Dracula and the supernatural in this novel seem to be rejuvenated from the “eating” or draining of life. Renfield is a particularly interesting character because earlier in the novel we are given the impression that he is human (because we are not otherwise told that he is supernatural), yet he also takes life away from the living. What do you think is the significance of this parallel between the two worlds? Is this another attempt at making the connection between vampire and humanity? In chapter 17 Seward remarks that Renfield’s “outbreaks were in some way linked with the proximity of the Count.” What do these clues indicate to you about the Count and Renfield’s relationship? Do you think they have a relationship? Why do you think Renfield suddenly wants to go home? Do you think that Renfield is scared of Dracula? If so, do you think he believes in the “supernatural”? What do you think will be Renfield’s fate if he does indeed believe?
(Akanimoh E)
The way Dracula feeds upon his victims is very different than the vampires we've seen so far (Zillah, Molochai, and Twig, but also the vampires in I Am Legend). Instead of ripping them apart, he uses them slowly over a long period of time; it takes week for Lucy to become weak enough to die. However, is this only because Dracula is turning Lucy into another vampire? Do you think that Dracula does have a "feeding frenzy" side like the other vampires we've seen? In addition, why do you think Dracula takes the time to turn Lucy? We know he has three women at Castle Dracula already, so what is it about Lucy that Dracula seems so drawn to? (Madeline K)
Within chapter 13 of Dracula we read about the preparation of Lucy's body for burial after her "illness" has taken its toll. Repeatedly the return of her beauty is brought to the reader's attention and highlighted within the beginning of the chapter, as well as mentioned at the end of chapter 12. Do you think the appearance of beauty and revitalization would have been so frequently mentioned had it been the death of a man within the novel? Moreover, do you believe the mark of beauty is strictly reserved for women transitioning into vampirism, or is this a gender-neutral trait? (Sarah S)
In chapter 17 shortly after meeting Arthur, Mina empathizes with his feelings of sorrow over the loss of Lucy and gives him a shoulder to cry on despite just having met him. She goes on to explain this as due to her natural maternal instincts, writing, “We women have something of the mother in us that makes us rise above smaller matters when the mother-spirit is invoked; […]I stroked his hair as though he were my own child.” Contrast that to Lucy’s behavior as a vampire where, “With a careless motion, she flung to the ground, callous as a devil, the child that up to now she had clutched strenuously to her breast, growling over it as a dog growls over a bone. The child gave a sharp cry, and lay there moaning.” What does the difference between Mina’s maternal behavior and Lucy’s lack there of highlight about the two characters? What, if anything, do Mina’s statements tell us about the role of the “New Woman” in society or even Stoker’s portrayal of the “New Woman” or maternity? (Brandon W)
I think Dracula takes the time to turn Lucy for a couple reasons. One reason being that although he can be surrounded by people, he usually has to manipulate them (in the way we saw him manipulate Jonathan in the beginning of the book) so maybe having another vampire around him would make him feel less lonely. It is true that he has the three women we previously met at his castle, but from their brief interaction we read it does not seem he is very emotionally caring towards them (it was as if they were a burden to him to have to keep tabs on and feed). Another reason he may have turned Lucy is based on the childish notion of "if I can't have you, you can't have it either," "it" being happiness. In most vampire stories, it seems that the vampires take a certain kind of joy out of turning a human into a vampire or killing a human while feeding on them... But why? I think it can be interpreted that the vampires are really just lonely in their long life of mostly solitude, so taking away someone else's chance at having a happy and full life (the victim or the victim's loved ones) makes the vampire feel better that they won't be suffering alone.
ReplyDeleteI feel like Dracula takes time with Lucy for a few reasons. First off, we know that he is turning her. This means that he can't kill her right away. As for why he bothers, it seems almost like Dracula does have some normal qualities after all; maybe it's as simple as him having a weakness for beautiful women.
ReplyDeleteAs for the violence of the attacks, there's a pretty big difference in cultures when we compare this to, say, I Am Legend. Those vampires exist in a far more primal, and thus mindlessly violent, state. This is in sharp contrast to Dracula, who despite being a monster and a killer, prides himself on a degree of civility. He's simply not the type to tear someone limb from limb when he's got his wits about him. This would also draw far more attention to his activities. He's smarter than that.
But, he would tear somebody apart if he were starved, maybe.
