Dracula by Bram Stoker

Classic. Vampire. Sexuality. Modernity. 

Re-read. Read for R4B: Monsters & Madness

Rating: 5/5

Pages: 400

Started: 16 August 2023

Finished:

Summary:

    Sent to Transylvania to finalize a property sale, young solicitor Jonathan Harker is excited to travel abroad, enthusiastic about his work, and already looking forward to returning to London and his fiancée Mina. But from the moment he arrives in Eastern Europe looking for transportation to Count Dracula's manor, he's met with suspicion, superstition, and a warning not to go looking for the Count. Armed with a solicitors knowledge and a modern Londoner's confidence, Harker refuses all advice and complete's his journey to the Count's manor. At first he's charmed by the man's peculiarity, his mysterious demeanor and his love for all things English. But the longer Harker stays with the Count, the more he realizes that he's living not with a man, but with a monster. 

    Hundreds of miles away in England, Jonathan Harker's fiancée is doing her best to prepare for her upcoming wedding. She's staying with her best friend Lucy, and practicing translating her husband's shorthand so she can be of more help to him upon his return. When Harker's letters stop coming, and Lucy takes ill, sleepwalking at all hours of the night, Mina fears something is wrong. 

    Told through an extensive set of letters and journal entries, Bram Stoker's Dracula is an exploration into Victorian anxieties--the danger of sexuality and queerness, the fear of the other--but also into Victorian heroism and the lasting power of friendship, bravery, and love. 

Thoughts:

    This is my new favorite book. I read it via audiobook a few years ago, and really enjoyed it, but I missed so many key details that I was able to understand so much more deeply this time. To start, the book  is brilliant. Despite--or perhaps because of--the epistolary format, the story felt urgent and deeply personal. The themes explored were fascinating; during my first read of the novel I didn't pick up on all of the symbolism and allegory, but between class discussions and the opportunity to closely read the text, I was able to unwind so many layers of meaning. It's a monster story, a scary story, but it also has so much to say. 

    I loved the dark themes and gothic aesthetic, and was bothered by the blatant anti-semitism, racism, and homophobia (if unsurprised), but I think what I enjoyed most was the love story. Ultimately the novel is a romance, an account of danger and struggle meant to be given to Mina and Jonathan's children, which means the novel as a whole can be considered framed in that way. They are admittedly quite tangled up in patriarchal expectations and backwards Victorian mores, but Mina and Jonathan love each other so much. The funeral scene, where Mina requests her burial rites before separating from her husband to try to kill Dracula, was especially powerful, as was the scene after Mina was assaulted by the Count. With the increased vulnerability integral to Gothic fiction comes an increased potential for connection or solace. 

    I love this book with my entire heart. It does not align with my morals but it's so beautifully written, so many-layered, so symbolic and emotional, that I think I am going to love it for many years to come. 

Analysis From Class: 

In the early chapters of Dracula, Stoker uses Christian symbols and ideology to highlight Transylvania’s archaic danger, suggesting that frightening and hellish occurrences are distinctly possible in the feudal, un-Christian setting. Crosses are presented as a form of protection from the novel's start: “She put the rosary around my neck, and said, ‘For your mother’s sake’” (Chapter 1). Rosaries are Christian symbols of piety and devotion, acting as a physical reminder of one’s commitment to God. Furthermore, considering that mothers symbolize safety and nurturing, an action done for a mother’s sake carries a connotation of protection and love. By combining the image of a pious object with the connotation of nurturing care, Stoker doubly emphasizes the cross’s power as an object of good. This idea is reinforced in the second chapter when the same cross acts as a ward against a violent and uncivilized act: “He [Dracula] suddenly made a grab at my throat. I drew away, and his hand touched the string of beads which held the crucifix. It made an instant change in him, for the fury passed so quickly” (Chapter 2). The throat is a nexus of lifeblood, and though even in society today the idiom ‘to go for the throat’ is commonly used in reference to excessive or unnatural violence, a manner of killing as brutal as squeezing or tearing at the throat is distinctly primal and distinctly un-Christian. The Count’s barbarous attempted action is juxtaposed against the cross’s protective reaction, which results in the vampire’s “passed” rage, connoting a return to civilization, or at least the illusion of polite modernity. Beyond tangible symbols, Stoker also utilizes the dichotomy between heaven and hell to present Transylvania as a place of indescribable horror. In the Western world, Biblical allusions are relatively universal references, with most people having a common understanding of the misery of hell and its unnatural associations, and thus would understand the extreme evil of the three vampire women whom Harker refers to as “devils of the Pit” (Chapter 4). Having already established the Christian God’s protective goodness, the idea of unnatural hellishness, as here attributed to the three women, can exist to the full extent of the reader’s imagination. Through the presence of Christianity, and the accompanying presence of brutal hellishness, Stoker creates a setting that feels dangerous and archaic, leaving room not only for dangerous and archaic events or characters but also for the projection of what seems most hellish, fearful, and monstrous in each reader’s own mind. 

