Dracula Book Review + Analysis
Supernatural entities roam the earth in this classic novel. As we read diary entries and letters, we get an intimate insight into the life of a handful of characters who describe a world with the classic vampire Count Dracula. In this book review + analysis of Dracula by Bram Stoker, we discuss the structure, themes, and symbols revolving around innocence and our inner demons.
Disclaimer: This post may include affiliate links. If you purchase through my link, I will receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. See my full disclosure policy, here.
*This book review + analysis reveals spoilers*
Stick to the end to join in on the conversation of this 1890s classic novel; I hope you enjoy this book review of Dracula by Bram Stoker!
A Book Review
Arcturus Holdings Limited 2022
350 pages | Classic Novel | Bram Stoker
Summary
English lawyer Jonathan Harker travels to Castle Dracula to discuss a real estate transaction with the count. Heeding the warnings by various people to avoid the mansion, he carries on to the manor. After his arrival, he soon realizes that Count Dracula is a hunter setting up prey; Jonathan is a prisoner. As the story unfolds, Dracula leaves Transylvania for London, and Jonathan’s fiancé Mina is friends with Lucy, who grows pale and soon transforms into a monster. A group of men unites to save Mina from the same fate and rid the world of Dracula’s kind.
Dracula Book Review + Analysis
Structure & Theme
Dracula was a fun experience, but the plot seemed to jump around. In my opinion, this was a cause of too many main characters. It seemed like Jonathan Harker disappeared during the entire second act of the story. He's supposed to be our protagonist.
The author never showed us how he ended up in a hospital. As an audience, we had to accept it. I found it hard to tolerate this outcome, considering he was with a vampire. This fact also caused me to question why Dracula only seemed to kill/turn women into vampires. It would made for an interesting plot point if the reasoning were explored, but it wasn’t—not until a statement at the end of the novel, which that execution felt flat. I wanted to feel this reasoning earlier and through our protagonist and/or antagonist.
Instead, Mina expressed towards the end of the book that women are pure like Mother Mary, from the Christian ideology. Since the author incorporated religion through his characters and showed that redemption of the evil vampires is through Catholic practices, I’m going to suggest that is the reasoning. (More explanation on those practices below.)
The structure of this story was fascinating as it was developed through letters; I was hooked by the design. The flow would be better suited in an episodic form since it’s delivered through a stream of diary entries and letters. The biggest issue is the lack of detail and prose; this novel is all tell and no show. The format doesn't pull me out of the story but I prefer immersion through prose.
Theme: Innocence and inner demons
Innocence:
Stoker portrayed women as innocent creatures. They were revered to the degree children are often described in most stories: they are perfect and need protection. (Unless they're vampires). Throughout the novel, characters expressed how pure the women are. And as I mentioned, Mina, expressed how gentle they are, similar to the Virgin Mary:
“We women have something of the mother in us that makes us rise above smaller matters when the mother-spirit is invoked;...”
Dracula, Bram Stoker
Dracula solely sought out women to become his minions, and the philosophy I gathered from this novel is they make men weak. Another core character expresses this at the end of the novel,
“Then the beautiful eyes of the fair woman open and look love, and the voluptuous mouth present to a kiss – and man is weak.”
Dracula, Bram Stoker
Woman ultimately became Dracula’s downfall, but not from love (this isn’t Twilight) but taking woman from man. The ensemble of men characters believed it was their duty to save woman from Dracula.
It’s a romantic idea and feels akin to a romance novel. And this is fine, but I wish it were deeper; maybe instead, Dracula could have lost his greatest love, and none of the women he turned ever existed as she had.
Or what if Dracula was forced to roam the earth in an immortal daze in solitude?...wanting nothing more than to die, but his thirst for blood was stronger?
He could have wrestled with what happened to his soul if he did die. Some scenes in this novel were also quite melodramatic, and Dracula felt secondary; he was a two-dimensional antagonist.
Inner demons:
The afterlife is discussed by everyone except the two main characters: Jonathan Harker and Dracula. This is a mistake. The fear expressed was this: what happens to a soul when they turn into a vampire? As I mentioned, the ideology behind the story seems Catholic because a lot of the symbols to defeat a vampire link with the religion. They are a crucifix, holy water, and the bread at communion.
I loved exploring what Dracula represented to humanity.
Dracula represents the darkness we have inside ourselves. Our characters faced true darkness: an entity that sucked the life out of the people they love— and worse— trapped their souls so they couldn’t reconnect with them in the afterlife.
Renfield in the insane asylum represented the madness we all have within us. Dracula influenced him (his inner darkness), and to overcome it, he was honest about the compulsion and nearly died standing against it. The insight I pull is that our inner demons try to kill our souls, at least pull us away from our mission. We will suffer trying to overcome our inner shadow, but we must if we want to survive and thrive.
Symbols: Sea, Bats & Wolves
Dracula traveled by boat multiple times throughout the story. The sea was a vast, mystical, and dangerous entity— much like a vampire. I perceived the ocean as a negative force in this novel. There was a scene where men are missing night after night until the captain finally ties himself to the wheel as the last man. He died. But throughout the scene, a mist rolled over the ship because Dracula controlled the elements The water obeyed his command.
Bats and wolves were wild animals that represented Dracula’s presence. If there was ever a bat lingering by a window, it was Dracula listening and plotting for a kill. He transformed into them to wreak havoc on the living.
Every time these elements entered the scene, you felt Dracula’s presence. I loved these scenes because they added to the tone of the story.
Afterthoughts
As a reader, I loved the supernatural premise and the guidelines detailed in the novel to make it real. Although some of those rules were rigid and seemed random such as the time of day Dracula was able to transform from bat to vampire. Also, the killing of a vampire was a checklist: tear the heart out after stabbing with a steak, then cut off the head... in that order. A rhyme to the world is good for worldbuilding and making it real, but there has to be reason, and this was left unexplored.
Dr. Van Helsing was the only character knowledgeable on vampires, and we had to take it at face value. We were never shown how he learned this, nor why.
A major plot hole was motivation. It seemed that the only character who had a purpose and mission was Dr. Van Helsing. The author never showed us why Dracula turned people into vampires or what his scheme was. All we knew was that he sought out property in London, and he wanted Mina to be his minion, but to what end? It seemed like evil for the sake of evil.
Despite the plot holes, and underdeveloped characters, I enjoyed reading Dracula by Bram Stoker. The themes and ideas were interesting, and I may reread this one day to see if I feel the same way. Honestly, I loved Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein a lot more.
Like I said before, characters, motivations, descriptions, and poetry are more enticing to me in stories. But I found it fascinating how Stoker formatted his novel through letters, journal entries, diary notes, postage, and telegrams; that would be difficult to pull off. And although the story is not flawless, it’s entertaining and engaging.
Rating:
★★★
Dracula questions with The Classics Club
Did you like the structure of the story? The exchange of letters, diary entries, etc.? What about it did you love or hate?
Why do you think Dracula hunted women?
Why did Dracula not kill/turn Jonathan?
Was Reinfeld tormented by his own demons? Was he simply crazy? Why did he needed to torture animals? Did he want to be a vampire?
Please comment your answers below; feel free to add any of your thoughts about this Dracula book review, or the book.
