Source: https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-literature/ocr/dracula/4-2-1-count-dracula-character-profile [Revision notes](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes.md) › [A Level](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level.md) › [English Lit](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-literature.md) › [OCR](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-literature/ocr.md) › [English Lit: OCR A Level Dracula](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-literature/ocr/dracula.md) › Count Dracula: Character Profile # Count Dracula: Character Profile English Lit: OCR A Level Dracula, topic 4.2.1 ## Count Dracula Here's an analysis of Count Dracula's character: ### Sexualised perception ![Sexualised perception](https://image-v2.cdn.app.senecalearning.com/2019-10/924ca411-ae0c-4c61-8f3b-aa108ad75829/Bela-Lugosi-Dracula-.jpg) - Over the years, Stoker’s original description of Dracula as seen through the eyes of Jonathan Harker is sometimes overlooked in favour of a suaver, sexually-attractive depiction, typified by the actor Bela Lugosi who played the Count in the 1931 film adaptation. ### Actual appearance - repulsive ![Actual appearance - repulsive](https://image-v2.cdn.app.senecalearning.com/2019-10/70a14096-0234-45d2-95a4-63f06cb8da10/dracula-vampire-.jpg) - Stoker’s vampire is repulsive and Jonathan is unable to __“repress a shudder”__ in his presence. - Victorian society placed great faith in the pseudoscience of Physiognomy, believing a person’s physical appearance was a reflection of their moral-character. - One of the first observations Jonathan makes of Dracula is how __“marked”__ his Physiognomy is. ### Parasite-like ![Parasite-like](https://image-v2.cdn.app.senecalearning.com/2018-10/932185e3-b03e-4a0b-b496-3f4bf8b5ef29/leeches-.jpg) - Dracula is a parasite, feeding on the life of others to sustain his own in a foul-parody of immortality. - Even when rejuvenated, his appearance is intended to disgust - Jonathan notices how __“on the lips were gouts of fresh blood”__ - the use of __“gouts”__ alluding to the ancient practice of bloodletting using leeches. ### Threat to British society ![Threat to British society](https://image-v2.cdn.app.senecalearning.com/2019-10/1d309326-4d47-41d2-89c1-12074a7f4e21/pantomime-.jpg) - Perhaps the true horror from Dracula is the threat he represents to the civilised British way of life. - He is the Gothic outsider - a hostile invader who must be eradicated before vampirism becomes a pandemic across the whole of the Empire. - Whilst at times his dialogue may be more befitting of a pantomime villain rather than the Prince of Darkness, Dracula does seem to revel in the act of evil, warning the band of heroes after their encounter in Piccadilly. ### Quotation - Dracula in Picadilly ![Quotation - Dracula in Picadilly](https://image-v2.cdn.app.senecalearning.com/2018-09/27b953cf-9db4-4813-bf60-7fb7d47b02b2/words-letters-.jpg) - __“You think to baffle me, you – with your pale faces all in a row, like sheep in a butcher’s. You shall be sorry yet, each one of you! You think you have left me without a place to rest; but I have more. My revenge is just begun! I spread it over centuries, and time is on my side. Your girls that you all love are mine already; and through them you and others shall yet be mine – my creatures, to do my bidding and to be my jackals when I want to feed. Bah!”__ ## Count Dracula (Cont.) Here's an analysis of Count Dracula's character: ### Identical description of Dracula ![Identical description of Dracula](https://image-v2.cdn.app.senecalearning.com/2019-10/fc920f5f-682e-4056-9608-35e601734af9/red-eye-.jpg) - Numerous characters encounter Dracula, but the description they give is almost identical: tall, thin, dressed in black with red eyes. - The repetition helps to create a sense of ubiquitousness - he has the potential to be anywhere and seen by anyone; equally, frightening is the potential for anyone to be his next victim. - The description aids with the reader’s suspension of disbelief: the more people who bare witness to Dracula and his uncanny appearance, the more plausible he becomes. ### Dracula: many parallels ![Dracula: many parallels](https://image-v2.cdn.app.senecalearning.com/2018-07/3a28fe91-7b61-4b9e-a6e9-07ac52527315/Good-Evil-Tattoo-Hand-Fingers.jpg) - Unlike other