In the last chapter, we finally see “the posse” tracking down Count Dracula all the way back to his Transylvanian castle. How is their journey to his castle different from the one Jonathan experiences in the opening of the novel? How is it similar? Think of how each person takes in the environment and reacts to the locals. We do still heavily hear about the superstitions of the locals, but are they taken more seriously now that the Westerners believe in a being like the vampire?
This is what Mina notices about the locals:
“They are very, very superstitious. In the first house where we stopped, when the woman who served us
saw the scar on my forehead, she crossed herself and put out two fingers towards me, to keep off the evil eye. I believe they went to the trouble of putting an extra amount of garlic into our food, and I can't abide garlic. Ever since then I have taken care not to take off my hat or veil, and so have escaped their suspicions.”
Compare to Jonathan’s interaction in Chapter 1:
“When we started, the crowd round the inn door, which had by this time swelled to a considerable size, all made the sign of the cross and pointed two fingers towards me.
With some difficulty, I got a fellow passenger to tell me what they meant. He would not answer at first, but on learning that I was English, he explained that it was a charm or guard against the evil eye.
This was not very pleasant for me, just starting for an unknown place to meet an unknown man. But everyone seemed so kind-hearted, and so sorrowful, and so sympathetic that I could not but be touched.” (Kim K)
“She lay in her Vampire sleep, so full of life and voluptuous beauty that I shudder as though I have come to do murder. Ah, I doubt not that in the old time, when such things were, many a man who set forth to do such a task as mine, found at the last his heart fail him, and then his nerve. So he delay, and delay, and delay, till the mere beauty and the fascination of the wanton Undead have hypnotize him. “
In the novel there are a lot of instances in which men are seen as having a “duty” to protect women; these types of gender stereotypes emphasize men having superior strength. This particular quote seems to show the opposite, women having a sort of hypnotizing power over men. Is beauty what gives the female vampire power over the men? Or is some sort of supernatural vampire at work? What are some other instances in which gender stereotypes have been ignored? (Jess G)
In Chapter 23, Mina shows sympathy for Dracula and tells the men to have pity on him. Her speech for them is shown below:
“That poor soul who has wrought all this misery is the saddest case of all. Just think what will be his joy when he, too, is destroyed in his worser part that his better part may have spiritual immortality. You must be pitiful to him, too, though it may not hold your hands from his destruction.”
This is the first time that Dracula as seen as a victim in this story rather than the aggressor. Do you agree with this statement and believe that the men should have pity on Dracula? What message do you think Mina is trying to convey? Do you think that Dracula is leading a miserable life? And if so, what leads you to believe this? Please provide examples from the story that add to or refute this argument. (Rosy R.)
I think the group should have pity for the man that was Count Dracula. We are told by Van Helsing that since Dracula's transformation into a vampire, his brain has changed much and is much like that of a child's. I think also from this change, a lot of what made Count Dracula a human before, has been changed or lost due to his newly founded vampirism. But his body and his drive to live are still in his vampire form. I think we can relate this somewhat to the transformation into a vampire from "Let the Right One In", where the human starts to lose some of their feelings and are given an insatiable appetite for blood. This is why I think that the vampire Dracula may differ greatly from his human counterpart when he wasn't a vampire. The group has experienced the kind of terror and harm the nature of a vampire can do to loved ones and others, they wouldn't wish the fate of a vampire on anyone else in the world. So it'd be in their nature to pity this man who was once a person, but now must feed off of others and live a very trapped and limited existence. Recalling the few passages that display Dracula's death, we are told, from Mina's point of view, as Jonathan and Quincy rip the top off the earth box, that Dracula's face turns from one of rage into triumph when the setting sun appears. I think this last act might not be the vampire Dracula thinking he will be able to rise from his box and destroy his pursuers, but that of the human Dracula who now no longer has to suffer the endless life of a vampire. Mina mentions that she is somewhat grateful that Dracula got to die with that look on his face, which makes me think even more that it was a smile of happiness to be released from his curse.
