Count Dracula and Hannibal Lecter: Identity and Horror Compared

Introduction

Many people are familiar with Dracula by Bram Stoker and The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris. Both are typically referred to as horror stories guaranteed to give any reader a good scare. Nevertheless, the two novels offer two very different flavors of horror. Bram Stoker, for instance, did not simply set out to provide a Victorian audience with a thrill ride. His goal was to inflict horror on every individual. To achieve this, he implemented gory and gruesome themes throughout. Many symbols and themes — particularly those surrounding the main antagonist Dracula — were woven into the novel in order to teach a lesson. Strangely enough, Dracula also does a remarkable job of resembling other forces of evil throughout literary and religious tradition.

The Silence of the Lambs, on the other hand, takes a different direction. This novel falls under the genre of psychological horror. Stories in the horror genre typically comprise a few essential elements: a villain of extreme evil to generate the central conflict; a foil — a character who endeavors to stop the villain from carrying out an evil plan; and suspense, the final component that keeps the reader engaged and the storyline moving forward. Both novels do an excellent job of depicting these two fundamentals, which naturally produce conflict between the opposing forces, and from that conflict comes suspense. When psychology is introduced to the story, as in The Silence of the Lambs, the meaning of horror is altered entirely from what is found in Dracula.

In Bram Stoker's Dracula, the author displays various elements of horror rooted in the supernatural. Dracula possesses superhuman strength — equivalent, according to Van Helsing, to that of twenty strong men — and, being undead, is immune to conventional means of attack. The Silence of the Lambs is different because its horror is psychological. The story directs attention to the mind and how it functions, and the mystery of that inner world generates the suspense. Dracula is essentially a supernatural killer, whereas Hannibal Lecter is a natural-born one.

Dracula is considered the perfect symbol of otherness for the Victorian era. He comes from Transylvania in the East, a region full of strange beliefs and superstitions. Though the Romanians are rooted in Christianity, the Christians of the Victorian era regarded Eastern Christianity as a more primitive structure rather than a modern form of the faith. In Silence of the Lambs, religion plays no role in the novel at all. In Stoker's novel, Dracula does not speak perfect English and admits this flaw himself, fearing he will be recognized as an outsider. His physical features are also far removed from what was considered attractive in England. Hannibal's physical features, by contrast, are entirely normal — very average-looking for a killer. Both novels depict the profiles of two savage killers: one more supernatural, the other wholly natural. Yet both are driven to destroy. This thesis offers an analysis of Count Dracula and Hannibal Lecter — their identities, their similarities, and their differences as the central characters of their respective narratives.

Both Hannibal and Dracula are obviously very different in their personalities. Each has specific qualities that set him apart as a killer, and each possesses a unique identity that he flourishes in as a character.

Many of Count Dracula's supernatural powers derive from his role as the embodiment of darkness — a figure that has frightened millions of readers and elevated the legend of vampirism to a level unparalleled in contemporary arts or literature. Dracula (also known as Nosferatu) concentrates human fear through his bloody, supernatural vampire charm. In the novel, Count Dracula is a fictional aristocratic vampire from Transylvania. A master of dark arts, though black magic is hardly his strongest attribute, the Count became this creature after his death and lived for several centuries in his castle with his three brides. His castle is believed to be modeled on Bran's Castle, with its narrow corridors, mysterious corners, and secret chambers. Dracula's presence in the novel differs markedly from typical vampire figures in Eastern European folklore: rather than a terrifying monster, he presents as a compelling and handsome gentleman.

Identities of Count Dracula and Hannibal Lecter

Count Dracula possesses formidable supernatural powers and skills. His physical strength equals that of twenty men, and being immortal, he is immune to conventional methods of attack. The only ways to kill him are to cut off his head and impale his heart with a wooden cross. He requires no sustenance other than fresh blood, which has a revitalizing effect on him. To recuperate his strength, he also requires Transylvanian soil somewhere nearby.

Count Dracula can defy gravity, climbing upside down vertical surfaces. He possesses hypnotic and clairvoyant abilities and can command nocturnal animals such as wolves and rats. He can manipulate weather, conjuring fierce storms and mists to conceal his presence. He can even shapeshift, transforming himself into a rat, wolf, bat, or fog.

His most striking power, however, is the ability to transform other people into vampires. He was attended by his three wives, each of whom he slowly transformed into a female vampire by drinking their blood over a period of time and then forcing them to drink his own blood from a self-inflicted wound on his breast. Dracula's powers were not unlimited, though. In daylight, he was largely powerless, and only at night — or at dusk and dawn — could he shift his form. He was repelled by sacramental bread, garlic, crucifixes, wooden stakes, mirrors, and sunlight.

