{"version": "1.0", "type": "rich", "title": "It occurs to me that I haven't yet articulated something percolating in my mind. I've never read Dracula but I have been exposed...", "author_name": "kontextmaschine", "author_url": "https://kontextmaschine.com", "provider_name": "kontextmaschine", "provider_url": "https://kontextmaschine.com", "url": "https://kontextmaschine.com/post/693786285220986880/", "html": "

cherryqueenoftarts:

It occurs to me that I haven\u2019t yet articulated something percolating in my mind. I\u2019ve never read Dracula but I have been exposed to a (very different) stage production and the 90s movie. And I\u2019ve seen plenty of references to it in other media and people imitating Bela Lugosi saying \u201cI vant to suck your blood.\u201d

Which brings me to my point. Up until recently reading Dracula Daily, I just never even questioned the concept of Dracula, and most vampires in general, wanting to hunt and kill people for their blood. Like, blood is their food; when they are hungry they want human blood, like mosquitoes or ticks or whatever.

However, since reading Lucy\u2019s description of her experience being preyed on by Dracula, it\u2019s made me think I have been missing Stoker\u2019s point. And that many vampire story creators also don\u2019t address (and they certainly don\u2019t have to).

Dracula is feeding on Lucy\u2019s soul. The blood is incidental. He\u2019s draining her of herself. That\u2019s why strength of character makes a difference. Mina has built her character, the strength of her soul, in ways Lucy was always prevented from doing. Same with the captain of the Demeter. As captain, he was a stronger character than any other crew member, so he could resist being consumed. It\u2019s about way more than blood.

Idk if I\u2019m conveying my epiphany very well. It\u2019s not that the idea of vampires eating souls is new to me. It\u2019s more that I think the blood part of it has been way overemphasized. Blood consumption has become the defining characteristic of vampires, and I think it\u2019s not at all what Stoker was trying to convey. They are demons that consume the spirit of a person. That\u2019s what makes what they do so evil and devastating. If it was just blood, it could be neutral in certain circumstances. But it\u2019s not blood. It\u2019s everything that makes a person who they are.

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It’s funny how in response to all those complaints about reading comprehension [tumblr] held a seminar with literary analysis

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