Reward Management in Ikea Literature review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Reward Management in Ikea - Literature review Example Most organizations use reward management to motivate employees and enhance their productivity thereby contributing to improvement of overall organizational performance. Reward management is further aimed at ensuring internal, as well as external equity. More importantly, it strengthens psychological contract and also for organization to comply with legislation that require organizations to have reward management system (Phil and Cole, 2011, p. 101). Furthermore, reward management provides an organization with a system that enables it to efficiently administer rewards among employees. There are basically two types of rewards: extrinsic rewards and intrinsic rewards. Extrinsic rewards satisfy basic human needs such as security and survival and include raise in pay, better working conditions, and bonuses among others (Wright, 2004, p. 17). Intrinsic rewards aim at satisfying higher human needs such as development and esteem. The vision of IKEA is creation of better everyday life for man y people including its employees. Its human resource philosophy is that employees can be more productive and committed when the company is taking care of their needs. Like many Swedish companies, IKEA adopted a paternalistic stance towards the needs of employees and employees themselves that seeks to empower employees (IBS Center for Management Research, 2012). The application of its human resource philosophy is more or less standardized and reward policies are applied to all employees uniformly. Its human resource policies are aimed at making relationships between employees open and strong, and employees are encouraged to excel by taking care and supporting each other. In a nutshell, IKEA’s human resource policies seek to guarantee uniform and high quality standards in order to support its future developmental and business challenges (IBS Center for Management Research 2012). IKEA’s reward management system is designed to reward employees more or less equally and is i nformed by the need to make relationships between employees open and strong. Equity theory is relevant to IKEA’s reward management system. Armstrong and Stephens (2005, p. 92) note that this theory suggests that employees will be motivated to engage in actions that they perceive that the conditions of the situation are just and fair and which will ultimately benefit them. In addition, this theory holds that a person will be motivated towards organizational goals if they feel that the amount of effort being put forth commensurate the outcomes or the benefits being received (Byron and Khazanchi, 2010, p. 3). Considering that IKEA’s human resource policies are aimed at creating open and strong relationships among employees and empowering them, equity theory are more relevant to their reward management system. This is because it requires that this system regulates equity and help employees to maximize their outcomes as a whole. Looking into IKEA’s human resource pol icies also shows that the organization is keen to avoid distress among employees which might hamper its efforts towards attaining its goals. Equity theory will therefore be relevant to creating equal relationships among parties in the workplace thus avoiding distress. Equity theory recognizes commonly contributed inputs in organizations to include labor, personal investment, time, dedication, and skill (White and Druker, 2000, p. 81). Application of this

E-Business Strategy Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

E-Business Strategy - Term Paper Example The development of an e-business strategy for CitiBank is one of the areas of development which can provide more available options to those interested in the business. Introduction The development of Citibank is one which is providing for new opportunities and services to be available, all which will provide a stronger relationship to customers through the use of e-business. Citi Bank began in 1987 with a focus on providing banking solutions to customers through various financial segments. The company is organized into two main segments, one which is based on Citi Corp and the other on Citi Holdings. The Citicorp consists of the products and services with regional consumer banking first. This includes retail banking, citi – branded credit cards and Latin American asset management. There is also a segment for institutional clients, which offers services of securities and banking and transaction services. In this sector, an institution can take part in investment banking, debt a nd equity markets, lending, private equity, hedge funds, real estate, structure products, private banking and equity and fixed income research. The transaction services consist of cash management, trade services, custody and fund services, clearing services and agency / trust services. The Citi Holdings also carries two segments. The first is inclusive of brokerage and asset management and the second is based on local consumer lending as well as a special asset pool. The brands are divided by the services which individuals and institutions require, ranging from mortgages to microfinance opportunities. There are over 200 million accounts held at Citi with 160 countries and jurisdictions that are served by the corporation (Citi Bank, 2011). The different products and services which are offered by Citi Bank are further defined by the governance guidelines which work as a foundation for the bank services and products. The governance is held by a board of directors which creates a relati onship to the stakeholders, communities and managerial staff of Citi bank. The Board Members are elected by a confidential vote and are inclusive of 13-19 members that are responsible for the direction of the company. The driving force of the company is to create the ability for those who work with the bank to