Dracula Characters
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''Dracula'' is an 1897 Gothic horror novel by Irish author
Bram Stoker Abraham Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912), better known by his pen name Bram Stoker, was an Irish novelist who wrote the 1897 Gothic horror novel ''Dracula''. The book is widely considered a milestone in Vampire fiction, and one of t ...
. The narrative is related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist and opens with solicitor
Jonathan Harker Jonathan Harker is a fictional character and one of the main protagonists of Bram Stoker's 1897 Gothic horror novel ''Dracula''. An English solicitor, his journey to Transylvania and encounter with the vampire Count Dracula and his Brides at Ca ...
taking a business trip to stay at the castle of a
Transylvanian Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...
nobleman,
Count Dracula Count Dracula () is the title character of Bram Stoker's 1897 gothic horror novel ''Dracula''. He is considered the prototypical and archetypal vampire in subsequent works of fiction. Aspects of the character are believed by some to have been i ...
. Harker flees after learning that Dracula is a
vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead humanoid creatures that often visited loved ones and c ...
, and the Count moves to England and plagues the seaside town of
Whitby Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It is on the Yorkshire Coast at the mouth of the River Esk, North Yorkshire, River Esk and has a maritime, mineral and tourist economy. From the Middle Ages, Whitby ...
. A small group, led by
Abraham Van Helsing Professor Abraham Van Helsing () is a fictional character from the 1897 gothic horror novel ''Dracula'' written by Bram Stoker. Van Helsing is a Dutch polymath doctor with a wide range of interests and accomplishments, partly attested by the ...
, hunts and kills him. The novel was mostly written in the 1890s, and Stoker produced over a hundred pages of notes, drawing extensively from
folklore Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...
and
history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...
. Scholars have suggested various figures as the inspiration for Dracula, including the Wallachian prince
Vlad the Impaler Vlad III, commonly known as Vlad the Impaler ( ) or Vlad Dracula (; ; 1428/31 – 1476/77), was Voivode of Wallachia three times between 1448 and his death in 1476/77. He is often considered one of the most important rulers in Wallachian hi ...
and the Countess
Elizabeth Báthory Countess Elizabeth Báthory of Ecsed (, ; ; 7 August 1560 – 21 August 1614) was a Hungarian noblewoman and alleged serial killer from the powerful House of Báthory, who owned land in the Kingdom of Hungary (now Slovakia). Báthory and fo ...
, but recent scholarship suggests otherwise. He probably found the name Dracula in Whitby's public library while on holiday, selecting it because he thought it meant 'devil' in Romanian. Following the novel's publication in May 1897, some reviewers praised its terrifying atmosphere while others thought Stoker included too much horror. Many noted a structural similarity with
Wilkie Collins William Wilkie Collins (8 January 1824 – 23 September 1889) was an English novelist and playwright known especially for ''The Woman in White (novel), The Woman in White'' (1860), a mystery novel and early sensation novel, and for ''The Moonsto ...
' '' The Woman in White'' (1859) and a resemblance to the work of Gothic novelist
Ann Radcliffe Ann Radcliffe (née Ward; 9 July 1764 – 7 February 1823) was an English novelist who pioneered the Gothic fiction, Gothic novel, and a minor poet. Her fourth and most popular novel, ''The Mysteries of Udolpho'', was published in 1794. She i ...
. In the 20th century, ''Dracula'' became regarded as a seminal work of Gothic fiction. Scholars explore the novel within the historical context of the
Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the ...
and regularly discuss its portrayal of race, religion, gender and sexuality. ''Dracula'' is one of the most famous works of
English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...
. The character of Count Dracula deeply shaped the popular conception of vampires and influenced future representations. With over 700 appearances across virtually all forms of media, the ''
Guinness Book of World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...
'' named Dracula the most portrayed literary character. The novel itself has been adapted many times, with new adaptations sometimes being produced as often as every week.


Plot

Jonathan Harker, a newly qualified English
solicitor A solicitor is a lawyer who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and enabled to p ...
, visits
Count Dracula Count Dracula () is the title character of Bram Stoker's 1897 gothic horror novel ''Dracula''. He is considered the prototypical and archetypal vampire in subsequent works of fiction. Aspects of the character are believed by some to have been i ...
at his castle in the
Carpathian Mountains The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe and Southeast Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Ural Mountains, Urals at and the Scandinav ...
to help the Count purchase a house near London. Ignoring the Count's warning, Harker wanders the castle at night and encounters three vampire women; Dracula rescues Harker, and gives the women a small child bound inside a bag. Six weeks later, Dracula leaves the castle, abandoning Harker to the women. Harker escapes and ends up delirious in a
Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...
hospital. Dracula takes a ship called the ''Demeter'' for England with boxes of earth from his castle. The captain's log narrates the crew's disappearance until he alone remains, bound to the helm to maintain course. An animal resembling a large dog is seen leaping ashore when the ship runs aground at
Whitby Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It is on the Yorkshire Coast at the mouth of the River Esk, North Yorkshire, River Esk and has a maritime, mineral and tourist economy. From the Middle Ages, Whitby ...
.
Lucy Westenra Lucy Westenra is a fictional character in the 1897 novel ''Dracula'' by Bram Stoker. She is the 19-year-old daughter of a wealthy family and is Mina Harker, Mina Murray's best friend. Early in the story, Lucy gets proposed to by three suitors, A ...
's letter to her best friend, Harker's fiancée Mina Murray, describes her marriage proposals from Dr. John Seward, Quincey Morris, and Arthur Holmwood. Lucy accepts Holmwood's, but all remain friends. Mina joins Lucy on holiday in Whitby. Lucy begins to sleepwalk. After Dracula's ship lands in Whitby, he begins to stalk Lucy. Mina receives a letter about her missing fiancé's illness and goes to Budapest to nurse him. Lucy becomes very ill; Seward's old teacher— Professor Abraham Van Helsing—determines the nature of her condition, but he refuses to disclose it, instead diagnosing it as acute blood-loss. Van Helsing places garlic flowers around her room and makes her a necklace of them. Lucy's mother removes the garlic flowers, not knowing they repel vampires. While Seward and Van Helsing are absent, Lucy and her mother are terrified by a wolf and Mrs. Westenra dies of a
heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...
; Lucy dies shortly thereafter. After her burial, newspapers report children being stalked in the night by a "bloofer lady" (beautiful lady), and Van Helsing deduces it is Lucy. Seward, Morris, Arthur and Van Helsing go to her tomb and see that she is a vampire. They stake her heart,
behead Decapitation is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and all vertebrate animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood by way of severing through the jugular vein and common c ...
her, and fill her mouth with garlic. Jonathan Harker and his new bride Mina return and join the campaign against Dracula. Everyone stays at Seward's asylum as the men begin to hunt Dracula. Van Helsing finally reveals that vampires can only rest on earth from their homeland. Dracula communicates with Seward's patient,
Renfield R. M. Renfield is a fictional character who appears in Bram Stoker's 1897 Gothic horror novel ''Dracula''.
, an insane man who eats vermin to absorb their life force. After Dracula learns of the group's plot against him, he uses Renfield to enter the asylum. He secretly attacks Mina three times, drinking her blood each time and forcing Mina to drink his blood on the final visit, cursing her to become a vampire after her death unless Dracula is killed. The men discover that Dracula has distributed his boxes of earth around various properties in London. After sterilizing most of the distributed boxes, the group fails to trap the Count in his
Piccadilly Piccadilly () is a road in the City of Westminster, London, England, to the south of Mayfair, between Hyde Park Corner in the west and Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is part of the A4 road (England), A4 road that connects central London to ...
house and learns that Dracula is fleeing to his castle in Transylvania with his last box. Using hypnosis, Van Helsing exploits Mina's faint psychic connection to Dracula to track his movements and they pursue, guided by Mina. In Galatz, Romania, the hunters split up. Van Helsing and Mina go to Dracula's castle, where the professor destroys the vampire women. Harker and Holmwood pursue Dracula's boat on the river, while Morris and Seward follow them on land. Dracula's box is loaded onto a wagon by Romani men; the hunters attack and rout the Romani. Harker decapitates Dracula as Quincey stabs him in the heart. Dracula crumbles to dust, freeing Mina from her vampiric curse. Quincey is mortally wounded in the fight against the Romani. He dies, at peace knowing that Mina is saved. A note by Jonathan Harker seven years later states that the Harkers have a son, named Quincey.


