Count Dracula
| Dracula character | |
|---|---|
| Dracula, as portrayed by Barry Moser and reproduced on the front cover of a 2001 edition | |
| Count Dracula | |
| Gender | Male |
| Ethnicity | Székely |
| Occupation | Transylvanian nobleman |
| Allies | Brides of Dracula Renfield |
| Enemies | Jonathan Harker Abraham Van Helsing |
| First appearance | Dracula |
| Created by | Bram Stoker |
Count Dracula is a fictional character, the titular antagonist of Bram Stoker's 1897 Gothic horror novel Dracula. Some aspects of the character may have been inspired by the 15th century Wallachian Prince, Vlad III the Impaler.
Profile
Count Dracula (his first name is never given in the novel) is a centuries-old vampire, sorcerer and Transylvanian nobleman, who claims to be a Székely descended from Attila the Hun. He inhabits a decaying castle in the Carpathian Mountains near the Borgo Pass. Contrary to the vampires of Eastern European mythology which are portrayed as repulsive, corpse-like creatures, Dracula exudes a veneer of aristocratic charm which masks his dark and evil soul.
His appearance is described thus:
[Dracula's] face was a strong - a very strong - aquiline, with high bridge of the thin nose and peculiarly arched nostrils; with lofty domed forehead, and hair growing scantily round the temples, but profusely elsewhere. His eyebrows were very massive, almost meeting over the nose, and with bushy hair that seemed to curl in its own profusion. The mouth, so far as I could see it under the heavy moustache, was fixed and rather cruel looking, with peculiarly sharp white teeth; these protruded over the lips, whose remarkable ruddiness showed astonishing vitality in a man of his years. For the rest, his ears were pale and at the tops extremely pointed; the chin was broad and strong, and the cheeks firm though thin. The general effect was one of extraordinary pallor.
— Jonathan Harker's Journal, Dracula, Chapter 2
In his youth, he studied the black arts at the academy of Scholomance in the Carpathian Mountains, overlooking the town of Sibiu (also known as Hermannstadt) and became proficient in alchemy and magic (Dracula Chapter 18 and Chapter 23).
Later he took up a military profession. According to Van Helsing:
He must indeed have been that Voivode Dracula who won his name against the Turks... If it be so, then was he no common man: for in that time, and for centuries after, he was spoken of as the cleverest and the most cunning, as well as the bravest of the sons of the 'land beyond the forest'.
— Mina Harker's Journal, 30 September, Dracula, Chapter 8
Because of his proficiency in the black arts, Dracula became a vampire after dying and dwelled for several centuries in his castle with his three Brides of Dracula for company.
In the 19th century, however, he acts on a long contemplated plan for world domination, and infiltrates London to begin his reign of terror. He summons Jonathan Harker, a newly qualified English solicitor, to provide legal support for a real estate transaction overseen by Harker's employer. Dracula at first charms Harker with his cordiality and historical knowledge and even rescues him from the clutches of his three bloodthirsty brides. In truth, however, Dracula wishes to keep Harker alive just long enough for his legal transaction to finish and to learn as much as possible about England. Before leaving for England, Dracula descends upon the village below his castle one night and feeds on an inhabitant, thus physically rejuvenating himself.
Dracula then leaves his castle and boards a Russian ship, the Demeter, taking along with him boxes of soil from Transylvania's blighted earth which he needs in order to regain his strength. During the voyage to Whitby, a coastal town in northern England, he sustains himself on the ship's crew members. Only one body is later found, that of the captain, who is found tied up to the ship's helm. The captain's log is recovered and tells of strange events that had taken place during the ship's journey. Dracula leaves the ship in the form of a large wolf.
