A Comparison of Bram Stokers Dracula to the 1931 Film and Hamilton Deanes Play

 11/01/04

                                                                   By

                                                            Brittany Daly

                                                         Shawn O'Rourke

                                                          Peter Pistorous

Summary of the Novel                                                               

     First published in 1897, Dracula is considered by many critics to be Bram Stoker's only great novel.  The story, which is set mainly in Victorian England, takes the reader on an adventure through the journal entries of the several main characters as they interact with the infamous Count Dracula.

     The novel begins by introducing us, through his journal entries, to a young English lawyer, Jonathan Harker, as he travels to Castle Dracula in the Eastern European country of Transylvania to conclude a real estate transaction with a nobleman named Count Dracula.  As Harker rides through the ominous yet picturesque countryside, the local peasants warn him about his destination, give him crucifixes, and utter strange words that Harker later translates into "vampire.  Disturbed, but undeterred, by the local peoples' actions, Harker continues on to meet the count's carriage as planned.  Upon arriving at the crumbling old castle, Harker is graciously welcomed by the elderly Count Dracula.  The count is a well-educated and hospitable gentleman.  After only a few days, however, Harker begins to notice many strange things about the Count.  Dracula will stay up all night talking with Harker, but disappears during the day, and never seems to eat.  Harker soon discovers that he is a prisoner in the castle, and that the Count has dark plans for him.  While searching for a way to escape, Harker finds Dracula asleep in a coffin.  Dracula appears to be much younger and has traces of blood on him.  Soon after, Dracula leaves for England, and Harker makes a desperate attempt to escape the castle.

     The story then brings us to England, where we meet Harkers fiance© Mina, her friend Lucy Westenra, and Lucys three current suitors: Arthur Holmwood, Quincy Morris, and Dr. Seward.  Mina and Lucy are vacationing on the English coast when a storm blows up and a Russian ship, the Demeter, crashes ashore.  The ships log tells of a strange presence that haunted the ship and has apparently killed off its crew.  Soon after the wreck, Lucy begins to sleepwalk.  Mina wakes one night to find that Lucy is missing.  She searches the cliffs near the town graveyard and finds Lucy in the arms of a dark figure.  When Mina approaches them, the dark figure disappears and two, tiny red marks are found upon Lucy's neck.  Soon after the incident, Mina gets word that Jonathan is in a hospital in Budapest and leaves to meet him.

     Dr. Seward, who runs an insane asylum in London, begins to notice a strange new behavior in one of his patients, Renfield.  At first he would catch and eat flies, then he began to use the flies to attract spiders, and later the spiders to attract birds.  Seward invents a new classification for Renfield, calling him a "zoophagous" (life-eating) maniac.  Renfield also begins to babble incoherently about his master's coming.  Seward is called to examine Lucy after she returns to London from her vacation on the coast.  Her fianc©, Holmwood, notices that she appears to be pale and weak.  Seward brings his mentor, the Dutch Dr. Van Helsing, with him.  Together, Seward and Van Helsing watch helplessly as Lucy wastes away.  As she approaches death, the doctors notice that Lucys teeth begin to sharpen and elongate.  Van Helsing notes this as an ominous sign.

     Now married, Mina and Jonathan return to England.  Van Helsing convinces everyone of the reality of vampires and of the dangers of this particular one.  Mina helps Van Helsing collect the various diary and journal entries that Harker, Seward, and the others have written, and attempts to piece together a narrative that will lead them to the count.  Reports soon begin to surface of a mysterious woman known as the bloofer lady.  Van Helsing claims that Lucy is responsible and convinces Seward, Morris, and Holmwood to accompany him to Lucys crypt one night.  There, they see the vampire form of Lucy with a child.  The next night, the men return to her crypt and drive a stake through her heart.

     After learning all they can of Dracula's affairs, Van Helsing and his band track down the boxes of earth from Dracula's castle.  They discover that the count uses the dirt as a sanctuary during the night.  Dracula, however, has many lairs throughout London.  The vampire hunters plan to sterilize them all so as to strand Dracula in his weakest form and then to kill him.  Dracula has other plans in mind.  While the men search for his lairs, he is let into the asylum by Renfield and attacks Mina in the night, feeding her with his blood so that she too will become a vampire.

     The vampire hunters manage to drive Dracula out of England and through the psychic link that Mina has with the Count, they determine that Dracula has sealed himself in the final, missing box and has placed it on a ship bound for the Black Sea.  They follow his trail to Transylvania.  As they close in on Castle Dracula, they find a group of gypsies traveling with Draculas coffin in their wagon.  The hunters attack.  Harker and Holmwood drive their knives through Draculas heart, he crumbles into dust.  Quincey Morris is mortally wounded in the fight.  Mina is now free from her fate.  The hunters return to England.  Mina and Jonathan Harker later name their first son after Quincey Morris.

Bram Stokers Novel, Dracula, compared to Hamilton Deanes Play of Dracula                                                                                               

     There are as many versions for the story of Dracula as there are people who have portrayed the title role.  The play Dracula written by Hamilton Deane exhibits a similar but sordid way of interpreting the original story by Bram Stoker.  Dean added, changed, and subtracted characters to achieve his ultimate goal.  Except for a short introduction with an old man crawling out of a window in Transylvania, the play takes place entirely in London.

