Dracula by Bram Stoker
Dracula is an 1897 epistolary novel by Irish author Bram Stoker, featuring as its primary antagonist the vampire Count Dracula. It was first published as a hardcover in 1897 by Archibald Constable and Co.
Dracula has been assigned to many literary genres including vampire literature, horror fiction, the gothic novel and invasion literature. Structurally it is an epistolary novel, that is, told as a series of letters, diary entries, ships' logs, etc. Literary critics have examined many themes in the novel, such as the role of women in Victorian culture, conventional and conservative sexuality, immigration, colonialism, postcolonialism and folklore. Although Stoker did not invent the vampire, the novel's influence on the popularity of vampires has been singularly responsible for many theatrical, film and television interpretations since its publication.~wikipedia~
Major Characters
Jonathan Harker: A young solicitor from London. His outward demeanor conceals a man of courage and action. His point of view is the first presented, and he is the first to have the misfortune to meet Dracula. While most of the book is seen through Seward's eyes, Jonathan is in some way the romantic protagonist, as it is he who marries Mina and it is he who kills Dracula (simultaneously with Morris). After Dracula initiates Mina, Jonathan changes from a self-doubting, thinking man into a bloodthirsty warrior, always sharpening his knife.
Mina Murray (later Mina Harker): Jonathan's fiance, later his wife. If Van Helsing is the brains of the team, then Mina is the soul. In the Professor's words, 'She has a man's brain - a brain that a man should have were he much gifted - and a woman's heart. The good God fashioned her for a purpose, believe me, when he made that so good combination.' Mina is loved by all for her sensitivity and her incredible mind. Again and again, she proves herself to be the equal or superior of every character in the novel. Nonetheless, she is old-fashioned, and wants nothing more than to be a good wife to her husband and a good woman in the eyes of God.
Lucy Westenra: We never find out enough about Lucy to know why she is so sought after. Nonetheless, every man who meets her wants to marry her or save her life, or both. Dracula himself chooses to initiate her. She accepts her adulations with the giddiness of the young girl she is, but with the seriousness of one who knows she is dealing with fragile human emotions. Lucy is the feminine figure of the novel. While Mina acts as wife, sister or mother, Lucy dies single, a little girl forever. It is the violation of Lucy's innocence, more than the imprisoning of Jonathan or even the killing of children, which gives the others the motivation to wage war on Dracula.
Dr. John Seward: Seward is the doctor who unsuccessfully courts Lucy and runs the asylum that becomes the headquarters for the vampire-fighting team. Seward's writings are featured more than any other's in the manuscript. He is not as smart at Van Helsing, as lucky in love as Jonathan or Holmwood, or as brave as Quincey Morris. Nonetheless, he is the perfect narrator for the story: Seward is smart and brave enough, and informed and inquisitive enough, for the plot of the story to unfold naturally through his eyes.
Honorable Arthur Holmwood (later Lord Godalming): Arthur is the one whom Lucy chooses to marry. Van Helsing takes a particular liking to him. However, like Lucy, we do not see deeply into his character. He is clearly a sensitive man, and his emotions are tried as his fiance, her mother and his own father all die within a short period of time. His father passes him a distinguished title and both his father and Lucy's mother leave him large estates, all of which he handles with an unpretentious and sensible attitude. He finances the vampire hunt and lets everyone use his title to gain access to information about Dracula. He also has the strength and conviction to destroy the undead Lucy, thus freeing her soul.
Quincey P. Morris: Quincey is a cowboy from Texas and an old friend of Arthur Holmwood's and John Seward's. In some ways, he is an early-American stereotype. He calls ladies 'little girl' and he calls Seward 'Jack'. He is tough, brave, and polite, though slightly unrefined. He chews tobacco when he gets nervous. There are certain aspects of Morris' personality, however, which escape the Wild West stereotype. He is remarkably romantic, like most of the men in the novel. He also wants to be helpful whenever he can. It is his seeming lack of importance that shows his personality. The others all have something great at stake; Morris, aside from his love for Lucy, is removed from the situation. Nonetheless, he joins the fight with as much commitment as the rest. He becomes the team's martyr.