have access to responsible financing. This is based on the internal environment working with those in need, specifically so there is a return in responsibility for the financing. This also creates a response to value those who are using the financial services, specifically by creating relationships for specific needs and to provide services that offer alternatives for banking. The concept is followed by social responsibility, including giving to foundations, microfinancing and services that are used for asset building by individuals (Citi Bank, 2011). The approach which Citi Bank has toward financial services is one which has led it into being one of the top recognized banks g lobally. The first quarter earnings for 2011 led to a total of $3.0 billion, compared to $1.3 billion in the last quarter earnings of 2010. The earnings per share went up from $0.10 from $0.04 and the book value per share has risen by 15% from the prior year. The first quarter revenue of $19.7 billion was a profit from the last quarter by 7%. The credit losses also declined at an average of 25% from the first quarter of 2010. However, the assets have decreased,

Love Is Inclusive Of Everything Philosophy Essay

Love Is Inclusive Of Everything Philosophy Essay Love is a kind of thing that can inclusive everything. When we born in this world, love are already belongs with us. Eros, Philia, Storge, Agape which are the four types of love that we can experience in different stages in our life. Love needs two parties to proceed to bring out the valuable and we can learn things in love which is invisibility. Of course, love is wonderful things when it happens, that because it can be inclusive all the bad things even can retrieve or help people. Therefore, I will use the movie The Miracle Box to be the case study to explore those questions. Actually, the movie is reorganizing by a real story which is happen in SARS period. It is a story about Doctor Tse and her husband that how their love affecting people. The four types of love are shown in the movie and it also bring up the other questions are- Is it ring equal to commitment? How important of commitment is? How does agape include Eros, Storge and Philia? Then, I will discuss those things in the following essay. Eros is the relationship of lovers. They can find the different values on each others. They must be contains the unique characteristics or get something similar that to attract the others. It must be contain one of the features of love that may be uniqueness and irreplaceability. In the movie of The miracle Box, except for their religion background, actually it is a kind of factors that can let two persons get together easily. But except for this, the uniqueness is the important elements that for all people. Because every person has their own values, they all have the different intension, self-cultivation; every one got the different background of growth too. Every experience can be changed the mind of a person to be optimistic or pessimistic. That can be affected to the result that people had the good feeling in the first sight. Just like the movie, Doctor Tse and Albert which is her husband, they both had the uniqueness to attract others. As the movie said, Albert thinks that Docto r Tse had a beautiful smile that to let him feels nice and warm. Although physical elements are the first impression for the people to attract in the first sight, however, the spiritual element is the most important that for people to communicate. That may be easy to have similar values, behavior, and thought that have the similar topics to let their distance become closer. In a love relationship, believe is an important elements too. If two persons do not trust each others, this relationship will become no meanings. Trust is a connective thing in hearts with the lovers; it brings the lovely feelings in the relationship. As the movie, Doctor Tse needs to have an internship and leave Hong Kong for few months, because of the distance, they can not see each others for a long time, and this is a challenge for the lovers. Distance, would be one of the fatal of love, because Love cannot get rid of touch. In psychological view, Physical Touch is a love language that parent will touch us as a love expression when we are child. As we had the long period of educated that physical touch is important for people that can be a kind of connective activities for lovers. Because it can be increase the feelings to both persons, if lovers really far away from the others, physical touch cannot bring the function into full play, the optimistic of love will be weaken. Theref ore, it will be a big challenge to the lovers which have a long distance relationship. Love really can inclusive everything? Not many people can do that, maybe Doctor Tse and her husband only is the small number. Many people cannot stride this step to give up the relationship. Actually, love can be a kind of power that to defeat everything, just like Doctor Tse and her husband, although they had lots of difficulties that are hard to overcome, but they thrust that we can tide over, then its become true. It does bring the other topic which is persisting. On the other hands, in the movie mention that rings cannot easy to buy it, because rings have a valuable meaning which is commitment. Is that love equal to commitment? True Love includes the sense of responsibilities, and it is a long term commitment. As rings are the symbol of marriage, it also means the long term responsibilities. That is a heavy meanings with someone that you want to stay with her or him forever. However, in nowadays, rings become simple things in the teenage. They might not think that it is a valuable item with heavy meanings. As we can see on the street or just friends which we know, they actually got a couple rings for each other, they might think that rings are the symbol of couples, but they forgot that is the commitment as the meanings of