end his reign of terror’ thereby killing him. The new equilibrium is when Dracula dies, and everyone can live in peace.