ReplyDelete-Anthony J.
I'm not sure if it's beauty that gives a female vampire power over men, but rather the supernatural qualities a vampire holds. To me, especially in this time period, a female vampire being able to overpower a male human shows just how powerful a vampire is. I also don't really think the stereotypical gender roles are really a factor in the vampire race - all of them are just powerful and full of bloodlust. I also think it is part of their supernatural powers to have a certain charm and influence over people. Perhaps it stems from their beauty, but I'm not sure it is solely that or specific to females. In The Vampire Diaries as well as Lost Souls, we see a lot of instances where vampires have an unnatural influence over humans, so I think this is a common trait of the vampire.
ReplyDeleteIn regards to Jess G’s question, I believe the chivalrous nature of men during this period is as responsible as beauty for the power women certainly had over men. As the question stated, men are often perceived as having a duty to protect the women surrounding them. With this notion theoretically engrained into the minds of the male characters, it would go against their chivalrous nature to destroy a woman, living or Undead, that looked so peacefully beautiful and vulnerable. I believe that many times throughout the novel, the beauty spoken of is actually related to purity as well. For instance, it is often difficult to believe something so beautiful could have such demonic and inhuman tendencies hidden below the surface.
ReplyDeleteSarah S.
I think the group should definitely take some amount of pity on Dracula. He has to be live a lonely life and has been isolated for many many years due to his inability to be out in the day time. However, this image of Dracula's life may be seen in a different, more positive light. He probably, by this point, enjoys his life very much, and only laments the lost of normalcy when he witnesses people going about their daily life. Further, he does take a liking to taking blood from Mina. Though, at this point in his life, having endured many years of this practice, he may have no remembrance of other normal practices.
ReplyDeleteI think that beauty is ultimately the why the men become hypnotized. This plays with the gender stereotype that men are easily swayed and can not turn away beauty. That's why the men are more susceptible to a woman vampire, as we've seen. On top of that, they have this instinct to protect, especially in this world, and they further fall into their spells. This is a little earlier in the novel, however I think that the female vampires are the largest gender contradiction in the novel. Those female vampires are just everything opposite of what a woman was seen as back in that era, and to some degree even today.
ReplyDeleteI believe that beauty isn’t a female vampire specific trait. I feel like the whole thing is a supernatural type of thing because although, it usually isn’t described with a sense of beauty, I believe Dracula has demonstrated an ability to come off as appealing to people he’s trying to prepare whether that be Harker earlier in the book or coming towards the women in a way that makes them believe it’s a dream. I believe that because the fact that the vampires are females, they describe the power as something involving their beauty. Vampires just seem to have an overall power of attraction when it comes to their victim which is portrayed differently from person to person. A gender role switch I notice could probably be when Dracula forces Mina to drink his blood. I feel like this could be considered a role change because it seems as though men are supposed to be the powerful figure and over power females, but in this case, although Dracula is forcing it, Mina is still feeding off him, making him the prey.
ReplyDeleteI think a motivating factor in almost all stories in one way or another is love. In this sense, I do think that Dracula is leading a miserable life. We have previously discussed how Mina has maternal instincts. I think Mina is feeling sympathetic towards Dracula because she is sensitive to this feelings. I also feel like Dracula is leading a miserable life because of his comment toward the beginning of the novel when he is talking to the three female vampires and says that he, too, can love. In my opinion, being a vampire is probably very lonely. You either have to use your vampire charm or powers to get someone to like you or they're so afraid of you they obey you. The last sentence of Mina's quote to me says, while she knows the men must destroy Dracula, they shouldn't be barbaric about it and they should instead feel some sense of remorse for Dracula's miserable existence.
ReplyDeleteI do agree with Mina saying that the men should have pity on the Count. As we already discussed, he seems to have a fear of being alone, so I think a lot of the seemingly bad things he did was just him trying to find someone to be with. For example although the men are mad at him for turning Lucy into a vampire, his reasoning could have been that he wanted someone that would be in the same situation as him as a vampire. I think Mina was trying to convince the men that at one point Dracula was human too, so that is another reason they should have mercy on him. In general the Count seems to have suffered enough, given the fact that he makes a point to mention how he hates being alone. It shows that maybe the Count is more vulnerable to being lonely than one might imagine.
