''Dracula'' is a novel by
Bram Stoker
Abraham Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912) was an Irish author who is celebrated for his 1897 Gothic horror novel '' Dracula''. During his lifetime, he was better known as the personal assistant of actor Sir Henry Irving and busine ...
, published in 1897. As an
epistolary novel
An epistolary novel is a novel written as a series of letters. The term is often extended to cover novels that intersperse documents of other kinds with the letters, most commonly diary entries and newspaper clippings, and sometimes considered ...
, the narrative is related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist, but 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''. His journey to Transylvania and encounter with the vampire Count Dracula and his Brides at Castle Dracula consti ...
taking a business trip to stay at the castle of a
Transylvanian
Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the A ...
nobleman,
Count Dracula
Count Dracula () is the title character of Bram Stoker's 1897 gothic horror novel '' Dracula''. He is considered to be both the prototypical and the archetypal vampire in subsequent works of fiction. Aspects of the character are believed by som ...
. Harker escapes the castle after discovering 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 creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mi ...
, and the Count moves to
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
and plagues the seaside town of
Whitby
Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a maritime, mineral and tourist heritage. Its East Clif ...
. A small group, led by
Abraham Van Helsing
Professor Abraham Van Helsing, a fictional character from the 1897 gothic horror novel ''Dracula'', is an aged Dutch polymath doctor with a wide range of interests and accomplishments, partly attested by the string of letters that follows his ...
, hunt Dracula and, in the end, kill him.
''Dracula'' was mostly written in the 1890s. Stoker produced over a hundred pages of notes for the novel, drawing extensively from
Transylvanian folklore and
history
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...
. Some scholars have suggested that the character of Dracula was inspired by historical figures like the
Wallachia
Wallachia or Walachia (; ro, Țara Românească, lit=The Romanian Land' or 'The Romanian Country, ; archaic: ', Romanian Cyrillic alphabet: ) is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and so ...
n prince
Vlad the Impaler
Vlad III, commonly known as Vlad the Impaler ( ro, Vlad Țepeș ) or Vlad Dracula (; ro, Vlad Drăculea ; 1428/311476/77), was Voivode of Wallachia three times between 1448 and his death in 1476/77. He is often considered one of the most imp ...
or the countess
Elizabeth Báthory
Countess Elizabeth Báthory de Ecsed ( hu, Báthori Erzsébet, ; sk, Alžbeta Bátoriová; 7 August 1560 – 21 August 1614) was a Hungarian noblewoman and alleged serial killer from the family of Báthory, who owned land in the Kingdom of ...
, but there is widespread disagreement. Stoker's notes mention neither figure. He found the name ''Dracula'' in Whitby's public library while holidaying there, picking it because he thought it meant ''devil'' in
Romanian
Romanian may refer to:
*anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania
**Romanians, an ethnic group
**Romanian language, a Romance language
***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language
**Romanian cuisine, traditional ...
.
Following its publication, ''Dracula'' was positively received by reviewers who pointed to its effective use of horror. In contrast, reviewers who wrote negatively of the novel regarded it as excessively frightening. Comparisons to other works of
Gothic fiction
Gothic fiction, sometimes called Gothic horror in the 20th century, is a loose literary aesthetic of fear and haunting. The name is a reference to Gothic architecture of the European Middle Ages, which was characteristic of the settings of ea ...
were common, including its structural similarity to
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'' (1859), a mystery novel and early "sensation novel", and for ''The Moons ...
'
''The Woman in White'' (1859). In the past century, ''Dracula'' has been situated as a piece of Gothic fiction. Modern scholars explore the novel within its historical context—the
Victorian era
In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...
—and discuss its depiction of gender roles, sexuality, and race.
''Dracula'' is one of the most famous pieces of
English literature
English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...
. Many of the book's characters have entered popular culture as
archetypal
The concept of an archetype (; ) appears in areas relating to behavior, historical psychology, and literary analysis.
An archetype can be any of the following:
# a statement, pattern of behavior, prototype, "first" form, or a main model that ...
versions of their characters; for example, Count Dracula as the quintessential vampire, and Abraham Van Helsing as an iconic
vampire hunter
Vampire hunter or vampire slayer is a fictional occupation in history and fiction which specializes in finding vampires, and sometimes other supernatural creatures. A vampire hunter is usually described as having extensive knowledge of vampires a ...
. The novel, which is in the
public domain
The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work
A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...
, has been adapted for film over 30 times, and its characters have made numerous appearances in virtually all media.
Plot
Jonathan Harker
Jonathan Harker is a fictional character and one of the main protagonists of Bram Stoker's 1897 Gothic horror novel '' Dracula''. His journey to Transylvania and encounter with the vampire Count Dracula and his Brides at Castle Dracula consti ...
, a newly qualified English solicitor, visits Count Dracula at
his castle in the
Carpathian Mountains
The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains at . The range stretches ...
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. Harker awakens in bed; soon after, Dracula leaves the castle, abandoning him to the women; Harker escapes with his life and ends up delirious in a
Budapest
Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
hospital. Dracula takes a ship for England with boxes of earth from his castle. The captain's
log
Log most often refers to:
* Trunk (botany), the stem and main wooden axis of a tree, called logs when cut
** Logging, cutting down trees for logs
** Firewood, logs used for fuel
** Lumber or timber, converted from wood logs
* Logarithm, in mathe ...
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 the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a maritime, mineral and tourist heritage. Its East Clif ...
.
Lucy Westenra
Lucy Westenra is a fictional character in the 1897 novel ''Dracula'' by Bram Stoker. The 19-year-old daughter of a wealthy family, she is Mina Murray's best friend and Count Dracula's first English victim. She subsequently transforms into a vam ...
