Good and Evil in Dracula by Bram Stoker

What if in between good and evil did not exist? Where would you stand? Today, it is believed that everyone was born with the slightest bit of evil in them. In the Victorian Era, this theory would be considered very wrong, because one would either be all good, or all evil. In Dracula, by Bram Stoker, good versus evil was symbolised throughout the book as two antithetical forces without an in between. By clearly demonstrating the relationship between the dualistic ideas of intuition versus logic, good characters facing figures comparable to the devil, and symbolism within the natural world, Bram Stoker effectively recounts a “holy war” between the antagonistic forces of good and evil.

Firstly, good and evil was seen throughout the aspect of intuition versus logic of the book. Dr. Seward writes in his diary that, “Yesterday [he] was almost willing to accept Van Helsing’s monstrous ideas; but now they seem to start out lurid before me as outrages on common sense. I have no doubt that he believes it all. I wonder if his mind can have become in any way unhinged. Surely there must be some rational explanation of all these mysterious things.” (174). In the Victorian Era, logic was perceived as good, while intuition was evil and immoral. Dr. Seward writes how he was at first convinced that Lucy was, in fact, a vampire, but later thinks these ideas are outlandish. He is unwilling to accept Van Helsing’s intuition because his thoughts could not be justified by logic, but could be proven merely by beliefs. Similarly, Jonathan has initial feelings about Dracula that he was convinced were wrong as they were not rational thoughts. He writes that, “there is something so strange about this place and all in it that [he] cannot but feel uneasy.” (2...

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...l. After discovering this, Van Helsing, Dr. Seward, Quincey, and Arthur hunted her, and killed the evil soul that had taken over her body. She then truly dies and is left in her natural, humane state. Also, Jonathan facing Dracula is another example of good versus evil, as seen when Jonathan wrote that “when the Count saw [his] face, his eyes blazed with a sort of demoniac fury, and he suddenly made a grab at [his] throat. [Jonathan] drew away, and [the Count’s] hand touched the string of beads that held the crucifix.” (21). Jonathan unknowing put himself in danger by entering the Count’s castle, in which there was only evil. He could only protect himself by possessing religious objects, of which the Count, a demonic character, was afraid of. Good and evil was also demonstrated through the relationship between kind and purely good characters opposing evil characters.