Background


Author

Bram Stoker Abraham Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912), better known by his pen name Bram Stoker, was an Irish novelist who wrote the 1897 Gothic horror novel ''Dracula''. The book is widely considered a milestone in Vampire fiction, and one of t ...
was born in
Clontarf, Dublin Clontarf () is an affluent coastal suburb on the Northside (Dublin), Northside of Dublin in the city's List of Dublin postal districts, Dublin 3 postal district. Historically, there were two centres of population, one on the coast towards the c ...
on 8 November 1842 as the third of seven children. A sickly child, he was homeschooled before attending a private day school. Stoker attended
Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...
in the 1860s and began writing theatre reviews in the early 1870s. After Stoker wrote a review of a performance by stage actor
Henry Irving Sir Henry Irving (6 February 1838 – 13 October 1905), christened John Henry Brodribb, sometimes known as J. H. Irving, was an English stage actor in the Victorian era, known as an actor-manager because he took complete responsibility ( ...
, the two became friends. In 1878, Irving offered Stoker a job as the business manager of London's Lyceum Theatre, which he accepted. He married Florence Balcombe later that year. Biographer Lisa Hopkins notes that this role required Stoker to be sociable and introduced him to the elites of
Victorian London During the 19th century, London grew enormously to become a global city of immense importance. It was the List of largest cities throughout history, largest city in the world from about 1825, the world's largest port, and the heart of Financial ...
. Nonetheless, Stoker described himself as a private person who closely guarded his thoughts. He supplemented his theatre income by writing romance and
sensation novel The sensation novel, also sensation fiction, was a literary genre of fiction that achieved peak popularity in Great Britain in between the early 1860s and mid to late 1890s,I. Ousby ed., ''The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English'' (1995) p. 8 ...
s, but was more closely identified during his lifetime with the theatre than he was with the literary world. By the time of his death in 1912, Stoker had published 18 books. ''Dracula'' was Stoker's seventh published book, following '' The Shoulder of Shasta'' (1895) and preceding '' Miss Betty'' (1898). Stoker's grand-nephew,
Daniel Farson Daniel James Negley Farson (8 January 1927 – 27 November 1997) was a British writer and broadcaster, strongly identified with the early days of commercial television in the UK, when his sharp, investigative style contrasted with the BBC's mor ...
, wrote that Stoker may have died from syphilis, but this is widely disputed by scholars. Novelist and playwright
Hall Caine Sir Thomas Henry Hall Caine (14 May 1853 – 31 August 1931), usually known as Hall Caine, was a British novelist, dramatist, short story writer, poet and critic of the late 19th and early 20th century. Caine's popularity during his lifetim ...
, a close friend of Stoker's, wrote in Stoker's obituary in ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...
'' that—besides his
biography A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or curri ...
on Irving—Stoker wrote only "to sell" and "had no higher aims".


Inspiration

Folkloric vampires predate Stoker's Dracula by hundreds of years. Stoker adopted some characteristics of folkloric vampires for his own, such as their aversion to garlic and staking as a means of killing them. He invented other attributes—for example, Stoker's vampires must be invited into one's home, sleep on earth from their homeland and have no reflection in mirrors. Sunlight is not fatal to Dracula in the novel—this was an invention of the unauthorised ''Dracula'' film ''
Nosferatu ''Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror'' () is a 1922 silent film, silent German Expressionism (cinema), German Expressionist vampire film directed by F. W. Murnau from a screenplay by Henrik Galeen. It stars Max Schreck as Count Orlok, a vampire who ...
'' (1922)—but it does weaken him. Some of Stoker's inventions applied unrelated lore to vampires for the first time; for example, Dracula has no reflection because of a folkloric concept that mirrors show the human soul. Some Irish scholars have suggested
Irish folklore Irish folklore () refers to the folktales, balladry, music, dance and mythology of Ireland. It is the study and appreciation of how people lived. The folklore of Ireland includes banshees, fairies, leprechauns and other mythological creatures, ...
as an inspiration for the novel, for example the revenant
Abhartach Abhartach (; Irish for 'dwarf'), also Avartagh, is an early Irish legend, which was first collected in Patrick Weston Joyce's ''The Origin and History of Irish Names of Places'' (1870). Some 21st-century scholars have theorised that the lege ...
, and the 11th-century High King of Ireland
Brian Boru Brian Boru (; modern ; 23 April 1014) was the High King of Ireland from 1002 to 1014. He ended the domination of the High King of Ireland, High Kingship of Ireland by the Uí Néill, and is likely responsible for ending Vikings, Viking invasio ...
. ''Dracula'' scholar Elizabeth Miller notes that in his childhood Stoker was exposed to supernatural tales and Irish oral history involving premature burials and staked bodies.
Count Dracula Count Dracula () is the title character of Bram Stoker's 1897 gothic horror novel ''Dracula''. He is considered the prototypical and archetypal vampire in subsequent works of fiction. Aspects of the character are believed by some to have been i ...
has literary progenitors. John William Polidori's "
The Vampyre "The Vampyre" is a short work of prose fiction written in 1819 by John William Polidori, taken from the story told by Lord Byron as part of a contest among Polidori, Mary Shelley, Lord Byron, and Percy Shelley. The same contest produced the n ...
" (1819) includes an aristocratic vampire with powers of seduction. The lesbian vampire of
Sheridan Le Fanu Joseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu (; 28 August 1814 – 7 February 1873), popularly known as J. S. Le Fanu, was an Irish writer of Gothic literature, mystery novels, and horror fiction. Considered by critics to be one of the greatest ghost ...
's ''
Carmilla ''Carmilla'' is an 1872 Gothic fiction, Gothic novella by Irish author Sheridan Le Fanu, Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu. It is one of the earliest known works of vampire fiction, predating Bram Stoker's ''Dracula'' (1897) by 25 years. First published ...
'' (1872) can transform into a cat, as Dracula can transform into a dog. Dracula resembles earlier Gothic villains in appearance, with Miller comparing him to the villains of
Ann Radcliffe Ann Radcliffe (née Ward; 9 July 1764 – 7 February 1823) was an English novelist who pioneered the Gothic fiction, Gothic novel, and a minor poet. Her fourth and most popular novel, ''The Mysteries of Udolpho'', was published in 1794. She i ...
's '' The Italian'' (1796) and Matthew Gregory Lewis's '' The Monk'' (1796). There is almost unanimous consensus that Dracula was inspired, in part, by Henry Irving. Scholars note the Count's tall and lean physique and aquiline nose, with ''Dracula'' scholar William Hughes specifically citing the influence of Irving's performance as
Shylock Shylock () is a fictional character in William Shakespeare's play '' The Merchant of Venice'' ( 1600). A Venetian Jewish moneylender, Shylock is the play's principal villain. His defeat and forced conversion to Christianity form the climax ...
in a Lyceum Theatre production of ''
The Merchant of Venice ''The Merchant of Venice'' is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. A merchant in Venice named Antonio defaults on a large loan taken out on behalf of his dear friend, Bassanio, and provided by a ...
''. Stoker's contemporaries remarked upon the similarity. Stoker had praised a performance of Irving as "a wonderful impression of a dead man fictitiously alive ith eyes likecinders of glowing red from out the marble face". Louis S. Warren writes that ''Dracula'' was founded on "the fear and animosity his employer inspired in him". Miller contests this, describing Stoker's attitude towards him as "adulation". Historical figures have been suggested as inspirations for Count Dracula but there is no consensus. In a 1972 book, Raymond T. McNally and
Radu Florescu Radu Florescu (23 October 1925 – 18 May 2014) was a Romanian academic who held the position of Emeritus Professor of History at Boston College. His work on Vlad Dracula includes a series of bestselling books that he co-authored with his colle ...
popularised the idea that Ármin Vámbéry supplied Stoker with information about Vlad Dracula, commonly known as Vlad the Impaler. Their investigation, however, found nothing about "Vlad, Dracula, or vampires" within Vámbéry's published papers, nor in Stoker's notes about their meeting. Miller calls the link to Vlad III "tenuous", indicating that Stoker incorporated a large amount of "insignificant detail" from his research, and rhetorically asking why he would omit Vlad III's infamous cruelty. McNally additionally suggested in 1983 that the crimes of
Elizabeth Báthory Countess Elizabeth Báthory of Ecsed (, ; ; 7 August 1560 – 21 August 1614) was a Hungarian noblewoman and alleged serial killer from the powerful House of Báthory, who owned land in the Kingdom of Hungary (now Slovakia). Báthory and fo ...
inspired Stoker. A book used by Stoker for research, ''The Book of Were-Wolves'', does contain some information on Báthory, but Stoker never took notes from the short section devoted to her. Miller and her co-author Robert Eighteen-Bisang concur that there is no evidence Báthory inspired Stoker.