's letter to her best friend, Harker's fiancée
Mina Murray
Wilhelmina "Mina" Harker (née Murray) is a fictional character and the main female character in Bram Stoker's 1897 Gothic horror novel '' Dracula''.
In the novel
She begins the story as Miss Mina Murray, a young schoolmistress who is engaged ...
, describes her marriage proposals from
Dr. John Seward
John "Jack" Seward, M.D. is a fictional character appearing in Bram Stoker's 1897 novel ''Dracula''.
In the novel
Seward is the administrator of an insane asylum not far from Count Dracula's first English home, Carfax. Throughout the novel, ...
,
Quincey Morris
Quincey P. Morris is a fictional character in Bram Stoker's 1897 gothic novel ''Dracula''.
In the novel
He is a rich young American from Texas, and one of the three men who propose to Lucy Westenra. Quincey is friends with her other two suito ...
, and
Arthur Holmwood
Arthur "Art" Holmwood (later Lord Godalming) is a fictional character in Bram Stoker's 1897 novel ''Dracula''.
In the novel
Holmwood is engaged to Lucy Westenra, and is best friends with the other two men who proposed to her on the very same d ...
. Lucy accepts Holmwood's, but all remain friends. Mina joins her friend Lucy on holiday in Whitby. Lucy begins
sleepwalking
Sleepwalking, also known as somnambulism or noctambulism, is a phenomenon of combined sleep and wakefulness. It is classified as a sleep disorder belonging to the parasomnia family. It occurs during slow wave stage of sleep, in a state of low ...
. After his ship lands there, Dracula stalks 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 Lucy's condition, but refuses to disclose it. He diagnoses her with 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 blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...
; 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. The four go to her tomb and see that she is a vampire. They stake her heart,
behead
Decapitation or beheading is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and most other animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood, while all other organs are deprived of the i ...
her, and fill her mouth with garlic. Jonathan Harker and his now-wife Mina have returned, and they join the campaign against Dracula.
Everyone stays at Dr. 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''.[ ...](_blank)
, 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. She is cursed to become a vampire after her death unless Dracula is killed. As the men find Dracula's properties, they discover many earth boxes within. The vampire hunters open each of the boxes and seal wafers of
sacramental bread
Sacramental bread, also called Communion bread, Eucharistic bread, the Lamb or simply the host ( la, hostia, lit=sacrificial victim), is the bread used in the Christian ritual of the Eucharist. Along with sacramental wine, it is one of two elemen ...
inside them, rendering them useless to Dracula. They attempt to trap the Count in his
Piccadilly
Piccadilly () is a road in the City of Westminster, London, 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 that connects central London to Hammersmith, Earl's Court, ...
house, but he escapes. They learn that Dracula is fleeing to his castle in Transylvania with his last box. Mina has a faint psychic connection to Dracula, which Van Helsing exploits via hypnosis to track Dracula's movements. Guided by Mina, they pursue him.
In
Galatz, Romania, the hunters split up. Van Helsing and Mina go to Dracula's castle, where the professor destroys the vampire women. Jonathan Harker and Arthur Holmwood follow Dracula's boat on the river, while Quincey Morris and John Seward parallel them on land. After Dracula's box is finally loaded onto a wagon by
Romani
Romani may refer to:
Ethnicities
* Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia
** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule
* Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...
men, the hunters converge and attack it. After routing the Romani, Harker slashes Dracula's neck and 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 from his wounds, at peace with the knowledge that Mina is saved. A note by Jonathan Harker seven years later states that the Harkers have a son, named Quincey.
Background
Author
As the acting manager of the
Lyceum Theatre in London,
Bram Stoker
Abraham Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912) was an Irish author who is celebrated for his 1897 Gothic horror novel '' Dracula''. During his lifetime, he was better known as the personal assistant of actor Sir Henry Irving and busine ...
was a recognisable figure: he would greet evening guests, and served as assistant to the 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 ( ...
. In a letter to
Walt Whitman
Walter Whitman (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among t ...
, Stoker described his own temperament as "secretive to the world", but he nonetheless led a relatively public life. Stoker supplemented his income from the theatre by writing
romance
Romance (from Vulgar Latin , "in the Roman language", i.e., "Latin") may refer to:
Common meanings
* Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings
* Romance languages, ...
and
sensation novel
The sensation novel, also sensation fiction, was a literary genre of fiction that achieved peak popularity in Great Britain in the 1860s and 1870s.I. Ousby ed., ''The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English'' (1995) p. 844 Its literary forebears i ...
s, and had published 18 books by his death in 1912. ''Dracula'' was Stoker's seventh published book, following ''
The Shoulder of Shasta'' (1895) and preceding ''
Miss Betty
''Miss Betty'' is a romance novel
A romance novel or romantic novel generally refers to a type of genre fiction novel which places its primary focus on the relationship and romantic love between two people, and usually has an "emotionally ...
'' (1898). Hall Caine, a close friend of Stoker's, wrote an obituary for him in ''
The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally.
It was fo ...
'', saying that—besides his
biography
A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or ...
on Irving—Stoker wrote only "to sell" and "had no higher aims".
Influences
![Vlad Tepes 002](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/af/Vlad_Tepes_002.jpg)
Many figures have been suggested as inspirations for
Count Dracula
Count Dracula () is the title character of Bram Stoker's 1897 gothic horror novel '' Dracula''. He is considered to be both the prototypical and the archetypal vampire in subsequent works of fiction. Aspects of the character are believed by som ...
, but there is no consensus. In his 1962 biography of Stoker, Harry Ludlam suggested that
Ármin Vámbéry
Ármin Vámbéry (born Hermann Wamberger; 19 March 183215 September 1913), also known as Arminius Vámbéry, was a Hungarian Turkologist and traveller.
Early life
Vámbéry was born in Szent-György, Kingdom of Hungary (now Svätý Jur, Slov ...
