From Dracula With Love

Bram Stoker’s Dracula has been a favourite book of mine for many years. That it features Whitby, a place I have often visited and accurately visualise in the reading, is a perk in itself. Francis Ford Coppola’s film may be the closest you will get to the book but it does not do full justice to it. I do still love the film. My love of Victorian fashion was increased thusly, as too, my love of costuming (I always did like the aesthetics of the richly adorned bustle and corset though not so much the pain in the wearing). However, Bram Stoker’s Dracula is written in such an interesting and personalised way that one becomes fascinated and captivated by each character presented through handwritten diaries, letters, newspaper clippings, a ship’s log and phonograph recordings, that it might potentially ruin the cinematics in the storytelling. A journal or diary is a very private thing and sometimes it is better to let your imagination take hold of the imagery presented.

There is a strange hypnotism in the idea of being bitten by a vampire. The symbolism of this idea pertains to sex. All manner of sexual depictions are explored through fantasy and fear in bestiality, assertive female sexuality, rape and necrophilia to name a few. This book was written in Victorian times about Victorian times and so highlights the prim, proper, prudish nature of day contrasting with the darker sexual practices behind closed doors and under the cover of night. It is well known that Queen Victoria herself had a strong sexual appetite for her beloved and affectionate Albert. The book also emphasises the fear and knowledge of sexually transmitted diseases rife in the times where prostitutes were a commonplace feature in the streets of cities.

For me, even though I have a soft spot for poor Lucy Westenra, the story is about the relationships between Mina Murray, Jonathan Harker and Dracula. Mina undoubtedly loves Jonathan, who represents all things good and light and a man of respectable means. However, her love of Jonathan is less exciting to the reader in comparison to the alluring foreign gentleman. Dracula representing all things dark and depraved seduces Mina in her dreamlike state on a couple of occasions leaving her pale and weary. She believes “sleep begins to flirt” with her but it is Dracula who seduces her in the night. The macabre theme adds empathy for the tortured creature who on discovering he is hunted takes passionate revenge by forcing Mina to drink his blood. There is a fervent need to make Mina his own. He tells her that she is his to command and that when he calls she will follow. Though it appears that Dracula does nothing in the name of love it might be argued that he represents passionate love itself. To me he can be likened to our deepest darkest desires, our lustful habits and the pull of blind passionate love. Though we are aware of what society might expect of us, that we should be sensible in our choice of partner, there is often no controlling intense feelings of devotion. That we are often persuaded more by a chemical reaction than by knowledge or reason.

Perhaps, some people will never experience the intoxicating pull of carnal desire and passionate love. These people may sit comfortably in their armchair, reading in disbelief that Dracula could be something to be desired, that he might as well be concocted in the labs of a madman and can only add to the idea that a gothic romance is indeed a fiction.

The allure of Dracula is clearly still more alive than he is, as we see an almost constant parade of vampire stories on our screens and our bookshelves.

By Joanne Saunby
Joanne is a children’s author, artist and craft-person.
Find her work on Instagram @joannesaunby.