Restless Blood

“[B]ut at the instant I saw that the cut had bled a little, and the blood was trickling over my chin. … When the Count saw my face, his eyes blazed with a sort of demoniac fury, and he suddenly mad e a grab at my throat. … ‘Take care,’ he said, ‘take care how you cut yourself. It is more dangerous than you think in this country.’”

Blood is a major moving force throughout Dracula. Blood literally drives the book’s monstrous namesake to do what he does—murdering seamen, seducing women, kidnapping children, among many other atrocities—for without blood, Count Dracula would wither into a brittle old man. The effect blood has not only on Dracula’s, but also other characters’, moods throughout the book makes an interesting statement about blood, aside from its universal connections with life and death.

Evident in scenes like the one above, blood does not put people, fictional and nonfictional, exactly at ease. There is nothing ever calming, or at the very least serene, about blood. Even when Lucy is rejuvenated with blood transfusions, she is either vibrant with new blood, or at death’s door without it. Here, the sight of blood draws the baser instincts out of Dracula, causing his “demoniac fury” before he could even taste Jonathan’s blood. Similarly, Renfield turns almost pentacostal when he cuts Seward’s wrist for blood.

From blood comes the many connotations we associate with the organic liquid today—life/death, passion, kin, etc. But what about blood itself causes us to make those associations so readily? Bram Stoker seems to attempt answering this with the many encounters and instances with blood and his characters. Blood is a mover and shaker, never letting characters rest in its presence (or its absence). Blood, after all, ever rests in our veins, and the characters’ reactions towards blood seem to reflect blood’s own restlessness.

That Time of the Month

               

                I’ve decided to discuss the sexual connotations of blood used within the novel. Fertility is one of the concepts we discussed, and fertility is related to sex. There are a few scenes that almost show a sexual progression through blood.

                The first scenes that come to mind make up the sequence of blood transfusions given to Lucy. I think that Stoker’s choice of having the men that loved her give the transfusions give the acts a more sexual implication. Also, the act is an exchange of fluids, namely from the man to the woman. The men get worn out after, and the act is also seen as something that would anger her fiancé if he found out another man did it; two things that make the transfusions seem like an allusion to sex.

                The time that the idea of fertility can be seen more in the story is when Dracula forces Mina to drink his blood. He transfers his blood into her, and because of that she becomes “pregnant” with the evil. Once the fluid is within her, a new part of her begins to form. The vampire-ness was passed onto her through bodily fluid and began to develop within her, much like a fetus resulting from a sex act. Speaking of sex act, the scene within the book did seem very much like a sexual event, a rape even.

                “With his left hand [the Count] held both Mrs. Harker’s hands, keeping them away with her arms at full tension; his right hand gripped her by the back of the neck, forcing her face down on his bosom. Her white nightdress was smeared with blood, and a thin stream trickled down the man’s bare breast which was shown by his torn-open dress.”

                Another way blood shows fertility in the story is when it is consumed the receiver becomes more fertile looking. Youth is gained by Dracula, and youth is a great sign of fertility. Also, in Lucy’s case, when she receives blood she becomes healthier, livelier, and rosier, all signs of fertility.

                Fertility is only one of the many interesting things blood can be expressing within the story of Dracula. 

Give Me Blood if You Give Me Love

Although blood is often related as the source of death and at times the source of life in Stoker’s Dracula, blood can also be seen as a means to measure the extremity of love. How far would one go to save the one they loved? Would one give one’s blood? One’s source of life? Furthermore, is love ultimately the measure of one’s worth and dictating force of life?

Stoker’s Dracula emphasizes the idea that love is measured in blood. The constant transfusions needed to maintain Lucy alive shows that without love life would cease to exist, or rather that the humanity in an individual would cease to exist. Without the driving force of love each donor had for Lucy, Lucy would not have been able to survive for as long as she did before becoming a vampire.

"No man knows till he experiences it, what it is like to feel his own life-blood drawn away into the woman he loves." (Chapter 11)

Stoker brings to mind that purpose is found in blood, that it is the measure of one's love and dedication. In the above quote, Stoker also emphasizes the need for sacrifice when love is present. Stoker demonstrates also the role of man and women in terms of marriage and love. Maybe he was referring to the patriarchal role of men in society? However, one can easily see that he is referencing the need to sacrifice and the pleasure one finds in being needed, to have purpose.

"A brave man's blood is the best thing on this earth when a woman is in trouble.'" (Chapter 10)

When love is present, one would do anything to the point of giving one's blood. It was the sacrifice of giving blood from the men in her life who loved her (Dr. Seward, Van Helsing, Quincy, and Arthur) that Lucy held onto life. Even the above quote shows that love is the driving force behind the sacrifice of love when one's love is in danger or harm. Furthermore, love can lead to bravery to the point of sacrificing one's own blood because of love.

An UnGodly Sin

“Unclean, unclean! I must touch him or kiss him no more. Oh, that it should be that it is I who am now his worst enemy, and whom he may have most cause to fear.”
-Mina Harker
Fairest in the land to dreaded vampire

To me, I was specifically drawn to the idea of blood as a sexual entity. It has many forms, though. This quote has to do with blood being seen as a impurity. It was a form of filth that associated a human with the monster of this tale, a vampire.
The blood made for a ravenous being in itself. It was a sign of disgust and a dirt that could not be washed away simply with a bath.
This blood symbolized corruption of the soul, through a painfully draining process, the physical body. May God bless the souls of the bitten victims.

The Gift of...Blood

“She wants blood, and blood she must have or die” (Stoker, 123). -Van Helsing

Death, destruction, and war. These are only some of the images triggered by the thought of blood. Rarely does one think of life. Instead, gruesome images arise. However, in Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula, blood does not only symbolize death, it also symbolizes life and the sustaining of life, both human and vampire.

