Dracula notes
Lucy and Renfield
Vampiric Influence:
Both Lucy and Renfield fall under the sway of Count Dracula; Lucy becomes one of Dracula’s victims, while Renfield serves as Dr. Seward’s patient, showcasing a disturbing progression of vampiric contamination. Renfield’s impulse to consume animals escalates, culminating in his cutting Dr. Seward to drink his blood. We witness Renfield’s madness and his warped devotion to his master, mirroring Dracula’s influence on Lucy.
Humanity vs. Devotion:
Renfield grapples with the clash between his humanity and his unwavering loyalty to Dracula; motivated by the promise of immortality, Renfield believes his single-minded devotion will grant him everlasting life, but tragically meets his demise at the hands of his master, serving as a cautionary tale against the pursuit of immortality.
Composure and Madness:
Renfield differs significantly from Dracula. While Dracula is refined, Renfield is presented as mad. Interestingly, both can maintain composure when necessary. For instance, Renfield remains calm during his meeting with Mina in Chapter 18, contrasting with Dr. Seward’s perception of his madness. This highlights Dracula’s formidable sway and underscores the doomed allure of the vampire world.
Blood Symbolism:
The theme of blood runs through the novel. Lucy receives a life-saving blood transfusion after Dracula targets her. The theme is echoed by Renfield, emphasizing that “the blood is the life!”—a phrase repeated by him and Dracula himself.
In summary, Lucy and Renfield share a complex relationship with Dracula, embodying different facets of the vampire’s influence. Lucy succumbs to her fate, while Renfield’s arc serves as a tragic foil, revealing darker sides of immortality and devotion.
The purpose of the scene with the interview of the Zookeeper, is to create foreshadowing towards events yet to come within the novel; primarily Dracula breaking in to attack Lucy
The mood and tone of the scene contrasts to others within the novel as being rather light-hearted and more similar to a comedic interval - versus the rest of the novel which is rather serious and scientific. Also alludes to uncanny supernatural, w/ quote of how the escaped wolf was ‘a nice well-behaved wolf, that never gave no trouble to talk of’ and the allusions towards ‘wait till they've ‘ad their sherry and kawffee' - personifying the wolves as though they're real people
The impression of the class and status of the characters we gain, is that they contrast greatly from Dracula, in that they're working class and haven't got much money; but still manage to live a comfotable life.
Lucy's final diary entry before she becomes a vampire.
‘I feel I am dying of weakness, and have barely the strength to write, bbut it must be done if I die in the doing.’
‘I was waked by the flapping at the window, which begun after that sleep-walking on the cliff at White when Mina savded, me and which I now know so well’
Order of blood transfusions
Lucy Westenra receives four blood transfusions from four different men, order is as follows:
Arthur Holmwood, her fiancé, provides the first transfusion.
Dr. Seward administers the second transfusion.
Van Helsing contributes to the third transfusion.
Finally, Quincy Morris gives the final transfusion.
Why does Stoker choose to discuss Lucy as ‘the Bloofer Lady’ through a newspaper artice & Why does this departure take place after so much character driven narrative?
Vampiric Corruption: Dracula’s attack on Lucy disrupts this innocence. He preys on her, draining her life force and turning her into a vampire. Her transformation reflects the fear of sexual corruption and the vulnerability of women in a patriarchal society.
The Bloofer Lady: After her death and resurrection as a vampire, Lucy becomes the Bloofer Lady. The term likely originates from Cockney accents, where it’s a child’s way of saying “beautiful lady.” However, Lucy’s beauty now conceals her predatory nature.
Predatory Femininity: The Bloofer Lady is no longer passive; she actively lures children with promises of riches and games. Her bite marks leave them weak and emaciated. This transformation subverts traditional notions of femininity and purity.
Sexual Undertones: The Bloofer Lady’s actions are overtly sexual. She preys on children, and her bite marks evoke both sensuality and violence. This challenges Victorian ideals of female chastity and maternal nurturing.