, a professor at the
University of Budapest
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...
, supplied Stoker with information about
Vlad Drăculea'','' commonly known as Vlad the Impaler. Professors
Raymond T. McNally
Raymond T McNally (1931–2002) was an American author and a professor of Russian and East European History at Boston College. He specialized in the history of Horror fiction, horror and wrote many books on the subject. He co-authored several ...
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 collea ...
popularised the idea in their 1972 book, ''In Search of Dracula''. Benjamin H. LeBlanc writes that there ''is'' a reference within the text to Vámbéry, an "Arminius, of Buda-Pesh University", who is familiar with the historical Vlad III and is a friend of
Abraham Van Helsing
Professor Abraham Van Helsing, a fictional character from the 1897 gothic horror novel ''Dracula'', is an aged Dutch polymath doctor with a wide range of interests and accomplishments, partly attested by the string of letters that follows his ...
, but an investigation by McNally and Florescu found nothing about "Vlad, Dracula, or vampires" within Vámbéry's published papers, nor in Stoker's notes about his meeting with Vámbéry. Academic and ''Dracula'' scholar
Elizabeth Miller calls the link to Vlad III "tenuous", indicating that Stoker incorporated a large amount of "insignificant detail" from his research, and
rhetorically
Rhetoric () is the Art (skill), art of persuasion, which along with grammar and logic (or dialectic), is one of the Trivium, three ancient arts of discourse. Rhetoric aims to study the techniques writers or speakers utilize to inform, persuad ...
asking why he would omit Vlad III's infamous cruelty.
Raymond McNally's ''Dracula Was A Woman'' (1983) suggests another historical figure as an inspiration:
Elizabeth Báthory
Countess Elizabeth Báthory de Ecsed ( hu, Báthori Erzsébet, ; sk, Alžbeta Bátoriová; 7 August 1560 – 21 August 1614) was a Hungarian noblewoman and alleged serial killer from the family of Báthory, who owned land in the Kingdom of ...
. McNally argues that the imagery of ''Dracula'' has analogues in Báthory's described crimes, such as the use of a cage resembling an
iron maiden
Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harri ...
. Gothic critic and lecturer Marie Mulvey-Roberts writes that vampires were traditionally depicted as "mouldering revenants, who dragged themselves around graveyards", but—like Báthory—Dracula uses blood to restore his youth. Recent scholarship has questioned whether Báthory's crimes were exaggerated by her political opponents, with others noting that very little is concretely known about her life. A book that Stoker used for research, ''The Book of Were-Wolves'', does have some information on Báthory, but Miller writes that he never took notes on anything from the short section devoted to her. In a
facsimile
A facsimile (from Latin ''fac simile'', "to make alike") is a copy or reproduction of an old book, manuscript, map, Old master print, art print, or other item of historical value that is as true to the original source as possible. It differs from ...
edition of Bram Stoker's original notes for the book, Miller and her co-author Robert Eighteen-Bisang say in a
footnote
A note is a string of text placed at the bottom of a page in a book or document or at the end of a chapter, volume, or the whole text. The note can provide an author's comments on the main text or citations of a reference work in support of the ...
that there is no evidence she inspired Stoker. In 2000, Miller's book-length study, ''Dracula: Sense and Nonsense'', was said by academic Noel Chevalier to correct "not only leading ''Dracula'' scholars, but non-specialists and popular film and television documentaries".
Aside from the historical, Count Dracula also has literary progenitors. Academic Elizabeth Signorotti argues that ''Dracula'' is a response to the
lesbian vampire
Lesbian vampirism is a trope in 20th-century exploitation film and literature. It was a way to hint at or titillate with the taboo idea of lesbianism in a fantasy context outside the heavily censored realm of social realism.
Origins and earl ...
of
Sheridan Le Fanu's ''
Carmilla
''Carmilla'' is an 1872 Gothic fiction, Gothic novella by Irish author Sheridan Le Fanu and one of the early works of vampire fiction, predating Bram Stoker's ''Dracula'' (1897) by 26 years. First published as a Serial (literature), serial in ' ...
'' (1872), "correcting" its emphasis on female desire. Bram Stoker's great-nephew, broadcaster
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 a biography of the author; in it, he doubts that Stoker was aware of the lesbian elements of ''Carmilla'', but nonetheless notes that it influenced him profoundly. Farson writes that an inscription upon a tomb in ''Dracula'' is a direct
allusion
Allusion is a figure of speech, in which an object or circumstance from unrelated context is referred to covertly or indirectly. It is left to the audience to make the direct connection. Where the connection is directly and explicitly stated (as ...
to ''Carmilla''. Scholar Alison Milbank observes that as Dracula can transform into a dog, Carmilla can become a cat. According to author Patrick McGrath, "traces of ''Carmilla''" can be found in the three female vampires residing in Dracula castle. A short story written by Stoker and published after his death, "
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). It was written as the first chapter for Stoker's 1897 novel ''Dracula'', but was deleted prior t ...
", has been seen as evidence of ''Carmilla'' influence. According to Milbank, the story was a deleted first chapter from early in the original manuscript, and replicates ''Carmilla'' setting of
Styria
Styria (german: Steiermark ; Serbo-Croatian and sl, ; hu, Stájerország) is a state (''Bundesland'') in the southeast of Austria. With an area of , Styria is the second largest state of Austria, after Lower Austria. Styria is bordered to ...
instead of Transylvania.
In addition to Transylvanian folklore, some elements of
Irish folklore
Irish folklore ( ga, béaloideas) refers to the folktales, balladry, music, dance, and so forth, ultimately, all of folk culture.