Bram Stoker's novel and its many film adaptations offer a window into the sexual and erotic nature of the vampire. While Dracula is first and foremost a blood-drinking monster, the novel provides vivid detail illustrating the countless sexual and erotic references embedded in the vampire world.

Traditional vampire lore contains little, if any, erotic content — it typically focuses on the origins of the vampire and the rituals used to dispatch one once discovered. In Stoker's novel, the most common way of becoming a vampire is simply to be bitten by one. As the years passed, the mythology of immortality evolved to include the requirement that the victim drink the vampire's blood in return. Following the publication of Stoker's novel, the eroticism and sexuality of vampire mythology became far more pronounced in popular culture.

One scene that stands out to many readers is the episode in which Jonathan Harker is seduced — and effectively assaulted — by Dracula's three brides. It is not until Dracula arrives on the scene that the women flee. This episode clearly portrays the sensual nature of the act. Collopy notes that "Blood is sexually significant, and even very exciting in this situation because of its suggestion as suggesting menstruation, or the blood that is mainly shed by a virgin that happens during the time of them being penetrated (as the Vampire's fangs enter his victims during the time that they are attacked)." (Collopy, 2001, ¶3)

Lucy Westerna is a strong female character who in the novel displays little overt sexual behavior, though the narrative gradually reveals her to be more sexually aware and confrontational than many women of the period. In the 1992 film version, Lucy and Mina are seen laughing over The Arabian Nights, a book still considered erotic in many circles. Lucy is also seen making joking remarks about male anatomy in her letters to Mina. As the novel progresses and Lucy falls under Dracula's spell, she becomes increasingly sexually uninhibited. In one scene in which Dracula is feeding upon her, the narrative strongly implies she is experiencing something close to ecstasy. Many readers observe that Lucy does not seem to be in fear, despite the fact that her earthly life is coming to an end.

In any novel about vampires, blood inevitably plays a vital role in the narrative. To Dracula, blood is the source of his vigor, youthfulness, and sustenance. The Count bites human beings and drinks their blood to quench his undying thirst. "The complete bed would have been soaked to a scarlet with the blood the girl must have lost…" (Stoker 137). This refers to Lucy after Dracula has feasted on her blood to keep himself sustained. Humans, by contrast, do not need to continually replenish their blood supply as a form of sustenance, though blood is, of course, absolutely essential to their lives. This is made clear throughout the novel as Lucy fights for her life each time Dracula drains her. "Young miss is very bad, very bad. She desires blood, and blood she must have or die." (Stoker 135). In the novel, blood is not merely a source of life but also a symbol of love. Arthur announces his love for Lucy by saying, "My life is hers, and I would give the last drop of blood in my body for her." (Stoker 134). The psychologically troubled Renfield encapsulates the significance of blood in the novel with his declaration: "The blood is the life!" (Stoker 155).

Vampires are also powerfully attracted to human blood, particularly that of the opposite sex, though this depends on the vampire's own gender. Dracula typically hunts female characters such as Lucy, while the three female vampires are drawn irresistibly to Jonathan Harker's blood. Vampires are violently repelled by crucifixes and garlic: "Van Helsing had jumped forward and held among them his little golden crucifix. She withdrew from it, and, with a abruptly slanted face, full of anger, rushed past him as though she were about to enter the tomb." (Stoker 227). To permanently destroy a vampire, one must drive a stake straight through its heart: "Mr. Morris's bowie knife had plunged all the way into the heart…the entire body smashed into dust and passed from our sight." (Stoker 398). Other methods are also considered: "I shall cut off her head and fill her mouth with garlic." (Stoker 216).

While Stoker uses the drinking of blood to signify a loss of sexual innocence or purity, he uses the shedding of blood to represent a restoration of chastity and peace. After Lucy has become a vampire and allowed her sexual curiosity to end her life, her fiancé Arthur Holmwood purges her body of its wickedness by driving a stake through her heart, returning her to her obedient and chaste former self. "The body trembled and quavered and twisted in wild expressions…as his untrembling arm rose and fell, driving deeper and deeper the mercy-bearing stake." (Stoker 230). This sexualized restoration of Lucy by her fiancé is entirely appropriate — had Lucy shown more self-discipline, it would have been Arthur who rightfully satisfied her curiosity. This emphasis on sexuality expressed through the symbol of blood is arguably the most enduring feature of Dracula in Western culture.