Textual history


Composition

Prior to writing the novel, Stoker researched extensively, assembling over 100 pages of notes, including chapter summaries and plot outlines. Stoker undertook some of his research at a library at Whitby in the summer of 1890 but most was done at the
London Library The London Library is an Subscription library, independent lending library in London, established in 1841. Membership is open to all, on payment of an annual subscription, with life and corporate memberships also available. As of December 2023 ...
. The earliest dated notes are from 8 March 1890, comprising an outline of the novel's opening. Joseph S. Beirman notes that it differs from the final novel "in only a few details": The Count and Harker are not given names. The word ''vampire'' is not used explicitly, but it depicts the Count's possessive fury over Harker and a female who attempts "to kiss him not on lips but throat". In February 1892, Stoker wrote a 27-chapter outline of the novel; according to Miller, "all the key pieces of the jigsaw were in place". Stoker's notes reveal other scrapped concepts. Bierman says that Stoker always intended to write an epistolary novel but originally set it in Styria instead of Transylvania. Other concepts from the notes include a German professor called Max Windshoeffel confronting a "Count Wampyr" and one of the vampire hunters would have been slain by a
werewolf In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (from Ancient Greek ), is an individual who can shapeshifting, shapeshift into a wolf, or especially in modern film, a Shapeshifting, therianthropic Hybrid beasts in folklore, hybrid wol ...
. Stoker biographer Barbara Belford notes evidence that Stoker intended to write a
detective story Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around the same time as specu ...
, with a detective called Cotford and a psychical investigator called Singleton. Stoker took the name Dracula from William Wilkinson's history of Wallachia and Moldavia (1820), which he probably found in Whitby's public library while holidaying there in 1890. Stoker copied the following footnote from the book: "Dracula means devil. Wallachians were accustomed to give it as a surname to any person who rendered himself conspicuous by courage, cruel actions or cunning". Stoker stated that that it took him about three years to write the novel, and it is likely that he wrote most of the manuscript during his summer holidays in
Cruden Bay Cruden Bay is a small village in Scotland, on the north coast of the Bay of Cruden in Aberdeenshire, north of Aberdeen. Just west of Slains Castle, Cruden Bay is said to have been the site of a battle in which the Scots under King Malcolm II ...
, Scotland from 1893 to 1896. Stoker generally wrote in spare time from his duties as Irving's business manager, and the long gestation of the novel is indicative of the importance he placed on it.


Publication

Early Stoker biographer Barbara Belford noted the novel looked "shabby" because of a last-minute title change; the printer's copy of the typescript, with hand-written amendments, is titled ''The Un-Dead''. The surviving typewritten publishing agreement was signed and dated 25 May 1897; Peter Beal of
Sotheby's Sotheby's ( ) is a British-founded multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine art, fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...
suggests its signing one day before the official publication date indicates that it was a formality. To protect his copyright interest for adaptations, Stoker organised a reading of his stage adaptation of the novel in the week before publication in the Lyceum Theatre. A small group, primarily theatre staff, attended the reading, and
Edith Craig Edith Ailsa Geraldine Craig ( Edith Godwin; 9 December 1869 – 27 March 1947), known as Edy Craig, was a prolific theatre director, producer, costume designer and early pioneer of the women's suffrage movement in England. She was the daughte ...
played Mina. Bound in yellow cloth and titled in red letters, ''Dracula'' was published in May 1897 by Archibald Constable and Company. It cost 6
shilling The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currency, currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 1 ...
s. Uncertainty exists around the exact date of publication, but it was probably published on 26 May 1897. Stoker wrote to
William Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British politican, starting as Conservative MP for Newark and later becoming the leader of the Liberal Party. In a career lasting over 60 years, he was Prime Minister ...
that the novel would be released on the 26th. Paul McAlduff writes that it was published "on or about May 26". Eighteen-Bisang states it could have been published anywhere from late May to June 1897. Stoker's mother, Charlotte Stoker, enthused about the novel and predicted it would bring her son immense financial success. She was wrong: the novel, although reviewed well, failed to earn Stoker much money and did not establish his critical reputation until after his death. For the first thousand sales of ''Dracula'', Stoker earned no royalties. Following serialisation by American newspapers, Doubleday & McClure published an American edition in 1899 with some textual changes. A cheaper paperback version was published by Constable in 1901, but few copies have survived. The text is around 15% shorter than the original but it is not known if Stoker made the amendments. Since its publication, ''Dracula'' has never been
out of print An out-of-print (OOP) or out-of-commerce item or work is something that is no longer being published. The term applies to all types of printed matter, visual media, sound recordings, and video recordings. An out-of-print book is a book that is ...
. An edition of the novel edited by McNally and Florescu in 1979 was the first to include ''Dracula'''s "missing chapter", "
Dracula's Guest "Dracula's Guest" is a short story by Bram Stoker, first published in the short story collection '' Dracula's Guest and Other Weird Stories'' (1914). Scholars are divided on whether the story is the excised first chapter of the novel ''Dracula'' ...
". Bram's widow Florence Stoker included the chapter as a short story in '' Dracula's Guest and Other Weird Tales'' (1914), two years after his death. While some commentators have described the prose as ''Dracula'' discarded first chapter, Clive Leatherdale contests this, arguing that the material was incorporated into the published novel.