The local papers report abductions by the Bloofer Lady in Hampstead Heath. Children return home with strange neck wounds, emphasizing the threat she poses.
The Bloofer Lady represents a public fear—a mysterious, alluring figure who preys on innocence and purity.
Commentary Writing
‘We shuddered with horror…”
“There was something… at that moment”
The paragraph within the novel focuses on Lucy's newly manic, vampiric state - focusing on the characters fears against her more primal, animalistic instincts and her unfiltered rage towards being thwarted and denied her prey. Within Seward’s narration, despite his using complementary language, presents Lucy as having become a violent, rageful creature with alluring features that prompt a false sense of security, felt by Arthur as ‘he seemed under a spell […] opened wide his arms’.
“She seemed like something like a nightmare”
The scene represents Renfield’s devotion to Dracula, referring to him as being his ‘master’ and ‘He’ - viewing Dracula as being an almost god-like figure or role model. Renfield’s behaviours imply that there's ulterior motives at play, as he's there on behalf of Dracula, functioning as a destabilising distraction to get into the house and to attack Mina. Furthermore the scene contains strong links to the supernatural,
The scene is representative of the loss of her chastity and the theft of her virginity - ‘white nightdress was smeared with blood' - palcing a veil of impurity over her. Emphasised futher by the Mina and Jonathan’s marriage, and the idea of the new woman being sexually promiscuous - going directly against the traditionally conservative values held by most during the Victorian era. This is symbolised through Mina's immediate emergence into a devolved state of fear and terror, both due to Jonathan's state of immobility and her new self-hatred - rooted in the impurity created by her tarnishing by Dracula
Mina saying ‘what have I done’? is a clear display of her remorse and anguish over having done something potentially of ill repute, against her will.
Insanity - More akin to going overboard, making rather harsh, irate, irrational decisions on a whim
Madness - Similar to going crazy, in that it could be considered as losing one's self to anger, upset, hurt, etc.
Lucy and Renfield
Vampiric Influence:
Both Lucy and Renfield fall under the sway of Count Dracula; Lucy becomes one of Dracula’s victims, while Renfield serves as Dr. Seward’s patient, showcasing a disturbing progression of vampiric contamination. Renfield’s impulse to consume animals escalates, culminating in his cutting Dr. Seward to drink his blood. We witness Renfield’s madness and his warped devotion to his master, mirroring Dracula’s influence on Lucy.
Humanity vs. Devotion:
Renfield grapples with the clash between his humanity and his unwavering loyalty to Dracula; motivated by the promise of immortality, Renfield believes his single-minded devotion will grant him everlasting life, but tragically meets his demise at the hands of his master, serving as a cautionary tale against the pursuit of immortality.
Composure and Madness:
Renfield differs significantly from Dracula. While Dracula is refined, Renfield is presented as mad. Interestingly, both can maintain composure when necessary. For instance, Renfield remains calm during his meeting with Mina in Chapter 18, contrasting with Dr. Seward’s perception of his madness. This highlights Dracula’s formidable sway and underscores the doomed allure of the vampire world.
Blood Symbolism:
The theme of blood runs through the novel. Lucy receives a life-saving blood transfusion after Dracula targets her. The theme is echoed by Renfield, emphasizing that “the blood is the life!”—a phrase repeated by him and Dracula himself.
In summary, Lucy and Renfield share a complex relationship with Dracula, embodying different facets of the vampire’s influence. Lucy succumbs to her fate, while Renfield’s arc serves as a tragic foil, revealing darker sides of immortality and devotion.