ReplyDeleteI think that beauty is a major factor that gives the female vampire power over men. Even on the biological level, men have been known to act more on the physical rather than emotional traits of their love interests more so than women. By nature man’s purpose is to spread his seed and create as many offspring as possible. This is shown in many different types of species all over the world. Men become almost hypnotized by beauty making them have clouded judgment and only think about the beauty of the object of their desire. Once the man courts a beautiful women, he then wants to protect her to make sure that no other man takes her away from him. He feels like it is his duty to keep her safe from harm. He realizes that her beauty makes her desirable to other men, therefore he will do whatever it takes to keep her safe and protected. It is because of this notion that beauty hypnotizes men in this story. All three suitors act this way towards Lucy and Jonathan certainly does towards Mina.
ReplyDeleteGender stereotypes have also been ignored in the scene where Jonathan falls victim to the three vampire women in the room. He becomes paralyzed and powerless to their seductive ways. He takes more of a submissive role than the expected masculine and powerful role that the stereotypic man would have taken. This also shows the power that the women vampires’ beauty has affected Jonathan.
In my opinion, beauty is having a huge part of the power over the men. It is the most fundamental instinct that every universal creature has which is desire to protect or to possess the loving one. When a man faces a beautiful girl, most likely, men want to be looked nice to her. So sometimes he makes an action that he normally does not just for her or sometimes he struggles because of her. This is a solid fact that beauty hypnotizes men.
ReplyDeleteIt is so interesting that you brought this topic of gender roles and female vampires up because I feel as though the novel contradicts it self. In one sense I do believe that the female vampire just like the female human (as shown numerous times by Mina and the way the men regard her mind and beauty) have a certain power over human men that can put them in danger. We see that in the opening of the novel when Jonathan is almost fed on while he is memorized by this "fantasy" of women. Then when Van Helsing is talking about female vampire beauty he too for a few moments is over taken by the beauty and acknowledges he could see how a man's heart could "fail" him. In these two instances I definitely think it is the beauty that controls the men. Beauty has proven time again with these men, not only in the vampire sense to be controlling for example: when Mina asks Seward if she can meet Renfield and he says he had not want her to but her beauty made him allow her to see him. However, I think there is also contradiction in this novel too. Why were they not "memorized" by Lucy's beauty when she became a vampire? What makes the other female vampires so alluring in the novel but not Lucy? Why did Lucy as a vampire not have power over the men as she did as she did as a human?
ReplyDeleteakanimoh e
I think that beauty does give some sort of power to the female vampires in the novel, but also think that other forces are at play. There is a sense in the novel of this idea of temptation, first experienced by Jonathan in the beginning of the novel, and I think necessary to this temptation is beauty. However, I feel that other forces such as Victorian attitudes toward women may also explain the hypnotic power of the the vampress. With supposed mandate to protect and look after women, who are supposedly unable to do so themselves, and I think that the beauty of the vampire make killing them all the more difficult, as men surely feel conflicted desires to serve out the mission and protect women.
ReplyDeleteBrandon W.
