Vampirism In Dracula

The whole idea of vampirism has very dark and negative connotations to it, but still innately we are fascinated by it. In Dracula by Bram Stoker, we see each of the characters battling with the theme of good vs bad. We see characters facing situations where they either respond with good actions and words or evil actions and words. Many of the characters try to figure out if we are people who make mistakes or we are either completely bad or good. Count Dracula’s castle is a very dark place filled with “darkness” and taboos that society outcasted and shunned away, but yet this is where Dracula chooses to reside. In the castle all the characters seem to experience and do things, that makes us question; does the presence of Count Dracula make

people evil or does it bring evil out of us?
The first character in Dracula that has developed into something different after first stepping foot into Count Dracula castle was is Jonathan Harker.

After first meeting the Count, Jonathan was uneasy about the way he conducted himself and his lifestyle, but it didn't take long for his infatuation with the Count to only be explained by a creature in which he probably only heard stories about. After learning that the count was a vampire he “A terrible desire came upon me to rid the world of such a monster...the shovel turned in my hand...merely making a deep gash from above the forehead” (Dracula 52). Before Jonathan came to this castle I'm pretty sure he was not a murder so his first instinct probably should have been to run away instead of kill Count Dracula. Killing is out of character for Jonathan but that was his first instinct which shows that Dracula is already inside his head. As Jonathan stays in the castle as a hostage, we see his sexuality start to break his surface of sexual modesty. Jonathan feels “a wicked, burning desire that they would kiss me with those red lips. It is not good to note this down, lest some day it should meet Mina's eyes and cause her pain; but it is the truth.” (Dracula 38). Although Jonathan has guilt and remorse for the feelings of arousal that he has right now, he is supposed to be in love with the woman he is going to marry and he is betraying the marriage already. Jonathan’s internal conflict that we see is him trying to not give into is temptation because he thinks it is wrong, but he wants it

nonetheless.
The next character that has been affected after Count Dracula entered their lives was Lucy. Sexuality was a topic that was condemned in any and all contexts. In the society in which Dracula was made for over sexualwomen were not tolerated however in the castle of the Count we see women expressing their sexualtiy to the extremaes. We see this when Lucy turns into a vampire the first thing she said was “Arthur! Oh my love, I am so glad you have come! Kiss me!” (Dracula 161). In most stories we see newly turned vampires have a thirst for blood but Lucy’s sexuality was her “blood” and satisfaction that she was never able to express. Lucy’s hidden desire of sexual expression was overcame by the nature of the vampire. Lucy told Arthur, “Come to me Arthur. Leave these others and come to me. My arms are hungry for you. Come, and we can rest together. Come, my husband, come” ( Dracula 211). Women even to this day rarely approach men, and back during that time it never happened, except in the Count’s castle. We see Lucy and the other female vampires approaching the men in this castle and it is very taboo for this to happen. The female vampires are taking hold of their deepest desires and fulfilling them as the “New Woman”.
In Dracula human nature is the source of all negative emotions when it comes to desires and being a vampire is freedom of society’s opinions and rules. A lot of things happened in Count Dracula’s castle that society was frowned upon but people like Jonathan and Lucy became accustomed to it in some manner and fashion. Society tends to dictates what is good and what is bad. As a result there is a lot repressed feelings and emotions despite having conflicting judgements. Dracula is challenging social judgement and making the audience re-evaluate that we think is acceptable and unacceptable.