Irish folklore, when mentioned to many people, conjures up images of banshees, fairies, leprechauns and people gath ...
have been proposed as possible influences on Stoker. Bob Curran, a lecturer in Celtic History and Folklore at the
University of Ulster
sco, Ulstèr Universitie
, image = Ulster University coat of arms.png
, caption =
, motto_lang =
, mottoeng =
, latin_name = Universitas Ulidiae
, established = 1865 – Magee College 1953 - Magee Un ...
,
Coleraine
Coleraine ( ; from ga, Cúil Rathain , 'nook of the ferns'Flanaghan, Deirdre & Laurence; ''Irish Place Names'', page 194. Gill & Macmillan, 2002. ) is a town and civil parish near the mouth of the River Bann in County Londonderry, Northern I ...
, suggested in the peer-reviewed historian journal ''History Ireland'' that Stoker may have drawn some inspiration for Dracula from the Irish vampire
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). Abhartach should not be confused with the similarly named ...
.
Textual history
Composition
Prior to writing the novel, Stoker researched extensively, assembling over 100 pages of notes, including chapter summaries and plot outlines. The notes were sold by Bram Stoker's widow, Florence, in 1913, to a New York book dealer for £2.2
s, (). Following that, the notes became the property of
Charles Scribner's Sons
Charles Scribner's Sons, or simply Scribner's or Scribner, is an American publisher based in New York City, known for publishing American authors including Henry James, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Kurt Vonnegut, Marjorie Kinnan Rawli ...
, and then disappeared until they were bought by the
Rosenbach Museum and Library
The Rosenbach is a Philadelphia museum and library located within two 19th-century townhouses. The historic houses contain the collections and treasures of Philip Rosenbach and his younger brother Dr. A. S. W. Rosenbach. The brothers owned the ...
in Philadelphia in 1970.
H. P. Lovecraft wrote that he knew "an old lady" who was approached to revise the original manuscript, but that Stoker found her too expensive. Stoker's first biographer, Harry Ludlam, wrote in 1962 that writing commenced on ''Dracula'' around 1895 or 1896. Following the rediscovery of Stoker's notes in 1972 by Raymond T. McNally and Radu Florescu, the two dated the writing of ''Dracula'' to between 1895 and 1897. Later scholarship has questioned these sets of dates. In the first extensive study of the notes, Joseph S. Bierman writes that the earliest date within them is 8 March 1890, for an outline of a chapter that "differs from the final version in only a few details". According to Bierman, Stoker always intended to write an epistolary novel, but with an original setting of Styria instead of Transylvania; this iteration did not explicitly use the word ''vampire''. For two summers, Stoker and his family stayed in the Kilmarnock Arms Hotel 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 New Slains Castle, Slains Castle, Cruden Bay is said to have been the site of a Battle of Cruden Bay, battle in ...
,
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
, while he was actively writing ''Dracula''.
Stoker's notes illuminate much about earlier iterations of the novel. For instance, they indicate that the novel's vampire was intended to be a count, even before he was given the name ''Dracula''. Stoker likely found the name ''Dracula'' in Whitby's public library while holidaying there with his wife and son in 1880. On the name, Stoker wrote: "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's initial plans for ''Dracula'' markedly differ from the final novel. Had Stoker completed his original plans, a German professor called Max Windshoeffel "would have confronted Count Wampyr from Styria", and one of the Crew of Light would have been slain by a
werewolf
In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (; ; uk, Вовкулака, Vovkulaka), is an individual that can shapeshift into a wolf (or, especially in modern film, a therianthropic hybrid wolf-like creature), either purposely or ...
. Stoker's earliest notes indicate that ''Dracula'' might have originally been intended to be a detective story, with a detective called Cotford and a
psychical investigator called Singleton.
Publication
![Dracamer99](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1e/Dracamer99.jpg)
''Dracula'' was published in London in May 1897 by Archibald Constable and Company. It cost 6 shillings, and was bound in yellow cloth and titled in red letters. In 2002, Barbara Belford, a biographer, wrote that the novel looked "shabby", perhaps because the title had been changed at a late stage. Although contracts were typically signed at least 6 months ahead of publication, ''Dracula'' was unusually signed only 6 days prior to publication. For the first thousand sales of the novel, Stoker earned no royalties. Following serialisation by American newspapers,
Doubleday & McClure published an American edition in 1899. In the 1930s when
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...
purchased the rights to make a film version, it was discovered that Stoker had not fully complied with US
copyright law
A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...
, placing the novel into the
public domain
The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work
A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...
. The novelist was required to purchase the copyright and register two copies, but he registered only one. Charlotte Stoker, Bram's mother, gushed about the novel to the author, predicting it would bring him immense financial success; she was wrong. The novel, although reviewed well, did not make Stoker much money and did not cement his critical legacy until after his death. Since its publication, ''Dracula'' has never been out of print.
In 1901, ''Dracula'' was translated into
Icelandic by Valdimar Ásmundsson under the title ''Makt Myrkranna'' (''
Powers of Darkness
''Powers of Darkness'' (''Mörkrets makter'') is an anonymous 1899 Swedish version of Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel ''Dracula'', serialised in the newspaper '' Dagen'' and credited only to Bram Stoker and the still-unidentified "A—e."
It is a vari ...
'') with a preface written by Stoker. In the preface, Stoker writes that the events contained within the novel are true, and that "for obvious reasons" he had changed the names of places and people. Although scholars had been aware of the translation's existence since the 1980s because of Stoker's preface, none had thought to translate it back into English. ''Makt Myrkranna'' differs significantly from Stoker's novel. Character names were changed, the length was abridged, and it was more overtly sexual than the original. Dutch scholar Hans Corneel de Roos compared the translation favourably to Stoker's, writing that where ''Dracula'' meandered, the translation was concise and punchy.