In the early chapters of Dracula, Stoker uses Christian symbols and ideology to highlight Transylvania’s archaic danger, suggesting that frightening and hellish occurrences are distinctly possible in the feudal, un-Christian setting. Crosses are presented as a form of protection from the novel's start: “She put the rosary around my neck, and said, ‘For your mother’s sake’” (Chapter 1). Rosaries are Christian symbols of piety and devotion, acting as a physical reminder of one’s commitment to God. Furthermore, considering that mothers symbolize safety and nurturing, an action done for a mother’s sake carries a connotation of protection and love. By combining the image of a pious object with the connotation of nurturing care, Stoker doubly emphasizes the cross’s power as an object of good. This idea is reinforced in the second chapter when the same cross acts as a ward against a violent and uncivilized act: “He [Dracula] suddenly made a grab at my throat. I drew away, and his hand touched the string of beads which held the crucifix. It made an instant change in him, for the fury passed so quickly” (Chapter 2). The throat is a nexus of lifeblood, and though even in society today the idiom ‘to go for the throat’ is commonly used in reference to excessive or unnatural violence, a manner of killing as brutal as squeezing or tearing at the throat is distinctly primal and distinctly un-Christian. The Count’s barbarous attempted action is juxtaposed against the cross’s protective reaction, which results in the vampire’s “passed” rage, connoting a return to civilization, or at least the illusion of polite modernity. Beyond tangible symbols, Stoker also utilizes the dichotomy between heaven and hell to present Transylvania as a place of indescribable horror. In the Western world, Biblical allusions are relatively universal references, with most people having a common understanding of the misery of hell and its unnatural associations, and thus would understand the extreme evil of the three vampire women whom Harker refers to as “devils of the Pit” (Chapter 4). Having already established the Christian God’s protective goodness, the idea of unnatural hellishness, as here attributed to the three women, can exist to the full extent of the reader’s imagination. Through the presence of Christianity, and the accompanying presence of brutal hellishness, Stoker creates a setting that feels dangerous and archaic, leaving room not only for dangerous and archaic events or characters but also for the projection of what seems most hellish, fearful, and monstrous in each reader’s own mind. 

Through Jonathan Harker’s paralysis in response to both the male and female vampires’ sexual acts, Bram Stoker suggests that the reversal of gender roles is generally unsettling. When the three women seduce Harker, they are characterized by their dominance: “I lay quiet, looking under my eyelashes in an agony of delightful anticipation. The fair girl advanced and bent over me” (Chapter 3). According to Victorian mores, a woman is expected to be an eyelash-fluttering object, submissive and feminine, in comparison to a dominant man. Yet Harker looks through his femininely lowered eyelashes, while one of the women “advance[s],” an act symbolic of autonomy and comparative power—in this scene, Stoker presents the female vampires in the masculine role, to which Harker responds with paralysis: “I closed my eyes in a languorous ecstasy and waited—waited with a beating heart” (Chapter 3). A “beating heart” is a symbol of passion, but rather than acting on it, Harker instead waits, an illogical inaction that suggests something is not as it should be—whether his passion stems from fear of the women’s masculinity or out of desire, as connoted by “languorous ecstasy,” the reversal of gender roles impacts Harker in a way that causes unease. Similarly, Stoker flips gender roles in Harker’s discovery of Dracula in his coffin: “The mouth was redder than ever, for on the lips were gouts of fresh blood [...] he lay like a filthy leech, exhausted with repletion” (Chapter 4). The supine position carries a connotation of submission, especially in the case of biblical heterosexual sex. Just as Harker was previously in a position of submission, here the Count takes on that role. Furthermore, a small amount of blood is often a sign of a woman’s virginity having been taken, and the “gout of fresh blood” dripping from the vampire’s mouth can be interpreted as parallel to that symbol. Through this combination of sexual insinuations, Stoker implies that Dracula has distinctly feminine characteristics. This combines with Harker’s reaction to Dracula’s eyes: “The sight seemed to paralyze me” [Chapter 4]). Eyes are windows to the soul, and through this combination of a male vampire in a feminine position, and paralysis as a result of looking at that vampire’s true self, Stoker implies that the inversion of gender roles is, at least to those accustomed to Victorian conventions, deeply alarming. However, the nature of Harker’s alarm does differ in the two circumstances. During his encounter with the female vampires, his paralysis, described as “some longing and at the same time some deadly fear,” is characterized by “languorous ecstasy,” a sentiment with a luxurious and sexual connotation. By contrast, during his Dracula-induced paralysis—his paralysis induced by a male figure—Harker describes the Count’s eyes as a “blaze of Basilisk horror” (Chapter 4). Snakes symbolize betrayal, Basilisks death. There is no sexual connotation, no insinuation of pleasure; Harker views Dracula purely as a threat. Dracula and the women are all monsters, all threats, but Stoker presents only the Count as entirely dangerous, again reinforcing the Victorian patriarchy in this imbalance of power. 