     From the beginning of the play, Mina is married to Jonathan Harker, whereas in the book, they were married during the course of the story.  None of Minas suitors appear in the play.  The couple has an estate next to the asylum run by Dr. Seward. 

     The three-act play takes place predominately in two separate rooms, the study of the Harkers house and Minas bedroom.  It takes place over a four or five day period.  There is no discussion about what happened in Transylvania or that Jonathan actually traveled there.  It is known that he did assist Count Dracula in the purchase several estates in London.  Though no scenes take place at the asylum, the audience knows that it is located next to the residence of Jonathan Harker.

     When it is determined that an unnatural force such as a vampire or werewolf is the cause of Minas condition, it is ordered that her room be protected with garlic flowers, not Lucys room as in the novel.

     Lucy comes into the play already dead.  She was engaged to Lord Godalming.  There is talk about her condition before dying and the similarities with the current condition of Mina.  And later, a Bu-ful lady is described who is terrorizing small children.  There is talk about ending her unnatural life, but in the play they do not actually do it, it is simply assumed that they did.

     The character of the American, Quincey Morris, was changed into a woman for the play.  Her role in the play is not very important, and she is rarely present during the play.  Her main role is being there for Mina when she needs her.  She is a friend of the family who helps out with various jobs, such as obtaining the garlic flowers for Minas bedroom.

     Arthur Holmwood was replaced in the play with his father, Lord Godalming.  In the Bram Stoker novel, when Lord Godalming passed away, Arthur received his title, but in the play, Arthur is not even mentioned.  Lord Godalming was engaged to Lucy and he is the one who gives permission to kill the un-dead Lucy, though it is not actually carried out in the play. 

     The play comes to a close in Carfax Abbey instead of in Transylvania.  Lord Godalming and Jonathan Harker purified all of Draculas earth boxes in his other estates to force him into the Abbey where they will be able to trap him.  Once Dracula flees from Jonathans house after killing Renfield, they follow him back to the coach house of the Abbey where Jonathan Harker destroys Dracula.

The Novel in Comparison to the 1931 Film                

     The 1931 film Dracula is essentially a condensed version of the Dracula tale presented in Bram Stokers novel.  The film Dracula captures the main elements of the novel, but also differs from it in many aspects.  This may be due to the film being based on both Bram Stokers novel and Hamilton Deanes play.  In addition, these differences seem to result from the influence of the societal views of gender and sexuality at the time of the films production.  The novel contains sexually suggestive situations that are omitted from the film, and even the intimate act of Dracula drinking from his victims is not shown.  These influences on the film, as well as the necessity to condense the tale, create a rendition that appeases the audience, while retaining most of the main characters and remaining relatively true to the novels overall plot. 

     The film is action driven, following Dracula from Transylvania through his brief residence in London.  The tale begins with Renfield meeting Dracula in Transylvania to conclude a transaction on Draculas new estate in London.  Renfield is overcome by Dracula and goes mad.  He then travels with Dracula to London.  Shortly after their arrival, Renfield is committed to the asylum.  In the novel, Renfield is known only as an asylum inmate and Jonathan Harker visits Dracula to discuss the estate. 

     The characters Dr. Seward and Lucy play limited roles in the film, while they are more developed and active in the action of the novel.  Dr. Seward runs the asylum; however, in the film, he is Minas father.  He is not a vampire hunter as he is in the novel.  Lucy does not have any suitors, and her role seems to be limited by the omission of her characters sexuality.  Dracula overcomes Lucy the evening he meets her, and she dies from this encounter.  She becomes a vampire known as the Lady in White, although she is not hunted down and destroyed as she is in the novel.       

     There is no band of vampire hunters in the film.  Two of the vampire hunters from the novel, Arthur Holmwood and Quincy Morris, are omitted from the film.  The remaining characters seem to remain in their predefined roles.  Jonathan and Dr. Seward want to protect Mina, but make no effort to seek out Dracula.  Dr. Van Helsing is the only character who is knowledgeable about vampires and is left to take care of Dracula on his own.  Dr. Van Helsing is the only true vampire hunter in this rendition, since he is the only character willing to take on Dracula.

     Minas character does not appear to possess the mental strength that she displays in the novel.  This seems to place a gender stereotype of helpless victim on her character as it is portrayed in the film.  Dracula abducts Mina, and brings her back to his estate.  Dr. Van Helsing and Jonathan pursue Dracula, and discover his lair by following Renfield into Draculas estate.  As the men enter the lair, Renfield plummets to his death at the hands of Dracula for leading the men to him.

     Dracula meets his demise in London instead of Transylvania.  After a brief chase scene through the estate, Dracula is found in his coffin.  While Dr. Van Helsing is searching for objects to kill Dracula with, Jonathan is busy searching for Mina instead of helping with Draculas execution.  Dr. Van Helsing impales Dracula through the heart with a board from a nearby coffin, setting Mina free from Draculas curse.