The difference in approach from novel to novel is really interesting to me seeing as how Dracula is the older novel and he takes the most time when it comes to killing or turning his victims while the novels that have been written later have the vampires being ravenous and violent about their approach to killing or transforming humans. When it comes to the idea of the beauty being described in a certain matter, I feel like it could go both ways in the description of a man. I think in Dracula, they kind of emphasize the vampires power and ability to lure people in and attract. I feel like if he was turning a man, it wouldn’t be as descriptive or focused on beauty before the transformation but I think one he was fully transformed into a vampire, I could see the descriptions being somewhat flashy or interesting because I feel like the vampire isn’t meant to come off in a negative way at first sight in Dracula like it appears to be in other works. I really find the parallels between vampires and humanity to be very interesting as they’re being persistently made throughout all of the works we’ve been going through so far.
ReplyDeleteI feel like Renfield and Dracula have a connection because Renfield is essentially insane. None of the other characters can feel the presence of Dracula, and I think that's mostly because they are all such clear models of Victorian society. They're very rational and scientific and are quick to dismiss any superstition. Renfield, on the other hand, is not constrained by the Victorian values of logic and science, so he is more susceptible to Dracula's presence and power.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that Dracula really has a ravenous side. Or if he does, he certainly does his best to suppress it. There aren't very many vampires in Dracula's world, so he has to do his best to survive and not get noticed. If he were to go around feeding and murdering people, he would definitely get noticed and his chances of survival would go down. In I Am Legend, vampires don't have to worry about survival because they're the majority. In Lost Souls, Zillah and company have each other's backs, so even though they're not as careful as Dracula, they still have pretty decent chances of survival.
I think that the mark of beauty is strictly reserved for women - vampiric or human. In a lot of stories, even in Dracula, we see frequently the beauty of a woman discussed. Not so much a man's. Now, I personally believe that if done right, a man can be described as beautiful as well. However, I think a woman's beauty is far easier described. A woman's hair, the curves of her body, the glow of her skin... Those are easier descriptions as compared to say, a man's. Also, men notice these beautiful traits more thoroughly, and most of the story is filtered through a man's perspective. The two main characters are Dracula and Jonathan (notice they're men!?), and their perceptions and observations are more towards a woman's physical beauty. When our reading was filtered through Mina or Lucy's perceptions and observations, we see more of the intellectual and mental beauty. Just a comparison between the woman and man narrative, I guess.
ReplyDeleteI think Dracula turning Lucy is out of loneliness and because of the way it makes a vampire feel to turn another vampire. I think in many vampire stories there is a connection between the vampire that turns someone and the person they turn. This is similar to something I have seen in Vampire Diaries. In the show, a vampire (or any other supernatural creature) can be sired to the person that turns them. For people that watch the show, Elena is sired to Damon and this gives Elena an emotional connection to Damon. I feel like this could be a similar scenario as in Dracula.
ReplyDeleteI do not believe that Dracula has a “feeding frenzy” side like the other vampires we’ve seen. I think that, like Christian, he is more reserved and has that “been there done that” mentality. Since Zillah, Molochai, and Twig are still “young” vampires they are very much still into the savagery of a new vampire. Killing is like a sport to them and humans are nothing more than a meal. Older vampires such as Christian and Dracula are less into the pain aspect and more into easing their victims to their death. They have been around for a long time so they have grown out of the feeding frenzy stage and take a more mature view on life. They have lived a lonely life and want to try and find companionship more than anything. I also think that another thing that plays into Dracula’s turning of Lucy is the notion that Dracula and Lucy may have known each other in a past life. Although their relationship is not entirely clear, it is implied that Dracula is drawn to Lucy because of their past encounter. I believe that this is why Dracula is so drawn to Lucy and wishes to slowly turn her into a vampire. He is guided by this past experience which is a mystery to the reader.
ReplyDeleteAs we saw earlier in the novel, when Dracula mentioned that he did not want to be the new person when he moved, Dracula enjoys being in a position of power. I think that Dracula took so long to turn Lucy because he saw it as a game. Even though the people start to figure out (or at least begin to suspect) what is causing Lucy to get worse he still manages to attack her in the night. By showing that he is not afraid of going after her even when they put many measures against him, it shows that he has the power to attack them but he is just playing with them. Another reason that he could be taking so long to turn Lucy is because he is attached to her. Besides his need to be in power, Dracula also seems to dislike being alone. While he does have the female vampires that we encountered earlier in the novel, it does not seem very attached to them. By slowly draining Lucy he is getting to stay in power while at the same time eventually securing a partner.
