Dracula and theme
How literary layers resonate to make a story sing
NB: This discussion of Dracula contains spoilers!
I had my aha realization about the theme of Bram Stoker’s Dracula in the middle of a cycling class. I was so excited, I almost hopped off the bike!
In Dracula theme coheres across multiple story layers to produce resonance that makes the story sing. Stoker tests his theme, experiments with it, even perverts it. These layers and their resulting resonance, along with constant testing, leave readers feeling as if we, ourselves, have proved the wisdom and value of what Stoker set out to explore.
What is the theme of Dracula? What can I learn from Stoker’s handling of theme to apply to my own writing?
Layering
Back in April when I began rereading Dracula, I made a deal with myself to continue the story at least until Jonathan Harker escaped Dracula’s castle. Harker’s castle imprisonment is, to me, the most frightening ordeal of the novel. Harker is isolated, has no clue what he’s dealing with, and little by little his unease is confirmed in harrowing ways. By the end of the sequence, he’s a doomed prisoner. Then, Stoker abandons him in one of my favorite cliffhangers in literature.
When we finally meet Harker again, his unlikely survival proves one thing: he is a very, very strong human being.
I’d previously viewed Dracula as the story of a power struggle between good and evil. While that interpretation isn’t necessarily wrong, it doesn’t encompass what I feel is the deeper theme: the value of human strength.
Jonathan Harker’s perseverance under dire circumstances is one layer in the theme of human strength. Other characters embody the same theme. As Lucy’s health waxes and wanes, her wellbeing is discussed in terms of her strength. When her three beaus contribute blood transfusions in an attempt to save her, their viability as blood donors is measured as strength. Throughout the story I was fascinated by Mina’s journey as an exploration of female strength far before its time. Even the evil Dracula is a creature ruled by strength and weakness.
As the story progresses, questions are raised about which is stronger: an immortal villain with superhuman strength, or a group of friends working together? There’s a delightful section of the story involving the formation of a team of friends whose strengths and weaknesses compliment each other in a way that might—just maybe—be enough to match or even overwhelm Dracula’s incredible strength. I love this team, whose strengths encompass bravery, legal prowess, social rank, medical expertise, experience, organization, and fortune. Every character has something to contribute to confronting the nosferatu horror. Stoker’s theme is obvious: we are stronger together than we can ever hope to be alone.
The exploration of strength through individuals and the group of friends lays the foundation for the theme, but Stoker doesn’t stop there.
Resonance
Stoker reinforces the layering inherent in his characters and plot in other ways, as well. Not only are even the most minor characters in the story portrayed in terms of strength vs. weakness (for example, Lucy’s mother, whom were told is so weak she’d likely perish under the least strain), but in terms of the dialog and communication between members of the vampire-killing team.
For instance, the wise old Professor Van Helsing advises his young friends: strength comes from comfort, from taking a moment to restore our strength with what sustains us. In the same speech, Van Helsing reminds us we also draw strength from purpose, having a reason to fight. Jonathan Harker survives his ordeal for the purpose of returning home to his fiancée. Lucy’s beaus find the strength to confront the undead, believe the impossible, and to drain their veins, in order to protect the woman they love. Later, Jonathan and Mina will find the strength to join the fight against Dracula out of a sense of devotion to Lucy’s memory and with the purpose of preventing further innocents from being dragged into Dracula’s evil plans.
Dracula, himself, is characterized through a bundle of strenghts and weaknesses. He can transform into dogs and bats; he’s nearly immortal; he can control others’ minds. Yet he’s weak against those things we all know vampires fear: being far from the earth of his homeland; crucifixes; crossing water; time of day; garlic. His character is entirely defined by his strengths and weaknesses.
Stoker adds further resonant layers to his story via his magic system involving blood. Dracula drains strength from his victims by drinking their blood. His life is prolonged and his youth is restored through taking blood from others. We learn through Lucy that in order to gain vampiric powers, she must drink the blood of others. The strength-blood connection is further highlighted in describing the effect of blood transfusions from her three beaus and Van Helsing. Gaining blood means strength, losing blood means weakness.
These supporting approaches to exploring the theme of strength resonate with the strength theme inherent in the basic conflict of the story. They reinforce feedback loops that repeat the central theme by approaching it from different angles. These layers resonate to create a world in which we’re living and breathing the theme of strength. Then, Stoker takes his use of theme one step further
Testing
What happens when we stand alone strong? What happens when we unite our strength with those we trust? What happens when strength is used to help others? What happens when strength is perverted?
Dracula is the prime testing ground for the perversion of strength, though his perversion is echoed by Renfield, the lunatic under Dracula’s thrall, exudes a spirit of testing. His gruesome consumption of flies, spiders, birds, and more test the question, is the strength is inherent in life transferable? Can we take another being’s strength and make it our own?
For me, the most exciting test of strength in the story involves the inclusion—and at times the exclusion—of Mina in the band of friends who stand strong against Dracula. At first, Mina is included for her sharp mind and knack for organization, which make her a valued member of the team. Then, because she’s a newlywed woman of childbearing age, her men friends exclude her to keep her safely at home. Mina’s exclusion ripples consequences that change the stakes of the entire story. In time, she falls into the category of yet another strength test: which is stronger, purity of heart or wickedness?
The personal side of theme
Dracula is all about strength. At its most fundamental, it asks: who’s stronger, a lone powerful monster, or a group of humans bonded by friendship?
I think I love Dracula so much for the same reason I love Harry Potter, The Wheel of Time, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, even Scooby Doo. Not only do these series all tingle with mystical ambiance and magical energy, but they strive to prove that devoted friends working together are stronger than any looming dread we might face.
As I continue my own journey of strengthening my skills as a writer, I’m left looking at how I handle theme. My chosen theme needs to be baked into the bones of the story: portrayed by characters, their conflicts, and the plot, itself. Theme resonates stronger when its also embodied by the antagonist and by secondary characters. Theme can hit home for a reader during moments when characters converse and reflect. Testing the theme generates not only resonance, but fantastic story tension. And most important of all, I need to check to make sure my chosen theme reflects a deeply held belief that I truly hold dear.