Jonathan Harker - Tumblr Posts - Page 2
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. 🙂
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.
So did Mina receive Sister Agatha's letter today? Or just us??
Jonathan Harker, futuristic real estate lawyer, travels to a planet only recently served by the trans-universal space transport. There, he meets the inhabitants: a new humanoid alien race who appear relatively mundane, though exotic, to Harker's eye. They seem very troubled when they learn who is his client, pressing strange amulets on him. Harker knows there are risks to space travel and exposure to alien civilizations, but he is confident he's prepared to deal with whatever he encounters. Silly earthling.
The thing that Dracula Daily, by the pauses between entries, really let’s us see is how the biggest foe the protagonists face is the lack of context. Mina, Jonathan, Seward, Quincy and Arthur are not dumb. But since they do not know the warning signs, they cannot protect each other from Dracula. They cannot put two and two together, because they are lacking the other half of the equation. If they even knew a little bit of lore, they would have done things differently. This is why retellings of Dracula in the modern day suffer, because the characters by that point WOULD know what a vampire is and what signs to look out for. If by nothing else, then just by popular culture osmosis. So to really capture the feeling of Dracula and the dread of not knowing, Dracula would have to be an alien or something entirely different. Just because the ignorance the characters have and the ad hoc way they have to fight Dracula are such key aspects of the story.
Hungarian marriage laws c.1897
Can anyone advise me how exactly those worked? Because the very short notice wedding seems a bit unusual in my knowledge. We have something called special licence here, but that's generally only used for the terminally ill.
Mina not telling Jonathan or anyone else her "dream" makes perfect sense to me. When they kicked her out of the clubhouse they broke trust with her. Even if she doesn't articulate it that's what happened. She's was the one most emphatically encouraging openness and trust. She was so confident. Their well-meaning rejection destroyed that confidence.
I'm not especially disturbed that Jonathan hasn't connected the dots wrt Mina's paleness. Of course he hasn't. He's convinced that order has been restored to the universe because the men have taken charge. Experts are experting. This, in all of their minds, makes Mina *safer*. They will all have to overcome their self-satisfaction and wishful thinking before they'll be able to recognize the clues.
I'm infuriated, but not surprised, on a general level, at the idiots for cutting her out and leaving her vulnerable. And I'm a little disappointed in Mina for not realizing right away that it wasn't a dream and Dracula is hunting her, honestly. She should at least be worried about it, and maybe trying to rationalize it ("Reading Lucy's diary put this nightmare in my head").
On a meta level, though, kudos to Stoker.
I'm so impressed with his messages, whether they were intentional or not.
Lucy's story: raising ladies to be submissive is bad, actually.
Mina's story: men are wrong to sideline women, and their machismo puts the women they're supposed to protect in more danger.
Bersicker's story: wolves are good bois and the long history of their villainization isn't their fault.
Stoker is *way* more enlightened than I expected.
Lord *born into a life of wealth and privilege* Arthur Holmwood Godalming: ok cool I'll go to the Vice-Consul tomorrow and make sure he'll tell us when the Count's boat has arrived. I'll just stop at the bank first to get enough money.
Jonathan *orphan who not six months ago walked into what he knew full well was a very sketchy situation bc he couldn't afford to lose his job* Harker: yes. Yes. Yes! We shall use money to ensure a favorable outcome! Ha-ha! People will do the things we want them to because we'll financially compensate them. Normally they wouldn't but propriety and things like professional confidentiality can all be circumvented with Money!!! Money that we can give them!!! Judge Moneybags will settle the case! *maniacal laughter*.
Arthur:
Arthur turning to Quincey: do normal people not bribe when they want something done that's against the rules? What do they do instead?
Quincey *taking a British holiday for an undetermined amount of time* Morris: I have no idea
Jack Seward: they just don't get to do the thing.
Arthur and Quincey:
Arthur: well that's just uncivilized.
Besties I don't think Jonathan's having a morbtastic time