Dracula Blog Post # 4

Title: Dracula
Author: Bram Stoker
Genre: Suspense/Horror
Pages: 385/448

As I get deeper and deeper into the plot of Dracula, I get even more interested into the plot, and find myself not being able to put this book down. What has happened recently is that Lucy, beloved friend of Mina and John, has become gravely ill. Also, Jon Harker has returned to England after nearly being killed by Dracula as he fled the Mansion. Everyone was distraught by Lucy's horrific symptoms and occurrences like her losing mass amounts of blood, and the servants finding a bat that comes in the middle of the night and sucks her blood. Eventually, the symptoms occur even more and a Dutch doctor, Dr. Van Helsing, is called in order to help with this special case. After weeks of trying to help her, Lucy supposedly dies, but Van Helsing thinks that she is not dead, nor living, but a vampire. Van Helsing proves this by taking Lucy's husband and other doctors to Lucy's coffin, which they find empty at night, but occupied by Lucy's body during the day. Dr.Van Helsing, Jon Harker, Morris Quincy (a Texan farmer), and Lord Godalming decide to travel to where they think that Dracula's shipments are (since Dracula moved from Romania to England). There, they find nothing of interest. After a while, Dracula breaks into Lord Godalming's house and nearly kills him and burns his books in his study, in order to antagonize him.

After reading more than 80% of this book, it is safe to say that I have figured out some themes that the author has been displaying throughout the book. The first theme is the triumph of Good over Evil. In this book, the Good characters are Dr. Van Helsing and the rest of the people who are trying to stop Dracula. Dracula is the evil character because not only has he nearly killed Jonathan, but he turned Lucy into a vampire and almost killed Lord Godalming. Also, Dr. Van Helsing shows that he is supposedly good as he uses holy water, garlic, and crucifixes in order to repel Dracula. The second theme was commitment. All of the people were committed to getting rid of Dracula for the good. They were committed to the cause because they knew it was the right thing to do. This is not the only case. Lord Godalming has a grudge against Dracula for turning Lucy (his wife) into a vampire. I find the themes match quite well with the story line and makes the novel more enjoyable.

A theme that my mom has found interesting in the book is in the conflicting role of women. Stoker displays women in a more sexual role than they were generally displayed at that time. He makes reference to the “New Woman,” a more independent woman than that of the past centuries. He further references the power a woman’s sexuality can have over a man in the scenes where Jonathan Harker nearly succumbs to the touch of Dracula’s wives. However, women are still depicted as submissive (as evidenced by Dracula’s power over women) and as needing to be protected physically and emotionally (as the two female characters are protected by the brave men in their lives). Furthermore, a strong woman is referred to as having a “man’s brain,” meaning that women were not seen as intelligent as a man. My mom was originally was interested in reading this novel for potential glimpses into 19^th century Eastern European culture, but has found the author’s depiction of gender roles of the time much more interesting.

Quote:


"My revenge has just begun! I spread it over centuries and time is on my side."

This quote was by Dracula. This is when Dracula realizes that Dr.Van Helsing is after him and he said this through his telepathic connection with Lucy, which was formed after Dracula bit her. This shows that the author really can show emotion or anger when he is writing.