Dracula: Interpretations (OCR A Level English Literature)

Dracula: Interpretations

AO5 assesses your ability to understand different ways of reading and interpreting texts. Those different readings can take different forms, from interpretations by critics to watching and analysing different productions of a text.

There are numerous ways to explore different interpretations in order to meet the AO5 assessment criteria, and you must explore a range of secondary reading and perspectives to supplement your understanding of the text. These can include:

• Exploring critics

• Interpretations over time

• Dramatisations

Exploring critics

Different critics will offеr variеd insights and intеrprеtations of Dracula, and citations will lеnd crеdibility and authority to your analysis. Rеfеrеncing well-known critics demonstrates that your interpretation is groundеd in literary criticism. It will also еnhance thе validity of your argumеnt. By citing multiple critics, you can prеsеnt a morе comprehensive and balanced analysis and demonstrate the different range of perspectives and interpretations surrounding the novel.

Below are two notable critics who have commented on Dracula:

Christine Ferguson: “Dracula and the Occult” (2017)

Christine Ferguson is a Professor in English Studies and her research focuses on the histories of the literary Gothic and the British occult revival at the end of the 19th century. She has written an essay titled “Dracula and the Occult” in which she explores the role of the occult and supernatural in the novel.

• She states that the novel includes a number of references to occult beliefs and practices:

  • As a result, some critics have accused the author of being a member of an occult organisation, but there is no evidence to support these claims

• Dracula was published during a period that saw a massive revival of the occult in Victorian England:

  • Those who participated in these practices sought to explore hidden realms beyond the boundaries of science and conventional religion

  • The late 19th century saw a surge in groups who believed in the ability to speak to the dead, crystal gazing, alchemy and ritual magic

• However, alongside the occult revival, other groups formed with the aim to investigate paranormal phenomena through science and logic, such as the Society for Psychical Research:

  • The interest in science and logic is reflected in the novel through characters such as Dr Seward, who does not immediately believe in Van Helsing’s superstitious and supernatural theories

  • We see him struggle to grasp the ideas and he finds it difficult to come to terms with the fact that there is no way to rationalise what is happening through scientific logic and reasoning

• Dracula, she claims, can be classified as part of the occult revival as it incorporates elements of these occult beliefs and practices:

  • It features supernatural phenomena, discusses ancient wisdom and envisages the exposure and concealment of esoteric knowledge among a closed group of people, which includes the reader

• Also, Dracula’s association with the occult is reflected in his scholastic path to vampirism, which involved the study of alchemy:

  • Dracula did not become a vampire in the same way that Lucy does

  • Instead, Van Helsing explains that Dracula became a vampire through his pursuit of alchemical knowledge

• Ferguson argues that the skills that Dracula possesses may not help him in Transylvania as they “seem somewhat redundant or inapplicable” as his powers are common knowledge there:

  • As a result, the locals know how to repel him, which is evident when they give Harker the crucifix and try to warn him against going to the castle

• However, when Dracula arrives in England, this geographical shift results in him “gaining considerable benefits and cultural capital of secrecy”:

  • The men in England do not initially know how to treat Lucy or how to ward off Dracula as they do not possess the knowledge that so many seemed to have in Transylvania

  • Though we do not know exactly how knowledgeable they were, we can confidently conclude that it was more than those in England

  • Dracula’s narrative highlights the ease with which something that is public knowledge and explicit becomes hidden (“exoteric to esoteric”) and how easily it can morph from one to the other

Charles E. Prescott and Grace A. Giorgio: “Vampiric Affinities: Mina Harker and the paradox of femininity in Bram Stoker’s Dracula” (2005)

Charles E. Prescott and Grace A. Giorgio wrote “Vampiric Affinities: Mina Harker and the paradox of femininity in Bram Stoker’s Dracula”, which explores Mina Harker’s role in Dracula and whether she is a true representation of the ideal female in Victorian England.

• The essay explores the idea that, while many critics concentrate on Dracula and the men who fight him, Mina is a character whose “complex subjectivity” is developed through her affinity with Dracula

• Mina’s transformation into a vampire encapsulates the cultural anxieties during a time when traditional views and ideologies on femininity and the role of the woman were being questioned and examined:

  • Mina’s characteristics initially align with the ideal Victorian woman, but later these norms are challenged through her work and interests

• The New Woman movement, which included ideas of women seeking education and employment, was a source of cultural anxiety in England at that time:

  • Mina’s association with the New Woman ideology creates ambivalence around her character as she is engaging in activities such as typewriting, which would not traditionally be associated with women

  • Her presentation as the ideal Victorian woman undergoes a transformation through her engagement with ideas associated with the New Woman movement, as Van Helsing states that she has “a man’s brain”

• Mina Harker is a key figure in the novel as she is responsible for creating the knowledge needed to destroy Dracula:

  • She then chooses to share her husband’s diary entries in order to stop the vampire

  • She is driven by her work on the journals and her desire to be working, which means she is pushing the boundaries imposed on her by society and her gender

• However, Mina is then pushed back into the role of submissive female when the men, including her husband, choose to keep her out of their plan to destroy Dracula:

  • This provokes a “devouring anxiety”, which draws Dracula to her

• Mina’s character is complex and cannot be reduced to a passive ideal

Interpretations over time

Bram Stoker published Dracula in 1897 and, since then, society has changed a great deal in many ways. Below are some examples of critical reactions since the publication of Dracula.

