7/23/2019 Dracula Essay Blog

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So I read over Bram Stoker’s classic 1897 novel Dracula for this 31-day Halloween proect I’ve !een

doin" here# $ot that I’m any!ody% !&t I’d say it’s fairly well deservin" of its rep&tation and its infl&ence#'here have !een tales of vampires (or their e)&ivalents* in the maority of c&lt&res in the maority of

corners of the world for the maority of h&man e+istence# ,hat Stoker did with Dracula was to marshal

to"ether some clear-c&t r&les and common traits of vampires% inect some amo&nt of research andhistorical reference% and &tilie his own character-!&ildin" a!ility to create the most clearly defined

vampire character of all time in .o&nt /rac&la# If .o&nt /rac&la wasn’t s&ch a commandin"% imposin"%

omino&sly memora!le fi"&re in the novel !earin" his name% then Dracula co&ldn’t have !een the

to&chstone that it is in horror literat&re# In other words% Stoker’s "reatest achievement was to distill all ofthat cross-c&lt&ral mytholo"y into one iconic character# .reatin" a tr&e icon is one of the most diffic&lt

thin"s a writer can do% !eca&se it can’t !e forced and it has to come from a "en&ine place of character

impact% !&t when it happens% an iconic character can lift the entire "enre aro&nd him0her to prominence#(ay!e that’s why werewolves are perennial also-rans 2 there’s no one iconic werewolf character to

center the "enre#*

co&ple o!servations str&ck me as I made my way thro&"h the !ook this time# 4ne was the intense

r&thlessness and cr&elty of the /rac&la character# 'here is no trace of h&manity or sympathy within him5

he wants what he wants and has no reservations a!o&t takin" it# 'his% more than anythin"% is wheretoday’s 6vampire romance trend diver"es from its roots in horror# 'he vampire mytholo"y has a nat&ral

eroticism to it 2 the act of feedin" has always had a se+&al element in its description 2 !&t /rac&la% as portrayed in in Stoker’s novel% is hardly a romantic fi"&re# If anythin"% he’s a se+&al predator# ,hile his

con)&est of yo&n" &cy ,estenra has clear se+&al overtones in its description% it is dist&r!in" at its coreand its res&lts are clearly tra"ic# .o&nt /rac&la is !y far the dominant character in Dracula% !&t yo& don’t

read it wishin" for anythin" other than his demise at the hands of the novel’s heroes#

nother interestin" o!servation to me is that very few vis&al interpretations of .o&nt /rac&la have come

 partic&larly close to his appearance as descri!ed in the !ook# 'here have !een so many wonderf&l and

&nfor"etta!le /rac&la desi"ns% !&t stran"ely% none of them have looked m&ch like this 6: tall old man%clean shaven save for a lon" white mo&stache% and clad in !lack from head to foot% witho&t a sin"le speck

of colo&r a!o&t him anywhere# So in Stoker’s mind% .o&nt /rac&la wo&ld look like ;ames .o!&rn with

the wardro!e of ;ohnny .ash# I kind of love that# 'his recent drawin" !y the "reat ;ohn .assaday comesthe closest to that description of any I can recall% !&t of co&rse it’s still "reat to have all of the different

looks that cinema% television% and comic !ooks have afforded &s thro&"ho&t history% from Bela &"osi’s

iconic caped slickster% to <ene .olan’s ferocio&s drawin"s% to <ary 4ldman’s 6&nt ay rendition#

I was also s&rprised to !e reminded of the way that the story is str&ct&red# Dracula is an epistolary novel%

which means that it is made &p of fictional correspondences and comm&nications 2 a common storytellin"

choice that &sed to !e pop&lar in anti)&ity !&t was way o&t of style in the past cent&ry% &ntil the c&rrenthorror !oom with !ooks like World War Z which &se a compara!le 6oral history format# It’s a

fascinatin" choice on Stoker’s part to have .o&nt /rac&la’s personality and e+ploits recorded and

reported !y a "ro&p of prota"onists% incl&din" ;onathan Harker% his fianc=e ina &rray% close ally (and

initial co&rter of ina’s friend &cy* /r# Seward% and of co&rse that infernal >an Helsin"# It’s alsointri"&in" to see how the !ook is split &p into phases5 the first ch&nk of the novel is lar"ely drawn from