In response to Rosy’s question, it seems to me, that Mina is trying to tell the men to be merciful and understanding in their killing of Dracula. In a sense she is trying to tell the men that they should not kill Dracula out of hate but rather out of pity. Mina is able to relate to Dracula because she too is now destined to share in his fate if the plan is not successful. It seems like Mina is reminding the men that Dracula has been a prisoner to an unfortunate fate all these years, reiterating the ideas of Van Helsing’s early speech on Dracula. Dracula is the prisoner of many things including having to live out his days in relative solitude, the need to feed on human blood to stay alive, being able to operate only during the night, and having to hide during the day. Dracula’s condition in many ways closely relates the human condition, which, when described in these sort of terms, is quite tragic. For these reasons the men should indeed pity Dracula. It is also for these reasons that Dracula does in fact lead a miserable life. In the early chapters when he is talking about his past life as a Voivode of Wallachia, these are the only years of his long life Dracula seems to recall with any kind of nostalgia. Although in the novel Dracula is perhaps the oldest and most intelligent man on Earth, he never really seems truly happy at any point in the novel, he always seems restless, and he is always on the move. The fact that his life as a vampire has been miserable is further evidence by his look of peace as he is being destroyed (418). In this final scene it seems as though Dracula is almost happy to die. As Mina herself says in her aforementioned speech about how Dracula should be pitied, Dracula’s soul is now able to achieve a sort of spiritual immortality, which he had been robbed of in becoming a vampire. This hints at another one of the book’s themes, that of redemption, if Dracula, the worst of the worst, could be redeemed then there is a chance anyone to also be redeemed.
ReplyDelete(Alex I.)
Let the RIght One In portrays the vampire as one of the victims in the story and Dracula is also portrayed as a victim towards the and of the novel. It is something that should be thought of. We many times view vampires as creatures we should destroy but they were once human and they were victims as well. We should pity Dracula for many reasons. He is a loner and have lived for such a long time. Dracula cannot eat except for blood. This part really got me into sympathizing with Dracula. I personally have so much joy in having great dishes but Dracula cannot find joy in this. Also, being immortal would not be so great. We live in a world that everything is finite. We cannot really imagine something to be eternal. If we live forever, that means only way we can die is through severe accidents or committing suicides. How disasterous would that be? Everyone has he's or her stories and I believe Dracula has his one too.
ReplyDeleteDracula, at this point of the story,symbolizes man's struggles against himself. The only difference being that Dracula has to confront a need which mankind has never had to satisfy. Human beings like to talk much about concepts of human willpower, but we can hardly understand concepts of desire,their influence upon us, and in fact choose to condemn them when we are unable to relate to them. The villagers who chase Dracula see him as the manifestation of desire, the manifestation of choosing to submit to man's baser insticts. When Mina says to have pity of Dracula she is saying how we should recognize that which drives all men; that which makes us do what we want and what provides us with pleasure. Van Helsing, and I believe Dracula as well, know that this baser pleasure, that which drives him to take the blood of innocents, cannot be allowed to exist in nature. Without condemning, or condoning, Dracula understands that he is different from society and perhaps wishes it upon himself to find eternal peace. At least, Mina hopes for this to be his end. His current life can be said to be a life based upon gratification which cannot be allowed to subsist in modern society.Not because it is for gratification's sake, but rather that it is a gratification which is not socially acceptable in the era.Dracula must meet the end which he, and perhaps Van Helsing, believe that any man should hope to meet himself. An end of peace. An end of letting go.
ReplyDeleteTo address Giancarlo's comment, it does seem Mina and Van Helsing have a better understanding of Dracula as a reflection of their own "baser instincts" than the rest of the group. I believe this ties in with their treatment of local superstition, versus Jonathan's earlier in the novel. Each of these characters represents a gradient in western thought: Jonathan, epitomizing naivete, the Count's first unwitting victim, is eager to use his all of knowledge, goes along with their superstitions and finds their concern kind and touching; Mina, the hyper-intelligent and simultaneously alluring (especially to the character who seems to represent a man of only base instinct, desire itself--not unintentional), understands the reason behind their actions but is not at all grateful, not believing in their power; Dr. Van Helsing, a man certified in every degree one could imagine (and more: "etc etc") blends superstition and respect for all that which one cannot know into his scientific practice, the perfect combination of modern science and traditional lore. The superstitions are taken more seriously now by us as readers, of course, simply because they reappear so much later in the story in the same fashion by the same people who have lived in Dracula's shadow their entire lives, and because characters in whom we have faith for their belief in Dracula's supernatural power (Van Helsing) and who have a special strong connection to him (Mina) are forced to interact with this tradition.