Dr. Abraham Van Helsing: A philosopher and a metaphysician, and one of the most advanced scientists of his time, Van Helsing is iron-willed and the only one with the knowledge to do battle against Dracula. This is not only because he has years of varied study behind him and has an incredible sense of logic and the intellectual capacity to understand what is going on. One of Dracula's main weapons is the fact that no sane man would ever believe a blood-sucking monster really exists; but the professor never doubts it. Also, Van Helsing has the weight of moral authority on his side. He believes that he is doing God's work and must do so to save all humanity. Interesting note: Bram is short for Abraham--the author and this character share the name.
More Information
The Dead Un-Dead was one of Stoker's original titles for Dracula, and up until a few weeks before publication, the manuscript was titled simply The Un-Dead. Stoker's Notes for Dracula show that the name of the count was originally "Count Wampyr", but while doing research, Stoker became intrigued by the name "Dracula", after reading William Wilkinson's book Account of the Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia with Political Observations Relative to Them (London 1820), which he found in the Whitby Library, and consulted a number of times during visits to Whitby in the 1890s. The name Dracula was the family name of the descendants of Vlad II of Wallachia, who took the name "Dracul" after being invested in the Order of the Dragon in 1431. In the Romanian language, the word dracul can mean either "the dragon" or, especially in the present day, "the devil". Dennis McIntyre, director of The Stoker Dracula Organisation believes the word Dracula comes from the Irish 'Droch Ola' which means bad blood.
Dracula Quotes
"I read that every known superstition in the world is gathered into the horseshoe of the Carpathians, as if it were the centre of some sort of imaginative whirlpool; if so my stay may be very interesting."- Bram Stoker, Chapter 1, Dracula
"As the Count leaned over me and his hands touched me... a horrible feeling of nausea came over me, which, do what I would, I could not conceal."
- Bram Stoker, Chapter 2, Dracula
"The fair girl went on her knees and bent over me, fairly gloating. There was a deliberate voluptuousness which was both thrilling and repulsive, and as she arched her neck she actually licked her lips like an animal... I could feel the soft, shivering touch of the lips on the supersensitive skin of my throat, and the hard dents of two sharp teeth, just touching and pausing there."
- Bram Stoker, Chapter 3, Dracula
"But, oh, Mina, I love him; I love him; I love him!"
- Bram Stoker, Chapter 5, Dracula
"The man was simply fastened by his hands, tied one over the other, to a spoke of the wheel. Between the inner hand and the wood was a crucifix..."
- Bram Stoker, Chapter 7, Dracula
"a man, tall and thin, and ghastly pale... I crept behind It, and gave It my knife; but the knife went through It, empty as the air."
- Bram Stoker, Chapter 7, Dracula
"there, on our favourite seat, the silver light of the moon struck a half-reclining figure, snowy white... something dark stood behind the seat where the white figure shone, and bent over it. What it was, whether man or beast, I could not tell."
- Bram Stoker, Chapter 8, Dracula
"Between me and the moonlight flitted a great bat, coming and going in great, whirling circles."
- Bram Stoker, Chapter 8, Dracula
"The blood is the life!"
- Bram Stoker, Chapter 11, Dracula
"I shall cut off her head and fill her mouth with garlic, and I shall drive a stake through her body."
- Bram Stoker, Chapter 15, Dracula
"With his left hand he held both Mrs Harker's hands, keeping them away with her arms at full tension; his right hand gripped her by the back of the neck, forcing her face down on his bosom. Her white nightdress was smeared with blood, and a thin stream trickled down the man's bare breast, which was shown by his torn open dress."
- Bram Stoker, Chapter 21, Dracula
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