rings. Therefore, when the scenes of movie remain us the meanings of rings, love needs promises, but at the same time, how many people know that or understand that? Because of the culture of the world become more open, comm itment is not a serious thing already. Just like Doctor Tse and her husband Albert got the original love which is touching enough and let us thinks of this question which is the meanings of rings and commitment. Love can be simple, with no spectacular scale but can feel warm with it. The real love story between Doctor Tse and her husband Albert let me rethink that how many people can experience the original love in nowadays because love also become simple in nowadays society, people might not be jealous of the relationships. Therefore, the movie was very touching that still have someone willing to wait for each other although someone is illness. Its back to the original topic that love can contain everything. Except for the Eros love, Storge which mean parent or family love also can shown in the movie and it brings a lot of discussion in this topic. Storge also is a kind of love which we have when we born in the world, maybe it is the first things we experienced how to love. Storge is the sort of love that you feel for someone who has been a part of your life for a long time, and if they go away, you miss them far more than you ever thought you would. Only parent can let you got that feelings that cannot be replace. However, I think some of the points of Eros can be similar with Storge. When lovers get married to become couples, some of the elements of Eros will transfer to Storge that it cannot be replaced. Because the partners become parents already, he or she will stay with you until death. Marriage is an amazing thing to let couples have the feelings of lovers and being parents. We can also experience it through the movie, or they can observe from family, it may also have this situati on. Or maybe marriage is just a process of Eros became Storge. I think it is a circulation of love which we experience in our life. The third love which we also include in our life is Agape which means god love. It is a wonderful love that people can get much power from this. This kind of love, really can inclusive everything? God Love is not easy to feel it, but when we face the danger, we can felt that this love is all around us, people are easy to show this love to help people who have danger. As we can see in the movie, actually it is mainly focus on the Agape, because the story of the miracle box, except for the love story between Doctor Tse and her husband, it is talking about how greatness of Doctor Tse is in the SARS period. Doctor Tse sacrifices herself to cure many people and lose her life. Except for this situation, Agape also develop in the relationship of Doctor Tse and Albert. It might be one of the reasons that they both have the religion background to let god love become more reasonable in the relationship. However, I think Doctor Tse willing to stay besides with her husband that he got cancer; it s show love can be inclusive the bad things. Just love the Bible in chapter 13 Love is patient, love is kind In the view of god, love must include everything like Eros and Storge; in the movie also shown this messages to us. Eros and Agape can find a proper unity in the one reality of love.' As the case of Doctor Tse, it can really prove that Agape can contain Eros, just because Agape is a universal Eros . SARS period let people rethink of love, this action also affected how the people think. Perhaps SARS in related to the people in Hong Kong, all people would like to concern the incident of this. The action of Doctor Tse influenced many people that let the love separate to many people, let Agape developed its functions, let more people can feel it and step through from the difficulties. And love can influenced people easily, since they both facing the big difficulties. Agape is inherent that we can through many ways to support it. Actually, in this few years was occurring lots of things, and in those incidents, we can experienced the power of Agape. For example 823 Philippine killed Hong Kong tourists, Szechwan earthquake, because of those incidents people show their concern and support to the victims. In the cases of 823 incidents, one of the victim Tsang facing the danger, but she make the right decision that bring the other boy to leave the bus, it is because of love, she thinks th at if she has the ability to rescue one more people, then she did it. In this case, it shows that then we facing the danger, we can develop the power that is come from instinct. Love really is the power that can change many things. On the other hands, the other case of Szechwan earthquake, in this incident it also brings much messages for the people that concern or love can be the motive power besides to those victims. Although, those victims experienced lots of pain, like physical or psychological which they lose their parents, but they still need to continues their life, so love is already become the necessary thing for those victims to cheer up, that what the function of love is. As the main theme of this essay is want to is that live can really inclusive everything, it must be a question that for us to think about it. However, I think love is inclusive things must be base on the people with what experience. If all people think that or all they have the same feeling of love, it would not be able to occur some tragedy by human, the world will not have terrorist and become a wonderful world. Except for the extreme examples, loves really can inclusive most kinds of things which seem to be the movie said. Therefore, many people have this love inside their mind even the heart actually, although they will not express it in every moment, but we know that love are always belongs with us and it is the most greatness thing. (2038words)

The Three Spirits in Dickens’ A Christmas Carol Essay -- English Liter