Style


Epistolary structure

''Dracula'' is an
epistolary novel An epistolary novel () is a novel written as a series of letters between the fictional characters of a narrative. The term is often extended to cover novels that intersperse other kinds of fictional document with the letters, most commonly di ...
. Compared to other elements of the novel, critic David Seed writes that its epistolary structure has been neglected in analyses. Critics note Stoker's decision to structure the novel this way may relate to a 19th-century trend of publishing diaries and travelogue accounts, especially with Harker's account of the journey to Transylvania. Seed writes that Harker's initial four chapters function as a "miniaturised-
pastiche A pastiche () is a work of visual art, literature, theatre, music, or architecture that imitates the style or character of the work of one or more other artists. Unlike parody, pastiche pays homage to the work it imitates, rather than mocking ...
-Gothic novel"—replacing Radcliffe's use of the
Apennine Mountains The Apennines or Apennine Mountains ( ; or Ἀπέννινον ὄρος; or – a singular with plural meaning; )Latin ''Apenninus'' (Greek or ) has the form of an adjective, which would be segmented ''Apenn-inus'', often used with nouns s ...
in '' The Mysteries of Udolpho'' (1794) with the
Carpathian Mountains The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe and Southeast Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Ural Mountains, Urals at and the Scandinav ...
of
Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...
—and places this within the Gothic tradition of
intertextuality Intertextuality is the shaping of a text's meaning by another text, either through deliberate compositional strategies such as quotation, allusion, calque, plagiarism, translation, pastiche or parody, Gerard Genette (1997) ''Paratexts'p.18/ref ...
. David Seed argues that the structure only provides a narrative voice to Dracula's opponents, while Miller writes that the "collaborative narration" reinforces the idea that Dracula must be defeated by the combined effort of his opponents. Allison Case says Seed views that Dracula's absence generates tension by offering only "tantalizing glimpses" of his activities, while literary critic Franco Moretti writes that it highlights the power struggle between the vampire and his hunters. Similarly, Allison Case views the structure as representing a power struggle between Mina and the male protagonists for "narrative mastery". Seed notes that the narrative's style distances the reader from its plot. Dracula's journey on the ''Demeter'' is captured by the captain on the
logbook A logbook (or log book) is a record used to record states, events, or conditions applicable to complex machines or the personnel who operate them. Logbooks are commonly associated with the operation of aircraft, nuclear plants, particle accelera ...
, then "translated by the Russian consul, transcribed by a local journalist, and finally pasted by Mina into her journal".


Gothic genre

''Dracula'' is an enduring work of
Gothic literature Gothic fiction, sometimes referred to as Gothic horror (primarily in the 20th century), is a literary aesthetic of fear and haunting. The name of the genre is derived from the Renaissance era use of the word "gothic", as a pejorative to mean m ...
, with some critics locating it within the traditions of Irish Gothic or Urban Gothic. John C. Tibbetts considers ''Dracula'' a prototype for later themes in the Gothic genre. The novel is characteristically Gothic in its depiction of the supernatural, preoccupation with the past, and embodying of the racial, gendered and sexual anxieties of
fin de siècle "''Fin de siècle''" () is a French term meaning , a phrase which typically encompasses both the meaning of the similar English idiom '' turn of the century'' and also makes reference to the closing of one era and onset of another. Without co ...
England. Count Dracula generally represents these tensions: cultural critic Jack Halberstam notes that he is masculinised and feminised; Jerrold E. Hogle highlights his attraction to both Jonathan and Mina, and his appearance as racially western and eastern. Miller notes that the Count's physical characteristics were typical of Gothic villains during Stoker's lifetime, specifically citing his hooked nose,
pallor Pallor is a pale color of the skin that can be caused by illness, emotional shock or stress, stimulant use, or anemia, and is the result of a reduced amount of oxyhaemoglobin and may also be visible as pallor of the conjunctivae of the eye ...
, large moustache and thick eyebrows as influenced by his villainous predecessors. ''Dracula'' deviates from other Gothic tales before it by firmly establishing its time as the modern era, a point raised by one contemporary reviewer. Writers of the mode were drawn to the Eastern Europe setting because travelogues presented it as a land of primitive superstitions.