Soon the Count is menacing Harker's devoted fiancée, Wilhelmina "Mina" Murray, and her vivacious friend, Lucy Westenra. There is also a notable link between Dracula and an asylum patient named Renfield, an insane man who means to consume insects, spiders, birds, and other creatures — in ascending order of size — in order to absorb their "life force". Renfield acts as a kind of motion sensor, detecting Dracula's proximity and supplying clues accordingly. Dracula begins to visit Lucy's bed chamber on a nightly basis, draining her of blood whilst simultaneously infecting her with the curse of Vampirism. Not knowing the cause for Lucy's deterioration, her companions call upon a Dutch doctor called Van Helsing, the former mentor of one of Lucy's suitors. Van Helsing soon deduces her condition's supernatural origins, but does not speak out. Despite an attempt at keeping the vampire at bay with garlic, Lucy is enticed out of her chamber late at night and is fatally drained by Dracula.
Van Helsing and a group of men, including Jonathan Harker who had escaped his captivity, enter Lucy's crypt and slay her reanimated corpse, proceeding later to enter Dracula's residence at Carfax Abbey, destroying his boxes of earth, thus depriving the Count of his ability to refuel his powers. Dracula leaves England to return to his homeland, but not before biting Mina.
Eventually, the group of heroes—Lord Godalming, Van Helsing, Dr. Seward, Jonathan Harker, Mina and Quincey Morris—track the Count back to his Transylvanian homeland, and after a vicious battle with Dracula's gypsy bodyguards, destroy him. Dracula's death is shorn of the rituals enjoined by the vampire expert Van Helsing. Despite the popular image of Dracula having a stake driven through his heart, this is not what is narrated by the witness Mina Harker in her journal entry for 6 November. She describes his throat being cut by Jonathan Harker's "kukri" knife and his heart pierced by Quincey Morris's Bowie knife whilst he is being transported in his coffin en route to Castle Dracula (Mina Harker's Journal, 6 November, Dracula Chapter 27). This omission of the proper rituals of destruction lead Auerbach and Skal, in the introduction to the 1997 Norton critical edition of Dracula, to express doubts whether Dracula has really been finished off. Dracula, they suggest, may rise again.
Personality
Although he usually dons a mask of cordiality to deceive others, he is shown to be quite capable of fits of extreme fury when his plans are interfered with. When his three brides attempt to seduce and consume Jonathan Harker, Dracula physically assaults one and ferociously berates them for their insubordination.
Dracula is very passionate about his warrior heritage, emotionally proclaiming his pride to Harker on how the Székely people are infused with the blood of multiple heroes. He does express an interest in the history of the British Empire, speaking admirably of its people. He has a somewhat primal and predatory world view which makes him pity ordinary humans for their revulsion to their darker impulses.
Though usually portrayed as having a strong Eastern European accent, the original novel only specifies that his spoken English is excellent, though strangely toned.
Powers, abilities and weaknesses
Count Dracula possesses numerous different supernatural abilities inherent in vampirism, along with additional skills derived from his abilities as a sorcerer, making him far more powerful than the creatures of traditional Eastern European folklore. He has enormous physical strength which according to Van Helsing, is equivalent to 20 men. The Count can defy gravity to a certain extent, being able to climb upside down vertical surfaces in a lizard-like manner. He is a skilled hypnotist, who is also able to command the loyalty of nocturnal animals such as wolves and rats. Dracula can also manipulate the weather, usually creating mists to hide his presence, but also storms such as in his voyage in the Demeter. He can change his shape at will, his featured forms in the novel being that of a wolf, bat, dust and fog. He requires no other sustenance but fresh blood, which has the effect of rejuvenating him. Without it, he physically ages at an accelerated rate.
Dracula's powers are not unlimited though. He is much less powerful in daylight, though the sun is not fatal to him, as in later adaptations. He is repulsed by garlic, crucifixes and wafers of the Host, and he can only cross running water at low or high tide. He is also unable to enter a place unless invited to do so, though once invited, he can approach and leave the premises at will. Being undead, he is immune to conventional means of attack. The only ways to definitely kill him are decapitation and stabbing through the heart with a silver knife.