The Three Spirits in Dickens’ A Christmas Carol In Dickens’ Ghost story ‘ A Christmas Carol’ we are shown a story of redemption. Dickens uses description, sarcasm and many other effects to create the sudden changes of atmosphere in the novel. I will look at how Dickens creates such a structured book and what causes it to be so effective. However before I begin to examine Dickens’ methods I will see how each of the mysterious spirits affect Scrooge and how he responds to them. Ebenezer Scrooge is a miser if ever there was one - grasping and covetous, rich and penny-pinching. Dickens describes how he keeps a clerk, Bob Cratchit, on a measly fifteen shillings a week and a very small fire. His only family, a nephew named Fred, tries to get him to spend Christmas with him and Scrooge's only reply is "Bah. Humbug." The name Scrooge itself sounds sinister in itself†¦ His name screw + gouge shows he is hard -hearted. He is visited by four spirits. The first is of his former partner, Jacob Marley, who arrives on Christmas Eve. Jacob tells him he made his chain link by link and his spirit is condemned to walk the earth desperately trying to help his fellow man to no avail. He tells Scrooge their last hope is to be visited by three Ghosts - the Ghost of Christmas Past, the Ghost of Christmas Present and the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. Scrooge dismisses his vision, saying "there's more of gravy than of grave about you, whatever you are" and goes to sleep. Scrooge is redeemed because he learns how to let his spirit walk among his fellow men. He shows this by becoming 'a better man, a better master' as the good old city ever knew. He reveals his progress slowly by his actions, reactions and emotions. ... ...th the discovery that many think him a monster of a man. Scrooge finds most out about himself from this Spirit, and mixes his joy with his remorse and pain. The Spirit of Christmas Yet to Come is perhaps the least accessible character, but the line â€Å"the kind hand trembled† right at the end of its visit shows that it has goodwill. Its lack of violence and terror impresses Scrooge further. It must put the finishing touches to Scrooge, ensuring he is aware of his own mortality and to encourage him to change his life for the good. Scrooge’s dream is a growing process, starting from the one extreme of an old boring humble miser, and finishing up as a model of goodwill and religious generosity. Charles Dickens achieves what he attempted to do. With the use of humorous words and fantastic Ghosts he tells us a deep moral story which is still relevant today.

Mcdonaldization and bureaucracy

With the changing state of the society, the concepts of Mcdonaldization and bureaucracy continue to become fundamental. The question of the rationality in their application within the organizations however remains a point of debate. Bureaucracy can be defined as the structural concept and the nature of regulations which are put to provide a control measure into the activities of organization or even the government structures. Their basic comes inform of standard procedure, various structures in the formulating or undertaking responsibilities, the nature of hierarchies within such of organization above the set of the personal relationship within such organizations. This is a sociological concept that seeks to define the inputs of the administration within these organizations in executing their roles and the impacts of enforcing the various rules. An authentic definition of bureaucracy is however to take the form of four structures. These are labor division by the administration, an adequate system of personnel, a layout of organization hierarchy and the network system connecting the organization activities Mcdonaldization is a work defining formula whose root schedule lies in three principles. Control, uniformity and efficiency. Across the globe, the two concepts are however deeply used in organization. In the context of their application, a rational sociologist is left to wonder the logics behind their rationality. At one place, we can argue of the positive implication in the application of the two principles. On the other hand, we can argue of the same as compromising humanity. Due to the diversity in the understanding of these principles, the argumentation in this paper will be basically limited to the benefits of their structures. At the work place is a set of activities, structures, processes and personnel’s for performing different activities. A solid subject of these entire variables brings up the organizational behaviour. Consequently, the aspect of organizational behaviour plays an intrinsic role in formulating the nature of achievement of the organizations goals. For an adequate functional therapy of the workers in performance of their roles, the management should formulate some specific motivational parameters. However, motivation is synonymous to the nature of management. Through adequate tool of management, the employees are subject to motivation. However, poor management structure is harmful to the good of the organization’s workers. (Peters, 2001, p. 79) The above two concepts provide a package of motivational incentives to the workers. From one point of the argument, they can be described as benchmarks for a promoted interpersonal relationship between the workers.   Upright organizational behaviour is the chief contributor towards the success of the organization. Their provision gives an incentive into the interpersonal phenomena between the workers. For both of them, their applications provide efficiency in the workers performance of their activities. Efficiency is the most fundamental basics for ensuring optimality and economical application into the organizations activity.   