Count Dracula
The antagonist. An ancient Transylvanian vampire who wants to establish himself in England. He is intelligent, patient, and physically powerful. He appears directly in relatively few scenes, which makes him more threatening, not less.
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Characters
Come here when you need to sort out who matters, what they want, and where they actually help your argument in Dracula.
Contents
Characters
Who matters and what they help you prove.
Jonathan Harker
A young solicitor who is the first to encounter Dracula. His journal opens the novel and establishes the threat. He spends much of the middle section recovering from his ordeal, but he delivers one of the killing blows at the end.
Mina Murray Harker
Jonathan's fiancée and later wife. She is the group's organizer and record-keeper. After Dracula bites her, she becomes both a liability and an asset. Her psychic connection to Dracula is what ultimately leads the hunters to him.
Professor Abraham Van Helsing
A Dutch doctor and occult expert. He is the only character who immediately understands what they are dealing with. He leads the group's strategy, performs the rituals, and provides the framework for fighting a supernatural enemy with a mix of science and folklore.
Lucy Westenra
Mina's closest friend. She is Dracula's first English victim. Her transformation and destruction function as a warning about what will happen to Mina if the group fails. Her death also radicalizes the male characters and commits them to the hunt.
Dr. John Seward
A psychiatrist who runs an asylum near one of Dracula's lairs. He is one of Lucy's former suitors. His clinical detachment makes him slow to accept the supernatural, but his asylum and his medical knowledge prove useful to the group.
Arthur Holmwood (Lord Godalming)
Lucy's fiancé. He provides financial resources and social connections. He is emotionally the most affected by Lucy's death and her destruction, which gives him a personal stake in defeating Dracula.
Quincey Morris
An American from Texas and another of Lucy's former suitors. He is practical, brave, and loyal. He dies killing Dracula in the final confrontation. Mina and Jonathan name their son after him.
Renfield
A patient in Seward's asylum who eats insects and small animals to absorb their life force. He has a psychic connection to Dracula and serves as a warning signal throughout the novel. His fate shows what Dracula does to people who serve him.
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