Reception

Modern critics frequently write that ''Dracula'' had a mixed critical reception upon publication. Carol Margaret Davison, for example, notes an "uneven" response from critics contemporary to Stoker. John Edgar Browning, a scholar whose research focuses on ''Dracula'' and literary vampires, conducted a review of the novel's early criticism in 2012 and determined that ''Dracula'' had been "a critically acclaimed novel". Raymond T. McNally and Radu Florescu's ''In Search of Dracula'' (1972) mentions the novel's "immediate success". Other works about ''Dracula'' also published in 1972 concur; Gabriel Ronay says the novel was "recognised by fans and critics alike as a horror writer's stroke of genius", and Anthony Masters mentions the novel's "enormous popular appeal". Since the 1970s, ''Dracula'' has been the subject of significant academic interest; the novel has spawned many nonfiction books and articles, and has a dedicated peer-reviewed journal. Publishers started creating editions aimed at classroom teaching in the 1980s, providing the novel alongside historical context and scholarly analysis. The novel's complexity has permitted a flexibility of interpretation, with Anca Andriescu Garcia describing interest from scholars of
psychoanalysis PsychoanalysisFrom Greek language, Greek: and is a set of theories and techniques of research to discover unconscious mind, unconscious processes and their influence on conscious mind, conscious thought, emotion and behaviour. Based on The Inte ...
,
postcolonialism Postcolonialism (also post-colonial theory) is the critical academic study of the cultural, political and economic consequences of colonialism and imperialism, focusing on the impact of human control and extractivism, exploitation of colonized pe ...
, social class and the Gothic genre. Contemporary reviewers frequently compared the novel to other Gothic writers. Comparisons to novelist
Wilkie Collins William Wilkie Collins (8 January 1824 – 23 September 1889) was an English novelist and playwright known especially for ''The Woman in White (novel), The Woman in White'' (1860), a mystery novel and early sensation novel, and for ''The Moonsto ...
and '' The Woman in White'' (1859) were especially common, owing to similarities in structure and style. A review appearing in ''The Bookseller'' notes that the novel could almost have been written by Collins, and an anonymous review in ''
Saturday Review of Politics, Literature, Science and Art Saturday is the day of the week between Friday and Sunday. No later than the 2nd century, the Romans named Saturday ("Saturn's Day") for the god Saturn (mythology), Saturn. His planet, Saturn, controlled the first hour of that day, according to ...
'' wrote that ''Dracula'' improved upon the style of Gothic pioneer
Ann Radcliffe Ann Radcliffe (née Ward; 9 July 1764 – 7 February 1823) was an English novelist who pioneered the Gothic fiction, Gothic novel, and a minor poet. Her fourth and most popular novel, ''The Mysteries of Udolpho'', was published in 1794. She i ...
; Radcliffe was also referenced by ''
The Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily middle-market tabloid conservative newspaper founded in 1896 and published in London. , it has the highest circulation of paid newspapers in the UK. Its sister paper ''The Mail on Sunday'' was launch ...
,'' which also highlighted ''The Mysteries of Udolpho'', ''
Frankenstein ''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' is an 1818 Gothic novel written by English author Mary Shelley. ''Frankenstein'' tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a Sapience, sapient Frankenstein's monster, crea ...
'' (1818), and '' The Fall of the House of Usher'' (1839). Another anonymous writer described Stoker as "the Edgar Allan Poe of the nineties". Other favourable comparisons to other Gothic novelists included the Brontë sisters and
Mary Shelley Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley ( , ; ; 30 August 1797 – 1 February 1851) was an English novelist who wrote the Gothic novel ''Frankenstein, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' (1818), which is considered an History of science fiction# ...
.: "Dracula's writing was seen by early reviewers and responders to parallel, if not supersede the Gothic horror works of such canonical writers as Mary Shelley, Ann Radcliffe, and Edgar Allan Poe."
Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Hol ...
sent a letter to Stoker after reading ''Dracula'', writing: "The old Professor is most excellent and so are the two girls. I congratulate you with all my heart for having written so fine a book." Many of these early reviews were charmed by Stoker's treatment of the vampire myth. ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...
'' called it the best vampire story ever written. ''The Daily Telegraph'' reviewer noted that while earlier Gothic works, like ''
The Castle of Otranto ''The Castle of Otranto'' is a novel by Horace Walpole. First published in 1764, it is generally regarded as the first Gothic novel. In the second edition, Walpole applied the word 'Gothic' to the novel in the subtitle – ''A Gothic Story''. Se ...
'', had kept the supernatural far away from the novelists' home countries, ''Dracula'' horrors occurred in foreign lands and at home in Whitby and
Hampstead Heath Hampstead Heath is an ancient heath in London, spanning . This grassy public space sits astride a sandy ridge, one of the highest points in London, running from Hampstead to Highgate, which rests on a band of London Clay. The heath is rambling ...
. An Australian paper, '' The Advertiser'', regarded the novel as simultaneously sensational and domestic. One reviewer praised the "considerable power" of Stoker's prose and described it as
impressionistic Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...
. They were less fond of the parts set in England, finding the vampire suited better to tales set far away from home. The British magazine '' Vanity Fair'' found Dracula's disdain for garlic unintentionally funny. ''Dracula'' was considered frightening. A review appearing in ''The Manchester Guardian'' in 1897 praised its capacity to entertain, but concluded that Stoker erred in including so much horror. Likewise, ''Vanity Fair'' opined that the novel was "praiseworthy" and absorbing, but could not recommend it to those who were not "strong". Stoker's prose was commended as effective in sustaining the novel's horror by many publications. A reviewer for the ''San Francisco Wave'' called the novel a "literary failure"; they elaborated that coupling vampires with frightening imagery, such as insane asylums and "unnatural appetites", made the horror too overt, and that other works in the genre, such as ''
Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde'' is an 1886 Gothic horror novella by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. It follows Gabriel John Utterson, a London-based legal practitioner who investigates a series of strange occurrences between ...
'' (1886), had more restraint.


Context and interpretation


Sexuality and gender

Sexuality and seduction are two of the novel's most frequently discussed themes, and modern critical writings about vampirism widely acknowledge its link to sex and sexuality. Across the novel's critical history, Miller writes that theorists have collectively argued that the Count breaks virtually "every Victorian taboo", including "non-procreative sexuality, abnormal sexuality, fellatio, bisexuality, incest and the abuse of children". Transgressive or abnormal sexuality within ''Dracula'' is a broad topic. Some psychosexual critics explore the novel's disruption of Victorian
gender role A gender role, or sex role, is a social norm deemed appropriate or desirable for individuals based on their gender or sex. Gender roles are usually centered on conceptions of masculinity and femininity. The specifics regarding these gendered ...
s; within the Victorian context, Christopher Craft writes males had "the right and responsibility of vigorous appetite" while women were required to "suffer and be still". Critics highlight the many places in which the novel disrupts these social mores: Jonathan Harker's excitement over the prospect of being penetrated; Dracula's resulting anger and jealousy; and Lucy's transformation into a sexually aggressive predator who drains "vital fluid". Some critics, including professor Carol Senf, argue that the novel reflects anxiety about female sexual awakening as a threat to established norms. ''Dracula'' contains no overt homosexual acts, but homosexuality and
homoeroticism Homoeroticism is sexual attraction between members of the same sex, including both male–male and female–female attraction. The concept differs from the concept of homosexuality: it refers specifically to the desire itself, which can be tempor ...
are elements discussed by critics. Christopher Craft argues that the primary threat Dracula poses is that he will "seduce, penetrate, nddrain another male", and reads Harker's excitement to submit as a proxy for "an implicitly homoerotic desire". Victorian readers would have identified Dracula with sexual threat. Some critics note that changes made to the 1899 American version of the text reinforce this subtext, wherein Dracula states he will feed on Harker. Critics have variously linked these themes to
homoerotic Homoeroticism is sexual attraction between members of the same sex, including both male–male and female–female attraction. The concept differs from the concept of homosexuality: it refers specifically to the desire itself, which can be tempor ...
letters Stoker wrote to
Walt Whitman Walter Whitman Jr. (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist, and journalist; he also wrote two novels. He is considered one of the most influential poets in American literature and world literature. Whitman incor ...
, his friendship with
Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet, and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential playwright ...
, his intensely emotional relationship with Irving, and contemporary rumours of Stoker's almost
sexless marriage Sexless marriage or platonic marriage is a marital union that occurs between spouses in which there is little or no sexual activity involved in their relationship. Taking into account what is defined as any form of sexual activities by the resp ...
. David J. Skal acknowledged the letters' subtext but cautioned against applying
anachronistic An anachronism (from the Greek , 'against' and , 'time') is a chronological inconsistency in some arrangement, especially a juxtaposition of people, events, objects, language terms and customs from different time periods. The most common typ ...
modern sexual labels to Stoker. Many critics have suggested that the novel reveals a "
reactionary In politics, a reactionary is a person who favors a return to a previous state of society which they believe possessed positive characteristics absent from contemporary.''The New Fontana Dictionary of Modern Thought'' Third Edition, (1999) p. 729. ...
response" to the
New Woman The New Woman was a feminist ideal that emerged in the late 19th century and had a profound influence well into the 20th century. In 1894, writer Sarah Grand (1854–1943) used the term "new woman" in an influential article to refer to indepe ...
phenomenon. This is a late-Victorian term used to describe an emerging class of women with increased social and economic control over their lives. Several critics describe the battle against Dracula as a fight for control over women's bodies. Senf suggests that Stoker was ambivalent about the New Woman phenomenon, while Signorroti argues that the novel's discomfort with female sexual autonomy reflects Stoker's dislike for the movement. Both Lucy and Mina have characteristics associated with the New Woman; Mina, who plays an important role in Dracula's defeat, repeatedly expresses contempt for the concept. Senf notes that Lucy is punished for expressing dissatisfaction with her social position as a woman. After her transformation into a vampire, her defeat by the vampire hunters symbolises the re-establishment of "male supremacy".