Stoker uses Mina’s kindness and maternal instinct, as highlighted by Lucy’s lack thereof, to suggest that women should adhere to Victorian standards of femininity. He provides countless examples of Mina’s polite and nurturing womanhood: “It [holding hands with her husband] felt very improper, for you can’t go on for some years teaching etiquette and decorum to other girls without the pedantry of it biting into yourself a little bit” (Chapter 13). To teach young girls is a nurturing action, and to teach them etiquette associates that nurturing with Victorian sensibilities. Yet, paradoxically, in this line, Mina refers to her students as “the other girls,” insinuating that she herself is also a girl, and is there still feminine and pure. Thus Stoker associates Mina with both maternal nurturing and youthful femininity, two essential tenants of proper Victorian womanhood. By contrast, Lucy is characterized by her captivation and depletion of others. Not only does she attract the marriage proposals of three separate men, but she literally depletes the men: “As the transfusion went on, something like life seemed to come back to poor Lucy’s cheeks, and through Arthur’s growing pallor the joy of his face seemed absolutely to shine” (Chapter 10). Blood is a symbol of vitality; “pallor” is representative of a lack of that vitality. Blood flowing from Arthur’s veins to Lucy’s both literally and symbolically represents Lucy’s appropriation of life and her fiance’s subsequent depletion—essentially, her being given a transfusion presents her in a vampiric light, one antithetical to Mina’s demonstration of proper Victorian femininity. Especially considering Lucy’s vampiric state compared to Mina’s nurturing and comforting one (“We women have something of the mother in us” [Chapter 1]), Lucy, as Mina’s foil, serves to highlight Mina’s goodness. Lucy’s death only serves to emphasize this—Dr. Seward notes that “when this now Un-Dead be made to rest as true dead, then the soul of the poor lady whom we love shall again be free” (Chapter 16). Only a truly hellish existence—existence as a monster— could make death, a concept usually associated with fear and grief, a “free[ing]” experience. Through this insinuation that Lucy’s life was genuinely miserable, Stoker presents a cautionary tale of the risks of straying from the acceptable Victorian feminine. By contrasting Mina’s womanly goodness against Lucy’s wanton depletion and ultimate need for death, Stoker warns his readers that while proper femininity can lead to kindness and joy, the subversion of Victorian expectations is a dangerous path to take. 

 

Stoker’s portrayal of both Mina’s hypnosis and Lucy’s entrancement reinforces the Victorian belief that a woman’s value lies in her being a vessel or a conduit. A conduit is an intermediary, a thing used by someone in order to deliver information or goods. Mina volunteers to take on this role, giving up her autonomy in order to convey information to her friends: “‘I want you to hypnotize me!’ she said.” (Chapter 23). Hypnosis is an intentional entrancement allowing a person’s mind to be controlled by another. In passionately calling for hypnotization, Mina is giving up her sovereignty over herself. When she is hypnotized, she delivers information about Dracula’s whereabouts through a trance: “The answer came dreamily, but with intention; it were as though she were interpreting something” (Chapter 23). A “dream[y]” response connotes a lack of deliberate thought, thus reinforcing the autonomy Mina sacrifices to take on her role as a conduit. Furthermore, interpreting information is an imitative action rather than a synthetative one—it’s an action expected of a vessel, not an autonomous human being. Lucy’s entrancement parallels Mina’s, especially in its effect of transforming her into a useful conduit. Upon noticing Lucy’s paleness and wound after a night of entranced sleepwalking, Dr. Seward muses that “the whole bed would have been drenched to a scarlet with the blood which the girl must have lost to leave such a pallor as she had before the transfusion” (Chapter 10). The purpose of a vessel is to hold, protect, and move a substance; a vessel’s identity centers around what it holds. Lucy is first used as a vessel from which Dracula can drink blood—through her depletion, with no blood in sight, Stoker implies she has been drained for the vampire’s satisfaction—and then again as a vessel for the blood placed back inside her during Dr. Seward’s transfusion. Just like Mina’s, Lucy’s entrancement negates her autonomy, rendering her valuable in her capacity but unimportant in her humanity. Though Lucy’s use pertains to what she physically contains, while Mina’s is connected to the information she is capable of delivering, both women—the only two named women in the novel— are exploited for what they are capable of providing when their sovereignty is stripped. Through the repetition of nonautonomous provision in both female characters, Stoker echoes the Victorian presumption that women’s worth lies in what they provide. 

