The Dual Nature of Man in Dracula

By Davon Ferrara

In his novel Dracula (1897), Bram Stoker presents us many contrasting ideas. These ideas are often at the heart of the conflict between the heroes of the novel and Dracula. These contrasts also serve as a window into human nature. Often in literature, human nature is divided into Dionysian and Apollonian traits. Stoker makes use of contrasting imagery to portray the clash between these two sides of human nature, and shows that the heroes must use both in order to beat Dracula.

Each of the contrasting ideas touches a different aspect of the Apollonian-Dionysian conflict. The contrast between Eastern and Western cultures brings to mind the conflict between the civilized West and the mysterious East. The difference between Eastern and Western cultures is apparent from the beginning of the novel, as Harker comments, “The impression I had was that we were leaving the West and entering the East” (9). He notes that “every known superstition in the world is gathered into the horseshoe of the Carpathians” (10). The further east he goes the more he distances himself from scientific thought and enters a world where religion and folklore dominate. As he begins the last leg of his journey, the dependence on religion for protection stands out to him. Harker has entered a world where the reasoning of Apollo does not have control, but is replaced by folklore and religion. When Stoker switches the setting of the story to Britain, we see a sharp contrast. The higher technology is stressed as Mina uses a typewriter, Seward uses a phonograph, and many other inventions are mentioned. When Lucy begins to get ill, none of the English could believe it was a supernatural creature consuming Lucy’s blood. Only Van Helsing, who was a foreigner, could figure out the problem. Only after the Englishmen saw Lucy as a vampire did they believe what was actually happening. Also, Van Helsing often keeps much of his reasoning to himself. This, as well as his acceptance in folklore, connects him with the East, but his extreme intelligence connects him with the West. It is through him that the East and West meet.

Helsing even advises Seward to keep some of the reasons for his actions in secret, as he says:

All men are mad in some way or the other; and inasmuch as you deal discreetly with your madmen, so deal with God’s madmen too – the rest of the world (111).

By saying all men are mad in some way or the other, Van Helsing is also saying that all men possess some of that Dionysian aspect of humanity that allows one to forget their logic for awhile and live by their instincts and desires. Just as the culture in the East separates themselves from reason and stays with their “old ways,” all humans still answer to their old, animal instincts at some point. This is like losing ones sanity, for then the power of rational thought is gone. Renfield, though he is considered insane in his zoophagous actions, is able to reason very well, as Seward often noted. It is his giving in to “animal” desire that made him insane. Also, while Harker is trapped in Castle Dracula, he often believes that he has lost his sanity, for the things he saw defies reason. The whole time he felt he was lost in some dream. He later says, “It was the doubt as to the reality of the whole thing that knocked me over” (168). It was only after Harker could accept the irrational that he could take rational action towards Dracula. However, Dracula’s ability to separate his victims from their Apollonian side is what makes him so effective. When Lucy is attacked for the first time, she says, “I didn’t quite dream; but it all seemed to be real” (94), and Mina felt as if she was dreaming, also.

Through these dream-like states, the victim loses touch with the Apollonian side and gets in touch with their Dionysian side. Passion comes forth and the victim loses control. Dracula himself is consumed with passion, for he is described by Seward as having a look of “devilish passion” in his eyes while he was attacking Mina (247). The three women vampires who attacked Jonathan were consumed with their passion for blood, and it was quite erotic for both them and Jonathan, who almost yielded to his passion: “I felt in my heart a wicked, burning desire that they would kiss me with those red lips” (42). However, we see a contrast to this sexual lust. All the men love Mina, though it is not in a lustful way. When Lucy was on her death bed and even afterward when she was Un-dead, we see a lustful desire for Arthur to kiss her, but Arthur was forced to hold back. After Lucy’s lust was gone, Arthur was able to kiss her without harming himself. In this way, Stoker shows that some restraint is necessary.

At the end of the novel, however, the men find themselves letting their desire to save Mina drive them to kill Dracula. It is because of Mina’s scream that Van Helsing was given the desire to kill the three vampire women; otherwise his sexual desires would have led to his own end. Jonathan is described as getting more determined as the novel moves on to save Mina. At the end, when he yells for the gypsies to halt, she describes his voice as being “raised in a high key of passion” (323). At the end, the heroes make use of their passion and desire as well as their deductive reasoning to hunt and kill the vampire, and they use religion and folklore as their weapons. This brings both the Apollonian and Dionysian aspects of their nature together.