famous Gothic doppelgangers such as Frankenstein’s creature, Count Dracula's ‘double’ is not limited to one character - just as he has the strength of twenty men, all of the male characters in the novel mirror him in some manner. - As is the case with other doubles in Gothic literature, to assign them as being simply ‘good’ and ‘evil’ is a gross oversimplification: those on both sides are capable of transgressing the boundary between the two. ### Van Helsing, Harker and Seward ![Van Helsing, Harker and Seward](https://image-v2.cdn.app.senecalearning.com/2019-04/c5471e01-34dd-4764-a79e-396d0d37649c/-iguana-lizard-gecko-reptile--min.jpg) - Van Helsing exhibits the most commonalities with Dracula. - Jonathan Harker, in his desperation to escape Castle Dracula, crawls down the walls in the same lizard-fashion as the Count, a descent symbolising a trip into Hell. - Lucy is fascinated by Seward’s position as the director of the asylum and the __“wonderful power he must have over his patients”__. ### Arthur and Quincey ![Arthur and Quincey](https://image-v2.cdn.app.senecalearning.com/2019-10/a4003779-9c3c-4456-a4f8-b37e343d7035/landed-gentry-aristocracy-.png) - Both Dracula and Arthur belong to their country’s aristocracy and use their influence (Dracula with the Romanian Gypsies) to aid their goals. - Both Quincey and Dracula are from the extreme east and west of the known world respectively, with England at the centre. ## Test yourself on Count Dracula: Character Profile - What is Jonathan unable to do in Dracula's presence? [Practise this topic for free](https://app.senecalearning.com/classroom/course/508a7828-52ed-48a3-9259-00e65066f4c7/section/48f666c2-d288-4ef7-9927-9de7c3f1ad89/session) - Previous topic: [4.1.1 Stock & Proppian Gothic Characters](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-literature/ocr/dracula/4-1-1-stock-and-proppian-gothic-characters.md) - Next topic: [4.2.2 Count Dracula: Different Literary Perspectives](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-literature/ocr/dracula/4-2-2-count-dracula-different-literary-perspectives.md) ## English Lit: OCR A Level Dracula contents ### 1 Context - Gothic Literature - 1.1 Origins & Conventions of Gothic Literature - [1.1.1 Origins of Gothic Literature](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-literature/ocr/dracula/1-1-1-origins-of-gothic-literature.md) - [1.1.2 Key Ideas in Gothic Literature](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-literature/ocr/dracula/1-1-2-key-ideas-in-gothic-literature.md) - [1.1.3 Gothic Genre Conventions in Dracula](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-literature/ocr/dracula/1-1-3-gothic-genre-conventions-in-dracula.md) - 1.2 Vampires in Gothic Literature - [1.2.1 Vampires](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-literature/ocr/dracula/1-2-1-vampires.md) - 1.3 'Terror' & 'Horror' - [1.3.1 Ann Radcliffe & Lewis' The Monk](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-literature/ocr/dracula/1-3-1-ann-radcliffe-and-lewis-the-monk.md) - [1.3.2 'Terror' & 'Horror' in Dracula](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-literature/ocr/dracula/1-3-2-terror-and-horror-in-dracula.md) - 1.4 Narrative Features - [1.4.1 First-Person Narration & Epistolary Format](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-literature/ocr/dracula/1-4-1-first-person-narration-and-epistolary-format.md) ### 2 Context - The Victorian Era - 2.1 The Victorian Era - [2.1.1 Fin de Siecle](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-literature/ocr/dracula/2-1-1-fin-de-siecle.md) - [2.1.2 The 'New Woman'](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-literature/ocr/dracula/2-1-2-the-new-woman.md) - [2.1.3 The Contagious Diseases Act](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-literature/ocr/dracula/2-1-3-the-contagious-diseases-act.md) ### 3 Chapter Summaries & Analyses - 3.1 Chapter Summaries & Analyses - [3.1.1 Chapters 1-2](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-literature/ocr/dracula/3-1-1-chapters-1-2.md) - [3.1.2 Chapters 3-4](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-literature/ocr/dracula/3-1-2-chapters-3-4.md) - [3.1.3 Chapters 5-7](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-literature/ocr/dracula/3-1-3-chapters-5-7.md) - [3.1.4 Chapters 