Harker’s o&rnal% and depicts his initial enco&nter with the .o&nt in 'ransylvania5 the ne+t ch&nk involves

ina’s correspondences with &cy% wherein her concern a!o&t ;onathan is e+pressed% and where we alsofirst hear a!o&t &cy’s s&itors (Seward% ?&incey% and Holmwood% who later !ecome >an Helsin"’s

vampire-h&ntin" s)&ad*# 'hen the ship’s lo" of the /emeter is invoked 2 the /emeter !ein" the c&rsed

vessel that !rin"s /rac&la to @n"land# ,hen the action shifts to @n"land% the story str&ct&re shifts a"ain%and the novel’s e+chan"es to""le !etween ina &rray% /r# Seward% the ret&rned ;onathan Harker% and 2

not as m&ch as co&ld !e e+pected 2 Arofessor >an Helsin"#

!raham >an Helsin" is a!sol&tely another key to the s&ccess and lon"evity of Dracula# Harker shows

7/23/2019 Dracula Essay Blog

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real pl&ck and reso&rcef&lness and ina is no precio&s flower !&t &st as willin" to fi"ht as the men% !&t

>an Helsin" is the .o&nt’s tr&e opposite n&m!er# He is a ha&nted and determined adversary of vampires%and it’s no s&rprise that he pops &p nearly as many times as .o&nt /rac&la in the many iterations of the

tale that have transpired thro&"ho&t fiction and film over the years# ('he most memora!le was Aeter

.&shin" in the Hammer horror films% the most recent in my "eneration’s memory was nthony Hopkinsin rancis ord .oppola’s version in the early 199Cs#* 'he creation of >an Helsin" is another of Stoker’s

masterstrokes 2 &st as a "ood hero is !est defined in opposition to his worst enemy% so too is the "reatest

villain !est tested !y a stron" hero# Do& need a .aptain ha! to p&rs&e o!y /ick% yo& need a ;oker to

forever pla"&e Batman% and yo& need >an Helsin" to constantly thwart .o&nt /rac&la#

However% the character that st&ck with me this time aro&nd was the poor% &nfort&nate Eenfield# Eenfield is

a patient of >an Helsin"’s friend /r# Seward% who r&ns a l&natic asyl&m# Eenfield acts as kind of a predictor of /rac&la’s comin"s and "oin"s5 his ravin"s increase or s&!side dependin" on what the

vampire is &p to# Eenfield is a tra"ically memora!le wretch who eats spiders and flies and fi"&res into

some of the most sad and dist&r!in" passa"es of the !ook# It’s f&nny5 when I read The Lord Of The

Rings% the most resonant character to me was Smea"ol% a#k#a# <oll&m% a#k#a# that freakish creat&re who’s

o!sessed with and tormented !y power# It’s &st so perceptive on the parts of Stoker and 'olkien% as they

con&re characters of the most a!ect evil and the most resol&te virt&e on either side of the central !attle%to acknowled"e those pathetic fi"&res who face similar trials and fall short of either e+treme# $ot

everyone can !e p&rely "ood or powerf&lly !ad5 in fact few are 2 most of &s% when placed into s&chapocalyptic scenarios% wo&ld fall somewhere in the middle% and the weaker amon" &s wo&ld !e r&ined !y

the e+perience# Some of the more famo&s portrayals of Eenfield thro&"ho&t Dracula history have !een/wi"ht rye (from the ;ames ,hale Frankenstein*% Fla&s Finski% and 'om ,aits# 'hatGs one interestin"

dinner party#