{"id":985,"date":"2023-09-19T15:20:11","date_gmt":"2023-09-19T19:20:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/britishlit\/?p=985"},"modified":"2023-09-19T15:20:11","modified_gmt":"2023-09-19T19:20:11","slug":"devils-in-disguise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/britishlit\/2023\/09\/19\/devils-in-disguise\/","title":{"rendered":"Devils in Disguise"},"content":{"rendered":"

Prior to reading Dracula, I had many preconceived notions of what the novel would be. All I knew of Dracula was the not quite scary, often-times very normal acting, pop culture figure that haunted halloweens, picture books, and Sesame Street. A mere six pages into the novel <\/span>Dracula<\/span><\/i>, and it became apparent to me that the original Count Dracula was a being that truly struck fear into the hearts of the religious folk of the novel. When Jonathan Harker leaves for the last leg of his journey, the carriage ride that would take him to the Count\u2019s castle, the people of the village beg him to stay, but when it becomes obvious that Harker will be making the trip no matter what, the people switch tactics. They begin making crosses with their fingers, one woman going so far as to put a rosary around Harker\u2019s neck, saying \u201cFor your mother\u2019s sake,\u201d (6). This kickstarts underlying religious themes that become more and more prevalent throughout the novel, informing my opinion that the Count Dracula is a physicalization of religious terror and guilt.<\/span><\/p>\n

The concept of vampires and the myths surrounding them stem from religious ideals, or in most cases, the church\u2019s concept of the Devil. Emily Gerard\u2019s \u201cTransylvanian Superstitions\u201d highlights these religious themes, stating that most of the superstitions and myths surrounding Transylvania stemmed from the Devil \u2013 the vampires, witches, and dragons were more like assistants to the Devil, doing his bidding. This puts the scene where the villagers are all making crosses into perspective, for in their eyes, Jonathan Harker is about to enter the Devil\u2019s den; they are trying to protect him with the religious symbols that they know to protect against the Devil. Further, Gerard also writes that there are two kinds of vampires, the living and the dead. She writes that \u201cThe living vampire is in general the illegitimate offspring of two illegitimate persons,\u201d (Gerard), illegitimate meaning not recognized in the eyes of God. This can be viewed as a religious cautionary tale, one that warns against the creation of bastard children, as that child could grow up to birth a vampire. Count Dracula is quite literally a physicalization of these religious fears that people of the time held.<\/span><\/p>\n

When, in the novel, Dr. Van Helsing discovers Lucy\u2019s undead nature and invites Arthur, Dr. Seward, and other colleagues to observe Lucy\u2019s empty coffin at night, he goes prepared with not only a crucifix, but also communion wafers believed to be the body of Christ. Dr. Van Helsing uses both of these religious symbols to fend off Lucy in her undead state and to keep her from re-entering her tomb, proving that vampires are a religious enemy, one in connection with the devil. Besides the wooden stake and the garlic, all measures taken by Dr. Van Helsing against Lucy have religious meaning, furthering this idea that vampires are almost like devils or demons in their own right. Lucy as well as the count are frequently likened to or labeled as demons, Arthur even asking of Lucy\u2019s body \u201cIs this really Lucy\u2019s body, or only a demon in her shape?\u201d (286). I believe that that is what is so frightening to the characters of the novel, all of whom are religious \u2013 vampires are devils in disguise. Religion is one of, if not the, central theme in this novel, and the myth of vampires would not exist if it hadn\u2019t been born out of religion.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Prior to reading Dracula, I had many preconceived notions of what the novel would be. All I knew of Dracula was the not quite scary, often-times very normal acting, pop culture figure that haunted halloweens, picture books, and Sesame Street. A mere six pages into the novel Dracula, and it became apparent to me that … Continue reading Devils in Disguise<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5134,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[125361],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2023-blog-post"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/britishlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/985","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/britishlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/britishlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/britishlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5134"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/britishlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=985"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/britishlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/985\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/britishlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/britishlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/britishlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}