With optimal characteristics, the organization gets its activities done in the most economical manner in the lowest cost level to yield the greatest benefits. Efficiency safeguards the organizations process into threats of poor performance. With this virtue, the aim of achieving the organizations goals and objectives is never ridiculous but falls within frontiers of success. In its nature, it will involve the perpetuation of the variable of control. The diversity of the organizations activities requires an outlay of control. Control is where the activities and process are subject to be monitored so that their execution compliments the basic laid down requirements and within the framework of the institution structures. The exercise of the concepts provided a solid impression for promoting control in the activities and process within the organizations. With the positive organizational behaviour, the structures within the organization are safeguarded. Every activity by the workers gives an impression of a  Ã‚   positive interpersonal-hood, cohesiveness and harmony between them and the structures. In exercise of the control principle within the organization, the two methods of managerial leadership help to ensure the control/monitor the interpersonal differences that may exist between the different persons. Sound organizational behaviour is important for every aspect of communication. As a rule, communication plays a remarkably important role in the performance of the organizations activities. In the nature of the transactional outlay involved at the work place, a passive or active system of communication should never be compromised. (Peters, 2001, p. 84) With the controlled nature into the activities of the organization, this is the foremost launching pad for its success in terms of achieving its goals and objectives. Consequently McDonaldization and bureaucracy show the nature of the organizational leadership parameters. Since the organization is endowned by a subject of goals and objectives with the aspects of minimal resource packages, a good model of leadership is basic for providing their achievement. As the model of such leadership continues in been intensified, the characteristic hood of the above two forms logical framework for the involved success into the organization. Both the two systems are methods providing a support for some positive regard to the organization structure.   They stress on solid methods that provide a support for an adequate system of governance. They both provide a basic imagery into the guiding factors that seek to enhance a structural framework in the association and relationship between person, activities and processes. This is the first attribute towards providing understanding and agreement between such organizational blocks before minimizing conflict. The essence and subject of conflict can be said to be the biggest threat and enemy to the  Ã‚   organization. This is however a subject result of the conflict theory which acts to provide an interactive manner between the persons and structures in the organization. With the various roles and diversity in the activities and elements in the organization, the above two principle comes as a remedy to the possible consequences of conflict. Though a well-structured system of activity by the parties into this organization, conflict is evaluated and done with. This is an important tool towards achieving the goals and objectives of the organization. As a conclusion therefore, the concepts of bureaucracy and MacDonaldization comes as a remedy into the weaknesses of an organization. Through the application of these concepts, the organization character/nature is brought out as radically of a positive image into the success factor. At one level, the concepts seek to provide harmony and cohesiveness into the different persons within the organization, with an adequate layout of the process, roles and activities, and the persons to perform them, the internal environment is given an impression of promoted activity. Either, they aim at providing an adequate support into the optimal allocation of resources. This is through the adequate and planned nature of the organization. Both of the concepts are important in providing a solid support into the organizational activity. Work cited Peter, B. The politics of Bureaucracy, London: Routledge, 2001      

Dracula in Today’s Pop Culture

In his novel Dracula Bram Stoker addresses the fundamental clash between good and evil. In this view vampirism, in terms of the fascination that it holds to the modern citizen, is indeed a direct consequence of modernism. It is but a reaction to modern tendency to ignore the mystery of death. Stoker is squarely confronting the brazen attitude of modern science which believes that everything has an explanation, and which thereby proceeds to ignore the ineffable. Science cannot explain death, and simply chooses to ignore it, says Stoker.It has introduced the hustle and bustle of modern city life, where all is engaged in a mad rush towards material possession, and the frenzy is meant to erase the recollection of death. Stoker’s message is that the modern ploy of evasion will not succeed, and that death will eventually catch up with the modern citizen. This is not to say simply that someone will die, but that the process of death will be forced upon him. From the point of view of religion, especially Christianity, all life is but a preparation for death (Delany, n. p. n. ).It is not as simple as science believes, that the biological body simply stops working. And if one is not prepared at the moment of the biological cessation, then one remains â€Å"undead†. This is the vampire that Stoker, and Gothic writers in general, describe. The vampire will continue to function as long as the soul remains ignorant of death. It will prey on the living, in order to sustain a material body that is soulless. Though we cannot pronounce on the theological implications that Stoker evinces, yet it is sure that the modern fascination for vampires finds its source here.While hardcore science continues to ignore it, mass culture becomes