The purpose of the scene with the interview of the Zookeeper, is to create foreshadowing towards events yet to come within the novel; primarily Dracula breaking in to attack Lucy
The mood and tone of the scene contrasts to others within the novel as being rather light-hearted and more similar to a comedic interval - versus the rest of the novel which is rather serious and scientific. Also alludes to uncanny supernatural, w/ quote of how the escaped wolf was ‘a nice well-behaved wolf, that never gave no trouble to talk of’ and the allusions towards ‘wait till they've ‘ad their sherry and kawffee' - personifying the wolves as though they're real people
The impression of the class and status of the characters we gain, is that they contrast greatly from Dracula, in that they're working class and haven't got much money; but still manage to live a comfotable life.
Lucy's final diary entry before she becomes a vampire.
‘I feel I am dying of weakness, and have barely the strength to write, bbut it must be done if I die in the doing.’
‘I was waked by the flapping at the window, which begun after that sleep-walking on the cliff at White when Mina savded, me and which I now know so well’
Order of blood transfusions
Lucy Westenra receives four blood transfusions from four different men, order is as follows:
Arthur Holmwood, her fiancé, provides the first transfusion.
Dr. Seward administers the second transfusion.
Van Helsing contributes to the third transfusion.
Finally, Quincy Morris gives the final transfusion.
Why does Stoker choose to discuss Lucy as ‘the Bloofer Lady’ through a newspaper artice & Why does this departure take place after so much character driven narrative?
Vampiric Corruption: Dracula’s attack on Lucy disrupts this innocence. He preys on her, draining her life force and turning her into a vampire. Her transformation reflects the fear of sexual corruption and the vulnerability of women in a patriarchal society.
The Bloofer Lady: After her death and resurrection as a vampire, Lucy becomes the Bloofer Lady. The term likely originates from Cockney accents, where it’s a child’s way of saying “beautiful lady.” However, Lucy’s beauty now conceals her predatory nature.
Predatory Femininity: The Bloofer Lady is no longer passive; she actively lures children with promises of riches and games. Her bite marks leave them weak and emaciated. This transformation subverts traditional notions of femininity and purity.
Sexual Undertones: The Bloofer Lady’s actions are overtly sexual. She preys on children, and her bite marks evoke both sensuality and violence. This challenges Victorian ideals of female chastity and maternal nurturing.
The local papers report abductions by the Bloofer Lady in Hampstead Heath. Children return home with strange neck wounds, emphasizing the threat she poses.
The Bloofer Lady represents a public fear—a mysterious, alluring figure who preys on innocence and purity.
Commentary Writing
‘We shuddered with horror…”
“There was something… at that moment”
The paragraph within the novel focuses on Lucy's newly manic, vampiric state - focusing on the characters fears against her more primal, animalistic instincts and her unfiltered rage towards being thwarted and denied her prey. Within Seward’s narration, despite his using complementary language, presents Lucy as having become a violent, rageful creature with alluring features that prompt a false sense of security, felt by Arthur as ‘he seemed under a spell […] opened wide his arms’.
“She seemed like something like a nightmare”
The scene represents Renfield’s devotion to Dracula, referring to him as being his ‘master’ and ‘He’ - viewing Dracula as being an almost god-like figure or role model. Renfield’s behaviours imply that there's ulterior motives at play, as he's there on behalf of Dracula, functioning as a destabilising distraction to get into the house and to attack Mina. Furthermore the scene contains strong links to the supernatural,
The scene is representative of the loss of her chastity and the theft of her virginity - ‘white nightdress was smeared with blood' - palcing a veil of impurity over her. Emphasised futher by the Mina and Jonathan’s marriage, and the idea of the new woman being sexually promiscuous - going directly against the traditionally conservative values held by most during the Victorian era. This is symbolised through Mina's immediate emergence into a devolved state of fear and terror, both due to Jonathan's state of immobility and her new self-hatred - rooted in the impurity created by her tarnishing by Dracula
Mina saying ‘what have I done’? is a clear display of her remorse and anguish over having done something potentially of ill repute, against her will.
Insanity - More akin to going overboard, making rather harsh, irate, irrational decisions on a whim
Madness - Similar to going crazy, in that it could be considered as losing one's self to anger, upset, hurt, etc.
