In Chapter 1, Harker notices that the Count has no reflection which ‘covered the whole room’. Throughout the novel Stoker uses irony, which allows the reader to have more knowledge than Harker; Harker has an attempt to grasp onto Dracula’s true identity, and what will happen to him. Whilst Jonathan is shaving he cuts his chin, which made an instant change in the behaviour of the Count. Whilst a grab to Harker’s throat Dracula’s hand touches the ‘beads which held the crucifix’, this shows that religion can control Dracula’s temptation for blood. When Dracula takes a grab to the throat, the reader realises that Harker would not escape that easily, and would be the next victim. Harker does not yet knows that he is in the slightest trouble, therefore has no understanding, that the meeting with Dracula is not business, but life for Dracula.
Dracula can transform into creatures of the dark, such as wolves, bats, dogs, and other animals. He can also become younger and stronger, when he consumes blood. In the opening chapters, when Harker is travelling to meet the Count, the coachman who takes him to Castle Dracula, Harker notices what strength the driver has, ‘a hand which caught my arm with a grip of steel; his strength must have been prodigious’. Harker is now alone in Eastern Europe, where many people fear Dracula however; they are too frightened to allow Harker to grasp the full knowledge of why he is invited to Castle Dracula. The driver is described as ‘…a tall man, with a long brown beard and a great black hat, which seemed to hide his face from us. I could only see the gleam of a pair of very bright eyes, which seemed red’, (Chapter 1, pg 10). When Harker meets the Count for the first time, he also describes ‘the handshake was so much akin to that which I noticed in the driver’, however he also says that he did not see the face of the driver, Harker has doubts whether the driver was the Count. This adds to the sense of irony, the fact that the reader knows that the driver was the Count shows that Harker believes that his meeting with the Count would not be business.
When Lucy is ‘bit of some animal’, Dr Seward thinks it could be a rat or even a wild specimen of bats, the reason being that there are so many in London. He believes that the bat could have escaped from a ‘sailor’, which could actually be Dracula. He goes on saying that it could have been ‘bred there from a vampire’ (Chapter 15 page 162). Stoker uses irony here which adds to the sense of tension as we wait for Harker to catch up with the reader’s acknowledgement.
Dracula has a control over nature. Nature has a way of warning Harker of Dracula and the danger ahead. `…Mountains seemed to come nearer to us on each side and to frown upon us` (Chapter 1, page 9), has you travel more to the east, more warnings try approaching to Harker. Harker describes the darkness as ‘closing down upon us’; Stoker uses metaphoric language here to show the power that Dracula has and suggests that he will achieve his goal of world domination.
As Harker travels through to the East from the West he soon becomes afraid of the superstitions. This is shown when Harker meets an old lady and gives him a crucifix, which will keep him safe from Dracula. When she hears that Harker is going to visit Dracula, she tries persuading Harker of staying the night with her. The character `Dracula` has control of the East, demonstrated by the fact that the old lady does not continue to say anymore.
Blood functions in many ways through out the novel. Blood is first acknowledged in Chapter III, when the Count tells Harker that ‘blood is too precious a thing in these days of dishonourable peace; and the glories of the great races are as a tale that is told’ (Jonathan Harker’s Journal, Chapter 3, Page 26). This indicates that the Count will go to war in order to overtake and will be in control over religion to get to power, he believes evil will triumph. The use of ‘dishonourable’ shows the conflict between the east and the west, especially the west which is more civilised. Dracula believes to go to war he will gain power and it also shows his masculinity and which remains even if he is dead.