Blood as it relates to humans and vampires can be seen as a bit of a contradiction. For vampires, blood is their sole diet. They rely on it to live and continue functioning. However, for humans, the very blood that sustains vampires, when taken, means imminent death. Therefore, when a vampire takes the blood of a human it causes both life and death simultaneously.

Bram Stoker offers another vantage point on blood during the time in the novel when Van Helsing and the men are trying to save Lucy from the jaws of death. Van Helsing begins to preform blood transfusions after the signs of her losing blood have manifested in her pallor and weakness. In very dramatic scenes, Lucy’s life is channeled into her veins by strong men with “bright blood.” After each transfusion Lucy is described as regaining her normal beauty, the blood bringing life back into her cheeks. This parallels the effect blood has on vampires. Therefore, although blood symbolizes death in humans throughout the novel, it also symbolizes a renewed vigor for life.

Blood as a Family Tie

There is no question that Bram Stoker's Dracula mentions blood a fair many times. What is in question is how he uses the word throughout the story. The most clear uses of the word are in reference to death and life, for the Count's victims and the Count respectively. However, Stoker uses the word in so many ways that there are numerous other ways that he uses the word. One of the other uses are in reference to family and family ties

One such reference can be found in Chapter 21. Mina is being attacked by the Count, and when he is finally driven away from her, she begins to speak of the encounter.

"Then he spoke to me mockingly, '...and you...are now like me, flesh of me flesh, blood of me blood, kin of my kin, ..., and shall be later on my companion and helper.' "

A more obscure reference to familial ties in Dracula is in the scene before the actual death of Lucy. Doctor Seward writes about it saying, "With a careless motion, she flung to the ground, callous as a devil,the child that up to now she had clutched strenuously to her breast..."

Again no mention of blood is made, but her action was something that seemed strangely intimate. Isn't it the action of a mother to hold a small child up to their chest, as in comfort, or maybe to feed if the child is young enough? It is the embrace of a mother to a child, yet it is bastardized, since Lucy was the one feeding on the child, on his blood. IN that way, blood is once again a tie to family reference.

In this speech, the Count refers to Mina as his kin, after he forces her to ingest some of her blood while he is drinking hers. This turns her into a half-vampire of sorts, and a way for the Count to spy on his enemies while he is not there. Because of this, Mina is prey to the traps that any vampire is vulnerable to, such as the Holy Wafer.

Another mention of family ties in the final chapter of the book, again dealing with Mina. Van Helsing writes about the encounter.

"They smiled ever at poor Madame Mina...and pointed to her, and said in these so sweet tingling tones that Johnathan said were of the intolerable sweetness of the water-glasses:-
" Come sister. Come to us. Come! Come!" "

While no actual mention of blood is made, the three brides of Dracula recognized that she was, at least partly, one of them, by the blood of the Count flowing through her veins. In this way, the family was tied through the blood of the Count, making this a reference to family ties by way of blood.

Blood is an essential part of Stoker's novel. It binds many of the parts of the book together, and is intrinsic to the continues survival of the Count. It is impossible for the story to be told without mentioning the many ways that blood is used on this story.

Blood is an essential element of the Brahm Stoker’s Dracula. It this used in many ways and in many forms. For example the book contains many references to family bloodlines, race, death and even life. Death and life are perhaps the most interesting forms that blood takes. In the novel blood is used a clear representation of death and a clear indication of life as well.

Perhaps one of the most famous references to blood as a life giver is on page 142 when Renfield exclaims, “The blood is life! The blood is life!” in the case of Count Dracula, and all other vampires for that matter, this exclamation holds especially true. In order for vampires to survive they need the blood of some living individual.

What is most interesting however is that in order for the vampires to live, something else must essentially die. Now we have, blood as evidence of death. When we look at all of the descriptions of those who have had blood taken from them, we notice that they are often described as pale and lifeless. The reason for this is that what has been removed extracted from them, voluntarily or involuntarily, was in many ways their life and strength. Once this source of life is removed thenthey will inevitably be weak and without strength.

Why then does Stoker use blood to represent both life and death? Some might say that this is a reference to Christianity and the blood of Christ. It was the blood of Christ that Christians believed purchased their salvation. In Christianity the blood is Jesus. Is used as a purifier and a cleanser from all sins and unrighteousness. With this in mind, how can we also blood as a clear indicator of death in the novel as well. One could perhaps say that Stoker is trying to communicate to readers that the even the life at its purest form has to come from some type of hurt and pain. Perhaps it is a commentary on human happiness and satisfaction and that we can not just have one without the other and that both death and life have to exist on the same plain.

Blood Represents Death.

Blood is a symbol for life and if it is not present, one is claimed to be dead. In Dracula, blood is ever present and represents many different situations; such as, life or death. When Lucy is drained of her blood, she is described to be deathly looking, which associates her with being dead. But once she is given a blood transfusion, she is “brought back to life.” The image of blood is given many reasons, but it either gives or takes life away. Throughout the book, Lucy is described as pale, which associates her with being dead; on the other hand, when she has color in her cheeks, from blood, she is alive again. This shows how blood is a symbol for life or death.

These are both images which represent life, blushing and fresh looking, and death, which is pale, and lacking of color beneath the skin.

Another situation that represents lack of blood being the symbol of death, is whenever the book Dracula talks about the Count. Count is always described as pale, cold, and deathly looking, unless he is filled with blood which makes his features more alive looking and flush. This shows how the blood can be the image of death, because whenever it is not present, the person is either dead, or even worse looks dead, which is never a complement to anyone.