Throughout many of our readings in this course, Great Britain and the UK has always played a central role and always served as the pinnacle that people could strive to. In Lady Audley’s Secret, we see this when it seems that Australia should be the place that George Talboys wants to live, as that is where he wins his fortune. The motherland of Great Britain, however, is always calling and draws George home to where traps are waiting.
We see this view of British superiority in Dracula as well in the several chapters consisting of Jonathan Harkers journal. Of particular interest is Harker’s encounters with the gypsy-like Szgany, and his description of the eastern European travelers. Following his failed attempt to get the Szgany to deliver his letters and subsequent conversation with the Count, Harker “ran to the window and cried to them. They looked up at me stupidly and pointed, but just then the ‘hetman’ of the Szgany came out, and seeing them pointing to my window, said something at which they laughed” (51). This quote illustrates the perceived inferiority of foreigners who are not British. The description of ‘stupidly pointing’ immediately evokes an emotion of confusion, similar to just ordinary people staring and point at something they do not understand (a UFO for instance). There is also a sense from Harker that there is a type of tribal leadership going on amongst the Szgany, as evidenced by his general control over the group when they all seem to listen and laugh at his comments. This tribal sentiment definitely hearkens back to times before stable democratic governments and seems to be used in this case to demonstrate a lack of real political development.
Stoker’s Dracula seems to once again touch upon perceived British superiority, especially with regards to intelligence, social and political development. The purpose of the Szgany is to portray Eastern Europe as less developed and inherently inferior to the United Kingdom.