One of Dracula's most mysterious powers is the ability to transfer his vampiric condition to others. As seen with Lucy and Mina, transfer of the curse is done through a bite to the throat, allowing the Count to ingest the victim's blood at the same time. The victim is transformed gradually, exhibiting physical weakness and a fear of holy objects, the transformation being complete when the body is completely drained. Oddly, all other vampires present in the novel are female and there is no mention of Dracula's victims on the Demeter ever becoming undead themselves. Although his acolytes share the Count's enhanced strength, thirst for blood and aversion to holy objects, they do not possess the more advanced powers of their creator, such as shapeshifting and weather manipulation.
Famous sayings of Count Dracula
- "I am Dracula; and I bid you welcome" (Jonathan Harker's Journal, 5 May, Dracula Chapter 2).
- "Listen to them - the children of the night. What music they make!" (Jonathan Harker's Journal, 5 May, Dracula Chapter 2: in reference to wolves).
In popular culture
Dracula is arguably one one of the most famous villains in popular culture. He has been portrayed in film adaptations of the novel by actors including Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney Jr., John Carradine, Christopher Lee, Frank Langella, Klaus Kinski, and Gary Oldman. The character is closely associated with the cultural archetype of the vampire, and remains a popular Halloween costume.
Allusions to history
Following the publication of In Search of Dracula by Radu Florescu and Raymond McNally in 1972, the supposed connections between the historical Transylvanian-born Vlad III Dracula of Wallachia and Bram Stoker's fictional Dracula attracted popular attention.
Historically, the name "Dracula" is derived from a secret fraternal order of knights called the Order of the Dragon, founded by Sigismund of Luxembourg (king of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia, and Holy Roman Emperor) to uphold Christianity and defend the Empire against the Ottoman Turks. Vlad II Dracul, father of Vlad III, was admitted to the order around 1431 because of his bravery in fighting the Turks. From 1431 onward, Vlad II wore the emblem of the order and later, as ruler of Wallachia, his coinage bore the dragon symbol.
Stoker came across the name Dracula in his reading on Romanian history and chose this to replace the name (Count Wampyr) that he had originally intended to use for his villain. However, some Dracula scholars, led by Elizabeth Miller, have questioned the depth of this connection. They argue that Stoker in fact knew little of the historic Vlad III except for his nickname. There are sections in the novel where Dracula refers to his own background, and these speeches show that Stoker had some knowledge of Romanian history. Yet Stoker includes no details about Vlad III's reign and does not mention his use of impalement. Given Stoker's use of historical background to make his novel more horrific, it seems unlikely he would have failed to mention that his villain had impaled thousands of people. It can be assumed that Stoker either simply did not know much about the historic Vlad III, or did not intend his character Dracula to be the same person as Vlad III.
While Vlad III was an ethnic Vlach, the fictional Dracula claims to be a Székely. Plus, the vampire's aversion to holy objects is uncharacteristic of Vlad, as the Wallachian prince was in fact a religious man who as well as being part of a Christian order, often invoked the name of God in his actions.
The Dracula legend as Stoker created it and as it has been portrayed in films and television shows ever since may be a compound of various influences. Many of Stoker's biographers and literary critics have found strong similarities to the earlier Irish writer Sheridan le Fanu's classic of the vampire genre, Carmilla. In writing Dracula, Stoker may also have drawn on stories about the sídhe — some of which feature blood-drinking women.
It has been suggested that Stoker was influenced by the history of Countess Elizabeth Bathory, who was born in the Kingdom of Hungary. It is believed that Bathory tortured and killed up to 700 servant girls in order to bathe in or drink their blood. She believed their blood preserved her youth, which may be connected to the element of the Dracula legend in which Dracula appeared younger after feeding.[1]
See also
- Dracula
- Dracula in popular culture
- Count Orlok
- Varney the Vampire
- Vlad III the Impaler
- Elizabeth Báthory
Notes
References
- Clive Leatherdale (1985) Dracula: the Novel and the Legend. Desert Island Books.
- Bram Stoker (1897) Dracula. Norton Critical Edition (1997) edited by Nina Auerbach and David J. Skal.
