On Dracula and the Nature of Vampires
In the novel, “Dracula,” by Bram Stoker, Count Dracula is not described an attractive individual. (Dracula, 15-16) With a long nose, pale skin, a large forehead, sharp teeth, brooding eyes and bushy brows, and a mustache, he didn’t exactly have ladies knocking on his door. (Dracula, 212) The makeup of a vampire includes strength of twenty men, cunning beyond what is reasonable, and can change form or vanish at will. Other vampires, however, flourish in death and remain attractive. This is especially true when they feed, as even Dracula retains some of his youth. (Dracula, 148) When Lucy dies, she looks more beautiful in death than in her last moments as a human, and the three sisters that Jonathon encountered were also beautiful and seductive in nature. At times, vampires seem to have red eyes (Dracula, 34).
Though not explicitly stated his origins, it is likely that Dracula became a vampire through necromancy and dark magic, as he was a student at Scholomance, which dealt with black magic (Dracula, 216). The reproduction of vampires is a simple process. A human must die with vampire blood in their system. When they reawaken, they must feed on the blood of humans for sustenance.
The destruction of a vampire is a little more complicated. A stake through the heart is fail-safe, (Dracula, 194) which is how Lucy is ultimately killed. Decapitation also works, like in the case of Dracula’s death (Dracula, 337.) Sunlight does not kill them, just means their other powers are temporarily neutralized, and though garlic and crosses are abhorrent to them, neither can kill vampires. Heart and/or head must be targeted.
Dracula is philosophically interesting on multiple accounts. However, the most interesting distinction is what makes humans and vampires different. If the definition of a human is a being who is mortal, rational and an animal, then I would argue vampires are also “human”. Vampires can be killed (and are technically therefore not “immortal”), are rational in that their passions and desires can be acted on through a thought-process, and are animals, much the same as humans. Both are “alive”, both need sustenance to survive (so blood can’t work there), both can walk freely in the sun, and both can be allergic to things (garlic vs. penicillin etc,). Therefore, the only definitive distinction between vampires and humans is that vampires react to the laws of physics differently than humans do. Vampires don’t have a reflection in a mirror (humans do), Dracula can shape shift into different animals, can control others at will, and disappear altogether if he so chooses. He’s particularly strong, smart and agile for someone who is eons old. Humans can do none of those things.
The definition of a human, therefore, should be updated to the following: a human is a mortal, rational, animal whose existence operates within set a parameter of abilities – i.e. Physics as we know it.
[WORKS CITED]
Stoker, Bram. Dracula. 1897th ed., Those Great Little Books, 2012.