ReplyDeleteI believe the parallel between Renfield and Dracula was purposely made. As I was reading it, I felt that maybe the author wanted the readers to think whether we as human-beings sometimes act like vampires or not. As repeatedly said, defining vampire seems crucial in many of the vampire literatures. What is it that differentiates vampire from human is the question that we should keep on asking ourselves as we read them. One of the characteristics of vampires is that they do not die unless someone purposely kills them. Dracula has gone through many different eras and maybe he could be “tired of living.” As I was reading the comments posted earlier, I came across someone saying that maybe Dracula had met Lucy in the past and that was why he was attracted to her in a different way. This was quite an interesting way of viewing the situation and I thought that could be it. This also could be a reason for turning Lucy.
ReplyDeleteI do think Dracula has a savage, more frenzied side to him, behind his cold and calculating exterior. We see that Dracula wants to have complete power over his victim, thus he gets a great deal of satisfaction in watching his victims squirm under his thumb. Although Dracula is very cruel to his victims, he is not reckless; he takes his time to make sure that he is not discovered. One of the more terrifying aspects of Dracula is that he is aware of his limitations and his weaknesses; he is aware that he is extremely vulnerable during the day time and that things like mirrors and crucifixes can effect him. Also, he is just a single being, although he has much strength and abilities, he is vulnerable to groups of people. Dracula knows that to stay alive in the world as a vampire, he must avoid risk at all cost, because if he gets caught during the day, he is finished. But as any creature that is cornered, Dracula has an instinct for survival. I feel we get a good sense of this when Jonathan Harker climbs down the wall and into the catacombs and discovers Dracula's coffin. Jonathan with the spade he finds attempts to strike Dracula with it, but he is thrown off by the look he sees in Dracula's eyes. Dracula can harbor much rage, and I can imagine that if it had been during the night time that Jonathan had tried to attack Dracula, Dracula perhaps could have ripped him apart. We can see something of a parallel between Dracula and Zillah. Both use their power to get things to go their way, but have a hard time dealing with when things backfire. I am sure Dracula would perhaps act much like Zillah, if, or when, he is outplayed by the likes of Jonathan Harker or Van Helsing.
ReplyDelete~Anthony Jarman
I believe the difference between Dracula’s feeding habits and other vampires’, both within Stoker’s novel and elsewhere, revolve around his maturity level. Though he may have been a slave to “feeding frenzy” tendencies in his early years as a vampire, I think he has learned self-control and the skill of calculating risks over his extremely long lifetime. This is highlighted within the novel if one compares the character of the three women from his castle, along with that of Lucy once she becomes a vampire as well. Though the rest are very careless in nature and appear more vicious, Dracula maintains his composure in nearly all instances. He seems to take pleasure and appreciate a slower process of murder, perhaps savoring the opportunity to draw out the fear of his victims for an extended amount of time. This may explain his fascination with Lucy in particular, as she presents more of a challenge once others become concerned with her personal health and protection. The extent the doctors go to in order to save Lucy only lengthens the process of her demise, and possibly makes Dracula’s victory more satisfying.
ReplyDeleteSarah S.
I don’t think of Lucy regaining beauty as she dies and transitions into being a vampire as a gender orientated characteristic, but one that appears to be crucial for both sexes. Throughout the texts we have read we witnessed vampires using seduction as a predatory method in attempt to lure in/ victimize individuals. Although this has been predominately a phenomenon of women alluring men, as seen in the taunting of Robert Neville in I am Legend or Harker in Dracula, we have to consider the case of Dracula and Lucy. As the legend states a vampire can not enter a home without being invited, we must then assume Lucy has allowed Dracula into her house at least once. Even in contemporary works on vampires the male vampire is often made out to be an object of female desire, as exemplified by Edward in “Twilight”. Since force of sexuality is clearly one felt by both genders, I think if it was a man in the situation of Lucy his looks would have been restored equally so.
ReplyDeleteThe whole good vs. evil, Mina vs. Lucy, manifested into notions of the social standard of Victorian women as Lucy transitioned into her vampire state. Mina exercises the expected role of being an elegant, ’pure’ woman but she is aware of the social constrains women in her era are subjected to and vocalizes them sporadically in her journals, often referring to her idea of “new women“. Lucy can be described as a nightmare to Victorian standards. She becomes a sexually driven, rambunctious, devilish individual that totally defies the Victorian way by preying on children. The creation of an apocalyptic back drop by Stoker really allows the accounts of Mina and Lucy to provide his commentary on the Victorian ideologies towards women, and how they need to change.
I think Dracula takes time to turn Lucy because he needs happiness and care from others, or he is just attracted to her. Yes, Dracula already has other three women vampires but it seemed they were careless to each other. Dracula might felt extreme loneliness after living countless life. And he might thought Lucy can fill up his empty and lonely life. Or, just like Rosalinda said, Dracula and Lucy may have known each other in past life. I could not find any clue between their relationships but, if it is true, it makes sense why Dracula is taking time to turn Lucy.