8-10](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-literature/ocr/dracula/3-1-4-chapters-8-10.md) - [3.1.5 Chapters 11-12](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-literature/ocr/dracula/3-1-5-chapters-11-12.md) - [3.1.6 Chapters 13-14](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-literature/ocr/dracula/3-1-6-chapters-13-14.md) - [3.1.7 Chapters 15-16](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-literature/ocr/dracula/3-1-7-chapters-15-16.md) - [3.1.8 Chapters 17-18](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-literature/ocr/dracula/3-1-8-chapters-17-18.md) - [3.1.9 Chapters 19-20](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-literature/ocr/dracula/3-1-9-chapters-19-20.md) - [3.1.10 Chapters 21-23](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-literature/ocr/dracula/3-1-10-chapters-21-23.md) - [3.1.11 Chapters 24-25](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-literature/ocr/dracula/3-1-11-chapters-24-25.md) - [3.1.12 Chapters 26-27](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-literature/ocr/dracula/3-1-12-chapters-26-27.md) ### 4 Character Profiles - 4.1 Archetypal Gothic Characters - [4.1.1 Stock & Proppian Gothic Characters](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-literature/ocr/dracula/4-1-1-stock-and-proppian-gothic-characters.md) - 4.2 Count Dracula - [4.2.1 Count Dracula: Character Profile](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-literature/ocr/dracula/4-2-1-count-dracula-character-profile.md) - [4.2.2 Count Dracula: Different Literary Perspectives](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-literature/ocr/dracula/4-2-2-count-dracula-different-literary-perspectives.md) - 4.3 Other Main Characters - [4.3.1 Jonathan Harker](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-literature/ocr/dracula/4-3-1-jonathan-harker.md) - [4.3.2 Dr Abraham Van Helsing](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-literature/ocr/dracula/4-3-2-dr-abraham-van-helsing.md) - [4.3.3 Dr Jack Seward](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-literature/ocr/dracula/4-3-3-dr-jack-seward.md) - [4.3.4 Mina Harker](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-literature/ocr/dracula/4-3-4-mina-harker.md) - [4.3.5 Lucy Westenra](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-literature/ocr/dracula/4-3-5-lucy-westenra.md) - 4.4 Minor Characters - [4.4.1 Arthur Holmwood & Quincey Morris](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-literature/ocr/dracula/4-4-1-arthur-holmwood-and-quincey-morris.md) - [4.4.2 Renfield](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-literature/ocr/dracula/4-4-2-renfield.md) ### 5 Key Ideas - 5.1 Key Ideas - [5.1.1 Transgression of Boundaries](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-literature/ocr/dracula/5-1-1-transgression-of-boundaries.md) - [5.1.2 The Supernatural & Un-dead](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-literature/ocr/dracula/5-1-2-the-supernatural-and-un-dead.md) - [5.1.3 Masculinity & Femininity](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-literature/ocr/dracula/5-1-3-masculinity-and-femininity.md) - [5.1.4 Science, Modernity & Superstition](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-literature/ocr/dracula/5-1-4-science-modernity-and-superstition.md) - [5.1.5 Madness, Illness & Confinement](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-literature/ocr/dracula/5-1-5-madness-illness-and-confinement.md) ### 6 Writing Techniques - 6.1 Writing Techniques - [6.1.1 Epistolary Form & Narrative Voice](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-literature/ocr/dracula/6-1-1-epistolary-form-and-narrative-voice.md) - [6.1.2 Intertextuality & Cultural References](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-literature/ocr/dracula/6-1-2-intertextuality-and-cultural-references.md) - [6.1.3 Structure](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-literature/ocr/dracula/6-1-3-structure.md) ### 7 Critical Debates & Interpretations - 7.1 Initial Reception of Dracula - [7.1.1 Initial Reception of Dracula](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-literature/ocr/dracula/7-1-1-initial-reception-of-dracula.md) - 7.2 Modern Reception of Dracula - [7.2.1 Modern Reception of Dracula](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-literature/ocr/dracula/7-2-1-modern-reception-of-dracula.md)