the outlet for something that cannot be suppressed. And because Stoker’s novel is the exceptional instance in modern literature that squarely confronts the issue, the character of Dracula has become the definitive representation of the vampire in pop culture. Much of what Stoker has to say is voiced by the Dutch doctor Abraham Van Helsing, who is the real protagonist of the novel. John Seward is the representative of conventional science, a qualified medical doctor who approaches the mysterious condition of Lucy Westenra with the equipment of modern science.But it is clear that Dr Seward is completely out of his depth here, and the intervention of Van Helsing is vital. â€Å"It is the fault of our science,† he tells him, â€Å"that it wants to explain all; and if it explain not, then it says there is nothing to explain† (Stoker 228). Vampirism cannot he handled with the tools of experimental science, and therefore it reacts as if it doesn’t exist. Van Helsing is not an ignorant quack, but is a qualified scientist himself. The difference is that science is not a fanaticism to him; is useful to the extent that it is applicable.Science is properly restricted to material evaluation, and there fore it will fail if it tries to explain matters pertaining to the soul. Vampirism, as Van Helsing tries to make out, is something entirely concerned with the soul. Thus, to overcome it he must become the agent of God, and not simply a rational doctor. He knows that ancient wisdom contains truth that is inexplicable by the yardstick of science. Therefore his is an open mind, which takes in both the old and new, with intelligence and common sense as the guide. It is the middle way which Stoker presents as the ideal.The modern fascination with vampires must be put in its proper historical context. We must take note that it is a universal theme, and that people of all cultures and all epochs have tales to tell about the vampire. For example the ancient Hindu goddess Kali is depicted as bloodthirsty, and is decorated with a garland of skulls. In Indian lore it is believed that if death is not consummated then the soul is trapped in the material sphere, and it becomes a Pret, attacking t he living for its sustenance. Similar legends appear in other places, and Christian Europe is not exempt.In the eighteenth century Voltaire, in his Philosophical Dictionary, was able to give a succinct and graphic account: These vampires were corpses, who went out of their graves at night to suck the blood of the living, either at their throats or stomachs, after which they returned to their cemeteries. The persons so sucked waned, grew pale, and fell into consumption; while the sucking corpses grew fat, got rosy, and enjoyed an excellent appetite. It was in Poland, Hungary, Silesia, Moravia, Austria, and Lorraine, that the dead made this good cheer. (Ibid 371)The Enlightenment of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries is the specific social phenomenon which we need to consider in this regard because it is the particular point where the old wisdom and new part ways. The Enlightenment was specifically directed against the Roman Catholic Church, but it was also against religion par se. Replacing religious doctrine, it took scientific measurement as the new criteria of judgment, declaring that science has the explanation for all things. That which did not find explanation with science was immediately judged to be superstition, meaning an irrational belief, and therefore false.We expect vampirism to have faded in such a climate, because many other â€Å"superstitions† were being discarded during this period of boundless faith in science. But instead we take note that there was a marked resurgence of vampire related activity. Reports start flooding in of vampire sightings, of graves being violated, and similar efforts to overcome the evil menace. The increased fascination with vampires is reflected in the advent of Gothic literature, which is a genre that the eighteenth century gave birth to. The fact that science and rationalism cannot overcome the reality of the vampire is the central theme of Stoker’s novel.This is reflected in Jonathan Harkerâ⠂¬â„¢s first impression on Count Dracula in his secluded castle, and he comments that â€Å"unless my senses deceive me, the old centuries had, and have, powers of their own which mere ‘modernity’ cannot kill† (Ibid 87). In fact modernity itself has become the target of the renovated vampire. The first thing we notice about Count Dracula is his suave and civilized appearance. This is in contrast to earlier depictions of the vampire as evil incarnate, and therefore gruesome in appearance at all times. The explanation for this is that subterfuge is not necessary when everyone knows that the vampire is real.But in the modern context such recognition is absent, and there is a concerted effort by society to dismiss it as superstition. In this situation Dracula has needs to practice deception, and therefore Stoker presents him to us as a refined gentleman with subterranean motives. It is not just the blood of the living which Dracula requires for his sustenance, but he is also motivated by revenge. When he has finally made it to the hub of London, to the Piccadilly quarters of Van Helsing, the Count declares, â€Å"My revenge is just begun! † (Ibid 347). The revenge is directed against modernity, that which denies his very reality.When he is hosting Jonathan Harker is Castle Dracula, he expresses a lurid curiosity about â€Å"the crowded streets of your mighty London† (Ibid 51). To him the city stands as a monumental statement of defiance against him. With a barely disguised gloating at the prospect of his revenge, he tells his guest, â€Å"I long †¦ to be in the midst of the whirl and rush of humanity, to share its life, its change, its death, and all that makes it what it is. But alas! † (Ibid). Apart from the ethereal aspect there is also a palpable human dimension to Count Dracula.To Harker he introduces himself as a descendant of the noble lineage of the Severinys. The description he provides about the exploits of h is ancestors leave no room for doubt that he is indeed descended from the real-life Dracula, and later on in the novel Mina Harker is able to confirm this, when she expresses in her journal: He must indeed have been that Voivode Dracula who won his name against the Turks†¦ If it be so, then was he no common man: for in that time, and for centuries after, he was spoken of as the cleverest and the most cunning, as well as the bravest of the sons of the ‘land beyond the forest'.