ReplyDeleteConcerning Rick's question,
ReplyDeleteI think by the end of the story we can view Dracula's character in two ways. On the one hand, Dracula is this monster who terrorizes everyone in the novel and maintains this negative energy and uneasy tone throughout.
If we view Dracula in this light then I would suggest Dracula being a symbol of basic human fears. People fear the pain involved with death so in order to survive he must indulge in taking advantage of others. Also, people fear not living a comfortable life so Dracula isolates his self in order to keep others from disrupting the comfort he gets from being alone. Therefore, Dracula viewed in a negative way can be representation of basic human fears.
On the other hand, Dracula can also be viewed as a symbol for basic human struggles. One of his main struggles is his desire to be free. He does anything he wants to whoever or whatever he wants throughout the story. In the case of Jonathan Harker we can see how Dracula wanted to have Harker for his self when he imprisoned him. We also see an example of Dracula doing whatever he wants by manipulating Renfield.
Also, Dracula struggles to be free just like a normal human by going wherever he wants to go. These are all examples of how Dracula, if looked in a different light, can be seen not as a symbol of fear but as a representation of basic human struggles.
I think the question of the death of Dracula also relates to Rosy's question. When Dracula is staked, he gets the same look of peace over his face that Lucy and the three sisters did. I feel like this is evidence of what Mina was saying about Dracula-just like everyone else condemned to lead life as one of the Undead, his soul was freed by the hand of "noble" men. Van Helsing also talks a lot about how much Dracula has had to adapt to the changing times, and how he lives very much as if he is still in a war. I don't think it can be considered his fault then that he acts the way he does. If he has a "child-mind" as Van Helsing said, isn't Dracula very much like Eli and not completely in control of his actions?
ReplyDeleteIn response to the men having to protect the women, I think it is very intentional on Stoker's part to have Mina be the key to defeating Dracula. Yes, Lucy and the vampire brides have their souls saved by the "posse". But without Mina, neither Dracula nor the vampire brides would have had the oppurtunity to be saved by the men because it is MINA who figures out Dracula's plan. I think once again this is Stoker pointing out the advantages of the new woman, and her usefulness and place in a modern society.
In response to Rosy’s question, I believe that Mina is trying to share another perspective regarding Dracula, in which Dracula can be seen as a character leading a pitiful life albeit the fact he’s been an aggressor victimizing Mina’s acquaintances. Such thought/statement of Mina, first, evokes the men, her acquaintances, and the readers to feel sympathy towards Dracula. As Mina points out, given that Dracula is destined to consume blood of humans and manipulate humans accordingly for survival, Mina argues that Dracula had to inevitably and without choice – by fate – had to live such a life taking the role of “aggressor” in the eyes of others. Seeing Dracula in this perspective, Mina sees that Dracula, too, can be pitied in addition to that of Dracula’s victims. Personally, I do not believe that Mina’s statement is meant to justify Dracula’s actions in its entirety; however, I find her statement as an attempt to understand and relay such unknown side/perspective of Dracula to other men.
ReplyDeleteSimilar to that of Mina, I also find Dracula to have led a pitiful life; after all, everyone remembers and identifies their encounter with Dracula with terror as shown by Jonathan Harker: “…vivid and terrible memories…it was almost impossible to believe that the things which we had seen with our own eyes and heard with our own ears were living truths” (419). Personally, having to be remembered and judged by a single dimension of one’s identity is miserable; thus, I find Dracula as a character that I can sympathize, yet cannot find his work to be good. Given that I am starting to pity Dracula, it occurs to me that perhaps, the role of Dracula is meant to reflect on ourselves, the humans. After all, we – the human beings – are similar to Dracula in a sense that we, too, pursue wrongdoings and make awful judgments to fulfill the “needs” – many times, desires – in life. Perhaps, Stoker is cautioning the readers to not resemble that of Dracula; that is, for readers’ conscience to win over the desires we have as human beings – our destined identity.