Values and Attitudes in Dracula Essay

What values and attitudes are explored within Stokers Dracula? How might context have influenced Stokers vision?

Bram Stokers Dracula is, if nothing else, an extraordinary exploration of the values and attitudes at turn-of-the 20th Century London. Stoker portrays the collision of two disparate worlds - the Counts ancient Transylvania and the protagonists rapidly modernising London - along with a variety of other symbols in order to highlight the primary anxieties that characterised his age: the dangers of female sexuality, the ramifications of scientific and technological advancement and the impacts of abandoning religion. Stoker makes continued use of symbols and objects throughout the novel in order to further strengthen on this idea. Through these means, Stoker provides a stunning insight into the values and attitudes that typified London in the final years of the 19th Century.

The consequences of science and technology and overall, modernity, are brought into question quite early in the novel. As Jonathon Harker becomes uneasy with his accommodation and host in Castle Dracula, he notes unless my senses deceive me, the old centuries had, and have, powers of their own which mere modernity can not kill. This specific quote outlines one of the central concerns of the Victorian Era. There were great developments in both science and technology at this time that brought into question the system of beliefs that had governed English society for centuries. Darwins theory of evolution, as an example, gave rise to doubt regarding the soundness of religious doctrines, which had for so long been the only answer to the origins of life. In the same way, the Industrial Revolution brought enormous economic and social change to England.

Although the setting of the novel begins in a castle a traditional Gothic setting the action soon moves on to London, in which the Count is able to prey upon his victims much easier as an indirect result of the advancements in both science and technology. The Victorians confidence in the advancements in science and technology causes them to dismiss the very superstitions, such as Dracula, that seek to bring down their society. The lack of regard for past held beliefs and concepts is portrayed in Mina and Dr Sewards reactions to Lucys illness, who due to their firm devotion in modern advancements, results in both being even unable to fathom a cause for it. It is only Dr Van Helsings open-mindedness towards ancient legends and traditional folk remedies, despite his great familiarity and knowledge of modern western medicine that allows him to diagnose Lucys affliction.

Van Helsings vast knowledge is displayed once again when he tells Seward that to rid the earth of this terrible monster we must have all the knowledge and all the help we can get. He literally means all the knowledge, not only modern Western methods, but those of ancient and alien means which the Western school of thought often dismisses. In another statement of his, he says It is the fault of our science that it wants to explain all; and if it can explain not, than it says there is nothing to explain. Van Helsing represents the balance of both the East and the West, the old and the new. He serves in this statement as a warning to those who abandon and disregard all old beliefs in favour of new advancements.

Female sexuality is an issue that is delved into quite deeply during the novel. In fact the entire outcome of the novel hinges upon the fates of the two main female characters. Stoker primarily explores this issue through his juxtaposition of Mina Murray and Lucy Westerna. Both women are much alike. They both possess the valued Victorian virtues of chasteness, purity and innocence however there is one key element that distinguishes Lucy from Mina: her promiscuity.

Lucys promiscuity becomes apparent immediately when she leads three men on to the point where the all propose to her in one day. She later laments in a letter why cant they let a girl marry three men, or as many as want her, and save her all this trouble. At the time of writing this attitude for a woman was still socially unacceptable. Promiscuity was a trait seen as reserved for men. Lucy is ultimately punished for it as Dracula succeeds in transforming her due in part to her susceptibility as a promiscuous woman. As a vampire Lucys faint whisper of insatiability is amplified to a monstrous level when Stoker describes her as a creature possessing a voracious sexual appetite. In this state she represents a significant threat to men and therefore must be destroyed where she is transformed back into her state of purity that assures men that the women are back exactly where they should be.

In contrast Minas sexuality remains inscrutable throughout the entire novel. Although she marries, she never shows any sexual intentions or desires towards Jonathon, which is a trait that enables her to retain her purity. This purity is a motif that is mentioned over and over again throughout the novel, especially in the second half in which the battle of the novel is partly between that of her purity and of Draculas corruptness. Stoker creates suspense about whether Mina will go down the same track as Lucy and be lost. But in the end her purity triumphs with Mina making use of all her positive virtues to successfully come through her vampiric episode and bring about the destruction of Dracula.

Religion as a whole is explored thoroughly through the course of the novel. The icons of Christian worship appear throughout the novel with great frequency and are used as a weapon of unearthly good against supernatural evil. In the early chapters, the peasants of Eastern Europe offer Jonathan Harker crucifixes to guard him against the dangers that await him at Castle Dracula. Later, Van Helsing arrives armed with crosses and Communion wafers. The frequency with which Stoker returns to these images frames Van Helsings mission as an explicitly religious one and draws upon the importance of religion in everyday society. He is, as he says near the end of the novel, nothing less than a minister of Gods own wish. Stoker uses the positive light he places on the Christian items as a representation of continued significance that religion plays in society.

Stokers Dracula makes ample use of symbols and characters and contrasts between new and old in order to portray a number of values and attitudes throughout the course of the novel. It is his focus, however, on women, religion and science and technology that highlight the most relevant and pressing of his time. With these, Stoker provides an insightful study into those values and attitudes that shaped Victorian Era London.