However, through both the scientific association and the passivity of Mina’s hypnosis, Stoker affiliates Mina’s foray into Dracula’s mind with goodness, especially contrasted against Lucy’s less righteous entrancement. Lucy is mesmerized by Dracula himself, a character symbolic of utmost evil: “The last glimpse I had was of the bloated face, bloodstained and fixed with a grin of malice which would have held its own in the nethermost hell” (Chapter IV). “Bloated” and “bloodstained” both carry connotations of the grotesque, and fitting in in Hell implies a demonic nature. A person controlled by a force so evil cannot maintain goodness. By contrast, Mina is hypnotized by Dr. Van Helsing. Hypnosis, though dubiously regarded by many, is at least a mechanically logical process. In Mina’s case, it's a process facilitated by a logical man, who describes himself as having “studied all my life men and women [and] made my specialty the brain” (Chapter 14). The brain symbolizes rational behavior and human knowledge. Since Mina is hypnotized by a man associated with science and civilization, rather than evil, Stoker suggests her hypnosis is comparatively good. Furthermore, Mina’s action under hypnosis remains passive, while Lucy’s trance is an active and pleasure-seeking one. During one of Lucy’s entrancements, Mina comments that, “Strangely enough, Lucy did not wake; but she got up twice and dressed herself” (Chapter 7). Changing from pajamas to clothes is an active action symbolic of preparation. Combined with both the eagerness connoted by the two separate tries at dressing in one night, and the trance’s association with Dracula’s corrupting evil, it can be inferred that the entranced Lucy is tarnished and thus immoral. Comparatively, Mina’s action under hypnosis is passive. Dr. Van Helsing narrates that “there was a far away look in her eyes,” but she does nothing other than verbally share helpful information. Eyes symbolize intellect, rather than desire, and so though Mina’s autonomy is sacrificed, her passive action is intellectual and helpful, therefore continuing her association with the side of good. Throughout both Mina and Lucy’s character arcs, Stoker maintains his reinforcement of the Victorian belief in women’s value stemming from what they can provide. Yet through the contrast between Mina’s positive hypnosis and Lucy’s immoral entrancement, Stoker suggests that the context of a Victorian woman’s provision determines whether what she’s provided is good, or evil.

Words: 

    Idolatrous (adj) of or relating to the worship of a physical object as a god 

    Patronymic (n) a name derived from that of the father or a paternal ancestor, usually by the addition of a suffix 

    Prosaic (adj) characteristic of prose, as distinguished from poetry; dull, ordinary, or unimaginative

    Brooked (v) to stand for or tolerate

    Gamboling (adv) skipping or leaping about in play

    Batten (v) to grow fat; to feed gluttonously 

    Assiduously (adv) showing great care, attention, and effort

    Downface (v) contradict

    Pedants (n) people who are unimaginative or who unduly emphasize minutiae in the presentation or use of knowledge

    Congenitally (adv) existing or dating from birth 

    Presage (n) something that foreshadows or portends a future events; an intuition or feeling of what is going to happen in the future

    Stanchions (n) an upright bar, post, or support

    Adduce (v) to offer as example, reason, or proof in a discussion or analysis

    Cortege (n) a train of attendants

    Agglomeration (n) the action or process of collecting in a mass

    Slewed (v) slay, past tense

    Arrears (n) the state of being behind in the discharge of obligations (usually used in plural) 

    Badinage (n) good-natured teasing or exchanging of clever remarks

    Simoom (n) a hot dry violent dust-laden wind from asian and african deserts

    Stertorous (adj) characterized by a harsh snoring or gasping sound

    Urbane (adj) notably polite or polished in manner

    Obsequious (adj) marked by or exhibiting a fawning attentiveness

    Pedantry (n) the act of being unimaginative or unduly emphasizing minutiae

    Laconically (adv) using or involving the use of a minimum of words; concise to the point of seeming rude or mysterious

    Adamantive (adj) made of or having the quality of adamant (obsolete)

    Interstice (n) a space that intervenes between things

    Consternation (n) amazement or dismay that hinders or throws into confusion 

    Coevals (n) of the same or equal age, antiquity, of duration

    Appositeness (n) the state of being highly pertinent or appropriate

    Trenchant (adj) keen, sharp

    Impetuosity (n) the state or quality of impulsive vehemence or passion