Science Versus Superstition in Dracula and Victoria England Essays

Science Versus Superstition in Dracula and Victoria England Essays Science Versus Superstition in Dracula and Victoria England Paper Science Versus Superstition in Dracula and Victoria England Paper Essay Topic: Dracula Literature During the Victorian Era in Britain, British citizens began to explore the east and became fascinated with it. There was a great interest in the orient and the objects and culture that came from it. Although the people were mystified by the superstitious nature of the orient learned from their eastern excursions, they were afraid of the east being able to travel to the west. Although the British consumed eastern culture, they were still afraid of too much infiltration by the east. They didnt want their pure British culture to be tainted. Because of this, they used science to explain, classify, and control the unknown superstitious nature of the orient. This push of science onto the eastern world is seen in several scenes throughout the novel Dracula, which was written by Bram Stoker during the Victorian Era in Britain. The proper British characters are constantly trying to overcome Dracula with science. British Imperialism and the British Empires attitude towards the east are shown through the relationship through science and superstition in Dracula. While traveling east, the British encountered a lot of new and previously unknown commodities, cultures, and people. These eastern cultures were seen as backwards to the British people. They had a sort of superstitious quality about them and were thought to be improper because of it. Britain didnt want their proper society contaminated by the superstitious cultures of the orient. There existed a fear that the east would begin to travel west and come back to Britain. The unknown societies and practices were so foreign to them. Britain feared the unknown and so took control by using science to try to understand and classify the cultures. By using proper science, the British were also showing their sense of superiority and elitism. It was believed that the Eastern notion of honor was skewed. It was driven by superstition, which resulted in easterners having flawed notions of what honorable behavior is1. This chaos and backwardness justified a need for a forced British order. Attempting to classify everything around them lead to the comfort that there was nothing they couldnt handle and that they had gained control over everything. There was nothing to be afraid of because the world was under proper Britain and their elitist science. This is similar to how proper Britain in the novel Dracula did not want to be tainted by the superstitious ways of Dracula from the east. From the very beginning of the novel, orientalism is prevalent in the comparisons made between the east and west. There is a sense of us versus them that Jonathan Harker has before he even arrives in Transylvania and meets Dracula. He speaks of leaving the west and entering the east. Steve Patterson describes how the British at the time represented progress, enlightenment, and modernity while the east represented chaos, superstition, and backwardness2. Jonathan is aware that the trains are getting later and later. He states, It seems to [him] that the further East you go the more unpunctual are the trains3. He associates lateness and chaos with the east, which was a common assumption at the time. The British thought the opposite of their proper order, was superstitious chaos. And since east is the opposite of west, the east must be chaotic and uncivilized. He goes on to describe the unfamiliar gar of the people he sees. He speaks of barbarian people wearing high boots and having heavy moustaches and long black hair. The mere comparison between himself and the Slavic people show Jonathans racist oriental views of the east. He is validating his clean cut British appearance by comparing it to barbaric people. Although the British were afraid of the orient and found the people to be backwards, they were also enthralled with it at the same time. When travelers came back form the east and came home to the west, they brought with them commodities and most importantly culture. British homes were filled with oriental rugs, vases, even hookahs. Teas, spices, and sugar became a part of everyday life. Even the most proper of gentlemen had their heirlooms and smoked their hookah pipes. Exotic animals were brought back along with exotic garb, plants, and customs. Oriental culture became intertwined with British culture. The two became inseparable. For a people who were so scared of letting eastern culture tarnish their proper ways, they sure welcomes the consumption of it with open arms. Although there was a large consumption of Eastern culture, the British still remained weary of their properness. They wanted their foreign treasures to be exotic, but still fit into the conservative structure of British society. There was a push and pull of oriental culture. The British were fascinated by the newness and wanted to immerse themselves, but still keep it distant enough to retain their Victorian pureness. In the same way that the British were interested in eastern culture, the characters in Dracula were unwillingly drawn to the mystery of the oriental Dracula. The power that Dracula had over the characters is reminiscent of the way that eastern culture had a powerful draw for the Victorian British. The characters are afraid of Dracula and his unknown superstitions, yet cannot shake their unexplained attraction to his eastern mysteriousness. When Jonathan is in the castle and encounters the three voluptuous women, he senses that they have an eastern animalistic evil about them, yet is drawn to them. He says there was something about them that made me uneasy, some longing and at the same time some deadly fear. 4 He is drawn to them even though he knows they are so completely opposite of proper Victorian Britain. There is an appeal to what is taboo in the strict Victorian society. Regardless that Dracula is Fiction, this speaks volumes about the Victorian British at the time and how they were so drawn to the superstitious culture of the east, even though they knew they should be upholding the conventional values that British society hold so highly. Just as the British in the Victorian era feared the east and tried to find comfort in science, the fictitious characters in Dracula attempted to defeat Eastern Dracula with science. Van Helsing explains that to save Lucy from Draculas induced illness he must perform several blood transfusions. He plans to use the blood from her initial three suitors to refill her body after Dracula has sucked most of it out. Van Helsing tries to use Victorian science and reason to overcome Draculas evil from the east. Even before Jonathan returns to England, he uses reason to overcome his fear in Draculas castle. While writing to Mina about he saw Dracula crawling down the side of the castle, he begins his entry by saying, Let me begin with facts-bare, meager facts, verified by books and figures, and of which there can be no doubt. While immersed in Draculas eastern castle surrounded by superstitions, the thing that comforts Jonathan and reminds him of his home in England, he uses the science and reason that England relies on so heavily to stay grounded while classifying the unknowns of the east. However, just as the British could not contain the superstitious east and stop it form penetrating their proper society, the characters in Dracula could not restrain Dracula with science alone. T he transfusions ultimately failed and Dracula continued to keep draining Lucy of her blood. When the transfusions fail and Van Helsing resorts to superstitious garlic. He is aware of the limitation of modern science6. The others in the group are confused by Van Helsings use of superstition. Dr. Seward exclaims to Van Helsing, Well Professor, I know you always have a reason for what you do, but this certainly puzzles me. 7 The others realize he is straying from science and moving on to superstition and are a bit uneasy about it, but they trust Van Helsing because they have faith in his scientific past. Just as the British peoples use of science and reason failed to keep the east out and they had to succumb to the permeation of eastern culture and accept it into their culture, the characters in Dracula have to accept the superstition into their lives and trust that it will be more beneficial than the previous use of science and reason. The oriental culture had made its way into British culture, seeped in, and shaken up proper Victorian society. Much like the failure to keep away Dracula, no matter how hard the British tried to keep oriental culture out, the ways of the east breached Englands shores. The order in British society was mimicked in the order of their science. Trying to solve eastern superstitions with science is similar to trying to impose order on the world to retain the comfortable, pure order of proper Britain. The characters in Stokers Dracula are constantly trying to control Dracula with science and constantly failing. They eventually have to resort to superstition. This mirrors the effect of eastern culture on British society. As much as Britain tried to contain the orient with science, the orient penetrated proper Britain and seeped into British culture, where it still remains today.