Major themes
Gender and sexuality
Academic analyses of ''Dracula'' as sexually charged have become so frequent that a
cottage industry
The putting-out system is a means of subcontracting work. Historically, it was also known as the workshop system and the domestic system. In putting-out, work is contracted by a central agent to subcontractors who complete the project via remote ...
has developed around the topic. Sexuality and seduction are two of the novel's most frequently discussed themes, especially as it relates to the corruption of English womanhood. Modern critical writings about vampirism widely acknowledge its link to sex and sexuality. Bram Stoker himself was possibly homosexual; Talia Schaffer points to intensely
homoerotic
Homoeroticism is sexual attraction between members of the same sex, either male–male or female–female. The concept differs from the concept of homosexuality: it refers specifically to the desire itself, which can be temporary, whereas "homose ...
letters sent by him to the American poet Walt Whitman. Stoker began writing the novel one month following the imprisonment of his friend
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...
for homosexuality.
The novel's characters are often said to represent
transgressive
Transgressive may mean:
*Transgressive art, a name given to art forms that violate perceived boundaries
*Transgressive fiction, a modern style in literature
*Transgressive Records, a United Kingdom-based independent record label
*Transgressive (l ...
sexuality through the
performance of their genders. The primary sexual threat posed by Count Dracula is, Christopher Craft writes, that he will "seduce, penetrate,
nddrain another male", with Jonathan Harker's excitement about being penetrated by three vampire women serving as a mask and proxy for his homosexual desire. His excitement also inverts standard Victorian
gender role
A gender role, also known as a sex role, is a social role encompassing a range of behaviors and attitudes that are generally considered acceptable, appropriate, or desirable for a person based on that person's sex. Gender roles are usually cent ...
s; in succumbing to the vampire women, Harker assumes the traditionally feminine role of sexual passivity while the vampire women assume the masculinised role of acting. Sexual depravity and aggression were understood by the Victorians as the exclusive domain of Victorian men, while women were expected to submit to their husband's sexual wishes. Harker's desire to submit, and the scene's origin as a dream Stoker had, highlights the divide between societal expectations and lived realities of men who wanted more freedom in their sexual lives. In the British version of the text, Harker hears the three vampire women whispering at his door, and Dracula tells them they can feed on him tomorrow night. In the American version, Dracula insinuates that he will be feeding on Harker that night: "To-night is mine! To-morrow is yours!" Nina Auerbach and
David J. Skal
David John Skal (born June 21, 1952 in Garfield Heights, Ohio) is an American historian, critic, writer, and on-camera pundit, commentator known for his research and analysis of horror films, horror history and horror culture.
Early life
Skal s ...
, in the
Norton Critical Edition
W. W. Norton & Company is an American publishing company based in New York City. Established in 1923, it has been owned wholly by its employees since the early 1960s. The company is known for its Norton Anthologies (particularly ''The Norton An ...
of the text, posit that Stoker thought the line would render the novel unpublishable in 1897 England, and that "the America that produced his hero Walt Whitman would have been more tolerant of men feeding on men".
The novel's depiction of women continues to divide critics. Elaine Showalter writes that Lucy Westenra and Mina Harker represent different aspects of 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, Irish writer Sarah Grand (1854–1943) used the term "new woman" in an influential article, to refer to ...
. According to Showalter, Lucy represents the "sexual daring" of the New Woman, evidenced by how she wonders why a woman cannot marry three men if they all desire her. Mina, meanwhile, represents the New Woman's "intellectual ambitions", citing her occupation as a
schoolmaster
The word schoolmaster, or simply master, refers to a male school teacher. This usage survives in British independent schools, both secondary and preparatory, and a few Indian boarding schools (such as The Doon School) that were modelled after B ...
, her keen mind, and her knowledge of
shorthand
Shorthand is an abbreviated symbolic writing method that increases speed and brevity of writing as compared to longhand, a more common method of writing a language. The process of writing in shorthand is called stenography, from the Greek ''ste ...
. Carol A. Senf writes that Stoker was ambivalent about the New Woman phenomenon. Of the novel's five vampires, four are women, and all are aggressive, "wildly erotic", and driven only by their thirst for blood. Mina Harker, meanwhile, serves as the antithesis of the other female characters, and plays a singularly important role in Dracula's defeat. On the other hand, Judith Wasserman argues that the fight to defeat Dracula is really a battle for control over women's bodies. Senf points out that Lucy's sexual awakening, and her reversal of gender-based sexual roles, is what Abraham Van Helsing considers a threat.
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) is a literary genre that was popular in the period between 1871 and the First World War (1914–1918). The invasion novel first was recognized as a literary genre in the UK, with the novella '' The B ...
, and a projection of fears about racial pollution. A number of scholars have indicated that ''Dracula'' version of the vampire myth participates in
antisemitic
Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism.
Antis ...
stereotyping. Jules Zanger links the novel's portrayal of the vampire to the immigration of Eastern European Jews to ''
fin de siècle
() is a French term meaning "end of century,” 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 context ...
'' England. Between 1881 and 1900, the number of Jews living in England had increased sixfold because of
pogroms
A pogrom () is a violent riot incited with the aim of massacring or expelling an ethnic or religious group, particularly Jews. The term entered the English language from Russian to describe 19th- and 20th-century attacks on Jews in the Russian ...
and antisemitic laws elsewhere.
Jack Halberstam
Jack Halberstam (; born December 15, 1961), also known as Judith Halberstam, is an American academic. Since 2017, he has been a professor in the department of English and comparative literature and the Institute for Research on Women, Gender, an ...
provides a list of Dracula's associations with antisemitic conceptions of Jewish people: his appearance, wealth, parasitic bloodlust, and "lack of allegiance" to one country. In terms of his appearance, Halberstam notes Dracula's resemblance to other fictional Jews; for example, his long, sharp nails are compared to those of
Fagin
Fagin is a fictional character and 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 Dod ...
in
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...
