My favorite part of this class so far has been the discussions of madness, or what we now consider mental illness, within the texts. Lady Audley self-identifies herself as mad and ends up in a mental asylum, but this is largely off page. Sherlock Holmes shows clear signs of neurodivergence, but that is from a modern perspective. Dracula is the first novel from the course with a heavy focus on nineteenth century mental institutions. In chapter eight in a section of Dr. Seward’s diary he says “It looks like religious mania, and he will soon think that he himself is God. These infinitesimal distinctions distinctions between man and man are too paltry for an Omnipotent Being. How these madmen give themselves away! The real God taketh heed lest a sparrow fall; but the God created from human vanity sees no difference between an eagle and a sparrow. Oh, if men only knew!”(Stoker, 111). I believe this passage is foreshadowing the theme of Dracula’s immortality and God-like-ness, and is establishing a theme of the difference between the mad and the sane.
Any reference to religion is easy to connect back to the central vampiric plot. Vampires are typically immortal, which is a God-like trait, are often resurrected, which is an easy connection to Christianity, and religious items are typically harmful to vampires. So any reference to God can be connected back to Dracula, our main godly character.
What I find the most interesting about this passage is the comparison of the mad and the sane. I believe the line about eagles vs sparrows refers to mad and sane people. Here I think Dr. Steward is saying that someone as powerful as a God isn’t concerned with the minor differences between who human beings consider mad and sane. A few pages later in an entry of Dr. Seward’s diary in chapter ten he says “All men are mad in some way or the other.”(Stoker, 129). I believe the quote from page 111 this is the beginning of this idea on 129. I think Dr. Seward is trying to say that despite the differences in people’s brains that makes someone “mad” or “sane” we are all united under mortality, or not being Gods. This could also be applied to the other marginalized groups featured in the novel. Regardless of gender, class, or country of origin, we have a lot more in common just by being human.
These two themes connect because by saying that God does not care about a person’s madness, or lack there of, Dracula does not either. To Dracula humans are just humans to feed on regardless of if they are mad, sane, women, men, other genders, foreigners, natives to any country, poor, or rich, he will feed off or kill anyone. This indiscriminate violence is a large part of what makes him particularly monstrous.
I feel like you did a really great job in highlighting how Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” can be seen as a god-like figure. The passage you mentioned from Dr. Seward’s diary indeed foreshadows Dracula’s immortality and God-like qualities, drawing parallels between vampiric traits and religious symbolism. Moreover, the comparison between the mad and the sane, as well as the notion that all humans share mortality, provides insight into the novel’s themes of commonality among diverse groups. Dracula’s indiscriminate violence underscores his monstrous nature and his detachment from human distinctions, echoing the idea of a god-like being beyond the concerns of human classifications.
I really like your mention of religion and found it interesting how you said Dracula is seen as a “God-like-ness” figure in the book. While I disagree with the comparison of Dracula being God (God could not be evil as Dracula is, it’s more appropriate in my eyes to compare Dracula to the devil) It’s important to note that Christianity ruled over everything in this day and age, which only allowed Dracula to gain more power especially when he is an immortal being and people fear a higher power.