ReplyDeleteSang K Hwang
In regards to the attention given to Lucy's revitalization during the processes by which she becomes a vampire, I would regard such attention as mostly gender neutral as I believe the attention given to her post vampire physicality to have more to do with her pre vampire self as it does to gender roles. In the beginning of the novel we are introduced to a Lucy who is a highly desired women, with no less than three suitors. She is specifically singled out and described as being incredibly beautiful and desirable, and indeed she is the first victim in the group of Dracula. After her transformation to a vampire the traits become more defined and she becomes no longer simply an object of desire but a voluptuous, tempestuous, object of lust. I believe this to have more to do with how vampirism and its effect on character rather than on gender. I think that the fact that Dracula is described as becoming more beautiful and youthful after he vamps on Lucy as proof of this.
ReplyDeleteBrandon W.
I feel like while vampires are obviously different creatures than humans, from the perspective of the Dracula novel, they share much of the same feelings and desires as humans do, such as love and a feeling of belonging to those around them. While Dracula has three female vampires back at home he doesn't truly love them, and as others said, he sees them more as a burden, or as a mistake of what he thought would be love. I think Dracula is simply just lonely and as being one of the very few of his kind he wants someone he can get close to much like humans search for someone to be close to. Maybe he feels like Lucy would be a good vampire mate in a sense and that much like when humans feel like the next time will be different, he continues to seek love and compassion towards someone he can share his feelings and life with, but can never do so, hence the continued transformation of other females into vampires. Maybe he is just hoping to find someone to be close with and can never do so, so he continues to feed and turn others into vampires so he can relate to others in his lonely life, only to never find someone he can truly relate to. I don't think he has a "feeding frenzy" side to himself because of this, because he is only truly seeking someone to be close to, not just to feast on like the vampires from the other novels we read tend to do, which is why he takes things slowly to turn others into vampires so he doesn't feel so alone.
ReplyDeleteI think the difference between the maternal behavior in Mina and in Lucy as a vampire is very opposite on purpose. Lucy attacking only children seems to parallel the women vampires from Castle Dracula who had that baby in their bag. I think Stoker is trying to emphasize the complete change in these women, who would have wanted to have children as humans, but can no longer have children as vampires and so they drink children’s blood. Mina’s comforting of Arthur reminded me of Lucy’s “sweet disposition” that was described many times while she was a human. I think that Stoker makes these distinctions to highlight the truly evil nature of a vampire, or UnDead, because they do not have a soul and so would not have a mother spirit like Mina did.
ReplyDeleteKim K.
I find a lot of interesting connections between Dracula and humans in Renfield, but I wouldn't consider them parallels. I think Renfield's role in the story is to illustrate how vampirism might manifest in humans, not actual vampires. Renfield's obsession with consuming life is just that--an obsession--manifest in the behaviors of a lunatic. Dracula's need to consume life in ways that a lunatic would (were they human) is not because he's an abnormal, blood-thirsty man. It's because he is a vampire and that's what his species does. It would seem that Renfield is Dracula's inverse, having vampire characteristics but forced to act them out in a human body, under control of humans. Dracula is a vampire, having human characteristics and able to act them out in a vampire body, which helps ensure him control over humans.
ReplyDeleteWhat piques my interest further about Renfield is the violence that characterizes him. In chapter 12, Hennessey writes to Seward that he witnessed Renfield calling beggars "all the foul names he could lay his tongue to," and later "rush[ing] at them, pulling one of the off the cart [and beginning] to knock his head against the ground." Should the connection Akanimoh suggests we later see between Renfield and Dracula be based on Dracula's control over Renfield, we should wonder why he chooses for Renfield to act with such violence. If it's just a connection absent of Dracula's control, founded in maybe Renfield's strange preexisting condition (wanting creatures' blood), Renfield's behavior can be seen as illustrating the lack of control bloodthirsty humans have. This is interesting juxtaposed with Dracula's supreme control over his victims, the three female vampires, and certain animals. I don't think Renfield needs to believe in the supernatural, if bloodlust is already normal for him, to understand that Dracula's power in the area of consuming life far surpasses his own. It's possible that this realization alone scares him, and causes him to want to leave Dracula's influence.