's ''
Oliver Twist
''Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy's Progress'', Charles Dickens's second novel, was published as a serial from 1837 to 1839, and as a three-volume book in 1838. Born in a workhouse, the orphan Oliver Twist is bound into apprenticeship with ...
'' (1838), and
Svengali
Svengali () is a character in the novel ''Trilby'' which was first published in 1894 by George du Maurier. Svengali is a man who seduces, dominates and exploits Trilby, a young half-Irish girl, and makes her into a famous singer.
Definition
...
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'' and a Gothic novel ''Trilby'', featuring the character Svengali. His son was the actor Sir Gerald d ...
's
''Trilby'' (1895), who is depicted as animalistic and thin.
The novel's depiction of
Slovaks
The Slovaks ( sk, Slováci, singular: ''Slovák'', feminine: ''Slovenka'', plural: ''Slovenky'') are a West Slavic ethnic group and nation native to Slovakia who share a common ancestry, culture, history and speak Slovak.
In Slovakia, 4.4 mi ...
and
Romani people
The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sig ...
has attracted some, albeit limited, scholarly attention. Peter Arnds wrote that the Count's control over the Romani and his abduction of young children evokes real folk superstitions about Romani people stealing children, and that his ability to transform into a wolf is likewise related to xenophobic beliefs about the Romani as animalistic. Although
vagrants
Vagrancy is the condition of homelessness without regular employment or income. Vagrants (also known as bums, vagabonds, rogues, tramps or drifters) usually live in poverty and support themselves by begging, scavenging, petty theft, temporar ...
of all kinds were associated with animals, the Romani were victims of persecution in Europe due to a belief that they enjoyed "unclean meat" and lived among animals. Stoker's description of the Slovaks draws heavily from a travel memoir by a British
major
Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...
. Unlike the major's description, Harker's description is overtly imperialistic, labelling the people as "barbarians" and their boats as "primitive", emphasising their perceived cultural inferiority.
Stephen Arata describes the novel as a case of "reverse colonisation"; that is, a fear of the non-white invading England and weakening its racial purity. Arata describes the novel's cultural context of mounting anxiety in Britain over the decline of the
British Empire
The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...
, 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 inf ...
s, and a "growing domestic unease" over the morality of imperial colonisation. Manifesting also in other works aside from Stoker's novel, narratives of reverse colonisation indicate a fear of the "civilised" world being invaded by the "primitive". What Dracula does to human bodies is not horrifying simply because he kills them, but because he transforms them into the
racial Other. Monika Tomaszewska associates Dracula's status as the racial Other with his characterisation as a
degenerate
Degeneracy, degenerate, or degeneration may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Degenerate (album), ''Degenerate'' (album), a 2010 album by the British band Trigger the Bloodshed
* Degenerate art, a term adopted in the 1920s by the Nazi Party i ...
criminal. She explains that, at the time of the novel's composition and publication, the "threatening degenerate was commonly identified as the racial Other, the alien intruder who invades the country to disrupt the domestic order and enfeeble the host race".
Disease
The novel's representation of vampirism has been discussed as symbolising Victorian anxieties about disease. The theme is discussed with far less frequency than others because it is discussed alongside other topics rather than as the central object of discussion. For example, some connect its depiction of disease with race. Jack Halberstam points to one scene in which an English worker says that the repugnant odour of Count Dracula's London home smells like
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
, making it a "Jewish smell". Jewish people were frequently described, in Victorian literature, as
parasites
Parasitism is a Symbiosis, close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the Host (biology), host, causing it some harm, and is Adaptation, adapted structurally to this way of lif ...
; Halberstam highlights one particular fear that Jews would spread diseases of the blood, and one journalist's description of Jews as "Yiddish bloodsuckers". In contrast, Mathias Clasen writes parallels between vampirism and
sexually-transmitted diseases
Sexually transmitted infections (STIs), also referred to as sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and the older term venereal diseases, are infections that are Transmission (medicine), spread by Human sexual activity, sexual activity, especi ...
, specifically
syphilis
Syphilis () is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium ''Treponema pallidum'' subspecies ''pallidum''. The signs and symptoms of syphilis vary depending in which of the four stages it presents (primary, secondary, latent, an ...
. Martin Willis, a researcher focused on the intersection of literature and disease, argues that the novel's characterisation of vampirism makes it both the initial infection and resulting illness.
Style
Narrative
As an
epistolary novel
An epistolary novel is a novel written as a series of letters. The term is often extended to cover novels that intersperse documents of other kinds with the letters, most commonly diary entries and newspaper clippings, and sometimes considered ...
, ''Dracula'' is narrated through a series of documents. The novel's first four chapters are related as the journals of Jonathan Harker. Scholar David Seed notes that Harker's accounts function as an attempt to translocate the "strange" events of his visit to Dracula's castle into the nineteenth-century tradition of
travelogue
Travelogue may refer to:
Genres
* Travel literature, a record of the experiences of an author travelling
* Travel documentary
A travel documentary is a documentary film, television program, or online series that describes travel in general or t ...
writing. John Seward, Mina Murray and Jonathan Harker all keep a crystalline account of the period as an act of self-preservation; David Seed notes that Harker's narrative is written in
shorthand
Shorthand is an abbreviated symbolic writing method that increases speed and brevity of writing as compared to longhand, a more common method of writing a language. The process of writing in shorthand is called stenography, from the Greek ''ste ...
to remain inscrutable to the Count, protecting his own identity, which Dracula threatens to destroy. Harker's journal, for example, embodies the only advantage during his stay at Dracula's castle: that he knows more than the Count thinks he does. The novel's disparate accounts approach a kind of narrative unity as the narrative unfolds. In the novel's first half, each narrator has a strongly characterised narrative voice, with Lucy's showing her verbosity, Seward's businesslike formality, and Harker's excessive politeness. These narrative styles also highlight the power struggle between vampire and his hunters; the increasing prominence of Van Helsing's broken English as Dracula gathers power represents the entrance of the foreigner into Victorian society.
