Title: Bram Stoker, the reluctant Englishman. How Dracula betrays his origins as an Irishman
Bram Stokers Dracula (1987) is a complex novel with many interwoven themes. One of the most powerful running through the Book is that of Stoker himself and the unease he felt with his status as an Irish colonial living in the centre of the most powerful empire in the world. Like the Book he is a complex character and does not conform to the stereotypical Irish Nationalist. He was a moneyed Anglo Irish protestant, reared in Dublin, studied at Trinity College (a great symbol of the Empire) and like many was torn between his nationalist beliefs and his admiration for the Crown. Stephen D. Arata writes in his journal titled The Occidental Tourist: Dracula and the anxiety of reverse colonisation:
As a Transplanted Irishman, one whose national allegiances were conspicuously split, Stoker was particularly sensitive to the issues raised by British imperial conquest and domination. Britains subjugation of Ireland was marked by a brutality often exceeding what occurred in the colonies, while the stereotype of the primitive ... dirty, vengeful and violent Irishman was in most respects identical to that of the most despised savage. The ill will characterising Anglo-Irish relations in the late-nineteenth century, exacerbated by the rise of fenianism and the debate over Home Rule, far surpassed the tensions that arose as a result of British rule elsewhere
Also David Glovers book Vampires, Mummies and Liberals, Bram Stoker and the politics of Fiction (1996) gives a great insight into the mind of Stoker at the time:
Glovers efforts reveal a writer who was more wide-ranging and politically engaged than his current reputation suggests. An Irish Protestant and nationalist, Stoker nonetheless drew his political inspiration from English liberalism at a time of impending crisis, and the traditions contradictions and uncertainties haunt his work. At the heart of Stokers writing Glover exposes a preoccupation with those sciences and pseudo-sciencesfrom physiognomy and phrenology to eugenics and sexologythat seemed to cast doubt on the liberal faith in progress. He argues thatDraculashould be read as a text torn between the stances of the colonizer and the colonized, unable to accept or reject the racialized images of backwardness that dogged debates about Irish nationhood.
Therefore it is clear that Stoker was uncomfortable with his situation, his love for the civilised, sophisticated way of life of the English upper class was tempered by its treatment of his fellow Irishmen.
By studying such themes as Religion and the portrayal of the Social classes I will be examining how Dracula does betray Stokers origins as an Irish colonial in England and how he is trying to come to terms with his status as outsider.
The theme of Religion is always prominent and we can see the conflict between Protestantism and Catholicism as a metaphor for the conflict between Britain and Ireland. The four Englishmen, Jonathan Harker, Dr Seaward, Arthur Holmwood and Lord Godalming all represent English Protestantism and by extension the British Empire but by the end of the novel they have almost resigned themselves to accepting the superior power of Catholicism. In the early part of the text Jonathan Harker describes himself as an English Churchman and in his first encounter with the locals in Transylvania, when they give him a crucifix to bring to Draculas Castle, He shows his ignorance of this other almost peasant religion and its ultimate powers.
She then rose and dried her eyes and taking a crucifix from her neck offered it to me. I did not know what to do, for, as an English Churchman, I have been taught to regard such things as in some measure idolatrous, and yet it seemed so ungracious to refuse an old lady meaning so well and in such a state of mind
As the story progresses Harker has a great battle with his religious beliefs and in some way it can be said that he comes to accept his faith in the catholic sacraments. In the Castle when he is attacked by Dracula and realises there is no reflection of the count in the mirror he regards the crucifix as his only defence
Bless that good woman who hung the crucifix round my neck for it is a comfort and a strength for me whenever I touch it. It is odd that a thing which I have been taught to regard with disfavour and as idolatrous should in time of loneliness and trouble be of help. It is that there is something in the essence of the thing itself, or that it is a medium, a tangible help, in conveying memories of sympathy and comfort? Some time, if it may be, I must examine this matter and try to make up my mind about it
On the other hand the character of Van Helsing, the main protagonist, is portrayed as a believer in the power of the catholic tradition especially the sacraments. We do not know his religion,but we get a strong indicator in chapter 13 when takes a gold crucifix from around his neck and places it on the dead Lucy, Then he took from his neck, inside his collar, a little golden crucifix, and placed it over the mouth. He restored the sheet to its place, and we came away
As the Story progresses Harker and his friends become more in awe of the power of Catholicism and indeed of the heroic Professor Van Helsing who introduces weapons such as crucifixes, stakes and sacred hosts to destroy Dracula. Here they put all their trust in the professor:
The host I brought it from Amsterdam. I have an indulgence. It was an answer that appalled the most sceptical of us, and we felt individually that in the presence of such earnest purpose as the professors, a purpose which could thus use the to him most sacred of things, it was impossible to mistrust. In respectful silence we took the places assigned to us
They are bowing to the superior knowledge of the professor and his holistic approach to the great dangers. Indeed James H. Murphy in his journal The Literature and Culture of Nineteenth Century Ireland tells how Joseph Valente, in his book Dracula,s Crypt: Bram Stoker, Irishness and the question of Blood describes the role Catholicism plays in the story
Valente sees the Englishmen who destroy Dracula as having to become Irish Catholics in order to do so, using crucifixes and sacred hosts and trusting in Murray who is likened to the Blessed Virgin. Instead of defeating the vampire without they vanquish the vampire within.
In essence by making the Catholic, foreigner Van Helsing the Hero and showing the English characters as his inept followers Stoker is showing his disdain for The British Empire and its arrogance.
The depiction of the social classes is another pointer to Stokers conflict. The development of the characters plays an important role in the Novel and again gives a strong indicator of how Stoker viewed Victorian society. The English quartet of the group that take on Dracula represent the monied Victorian class, these one dimensional characters are portrayed as perfect humans beings, they are caricatures of the society which Stoker is having a go at, the society where he is not welcomed. Mina Harkers diary describing Dr Seward: The World seems full of good men even if there are monsters in it, Dr Seward describing his first meeting with Jonathan Harker: I was prepared to meet a good specimen of manhood, but hardly the quiet, business-like gentleman who came here today, and Mina Harkers description of her meeting with Lord Godalming
For when Lord Godalming found himself alone with me he sat down on the sofa and gave way utterly and openly. I sat down beside him and took his hand. I hope he did not think it forward of me, and that if he ever thinks of it afterward she never will have such a thought. There I wrong him; I know he never will he is to true a gentleman. I said to him for I could see that his heart was breaking,
Also in a critical scene when Arthur kills the undead, unclean Lucy Dr Seaward records in his Diary:
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