Readers Place

About the Book

Though Stoker did not invent vampires and in fact based his character s life-in-death on extensive research into European folklore his novel elevated the nocturnal monster to iconic stature, spawning a genre of stories and movies which flourishes to this day. A century of imitation has done nothing to diminish its power. As the suave and chilling Count stalks his prey from a crumbling castle in the Carpathians to a lunatic asylum in Purfleet and the bedrooms of his swooning female victims, the drama builds to a fever pitch of sensuality and suspense. Dracula is not only a classic of Gothic horror and a wellspring of modern mythology: it is also irresistible entertainment.

Starting Points for Discussion

• Over the years different critics have claimed that Dracula and the figure of the vampire is an allegory for different forms of evil – from aristocratic greed, to male aggression, to female emancipation, to sexually transmitted disease. What does Dracula mean to you and what do you find most frightening about him?

• The writer Sarah Waters has described Dracula as ‘An exercise in masculine anxiety and nationalist paranoia’. Do you agree? What anxieties do you think Bram Stoker was expressing through the character of Dracula?

• What aspects of the novel do you think would have been most shocking and frightening to contemporary readers, and how does this contrast with a modern reading of the novel?

• A critic at The New York Times wrote of Dracula, ‘Those who cannot find their own reflection in Bram Stoker’s still-living creature are surely the undead.’ Do you think this is true? What aspects of yourself do you find in the character of Dracula?  

• Dracula is one of the most filmed and adapted novels of all time and almost everyone has encountered the character of Dracula in some form or other, even if they’ve never read the book. Did you have an idea of Dracula before you read the novel and how was it different to Bram Stoker’s character?

• Why do you think the character of Dracula has endured so well?

• What effect does contact with Dracula have on the various characters in the novel? How does their behaviour change? Does this differ between the men and the women?

• “We Szekelys have a right to be proud, for in our veins flow the blood of many brave races who fought as the lion fought… Is it a wonder that we were a conquering face, that we were proud?” Dracula (p31-2) Class is a strong theme throughout the novel; is it important that Dracula is a feudal landlord and what effect does it have on our reading of his character? How does Stoker characterise the peasants in Transylvania and the working-class of Whitby?

• The novel is, like Wuthering Heights and A Woman in White , not a straightforward narrative. Instead it is written in the form of diary entries, letters and ‘newspaper clippings’. Why do you think Stoker chose to frame the story in this way, and how successful do you think he is at evoking the different voices?

•  Dracula is not the only character to live on in other novels – Mina Murray is also immortalised in the graphic novel The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen by Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill. The story has her leading a team of superheroes including the Invisible Man and Doctor Jekyll, after the death of her husband. The story suggests she has picked up more from Dracula than Stoker admits… Do you agree Mina and Dracula are the most interesting characters in the novel, and do you find Mina an unconventional heroine?

Other Books by Bram Stoker

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  Dracula

  Though Stoker did not invent vampires and in fact based his character s life…

  Reading Guide

Suggested Further Reading

NOVELS:

• Carmilla ~ Sheridin Lefanu (Soft editions)
• Interview with the Vampire ~ Anne Rice (Time Warner)
• The Historian ~ Elizabeth Kostova (Time Warner)
• Frankenstein ~ Mary Shelley (Vintage) – read our guide

GRAPHIC NOVELS

• The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen ~ Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill (Titan)

BIOGRAPHY:

• From the Shadow of Dracula: A Life of Bram Stoker ~ Paul Murray (Jonathan Cape)
• Bram Stoker and the Man Who Was Dracula ~ Barbara Belford (Da Capo Press/Alfred Knopf)