Genre
''Dracula'' is a common reference text in discussions of
Gothic fiction
Gothic fiction, sometimes called Gothic horror in the 20th century, is a loose literary aesthetic of fear and haunting. The name is a reference to Gothic architecture of the European Middle Ages, which was characteristic of the settings of ea ...
. Jerrold E. Hogle notes Gothic fiction's tendency to blur boundaries, pointing to sexual orientation, race, class, and even species. Relating this to ''Dracula'', he highlights that the Count "can disgorge blood from his breasts" in addition to his teeth; that he is attracted to both Jonathan Harker and Mina Murray; appears both racially western and eastern; and how he is an aristocrat able to mingle with homeless vagrants. Stoker drew extensively from folklore in crafting Count Dracula, but many of the Count's physical attributes were typical of Gothic villains during Stoker's lifetime. In particular, his hooked nose, pale complexion, large moustache and thick eyebrows were likely inspired by the villains of Gothic fiction. Likewise, Stoker's selection of Transylvania has roots in the Gothic. Writers of the mode were drawn to Eastern Europe as a setting because travelogues presented it as a land of primitive superstitions. ''Dracula'' deviates from Gothic tales before it by firmly establishing its time—that being the modern era. The novel is an example of
Urban Gothic.
''Dracula'' became the subject of critical interest into Irish fiction during the early 1990s. ''Dracula'' is set largely in England, but Stoker was born in
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
, which was at that time part of the
British Empire
The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...
, and lived there for the first 30 years of his life. As a result, a significant body of writing exists on ''Dracula'', Ireland, England, and colonialism. Calvin W. Keogh writes that Harker's voyage into Eastern Europe "bears comparison with the Celtic fringe to the west", highlighting them both as "othered" spaces. Keogh notes that the
Eastern Question has been both symbolically and historically associated with the
Irish question
The Irish question was the issue debated primarily among the British government from the early 19th century until the 1920s of how to respond to Irish nationalism and the calls for Irish independence.
The phrase came to prominence as a result ...
. In this reading, Transylvania functions as a stand-in for Ireland. Several critics have described Count Dracula as an Anglo-Irish landlord.
Reception
Upon publication, ''Dracula'' was well received. Reviewers frequently compared the novel to other Gothic writers, and mentions of 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'' (1859), a mystery novel and early "sensation novel", and for ''The Moons ...
and ''
The Woman in White'' (1859) were especially common because of 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
''The Saturday Review of Politics, Literature, Science, and Art'' was a London weekly newspaper established by A. J. B. Beresford Hope in 1855.
The first editor was the ''Morning Chronicle''s ex-editor John Douglas Cook (1808?–1868), and many ...
'' 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 and a pioneer of Gothic fiction. Her technique of explaining apparently supernatural elements in her novels has been credited with gaining respectability for G ...
. Another anonymous writer described Stoker as "the Edgar Allan Poe of the nineties". Other favourable comparisons to other Gothic novelists include the
Brontë sisters and
Mary Shelley
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (; ; 30 August 1797 – 1 February 1851) was an English novelist who wrote the Gothic fiction, Gothic novel ''Frankenstein, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' (1818), which is considered an History of scie ...
.
Many of these early reviews were charmed by Stoker's unique treatment of the vampire myth. One 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 both in foreign lands—in the far-away Carpathian Mountains—and at home, in Whitby and
Hampstead Heath
Hampstead Heath (locally known simply as the 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 o ...
. An Australian paper, ''
The Advertiser'', regarded the novel as simultaneously sensational and domestic. One reviewer praised the "considerable power" of Stoker's prose and describing it as
impressionistic
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open 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'' noted that the novel was, at times, unintentionally funny, pointing to Dracula's disdain for garlic.
''Dracula'' was widely considered to be 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 ''
The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde'' is a 1886 Gothic 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 his old ...
'', had more restraint.
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
John Edgar Browning (born October 14, 1980) is an American author, editor, and scholar known for his nonfiction works about the horror genre and vampires in film, literature, and culture. Previously a visiting lecturer at the Georgia Institute o ...
, 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". Browning writes that the misconception of ''Dracula'' mixed reception stems from a low sample size. Of 91 contemporary reviews, Browning identified 10 as "generally positive"; 4 as "mixed" in their assessment; 3 as "wholly or mostly negative"; and the rest as positive and possessing no negative reservations. Among the positive reviews, Browning writes that 36 were unreserved in their praise, including publications like ''
The Daily Mail
The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper and news websitePeter Wilb"Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail: The man who hates liberal Britain", ''New Statesman'', 19 December 2013 (online version: 2 January 2014) publish ...
'', ''The Daily Telegraph'', and ''
Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper
''Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper'', called the ''Sunday News'' after 1924, was an early Sunday newspaper in the United Kingdom, launched in 1842., ceased publication in 1931.
Founding
Edward Lloyd launched ''Lloyd’s Weekly Newspaper'' in 1842. It was ...
''.
[: "firstly, generally positive reviews that include perhaps one, sometimes two negative remarks or reservations, of which I have discerned ten examples; secondly, generally mixed reviews in which scorn and praise are relatively balanced, of which I have found four examples13; and, thirdly, wholly or mostly negative reviews, of which I managed to locate only three examples. What remains are some seventy positive reviews and responses. And, in addition still are thirty-six different laudatory press notices".)] Other critical works have rejected the narrative of ''Dracula'' mixed response. Raymond T. McNally and Radu Florescu's ''In Search of Dracula'' mentions the novel's "immediate success". Other works about ''Dracula'', coincidentally 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, evidenced by its own peer-reviewed journal and the numerous books and articles discussing the novel.