Dracula is as old as religion and to remain dominant he will need to subvert religion. In order for `Dracula` to stay dominant he exploits the mortal characters. Stoker uses women as inferior towards 'Dracula', which shows stereotyping of the weaker gender. The role of upper class and in the middle class women in Victorian society was to be pure and be a virgin before marriage. In this period of the Victorian age women were not to have sex before marriage if to do so they were seen unworthy therefore Stoker’s Dracula prey’s on the vulnerable and uses his charms which are resistible to show his superiority. In order for 'Dracula' to remain dominant he will need to suck the victim's blood. Blood in the Bible is a symbol of spiritual life. In the Bible Jesus was crucified, the loss of blood represented that Jesus was defeated of his spiritual life. Wine is a symbol of Jesus’ blood, which is seen as a religious element and holy. For Dracula to gain superiority and become more human-like he would consume blood. The loss of blood represents the crucifixion of Jesus, however Dracula uses blood to gain spiritual life and power, Stoker changes the perceptions of the female and male characters within the novel, when 'Dracula' takes control of his victim, physically and spiritually, by using sexual powers to both genders. In chapter 11 in Dr Seward's Diary, one of Dr Seward's patient comes rushing in with his 'face distorted'. He describes the patient being 'quick and too strong', which could represent that Dracula has taken control of his next victim. The patient manages to cut Dr Seward's wrist, 'liking the blood like a dog'. The patient repeats 'blood is the life', which refers to the Bible, to Deuteronomy 12:23. This shows that Dracula’s hope of remaining strong, is resting on his ability to consume blood.
In the 19th Century women were not to have sexual experiences before marriage as they were seen worthless if they did. Stoker has purposely exploited the role of women in the character of Lucy Westenra. When bitten Lucy suffers the loss of blood, ’showing the two little wounds’, (Chapter 12, Dr Seward’s Diary, page 122). Stoker describes the wounds as 'little', which can relate how little Dracula needs to do to achieve his goal and demonstrates his power. In the novel Lucy is struggling for survival when she has four transfusions of blood. In the Bible, Jesus gave his own life on the crucifix, so that his people could live in peace from evil, which Stoker contradicts throughout the novel, as Dracula victimises Lucy and other characters, who are weak and insane such as Renfield. The role of men and women are shown in the register and content of the language ‘spoken’ and written by the characters in the novel; The diaries of Harker, and other men in the novel are more sophisticated and complex than women, has Mina and Lucy’s diaries are less intelligent and complex. Stoker's Dracula's victim turns into vampires themselves when bitten by Dracula himself. Dracula has potential effect on the West. In order for Dracula to have world domination he would have to go to war against the West for the reason that it is more civilised than the East.
In Chapter 13, Jonathan sees a man who is ‘a tall, thin man, with a beaky nose and black moustache and pointed beard’, Harker realises that it is Dracula who is stalking another ‘pretty girl’. Stoker describes Dracula as ‘fixed’; this shows that Dracula is determined and sees women as sexual objects.
When Dracula consumes blood, it represents the Catholic custom of Communion. Dracula ingests blood rather than wine, which symbolizes Christ’s blood, to gain power. Stoker’s Dracula is pro-religious as Dracula can only achieve his intentions however, good triumphs. Dracula uses blood as a symbol, in such the wine represented Jesus' blood. The Victorian Anglicanism disliked anything which was associated with Catholic rituals and relics, mainly after the Oxford movement’s attempt to restore some Roman Catholic practices during the 18302 and 1840s.
When Van Helsing enters The Count’s Castle, he finds the old chapel, by using Jonathan’s journal which has three graves, with the three female vampires in each one. Van Helsing performs a purification ritual and drives a stake through their hearts. Van Helsing finds a grave which is ‘more lordly than all the rest’, which is Dracula’s grave. He crushes a holy wafer and also places holy material, which will prevent Dracula from re-entering the castle again. Stoker's novel has contradicted 'Dracula', for the reason that, in order to have blood, which represented religious symbols, Dracula would need to avoid religion itself. Dracula in some ways could be seen as an ironic character, has religion finally defeats Dracula. Dracula is pro-religious therefore he went against religion to kill his victims. Life is seen as sacred in the Bible therefore Van Helsing goes against religion to kill Dracula with holy wafer and a stake. Has powerful Dracula is, religion can prevent him of victimising his prey. To get rid of Dracula, Van Helsing drove a stake into his heart and chopping his head severely.
