Bram Stoker's Dracula as Saviour: Nietzschean Reading

Abstract

Bram Stoker's Count Dracula is traditionally and popularly regarded as the villain of Stoker's classic 1898 novel. Drawing on Nietzsche's theories on power and morality, as well as on existing theories on late-Victorian England and on the novel itself, this article argues that the famous Count emerges ironically as the novel's tragic hero. In particular, the preoccupation with appearance and boundaries that in part charac­terised late-Victorian England will be outlined with reference to Ronald Pearsall's The Worm in the Bud ([1969)2003) and Prescott and Giorgio's (2005) research on Dracula, which situates the novel within the late-Victorian climate of anxiety and power.
In this process, credence is given to Nietzsche's theory that morality is a construct borne from humanity's will to power and not a natural, historic given. As such, judgements formulated around this construct need to be carefully scrutinised and their value questioned. In the same vein, characters cast as either villainous or heroic within this constructed framework must be re-evaluated. Thus, the proposed article re-evaluates conventional ways of thinking with regards to power and morality, and focuses on how transgression can represent a meaningful challenge to a repressive, hypocritical status quo.

Opsomming
Die tradisionele, en gewildste, beskouing van Bram Stoker se Count Dracula is van horn as die booswig van Stoker se klassieke 1989 novelle. Hierdie artikel hou voor, aan die hand van Nietzsche se teoriee aangaande mag en moraliteit, dat die befaamde "Count" ironies na vore tree as die tragiese held van die novelle. In besonder word die laat-Viktoriaanse Engeland se karakteristieke besorgdheid met aanskyn en grense hier omtrek, met verwysing na Ronald Pearsall se The Worm in the Bud ([1969)2003), en Prescott en Giorgio's (2005) se navorsing aangaande Dracula, wat die novelle midde in die laat-Viktoriaanse klimaat van angsvalligheid en mag plaas.
In hierdie proses word geloofwaardigheid verleen aan Nietzsche se teorie dat moralitieit 'n maaksel is, gebore uit die menslike sin na mag, en nie 'n natuurlike, historiese gegewe nie. Sodanig is dit nodig om die uitsprake wat rondom hierdie maaksel geformuleer word sorgvuldig te ondersoek, en hul waarde te ondervra. In dieselfde gees word vereis dat karakters wat binne hierdie gekonstrueerde raamwerk 6f as skurkagtig 6f as hero'ies uitgewys word, soortgelyke herskatting ondergaan. Die artikel heroorweeg dus konvensionele denkwyses aangaande mag en moraliteit, en fokus op die wyse waarop oorskryding 'n betekenisvolle betwisting van die bedwingende, huigelagtige status quo kan aanvoer.