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| Bram Stoker's Dracula, graphic novel |
❤: Since I am only introducing myself to the realm of Internet now, I thought I'd drop a little bit of context. This next post is the original version of my essay on the relationship between Mina and Dracula. Its birth met more difficulties given my age- I was 16 at the time- and the fact that I am not a native speaker. I know that it is incomplete and interrupted, the truth is I have no idea where the last bit went and I changed three phones- that will teach me not to use Samsung Notes to write my most profound thoughts. By the time anybody reads this I will also (hopefully) have written a little description of me for the blog, I really hope you check it out and choose to support my work!
-SvartHeritage
On a first look, the whole relationship between Mina and the Count in "Bram Stoker's Dracula" might seem toxic: Dracula has the power of hypnosis and reading other's minds, which attests his will to command women; besides, he loved Mina but brutally killed Lucy, showing that he is only able to respect the women he wants to. He even has his small group of prisoner concubines. Let us not forget that he loves Mina because he sees Elizabeth in her, not because he fell for her personality (honestly I doubt the last point, and I'd add to that the pagan, almost platonic concept of love through remembering: when the mind's interest is sparked by something truly beautiful it then remembers the beauty and perfection of a past life, in which he was not alone but shared the divine).
On the other hand, the toxicity of the relationship cannot be traced in forms of oppression of poor Mina: she is stunning, clever (names Madame Curie, talks about culture). She's restless and follows a path to rediscover the power inside her thanks to Dracula.
One can't just help but doubt her choice to sacrifice her mortal life and everything she had to Dracula, when in reality she was willing to do the same for her Jonathan, and nobody really cared. Perhaps Dracula was a monster and full of demons, and it is questionable that one sane girl should spend her life healing the wounds of a monster... but that's literally the same plot as Beauty and the Beast!
Furthermore (and that's where it gets interesting!) the script for the graphic novel based on the film really underlines the power of the couple made by Mina and Dracula. First of all, his "toxic", "dime-storeish" powers are mostly canceled, while some of them are reinterpreted: his ability to read minds is a way to read hearts and therefore understand feelings, especially feelings of women, in a society in which they are left behind even by their husbands (Van Helsing clearly tells Jonathan that he cannot understand what Mina is going through when he shows a superficial idea to "protect her" probably derived by his education); plus, the three terrifying women which were to be Dracula's concubines are actually three independent, luscious (...)
❤: The urge to correct my teenage self's mistakes is impellent, but who are we to correct the past? What divine concession can allow us to alter the passing of time? Wouldn't we elevate ourselves to God trough the wrong path if so? (Yes, I did correct the most embarrassing mistakes). Anyway, I think I wanted to say that the three concubines are strong, supernatural creatures protecting the Count by their own will. But we will never know for sure. And now the rest of this essay has been swallowed by the void, in a space beyond our comprehension. How fascinating!
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