Race

''Dracula'', and specifically the Count's migration to Victorian England, is frequently read as emblematic of
invasion literature Invasion literature (also the invasion novel or the future war genre) is a literary genre that was popular in the period between 1871 and the World War I, First World War (1914–1918). The invasion novel was first recognised as a literary genr ...
, and a projection of fears about racial pollution. In an influential
postcolonialist Postcolonialism (also post-colonial theory) is the critical academic study of the cultural, political and economic consequences of colonialism and imperialism, focusing on the impact of human control and extractivism, exploitation of colonized pe ...
analysis, Stephen Arata describes the novel's cultural context of mounting anxiety in Britain over the decline of the
British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...
, the rise of other
world power A great power is a sovereign state that is recognized as having the ability and expertise to exert its influence on a global scale. Great powers characteristically possess military and economic strength, as well as diplomatic and soft power ...
s, and a "growing domestic unease" over the morality of imperial colonisation. Arata regards the novel as an instance of "reverse colonisation": fear of other races invading England and weakening its racial purity. Patricia McKee writes that Dracula represents a negation of white culture while Mina represents "pure whiteness". Dracula can be said to both kill white bodies and turn them into the racial Other in death. Some critics connect the racialisation of Dracula to his depiction as a degenerate criminal. Critics frequently identify
antisemitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...
themes and imagery in the novel. Between 1891 and 1900, the number of Jews living in England increased sixfold, mainly due to antisemitic legislation and
pogrom A pogrom is a violent riot incited with the aim of Massacre, massacring or expelling an ethnic or religious group, particularly Jews. The term entered the English language from Russian to describe late 19th- and early 20th-century Anti-Jewis ...
s in eastern Europe. Examples cited by Jack Halberstam of antisemitic connections include Dracula's appearance, wealth, parasitic bloodlust, and "lack of allegiance" to one country. Dracula's appearance resembles some other cultural depictions of Jews, such as
Fagin Fagin () is the secondary antagonist in Charles Dickens's 1838 novel ''Oliver Twist''. In the preface to the novel, he is described as a " receiver of stolen goods". He is the leader of a group of children (the Artful Dodger and Charley Bates ...
in
Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...
's ''
Oliver Twist ''Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy's Progress'', is the second novel by English author Charles Dickens. It was originally published as a serial from 1837 to 1839 and as a three-volume book in 1838. The story follows the titular orphan, who, ...
'' (1838), and
Svengali Svengali () is a character in the novel ''Trilby'' which was first published in 1894 by George du Maurier. Svengali is a Jewish man who seduces, dominates and exploits Trilby, a young half-Irish girl, and makes her into a famous singer. Defini ...
of
George du Maurier George Louis Palmella Busson du Maurier (6 March 1834 – 8 October 1896) was a Franco-British cartoonist and writer known for work in ''Punch (magazine), Punch'' and a Gothic fiction, Gothic novel ''Trilby (novel), Trilby'', featuring the char ...
's ''Trilby'' (1895). Jewish people were frequently described as parasites in
Victorian literature Victorian era, Victorian literature is English literature during the reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901). In the Victorian era, the novel became the leading literary genre in English. English writing from this era reflects the major transform ...
; Halberstam highlights fears that Jews would spread diseases of the blood, and one journalist's description of Jews as "Yiddish bloodsuckers". Daniel Renshaw writes that any antisemitism in the text is "semi-subliminal"; he writes that Dracula is not Jewish but does reflect the 19th-century conception of Jewish people. Renshaw frames the novel more broadly as a general suspicion of all foreigners. The novel's depiction of
Slovaks The Slovaks ( (historical Sloveni ), singular: ''Slovák'' (historical: ''Sloven'' ), feminine: ''Slovenka'' , plural: ''Slovenky'') are a West Slavic ethnic group and nation native to Slovakia who share a common ancestry, culture, history ...
and
Romani people {{Infobox ethnic group , group = Romani people , image = , image_caption = , flag = Roma flag.svg , flag_caption = Romani flag created in 1933 and accepted at the 1971 World Romani Congress , po ...
has attracted limited scholarly attention. In the novel, Harker describes the Slovaks as "barbarians" and their boats as "primitive", reflecting his imperialistic condescension towards other cultures. Peter Arnds writes that the Count's control over the Romani and his abduction of young children evoke folk superstitions about Romani people stealing children, and that his ability to transform into a wolf is related to xenophobic beliefs about the Romani as animalistic. Croley argues that Dracula's association with the Romani made him suspect in the eyes of Victorian England, where they were stigmatised owing to beliefs that they ate "unclean meat" and lived among animals.


Religion, superstition and science

''Dracula'' is saturated with religious imagery. Christopher Herbert regards the novel as a
parable A parable is a succinct, didactic story, in prose or verse, that illustrates one or more instructive lessons or principles. It differs from a fable in that fables employ animals, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature as characters, whe ...
about conflict with an enemy who opposes Christ and Christianity. Scholars discuss the novel's depiction of religion in relation to late Victorian anxieties about the threat which secularism, scientific rationalism and the occult posed to Christian beliefs and morality. Stoker himself had a lifelong interest in
supernatural Supernatural phenomena or entities are those beyond the Scientific law, laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin 'above, beyond, outside of' + 'nature'. Although the corollary term "nature" has had multiple meanin ...
inquiry, and Herbert writes that he mixes the supernatural and superstitious beliefs with religious elements, resulting in metaphors about moral uncleanness becoming literal elements of the text's "occult reality". Herbert notes that the
blood of Christ Blood of Christ, also known as the Most Precious Blood, in Christian theology refers to the physical blood actually shed by Jesus Christ primarily on the Cross, and the salvation which Christianity teaches was accomplished thereby, or the sacram ...
is important to Christian ritual and imagery, and Richard Noll notes that actual consumption of human blood is one of the oldest
Judeo-Christian The term ''Judeo-Christian'' is used to group Christianity and Judaism together, either in reference to Christianity's derivation from Judaism, Christianity's recognition of Jewish scripture to constitute the Old Testament of the Christian Bibl ...
taboos. The vampire hunters use many weapons—including Christian practices and symbols (prayer, crucifixes and consecrated hosts), folkloric practices (garlic, staking and decapitation) and contemporary technology (typewriters,
phonograph A phonograph, later called a gramophone, and since the 1940s a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogue reproduction of sound. The sound vibration Waveform, waveforms are recorded as correspond ...
s, telegrams, blood transfusions and
Winchester rifle Winchester rifle is a comprehensive term describing a series of lever action repeating rifles manufactured by the Winchester Repeating Arms Company. Developed from the 1860 Henry rifle, Winchester rifles were among the earliest repeaters. Th ...
s)—in their battle against Dracula. Sanders argues that Stoker presents Christianity as a religion that can be instrumentalised and incorporated into scientific knowledge. Herbert describes Van Helsing's "Christian purification" of Lucy as punitively addressing her promiscuity, and the resulting framing of Christianity as a means towards the "eradication of deviancy".