(Ibid 280) The real-life Dracula in question is Vlad III Dracula, who ruled over the Wallachians in the fifteenth century. He was inordinately cruel and bloodthirsty, and was even nicknamed â€Å"The Impaler†, because he used to impale his victims, watching them die slowly, after he had first lured them into his castle (Skow, n. p. n. ). A resemblance is found here with the ancient wisdom that a vampire may only be killed by impaling through the heart by a stake. But apart from such similaritie s, Vlad the Impaler has also a direct connection to vampirism.Like his father he was initiated into the Order of the Dragon, an occult organization with rites pertaining to the vampire. Stoker was very likely to be privy to these secrets of occultism being a Freemason himself, and a member of the Order of the Golden Dawn, a cult organization deeply involved in the arcane arts (O’Connor D27). He is known to have traveled much in Eastern Europe towards his research to discover the roots of vampirism. The character of Count Dracula must therefore be declared as both ethereal and historical at the same time. Another agenda for revenge is from the point of view of being a descendent of Vlad III Dracula.He laments that the â€Å"warlike days [of his ancestors] are over. † He lusts after blood and glory, and tells Harker that â€Å"blood is too precious a thing in these days of dishonorable peace; and the -glories of the great races are as a tale that is told† (Stoker 61). The fascination that the character of Dracula commands is finally of religious implication. In the end it is the stance of science against religion that lies at the root of the preponderance of evil. Modernism is at heart a step towards irreligion. Its goal is to shed the light of science in all areas so that the mystery of religion is finally eradicated.The rise of irreligion runs parallel to the rise of modernism. If the visitation of evil is a consequence of this, then it must be combated only through a return to religion. Van Helsing makes this clear when he declares, â€Å"Thus are we ministers of God’s own wish: that the world, and men for whom His Son die, will not be given over to monsters, whose very existence would defame Him† (Ibid 360). In the words and deeds of Dracula we notice a distinct resemblance to Satan – the devil is Christian lore. This comes across clearly when we notice his particular approach to his revenge.We take note that it is t hrough the woman that he wants to perpetrate his corruption. The Biblical parallel is where the devil, disguised as a serpent, intrudes into Eden and tempts Eve to eat of the fruit of knowledge. ‘Dracula’ signifies the dragon, which in turn denotes the Biblical serpent (Vere 76). We know about the act of temptation and the impending corruption when he boasts to the men, â€Å"Your girls that you all love are mine already; and through them you and others shall yet be mine† (Stoker 347). We also take note that Dracula’s target for temptation is Lucy Westenra and not Mina Harker.While both are taken in by modernism, and may be describes as â€Å"progressive women†, Mina accommodates her modernism to the limits imposed by Christianity. She tries to keep in touch with the latest mores and technologies; for example, she is intent on learning to use the typewriter, at that time at the cutting edge of technology. But if she does so it is only because she ca n become of use to her husband. The opportunities that modern life affords do not tempt her to stray beyond the bounds of a Christian wife, whose prime duty is towards her husband and children.Van Helsing summarizes her for us in this way: â€Å"[O]ne of God’s women, fashioned by His own hand to show us men and other women that there is a heaven where we can enter, and that its light can be here on earth. So true, so sweet, so noble†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Ibid 226). Lucy, on the other hand, turns liberty into license. She is so flattered when three men propose to her at once she laments â€Å"Why can’t they let a girl marry three men, or as many as want her, and save all this trouble? † (Ibid 91). We are led to believe that she is aggressively sexual, and in some ways a siren.We understand why Dracula finds a ready target in her, whereas he cannot seduce Mina after repeated attempts, and despite his challenge thrown to the men that he will. Van Helsing’s mission is concerned with saving the soul, and it is not the physical life which worries him. In the second half of the novel the principal issue becomes whether Mina’s purity remains intact, and it is not at all about saving lives from a violent monster. The purity of Mina is vital because on it depends the spiritual condition of the men folk of England. She is depicted as the paragon of womanhood, and therefore suggestive of Eve in the Garden of Eden.For her to fall to the temptation of â€Å"the Dragon† is of the highest consequence, we believe. After Lucy is killed, it is the fact that she is ‘undead’ that spreads unease, so that her three suitors are determined to kill her again (or, kill the vampire that she is become), in order that the soul of Lucy attains peace and passes into the otherworld. When she is finally killed properly, by impaling her heart with a stake, her suitors, including her fiance Arthur Holmwood, look on as a hideous visage