On Strange Tides...

Ahoy, fellow readers. I am afraid that we must again be wary – the trip on which we are about to embark is even more treacherous than the last. The next stop on our voyage requires that we temporarily depart from the seas which we have been sailing upon as of late. While our journey leads to a destination key to the work of a famed British writer, it takes us rather far from England. We must sail through the Strait of Gibraltar and through the Alboran Sea to the Mediterranean. We must navigate the waters of the Aegean and the Marmara to finally reach the Black Sea. There, after traveling through sea and time, we will make port and venture deep into the heart of Romania, to an infamous region known Transylvania.

Be warned! We are about to come face to face with the title character of Bram Stoker’s most well-known work – Dracula.

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(From Chapter 2, continuation of Jonathan Harker’s May 5^th journal entry)

            His face was a strong – a very strong – aquiline, with high bridge of the thin nose and peculiarly arched nostrils, with lofty domed forehead, and hair growing scantily around the temples but profusely elsewhere. His eyebrows were very massive, almost meeting over the nose, and with bushy hair that seemed to curl in its own profusion. The mouth, so far as I could see it under the heavy moustache, was fixed and rather cruel-looking, with peculiarly sharp white teeth. These protruded over the lips, whose remarkable ruddiness showed astonishing vitality in a man of his years. For the rest, his ears were pale, and at the tops extremely pointed. The chin was broad and strong, and the cheeks firm though thin. The general effect was one of extraordinary pallor.

            Hitherto I had noticed the backs of his hands as they lay on his knees in the firelight, and they had seemed rather white and fine. But seeing them now rather close to me, I could not but notice that they were rather coarse – broad, with squat fingers. Strange to say, there were hairs in the center of the palm. The nails were long and fine, and cut to a sharp point.

And so we are introduced by Mr. Stoker – via the journal of one Jonathan Harker – to the infamous Count Dracula. In this passage – after describing Harker’s strange, even harrowing, journey to Castle Dracula – Stoker goes on to describe the Count himself. While, at this point, we have not been made aware in the text that the Count is inhuman, a vampire, Stoker certainly does not fail to portray the Count as being something other than a typical human being.

The language in this passage consistently conjures images which are almost animal, making the Count appear to be some strange and subtle combination of man and beast. The term “aquiline” quite literally means hooked or curved like an eagle’s beak. This description of the Count’s nose immediately serves to liken him to a bird of prey, giving to his character a predatory air. The description of Dracula’s hair and eyebrows as being profuse, even wild, is a further suggestion of some kind of animal resemblance, albeit far more subtle. Another more subtle suggestion of otherness in the Count’s appearance is found in the description of his ears as being “extremely pointed.” While this descriptor is, again, more subtle, it is still enough of a departure from what many would consider a norm to be a distinguishing feature. Also, as many animals - including wolves, which appear with some frequency in the novel – have pointed ears, this feature can also be considered suggestive of an animal nature.

The description of the Count becomes, in some ways, rather sinister, as well, his “cruel-looking” mouth proving to be home to a set of very sharp teeth. This description fits quite well with the idea of Dracula being somewhat predatory in appearance as sharp teeth or fangs are a characteristic of many very skilled – and very dangerous – predators. As such, sharp teeth can be seen, in this instance, as a sign that Dracula is not only powerful to some degree, but dangerous, as well. This is an idea conjured once again in the later description of the Count’s nails. Depicted as being cut into sharp points, the Count’s nails almost sound more like claws. This again is somewhat suggestive of an animal, predatory nature.

Again, while we are yet to officially see Dracula’s true nature, this initial description is highly suggestive of the idea that Dracula is more than meets the eye, that there is some danger lurking beneath his aged façade, that he is something not entirely human…

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Alas, we must be off! The sun is growing low on the horizon and it does not do to linger after dark, not here, not in our present company! Enjoy our time in port! But be wary! You might just want to find some garlic and a Crucifix or two – this land be home to strange creatures of the night!

Until next time!