Reactions on publication

• Dracula did not receive unanimous praise from critics upon its publication:

  • The Manchester Guardian, while praising the author’s ability as a writer, felt that the novel was an “artistic mistake” and that Stoker should not have decided to “fill a whole volume with horrors”

  • The Observer dismissed the story and called it “gruesome”

• However, there were some who felt that the novel was an excellent addition to the Gothic genre:

  • One critic stated that it was “one of the best things in the supernatural line”

Reactions by the author

• Bram Stoker’s intention was that Dracula would serve as a warning for people of an evil that he believed was very real:

  • He did not write the novel initially as a piece of fiction

  • His idea for Dracula came from a dream that he had, which he felt was all too real

  • In addition to the dream, he researched characters and locations that would feature in his novel, including the town of Whitby

• However, he was told by his publishers to rewrite the story as fiction in order to make it more palatable for the readers:

  • This was because London had fallen victim to mass murder and the killer was still at large

  • Therefore, to prevent mass hysteria, Stoker would have to turn his non-fiction piece into fiction

• Stoker was therefore forced to cut the first 101 pages and make numerous amendments to the text in addition to changing Dracula’s fate to make it more acceptable to wider society

More recent reactions

• The novel continues to attract attention and the fascination of the public

• Academics in the field of sociology, psychology and cultural studies continue to research and study the themes and ideas within the novel

• A recent critical essay written by Robert Mighall, titled “Sex, History and the Vampire”, argues that Dracula’s association with themes such as sexual representation and repression is a modern observation rather than one that was made during Victorian England

• There have been a number of film and TV adaptations of Dracula, beginning in the 1920s with the Hungarian silent movie called “Dracula’s Death”, which was then followed by the more popular adaptation called “Nosferatu”

• The actor Bela Lugosi is best known for playing the count in the 1931 adaptation, and is responsible for the trademark image of the count with the cloak and black hair

• The 1931 film was commercially successful and remains one of the most well-known adaptations of the novel to date

Dramatisation

Examining various productions on stage and screen of Dracula will help you to appreciate different interpretations of the characters and themes, and also how they may have evolved over time, reflecting shifts in society and culture.

Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992) – Francis Ford Coppola

The 1992 adaptation of Dracula has gained a cult following and has been hailed as the best adaptation of the novel, as it attempts to retell the story to a modern audience whilst still remaining predominantly faithful to the original story. More recent versions of Dracula have since been released, such as “Dracula Untold”, but these have not had the same level of success that Francis Ford Coppola's interpretation did.

• The movie was released to critical acclaim and was nominated for numerous awards, including BAFTAs and Academy Awards:

  • Is it therefore considered the definitive film adaptation of Stoker’s novel

• The general story is the same, with the count moving to London from Transylvania and his battle with the group of men

• The film kept the use of multiple narrators by shifting the narrative perspective through the film and the director makes the diary entries part of the script so lines are taken directly from the novel:

  • This gives it a sense of authenticity 

• Dracula’s mode of transportation is still the same in the film as it is in the novel, and he arrives in England on a Russian shipwreck:

  • This helps set the tone of the film and the gruesome murder of the ship’s crew is played out in the film as the captain’s logs are being read

• Professor Van Helsing is still the leader of the group of men who pursue Dracula and he is still summoned by Dr Seward to examine Lucy

• However, there are some deviations from the novel:

  • The first being that, in the film, Van Helsing explicitly states that Dracula is Vlad the Impaler and, while references are made to this in the novel, it is never explicitly stated

• Also, the character of Mina Harker is presented differently:

  • In the film, Dracula gives her the option to choose to drink his blood, whereas in the novel, he forces her to drink it against her will

  • Also, Mina does not fall in love with Dracula in the novel. Rather, she seeks to destroy him along with the men and remains faithful to her husband

  • There is no romantic link between Mina and Dracula in the novel

  • The film focuses on Dracula’s obsession with Mina, as he believes she is the reincarnation of his wife

  • However, in the novel, there is no romantic goal, nor does Dracula seem capable of feeling love or affection for anyone

• Lucy Wistenra is also presented differently as she is far more extrovert and flirtatious than in the novel, where she is seen to be prim and proper:

  • She openly discusses sex and “what men want” with Mina, who appears to be both shocked and in awe of Lucy’s candour

  • Lucy also flirts with the men and appears to be much more forward in the film in comparison to the novel

  • Also, there is a sexual element between Dracula and Lucy that was not apparent in the novel 

• The film delves into Dracula’s past and the source of his vampirism as well as some tragedies that he has experienced:

  • The novel, while hinting at this past and his lineage, does not go into great detail about Dracula’s past life

• At the end of the film, Dracula wakes before he is killed and a struggle ensues:

  • This is different to the novel as the men manage to kill him just after he wakes, which prevents him from defending himself or fighting them

• Also, Dracula does not die instantly in the film, but Mina helps to destroy him

• This was added in the film, but ties up the romantic subplot between Dracula and Mina