is transform ed into one of â€Å"unequalled sweetness and purity,† which is reflecting the condition of the soul within (Ibid 225).Stoker’s masterpiece crystallized the various trends in Gothic literature, and became the benchmark for all successive efforts in the genre, especially in film and television. Next to Sherlock Holmes, there is no other fictional character with more depictions in film and television than the character of Count Dracula (Dyson, n. p. n. ). The gothic genre is not especially known for quality literature. Outlandish landscapes, ancient castles, the evocation of dread, gruesome details, violence met upon ravishing young ladies, such were features that made the gothic novel, and Stoker does not depart much from the convention.But his effort is special in that he grapples with the fundamental issues, for example the visitation of evil in the wake of modernism. Stoker was not merely concerned with horror, but with evil itself. Paul Santilli points out a distinc tion between the two in terms of existentialism: â€Å"Evil is defined within a cultural matrix; horror is the undefined other of a culture. Evil represents the negation of being; horror shows the sickening presence of being as being† (173). Because the typical writer of Gothic literature is bound by the dictates of the horror genre, he tends to lose sight of the underlying theme of evil.Thus we notice in nineteenth century vampire literature a trend towards sympathizing with the representation of evil, a fundamental error. The vampires that we find in James Malcolm Rymer’s Varney the Vampire and Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla are sympathetic characters to some extent (Silver et al, 40-41). Stoker’s novel stands firm against such deterioration and presents to us evil in its most pristine form. This is why Stoker’s characterization of Dracula has become iconic, and also the standard bearer for all subsequent depictions of the vampire in popular culture .However, popular culture being what it is, the trend towards sympathizing with the vampire was resumed once mass media took hold of the character of Dracula and made it part of its own province. The picture of Dracula in the popular mind is now wholly derived from Hollywood films, and is very different from how Stoker describes him in the novel. For example in the novel he is described as having white hair and a drooping moustache; but the popular imagination sees him as dark haired, clean shaven and immaculately groomed.Bela Lugosi’s portrayal of the Count in the 1931 Hollywood production is most responsible for this picture. By most accounts this film, directed by Tod Browning, is the best adaptation to date, though it is not the first. This distinction must go to the 1922 German production Nosferatu, directed by F W Murnau, which makes the vampire particularly gruesome, and therefore is a return somewhat to the traditional depiction. But with films there is always the dan ger that villains become heroes, which happens when the film becomes very popular and even negative characters assume the charm of being famous.Once Browning’s depiction of Dracula entered the public imagination it set of a trend towards sympathizing with the embodiment of evil. In this trend must be included the series of films is that which issued from the Hammer House of Horror Studio in England. The first film appeared in 1958, with Christopher Lee in the role of the Transylvanian Count, and was largely faithful to the original novel, both in the plotline and in the depiction of the vampire. But as the series dragged along the tendency was to indulge in the evil exploits of the Count.This is in line with the general trend in Hollywood to lean more and more towards the â€Å"antihero†, and to glorify socially subversive activity. Francis Ford Coppola’s 1992 production Bram Stoker’s Dracula is a consummation of this process, so that the vampire here is almost a Christ-like figure. Regarding Coppola’s cinematic technique Humphries-Brooks points out that the subjective camera is used from the Count’s point of view, â€Å"which frequently lets us see the world through Dracula's eyes and allows a visceral empathy with the character.† The major sacrilege is of introducing a love affair between Dracula and Mina Harker, thereby reversing the entire tenor of the original novel. Despite such misguided efforts, the sheer preponderance of adaptations of Stoker’s novel in film, as well as the insatiable appetite of the public for vampire films in general, is a measure of the iconic status that Stoker’s Dracula has acquired. In conclusion, the modern fascination with vampirism must be viewed as a symptom of modernity. We must trace its origin to the Age of Enlightenment, in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, in which we identify the roots of modernism.It was a concerted effort to overcome the religious worldview, and to replace it with a scientific representation. The resurgence of the public fascination with vampires must also be dated to this period. The explanation of this lies in the tendency to ignore the reality of death, or the consequences for the soul after death. Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula, at the turn of the twentieth century, crystallized this fascination with a masterful study of vampirism with a thoroughly entertaining plotline. Like all Gothic literature, it aimed primarily to please.But at the same time it tackled the issue of evil in the most fundamental way, and in this way recovered focus to Gothic literature. It identified modernism as the root cause behind the re-emergence of the vampire, and outlined the battle lines in which modernism and traditional belief clashed. For all these reasons the character of Count Dracula has come to acquire an iconic status in popular culture, and it continues to spurn adaptations and imitations in film and television. 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