Political and economic

Critics discuss the novel in relation to
British rule in Ireland British colonial rule in Ireland built upon the 12th-century Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland on behalf of the English king and eventually spanned several centuries that involved British control of parts, or the entirety, of the island of Irel ...
and
Irish nationalism Irish nationalism is a nationalist political movement which, in its broadest sense, asserts that the people of Ireland should govern Ireland as a sovereign state. Since the mid-19th century, Irish nationalism has largely taken the form of cult ...
. Considerable debate exists over whether ''Dracula'' is an Irish novel; while it is largely set in England, Stoker was born in British-ruled Ireland and lived there for the first 30 years of his life. Though born into a
Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
family, he was distanced from the religion's more conservative factions. Raphaël Ingelbien notes that "recognizably nationalist" critics like
Terry Eagleton Terence Francis Eagleton (born 22 February 1943) is an English literary theorist, critic, and public intellectual. He is currently Distinguished Professor of English Literature at Lancaster University. Eagleton has published over forty books, ...
and
Seamus Deane Seamus Francis Deane (9 February 194012 May 2021) was a Northern Irish poet, novelist, critic, and intellectual historian. He was noted for his debut novel, '' Reading in the Dark'', which won several literary awards and was nominated for the ...
favoured readings of Dracula as "a bloodthirsty caricature of the aristocratic landlord" where the vampire represents the death of
feudalism Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was a combination of legal, economic, military, cultural, and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of struc ...
. Bruce Stewart changes the focus to the lower classes, suggesting Dracula and his Romani followers more likely represented violence by
Irish National Land League The Irish National Land League ( Irish: ''Conradh na Talún''), also known as the Land League, was an Irish political organisation of the late 19th century which organised tenant farmers in their resistance to exactions of landowners. Its prima ...
activists. Michael Valdez Moses compares Dracula to the disgraced
Charles Stewart Parnell Charles Stewart Parnell (27 June 1846 – 6 October 1891) was an Irish nationalist politician who served as a Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom from 1875 to 1891, Leader of the Home Rule Leag ...
, leader of the
Irish Home Rule movement The Home Rule movement was a movement that campaigned for Devolution, self-government (or "home rule") for Ireland within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It was the dominant political movement of Irish nationalism from 1870 to ...
from 1880 to 1882. Robert Smart argues that Stoker's experience during the Great Famine (1845–1852) influenced the novel, with Stewart also noting this as historical context. Some critics discuss Count Dracula's
noble title Traditional rank amongst European imperiality, royalty, peers, and nobility is rooted in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Although they vary over time and among geographic regions (for example, one region's prince might be equal to anoth ...
. Literary critic Franco Moretti writes that he is an aristocrat "only in a manner of speaking", citing his lack of servants, simple clothing, and lack of aristocratic hobbies. Moretti suggests that Dracula's blood thirst represents capital's desire to accumulate more capital. More generally, Moretti argues the novel evinces cultural anxiety about foreign capitalist monopolies functioning as a return of feudalism. Chris Baldick maintains this line of analysis, describing Dracula as an undead symbol of feudalism but concluding that the novel is more concerned with "sexual and religious terrors". Mark Neocleous writes that Dracula symbolises the victory of the bourgeoisie over feudalism. In ''
Das Kapital ''Capital: A Critique of Political Economy'' (), also known as ''Capital'' or (), is the most significant work by Karl Marx and the cornerstone of Marxian economics, published in three volumes in 1867, 1885, and 1894. The culmination of his ...
'',
Karl Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...
compared the
bourgeoisie The bourgeoisie ( , ) are a class of business owners, merchants and wealthy people, in general, which emerged in the Late Middle Ages, originally as a "middle class" between the peasantry and aristocracy. They are traditionally contrasted wi ...
's exploitation of workers to a vampire draining blood. He uses vampires as a metaphor three times in ''Das Kapital'', but these predate the writing of ''Dracula.''


Disease

Contagious disease was a topic of social and medical concern in late Victorian England. Vampirism can represent disease, being both an initial infection and the resulting illness. The novel characterises vampirism with terms from social degeneration theory, an 18th- and 19th-century social and biological concept arising from fear over the deterioration of the "human condition"; Victorian psychiatry, known then as "alienism"; and anthropology. Theories of degeneracy propagated Victorian-era beliefs about poor moral character being transmissible like a pathogen. Jack Halberstam writes that Dracula and Renfield's relationship suggests that vampirism is "a psychological disorder, an addictive activity". He notes that Renfield, and by association Dracula, is described by doctors using terminology more appropriate for describing animals.
Brian Aldiss Brian Wilson Aldiss (; 18 August 1925 – 19 August 2017) was an English writer, artist and anthology editor, best known for science fiction novels and short stories. His byline reads either Brian W. Aldiss or simply Brian Aldiss, except for oc ...
writes that Count Dracula represents the initial disease while Renfield's madness is a symptom of advanced infection. Halbertstam highlights that disease was frequently associated with Jews during the period.
Sexually transmitted infection A sexually transmitted infection (STI), also referred to as a sexually transmitted disease (STD) and the older term venereal disease (VD), is an infection that is Transmission (medicine), spread by Human sexual activity, sexual activity, e ...
, particularly
syphilis Syphilis () is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium ''Treponema pallidum'' subspecies ''pallidum''. The signs and symptoms depend on the stage it presents: primary, secondary, latent syphilis, latent or tertiary. The prim ...
, is a frequent topic. Literary critic Martin Willis writes that the novel depicts Victorian discourse over the origin, cause and treatment of disease, especially in the context of Lucy's treatment and eventual death.