Legacy
Adaptations
![Bela Lugosi as Dracula, anonymous photograph from 1931, Universal Studios](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/90/Bela_Lugosi_as_Dracula%2C_anonymous_photograph_from_1931%2C_Universal_Studios.jpg)
The story of ''Dracula'' has been the basis for numerous films and plays. Stoker himself wrote the first theatrical adaptation, which was presented at the Lyceum Theatre on 18 May 1897 under the title ''Dracula, or The Undead'' shortly before the novel's publication and performed only once, in order to establish his own copyright for such adaptations. Although the manuscript was believed lost, the British Library possesses a copy. It consists of extracts from 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 tran ...
with Stoker's own handwriting providing direction and dialogue attribution.
The first film to feature Count Dracula was
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
''Drakula halála'' () is a silent film that was co-written and directed by Károly Lajthay. The film was the first appearance of Count Dracula from Bram Stoker's novel ''Dracula'' (1897), though the film does not follow the plot of the novel.
...
'' (''The Death of Dracula''), a Hungarian silent film released in 1921. Very little of the film has survived, and David J. Skal notes that the cover artist for the 1926 Hungarian version of the film 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 was greatly influenced by Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Shakespeare and Ibsen plays he had seen at t ...
's ''
Nosferatu
''Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror'' (German: ''Nosferatu – Eine Symphonie des Grauens'') is a 1922 silent German Expressionist horror film directed by F. W. Murnau and starring Max Schreck as Count Orlok, a vampire who preys on the wife ...
''. Critic Wayne E. Hensley writes that the film's narrative differs significantly from the novel, but that characters have clear counterparts. Bram Stoker's widow,
Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...
, initiated legal action against the film studio, Prana. The legal case lasted two or three years, and in May 1924, Prana agreed to destroy all copies of the film.
![Dracula 1958 c](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/25/Dracula_1958_c.jpg)
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
Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó (; October 20, 1882 – August 16, 1956), known professionally as Bela Lugosi (; ), was a Hungarian and American actor best remembered for portraying Count Dracula in the 1931 horror classic Dracula (1931 English-lan ...
(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 long career spanning more than 60 years, Lee often portrayed villains, and appeared as Count Dracula in seven Hammer Horror films, ultimat ...
(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
Gary Leonard Oldman (born 21 March 1958) is an English actor and filmmaker. Known for his versatility and intense acting style, he has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and three British Academy Fi ...
's portrayal in ''
Bram Stoker's Dracula'' (1992), directed by
Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola (; ; born April 7, 1939) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is considered one of the major figures of the New Hollywood filmmaking movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Coppola is the recipient of five A ...
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.
''Dracula'' has been adapted a large number of times across virtually all forms of media. John Edgar Browning and
Caroline Joan S. Picart
Caroline Joan S. Picart is a Filipino-born American academic who has written and edited numerous books and anthologies on philosophy and cultural studies, especially horror film. She is also a lawyer and had a radio show, ''The Dr. Caroline (Kay) ...
write 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.
Roberto Fernández Retamar Roberto Fernández Retamar (9 June 1930 – 20 July 2019, Havana) was a Cuban poet, essayist, literary critic and President of the Casa de las Américas. In his role as President of the organization, Fernández also served on the Council of State o ...
deemed Count Dracula—along with characters such as
Frankenstein's monster
Frankenstein's monster or Frankenstein's creature, often referred to as simply "Frankenstein", is a fictional character who first appeared in Mary Shelley's 1818 novel ''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus''. Shelley's title thus compares ...
,
Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse is an animated cartoon Character (arts), character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime mascot of The Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red sho ...
and
Superman
Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publi ...
—to be a part of the "
hegemonic
Hegemony (, , ) is the political, economic, and military predominance of one state over other states. In Ancient Greece (8th BC – AD 6th ), hegemony denoted the politico-military dominance of the ''hegemon'' city-state over other city-states. ...
Anglo-Saxon world
scinematic fodder". Across the world, completed new adaptations can be produced as often as every week.
Influence
''Dracula'' was not the first piece of literature to depict vampires, but the novel has nonetheless come to dominate both popular and scholarly treatments of vampire fiction. Count Dracula is the first character to come to mind when people discuss vampires. ''Dracula'' succeeded by drawing together folklore, legend, vampire fiction and the conventions of the Gothic novel.
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 or AS". 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, species of the subfamily Desmodontinae, are leaf-nosed bats found in Central and South America. Their food source is blood of other animals, a dietary trait called hematophagy. Three extant bat species feed solely on blood: the com ...
'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 SFX, 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 imagined events in a story or virtual wor ...
s.
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, sunlight, 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.
Adaptations of the novel and its characters have contributed to its enduring popularity. Even within academic discussions, the boundaries between Stoker's novel and the character's adaptation across a range of media have effectively been blurred. Dacre Stoker suggests that Stoker's failure to comply with United States copyright law contributed to its enduring status, writing that writers and producers did not need to pay a licence fee to use the character.
Notes and references
Notes
References
Bibliography
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Websites
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External links
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Dracula' at
Standard Ebooks
Standard Ebooks is an open source, volunteer-driven project to create and publish high-quality, fully featured and accessible e-books of works in the public domain. Standard Ebooks sources titles from places like Project Gutenberg, the Internet ...
* , text version of 1897 edition.
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''Journal of Dracula Studies''
{{Authority control
1897 novels
19th-century Irish novels
Constable & Co. books
Dracula novels
Epistolary novels
Irish Gothic novels
Irish novels adapted into films
Irish novels adapted into plays
Irish novels adapted into television shows
Invasion literature
LGBT-related horror literature
Novels adapted into ballets
Novels adapted into radio programs
Novels by Bram Stoker
Novels set in Hungary
Novels set in London
Novels set in Romania
Novels set in Whitby
Transylvania in fiction
Victorian novels
Works set in castles