Contrary to the vampires we’ve seen in I am Legend – in which vampires openly exhibit their desire to “go after” Robert Neville at all times – Dracula takes time in making Lucy weak enough to die. In other words, comparison to that of the vampires from other novels, Dracula exhibits less aggression and competitiveness in turning Lucy as one of his kind. Such reserved and self-controlled attitude suggests Dracula’s confidence in manipulating all victims – both Lucy and all the others – to fulfill his needs and desires. Dracula, after all, is risking his identify from getting revealed by taking time in turning Lucy; his endeavor to take such risk may imply of his loneliness and in need of companionship. After all, to Dracula, it appears that Lucy’s presence, in itself, gives him comfort and solace. Thus, Dracula puts forth time and effort in manipulating Lucy and all others to design a life/reality of his preference: taking time needed in turning Lucy.
ReplyDeleteI think Dracula absolutely does have a feeding frenzy side. It could be that he has learned to control it, but he would still have to feed eventually. I think he's matured past the point where he needs to steal newborns for himself (though he still does for his wives) and now can pace himself. With Lucy, a mysterious murder over night would draw much more attention then slowly draining the life out of her. Obviously most of our heroes know that Dracula is behind this, but the average person is not going to believe a vampire is killing her rather than an illness.
ReplyDelete-Rick R.
I do believe Dracula has a fending frenzy, but overall he is a refined vampire. When we hear the way Harken speaks about the women, not as vampires but he describes them as "ladies" when overall they were monsters. When we hear of Dracula I think of a sophisticated psycho serial killer, that stalks his prey enjoys the taunting and draining of his victim like a fine wine. So I believe Dracula does have a darker side that will probably drink his victims dry, but at the same time he was described as a king a ruler living in a glorified society centered around his success.
ReplyDeleteKevin S.
The lack of maternal instinct emphasizes the negative traits associated with vampirism. The traits of the female vampires in Dracula seem to revolve around their lack of traditional morals and values into sexual beings devoid of any morals. The differences between Mina and the now afflicted Lucy are clear. Even though Lucy’s loss of purity along with her maternal traits seems to be caused by her transformation into a vampire it also seems to give insights into Stoker’s portrayal of the “new woman.” It seems as the Stoker indeed upholds traditional Victorian values and ideal regarding femininity while expressing a fear of the “new woman.” The portrayal of the female vampires, like Lucy, turning into sexual beings might be an indication of the moral decay caused by a loss of the traditional values of womanhood. The fact that Lucy now feeds upon babies also demonstrates the fear of the new woman as it relates to traditional family structures. In broader terms the all of the vampires seem to be a metaphor for the decay of society as a whole in terms of morals and values as a result of modernization.
ReplyDelete-Alex I
In response to Madeline's question(s)...
ReplyDeleteI think that the main difference in feeding between Dracula and the vampires in "Lost Souls" is due to personalities as well as the plot. Either or works, and it makes much more sense to me that Dracula would feed over a course of time on a victim rather than just tear them a part. Dracula seems old fashioned with things as well as wiser, so perhaps saving a victim he likes feeding from for more than one feed is better than the methods used by the vampires in "Lost Souls" where they drain a victim the first time. As far as Dracula and Lucy I think that he is drawn to her because of Mina as well as how adventurous Lucy seems to be or perhaps her appearance. However, I think that the main reason he treats her the way he does is because she is friends with Mina.
(Micaela M.)
Dracula does not feed as Molochai, Twig, and Zillah do because of the time period their stories were written in. The time period where Dracula was written in was very structured and set up so that supernatural beings were thought to be real by some, so the story of the vampire feeding off humans is horrific enough to do the job. Where as in Lost Souls, everything is just a little more edgy, including the way a vampire feeds. Dracula is thought to be more human that those vampires in "I am Legend" as well. The vampires we read about feeding were crazed and no longer showed the ability to maintain conversation without medicine or sounding mentally ill. Dracula may have the ability to tear his victims apart as he feeds, but even if he did, we would never read about it because that would interfere with the style of the author and be overkill in a time where just writing about vampires was enough to frighten people.
ReplyDeleteAustin C
In response to Akanimoh,
ReplyDeleteThe significance of the parallel between the supernatural and the secular in Dracula is to establish that anyone is susceptible to being Dracula's victim, that no one is safe. One can see this with Reinfield because he represents the power that is projected in superstition as opposed to what is scientific or reasonable. Reinfield is powerd-up by his abnormal behavior while Dr. Seward is constantly trying to fumble with what is actually going on. One can also see this theme dominating the character of Van Helsing in which he is shown to be the "specialist" in vampires and having this vast knowledge due to the amount traditional education he has; this automatically makes him more capable than a normal scientist because he is more aware of his susceptibility. Although, there are moments where the conflict within the story seems to make reasonable sense there are always supernatural occurrences, such as the case with Reinfield, reminding the reader of Dracula's presence even when he is not there.