Legacy


Adaptations

''Dracula'' has been adapted many times across virtually all forms of media. Scholars John Edgar Browning and Caroline Joan S. Picart note that the novel and its characters have been adapted for film, television, video games and animation over 700 times, with nearly 1000 additional appearances in comic books and on the stage; in 2015, the ''
Guinness Book of World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...
'' named Dracula the most portrayed literary character, noting he had appeared almost twice as much as Conan Doyle's
Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a Detective fiction, fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a "Private investigator, consulting detective" in his stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with obser ...
. Literary critic Roberto Fernández Retamar deemed Count Dracula—alongside
Frankenstein's monster Frankenstein's monster, commonly referred to as Frankenstein, is a fictional character that first appeared in Mary Shelley's 1818 novel '' Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' as its main antagonist. Shelley's title compares the monster's ...
,
Mickey Mouse Mickey Mouse is an American cartoon character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime icon and mascot of the Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red shorts, large shoes, and white ...
and
Superman Superman is a superhero created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, which first appeared in the comic book ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1, published in the United States on April 18, 1938.The copyright date of ''Action Comics ...
—to be a part of the "
hegemonic Hegemony (, , ) is the political, economic, and military predominance of one state over other states, either regional or global. In Ancient Greece (ca. 8th BC – AD 6th c.), hegemony denoted the politico-military dominance of the ''hegemon'' ...
Anglo-Saxon world scinematic fodder". Across the world, new adaptations can be produced as often as every week. Adaptations were produced during Stoker's lifetime. Stoker's first theatrical adaptation (''Dracula, or The Undead''); was read once at the Lyceum Theatre. While the manuscript was believed lost, the
British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...
have extracts of the novel's
galley proof In printing and publishing, proofs are the preliminary versions of publications meant for review by authors, editors, and proofreaders, often with extra-wide margins. Galley proofs may be uncut and unbound, or in some cases electronically tra ...
with Stoker's handwritten stage directions and dialogue attribution. A Swedish newspaper serialised an adaptation from June 1899 to February 1900 as ''Mörkrets Makter'' (" Powers of Darkness"). This version is almost twice as long as Stoker's novel, containing elements included in Stoker's notes but not in the published novel. The adaptation contains an author's preface signed "B. S", which Eighteen-Bisang and Miller conclude was not written by Stoker. Although believed lost, the Swedish adaptation was rediscovered and published in 2017. In 1901, Valdimar Ásmundsson translated a heavily abridged version of the Swedish adaptation into Icelandic under the title '' Makt Myrkranna'' ("Powers of Darkness"). The adaptation included an abridged author's preface, purportedly by Stoker. Scholars knew the Icelandic version had existed since the 1980s because of the preface attributed to Stoker. When the Swedish translation was rediscovered, scholars learned that the Icelandic version had been translated from it rather than Stoker's ''Dracula''. The first film to feature Count Dracula was a Hungarian silent film—
Károly Lajthay Károly Lajthay (7 December 1883 – 30 August 1946) was a Hungarian film director, actor and screenwriter. He directed 17 films between 1918 and 1944. He also appeared in 13 films between 1916 and 1920. He was born in Marosvásárhely, Aust ...
's '' Drakula halála'' (). The film allegedly premiered in 1921 but this release date has been questioned by some scholars. Very little of the film survives, and David J. Skal notes that the cover artist for the 1926 Hungarian edition of the novel was more influenced by the second adaptation of ''Dracula'',
F. W. Murnau Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau (born Friedrich Wilhelm Plumpe; December 28, 1888March 11, 1931) was a German film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is regarded as one of cinema's most influential filmmakers for his work in the silent era. An e ...
's ''
Nosferatu ''Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror'' () is a 1922 silent film, silent German Expressionism (cinema), German Expressionist vampire film directed by F. W. Murnau from a screenplay by Henrik Galeen. It stars Max Schreck as Count Orlok, a vampire who ...
'' (1922). Critic Wayne E. Hensley writes that the narrative of ''Nosferatu'' differs significantly from the novel, but that characters have clear counterparts. Bram Stoker's widow,
Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...
, initiated legal action against Prana, the studio behind ''Nosferatu''. The legal case lasted two or three years, with Prana agreeing to destroy all copies in May 1924. Visual representations of the Count have changed significantly over time. Early treatments of Dracula's appearance were established by theatrical productions in London and New York. Later prominent portrayals of the character by
Béla Lugosi Blaskó Béla Ferenc Dezső (; October 20, 1882 – August 16, 1956), better known by the stage name Bela Lugosi ( ; ), was a Hungarian–American actor. He was best remembered for portraying Count Dracula in the horror film classic ''Dracul ...
(in a 1931 adaptation) and
Christopher Lee Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee (27 May 1922 – 7 June 2015) was an English actor and singer. In a career spanning more than sixty years, Lee became known as an actor with a deep and commanding voice who often portrayed villains in horr ...
(firstly in the 1958 film and later its sequels) built upon earlier versions. Chiefly, Dracula's early visual style involved a black-red colour scheme and slicked back hair. Lee's portrayal was overtly sexual, and also popularised fangs on screen.
Gary Oldman Sir Gary Leonard Oldman (born 21 March 1958) is an English actor and filmmaker. Known for his versatility and intense acting style, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Gary Oldman, various accolades, including an Academ ...
's portrayal in '' Bram Stoker's Dracula'' (1992), directed by
Francis Ford Coppola Francis Ford Coppola ( ; born April 7, 1939) is an American filmmaker. He is considered one of the leading figures of the New Hollywood and one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. List of awards and nominations received by Francis Ford Coppo ...
and costumed by
Eiko Ishioka was a Japanese art director, costume designer, and graphic designer known for her work in stage, screen, advertising, and print media. Noted for her advertising campaigns for the Japanese boutique chain Parco, she collaborated with sportswear ...
, established a new default look for the character—a Romanian accent and long hair. The assortment of adaptations feature many different dispositions and characteristics of the Count.


Influence

''Dracula'' is one of the most famous and influential works of
English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...
. Although not the first novel to depict vampires, the work dominates both popular and scholarly treatments of vampire fiction. For many people, Count Dracula is the first character to come to mind when discussing vampires. ''Dracula'' succeeded by drawing together folklore, legend, vampire fiction and the conventions of the Gothic novel. Humanities scholar
Wendy Doniger Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty (born November 20, 1940) is an American Indologist whose professional career has spanned five decades. A scholar of Sanskrit and Indian textual traditions, her major works include '' The Hindus: An Alternative History'' ...
described the novel as vampire literature's "centrepiece, rendering all other vampires BS efore Stokeror AS fter Stoker. William Hughes argues that the Count's cultural omnipresence negatively impacted academic analyses of the undead; Dracula is "the reference point" to which all other vampires are compared. It profoundly shaped the popular understanding of how vampires function, including their strengths, weaknesses, and other characteristics. Bats had been associated with vampires before ''Dracula'' as a result of the
vampire bat Vampire bats, members of the subfamily Desmodontinae, are Phyllostomidae, leaf-nosed bats currently found in Central and South America. Their food source is the blood of other animals, a dietary trait called hematophagy. Three extant bat species ...
's existence—for example, ''
Varney the Vampire ''Varney the Vampire; or, the Feast of Blood'' is a Victorian-era serialized gothic horror story variously attributed to James Malcolm Rymer and Thomas Peckett Prest. It first appeared in 1845–1847 as a series of weekly cheap pamphlets of the ...
'' (1847) included an image of a bat on its cover illustration—but Stoker deepened the association by making Dracula able to transform into one. That was, in turn, quickly taken up by film studios looking for opportunities to use
special effect Special effects (often abbreviated as F/X or simply FX) are illusions or visual tricks used in the theatre, film, television, video game, amusement park and simulator industries to simulate the fictional events in a story or virtual world. ...
s. Novelist Patrick McGrath notes that many of the Count's characteristics have been adopted by artists succeeding Stoker in depicting vampires, turning those fixtures into clichés. Aside from the Count's ability to transform, McGrath specifically highlights his hatred of garlic and crucifixes. William Hughes writes critically of the Count's cultural omnipresence, noting that the character of Dracula has "seriously inhibited" discussions of the undead in Gothic fiction. In the 1930s,
Universal Studios Universal Studios may refer to: * Universal Studios, Inc., an American media and entertainment conglomerate ** Universal Pictures, an American film studio ** Universal Studios Lot, a film and television studio complex * Various theme parks operat ...
initiated development on a ''Dracula'' film and learned Stoker failed to comply with United States copyright law. This prematurely placed the novel into the
public domain in the United States Works are in the public domain if they are not covered by the intellectual property right known as copyright, or if the intellectual property rights to the works have expired. Works automatically enter the public domain when their copyright has ...
. It was not until the 1960s that publishers recognised the novel's copyright status. Coinciding with the mass-market paperback's rising popularity, publishers began to produce their own versions. Stoker's mistake prevented his descendants from collecting royalties but provided ideal conditions for the novel to endure because writers and producers did not need to pay a licence fee to use the character of Count Dracula.


Notes and references


Notes


References


Bibliography


Books

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Journal and newspaper articles

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Contemporary critical reviews

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Websites

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Further reading


Studies on ''Dracula'' notes

The following is a list of books or articles that study all or part of Bram Stoker's notes for ''Dracula''. * * * * * * * * * *


Other

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External links

*
Dracula
' at Standard Ebooks * , text version of 1897 edition. *
''Journal of Dracula Studies''
{{Authority control 1897 novels 1890s horror novels 1890s Gothic novels 19th-century Irish novels Epistolary novels Irish Gothic novels Invasion literature Transylvania in fiction Victorian novels