This Is Exactly My Thought Process. I'm So Intrigued To Know Whether He's Being Held Against His Will

This is exactly my thought process. I'm so intrigued to know whether he's being held against his will because he's telling the truth and they think he's bananas. It sounds like he must have been out of it for a while in any case, since they couldn't figure out who to write to until recently. I imagine he was all starved and feverish and confused but he came out of it. But now? Is he well enough to travel and they won't let him??

The ambiguity about Johnathan’s condition at this point is incredible. Like there’s just a month gap missing from the story and we don’t know what Johnathan went through and we only have a second hard account of his condition. It’s possible he’s totally fine and when Sister Agatha says he’s not up to writing she means that his letters are full of warnings about the vampire trying to terrorize England. And they’re holding him against his will because they think he’s mad. Or maybe he’s been completely incoherent for the last 6 weeks and it’s actually taken him this long to remember his own address.

A character in a historical fiction book who is a noble but always speaks in a flawed imitation of a lower class accent because he thinks it's funny.

When I was in 6th grade our school put on Dracula (a very tame version that shared very little in common with the original) and I was Lucy. As a result I've always had a soft spot for her and if anything it's made me dislike and avoid most film adaptations. So when I read today's entry from Mina's journal, it really got to me. Lucy will start sleepwalking but at the slightest restraint by Mina she yields. Mina ties it back to the way Lucy's life works. That's what got to me. Lucy has been raised from birth to subside; to give in to others' wishes. It's sad. And she doesn't stand a chance against Dracula.

Lucy is so clearly stressed about her upcoming marriage even if some of her affliction is somehow tied to Dracula's arrival. I think this is canon, really. She's doing it because she's supposed to, because her mother is terrified of what will happen to her if she doesn't marry well, etc. She may genuinely like Arthur, but we've little evidence that she loves him the way Mina loves Jonathan.

Learning that Stoker was, by his own admission, very attracted to Walt Whitman, I think it's possible* he actually intended for Lucy and Mina to be in love. Mina is actually less likely, despite her admiration for Lucy's beauty and sweetness, because she's so obviously in love with Jonathan. I think Stoker has her go on about how lovely Lucy is as a way of reinforcing it to the reader, rather than to say Mina is in love with Lucy. Mina, I think, is a "good girl," and her devotion to Jonathan is proof of that. Which isn't to say we shouldn't have our own head cannons.

*possible, but tbh, I think it's unlikely. A lot of men of previous centuries could look at the Ancient Greeks and say m/m love had its place, but women were so often condemned for the slightest sexuality of any kind. I don't think being open to m/m love would automatically make Stoker open to lesbian love.

Anyway, all this to say that I have this feeling that Lucy is in love with Mina. And that's a huge part of why her engagement messes her up so badly. And, in addition, I think it could work within what I know about Stoker's conflict over his attraction to men (which, I'll be the first to admit, is limited knowledge). Like, maybe he imbues Lucy with all his own inner turmoil about forbidden love. I do think he did it to an extent with Jonathan (in the scenes we noted were homoerotic with Dracula, as well as Jon's forbidden attraction to the wives). So Lucy is troubled, and

[spoiler ahead please stop here if you don't like spoilers]

[sorry, idk how to do the break thingy I see on some posts]

[this spoiler concerns Lucy, you have been warned]

[it is a Big spoiler]

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[okay don't say I didn't warn you]

Lucy will be corrupted by Dracula and ultimately she will die. Fits perfectly with the homophobia of the time as well as whatever internalized homophobia Stoker was carrying around. I can see her being in love with Mina and wishing she could escape her marriage as fatal flaws that make her susceptible to Dracula, in Stoker's mind. This is speculation. I know about her fate from movies, but I've never read the book and I've only recently read a little about Stoker. I welcome any comments clarifying things if you know more about it, or giving your opinion. 🙂

I may be in the minority but I think it's pretty smooth of Stoker to have casually dropped the little story about the suicide's grave like he did. It's all part of the larger tapestry of spooky details at the time so it didn't feel like An Important Detail For Later. He was telling us, though: "Pay no attention to the grave marker, readers, this spot is unconsecrated." So now Dracula hiding in that grave makes sense.