Count Dracula and the
Devil
Eugene Hernandez
Who
could Bram Stoker’s evil antagonist, Count Dracula, be compared to in the
Bible? In many ways Dracula is very
similar to the bible’s adversary Satan. Dracula and the Devil, these immortal
beings that torment humanity, share specific similarities by the way they are
depicted and of their desperate attempt to capture human souls and lead them in
a path away from God.
In the novel Dracula, the vampire named Count Dracula
is a very powerful creature who feeds on human’s blood but he does so especially
on the women of the novel such as Mina Harker (Stoker 307). Satan from the
Bible is also a powerful immortal that thrives on taking human’s lives. In
Christianity it is believed that he derails humans from following God’s ways,
thus denying their chances of living forever. He too went after Adam’s wife Eve as stated in
Genesis 3:1-5 where Satan influenced Eve into disobeying God by eating from the
forbidden tree. It is interesting to see the comparison of how both Dracula and
the Devil went after the women first to get to the men as well. Dracula sucked Lucy’s blood several times
prompting the men in the novel to give blood to Lucy as well (Stoker). Dracula
ended up consuming their blood as well through Lucy. Eve was able to convince her husband Adam to
disobey God as well, but Satan had only spoken with Eve.
Both Dracula and
Satan are described as beings that can transform into different kinds of
animals. The Devil transformed himself
into a serpent when he talked to Eve. In
the novel, Van Helsing describes Dracula, “He can transform himself to wolf, as
we gather from the ship arrival in Whitby… he can be as a bat, as Madam Mina
saw him” (Stoker 259-60). Whenever it was necessary, Dracula would transform
himself into a bat or wolf to his benefit.
In the Romanian language, “Dracul” means dragon (Ioana) and this is
important as in the Bible, Satan is described several times as a dragon. “The great dragon was hurled down—that
ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole
world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him” (Rev.
12: 9, NIV). Here Satan is described as
a serpent and a dragon. Stoker may have
used the name Dracula to compare the Count to the Devil. Author Bram Stoker also described vividly
Dracula’s face to that of Satan as “His eyes flamed red with devilish passion
the great nostrils of the white aquiline nose opened wide and quivered at the
edge; and the white sharp teeth, behind the full lips of the blood-dripping
mouth, champed together like those of a wild beast” (Stoker 307). In this dramatic description of the Count,
Stoker uses the color red to convey the image of the vampire. The Devil has also been depicted as being red
in a burning inferno.
These are some
comparisons of the Devil and Dracula. Why would Bram Stoker consider it
important to describe Dracula as this evil demon who is the opposite of God? Was Dracula forgiven when he was killed?
I really enjoyed your comparison of the women Dracula fed on to Eve and the snake. I can quite recall exactly where in the book it says so, but Van Helsing mentions that his friend who was looking up information says that the Dracula family were satan worshipers and that Dracula himself may have made a deal with the devil. Perhaps his immortality stems from a part of the Beast residing within him. It could also be mentioned that Dracula is the original vampire so far as they know, and the rest are his minions; similarly, Satan is the original evil and the rest of the demons are his minions. Personally, I don't think Dracula was forgiven when he was killed. The other vampires were innocent souls led astray by forces beyond their control and which they didn't understand, but Dracula seemed to be the original evil.
ReplyDeleteYeah thanks Michael, I was thinking about putting that abot how Satan has his demons to assist him, while Dracula had the two vampire women to help him as well. I'll have to look it up to see where Van Helsing talks about the Dracula family being satan worshippers. I think your right about Dracula being the original evil, as Satan too was the original evil as God will probably not forgive Satan for what he has done as well.
DeleteIt's interesting when you look at Dracula's followers because sometimes I thought of it as Dracula creating his own religion and becoming a God himself, which is also something the devil would do. Maybe I'm just thinking about this one aspect too much but what makes Dracula so much different from other religious figures trying to convert people to his way of life. Where does he stop being the devil and just turns into any other person trying to convert people to their religion? Maybe its the blood sucking but still something to think about possibly?
DeleteI like how you bring up the appearance of Dracula in comparison with the Devil. I wondered while I was reading why Dracula wasn't portrayed as good-looking, while Lucy become the "bloofer lady". Of course we know Dracula is the antagonist through his actions but that thought is supplemented with his appearance. It's interesting that so many authors or screenwriters portray protagonists as appealing to the eye, while the antagonist is less appealing to look at. This is especially true with Disney.
ReplyDeleteMagan, I think your right about Stoker protraying Dracula as not so very good-looking because he is the main antagonist of the novel. In some cases though, there are antagonists that are portrayed as good-looking which sometimes decieves the protagonist of the story into thinking the evil character is good. This wasn't the case for Dracula as we see.
DeleteIm not sure if this happens in the book or if i somehow missed it, i know the movie has the Dracula transform into a younger and more attractive man. if that is the case, you get the more traditional older sinister villain, and then the younger good looking one that can deceive you, it makes Dracula that more intimating
DeleteOverall I really liked this post. I found it interesting how you brought up that both Dracula and the Devil went after the women in order to get the men. I hadn't noticed that small detail and similarity in the two. Also didn't know that Dracula meant dragon, which the Devil also is depicted as a dragon. Very interesting comparisons, should be a good 5-page paper.
ReplyDeleteI liked this post alot because last Friday when we were looking at those questions on the board I was thinking of the same one but I took it more as Dracula representing God and religion but your post about him being the devil makes alot of sense. There are tons of clues throughout the book to make the comparison and I think you really hit all of them especially the physical manifestation of Dracula being evil with the color red which just opens up even more options to explore.
ReplyDeleteHave you ever read Paradice Lost? Basically it is a novel about Lucifer (the devil)and his fall from Heaven where he was bannished from after trying to wage war against God. He suffers a terrible defeat in the begining and then the novel moves on to how Lucifer then basically plots to ruin God's perfect, sinless beings. I think this could be a good source for you to skim through and get some of Milton's ideas on Adam and Eve and Satan. I have the book ifyou want to borrow it.
ReplyDelete