Blood also underpins another association in the novel: that of self-indulgence versus self-denial. Dracula and all vampires represent beings who act exclusively for their own benefit. Dracula has no mercy for anyone but himself and his kind. Even though he promises Harker no harm at the beginning of the novel, his assurances are merely a means to advance his own ambitions in England. In chapter three, Dracula promises his three brides that they can "get" Harker once he is finished with him, confirming that he regards Harker as nothing more than a tool. (Stoker 46)

Dracula remains a potent cultural image today, with works such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the Twilight saga continuing to capture the popular imagination. The vampires in Twilight share certain qualities with Stoker's creation — they are physically compelling, powerful, and dependent on blood — but they can be either good or evil, whereas in Stoker's novel there are no good vampires. The virtuous vampires of more modern fiction choose to feed on animals rather than humans, sparing others from their damned existence.

In Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897), there are two primary victims with whom Count Dracula has significant relationships. The first is Lucy Westerna, who represents the character who yields to the vampire's influence and, without resistance, begins to turn. She subsequently preys upon innocent children until she is destroyed by a stake through her heart, driven by her fiancé.

The second is Mina, who represents the victim who resists becoming evil. Dracula attempts to confuse and control her through hypnosis, but Mina is aided in her resistance by Dr. Van Helsing, who serves as teacher, healer, spiritual guide, and friend — the figure who identifies the evil and counsels the victim to overcome it. The victim must ultimately choose whether to pursue the path of wickedness or not. Most victims perish without turning. On a spiritual level, many are destroyed emotionally or physically by the vampire, and it requires extraordinary strength to become entirely evil — strength that most people lack.

Although Lucy's role in the novel is relatively short, it is crucial to the reader's understanding of the narrative, as she is Dracula's first victim and the only one whose vampiric transformation is described in detail. It is in chapter five that Lucy's narrative voice is first heard, through her letters to Mina. Here, the key difference between the two women becomes apparent: Lucy is openly curious about sex and sexuality, while Mina is the opposite, rarely commenting on such matters. In one letter, Lucy writes: "Why can't they let a girl marry three men, or as many as want her, and save all this trouble?" Though she recognizes this as a heretical remark, she shares it freely with Mina. There is no point in the novel where Mina makes such a contentious statement. Rather, as Van Helsing observes, Mina is "so true, so sweet, so noble."

The contrast between these two women reflects a crucial difference in their relationships with Dracula. It is ultimately Mina's purity and innocence that enables the group to defeat Dracula at the novel's end, and that protects her from the fate that befell Lucy. Despite this important distinction, both characters are portrayed as educated Victorian women whom Dracula seeks to possess. Nevertheless, Mina's focused intelligence — her mastery of shorthand, her careful documentation of events — perhaps marks her as slightly more advanced in intellect than her friend, and ultimately saves her life.

Lucy's attractiveness is undeniable; she receives multiple marriage proposals. Yet her relationship with each of her suitors, including her husband Arthur, is fundamentally different from Mina's relationship with those around her. Mina is relentlessly devoted to Jonathan and to aiding the group in their pursuit of Dracula. Her letter to Lucy in chapter five makes this plain: "I have been working extremely hard lately, since I desire to keep up with Jonathan's education, and I have been practicing shorthand very diligently." Her loyalty to Jonathan ultimately trumps Dracula's hold on her, making it harder for him to claim her as fully as he did Lucy.

Many readers and critics interpret the scene in which Mina is forced to drink Dracula's blood as a form of rape. The scene unfolds in her bedroom; both are partially undressed, and Dracula forces her into intimate contact against her will. Other interpretations note Mina's role as a universal mother figure. The image of Dracula forcing her to drink from his "bare breast" like "a child that is forcing a kitten's nose into a bowl of milk" is deeply strange — Dracula takes on a perverse, diabolical maternal role, corrupting Mina's own saint-like nurturing identity. The scene is saturated with codes of purity and sin: the red blood staining her white nightgown; the red blood on her white hands. When Mina's forehead is later burned by the Holy Wafer, it is no coincidence that it leaves a red mark on her white skin.

Hannibal Lecter: Power, Gender, and Criminal Mind

Even so, although Mina's body is contaminated, marked, and damaged by her contact with Dracula, her soul remains pure. And at the novel's end, when Dracula's body is destroyed, Mina's body recovers its natural cleanliness as well.

This is the essential distinction between Mina and Lucy: for most of the novel, Mina is knowledgeable about the dangers of Dracula while Lucy remains ignorant — and so Mina is protected while Lucy is vulnerable. The situation changes when the men decide that Mina, as a woman, must be shielded from the truth. Left in the dark, she becomes vulnerable, leading to her attack. It is only when the men recognize that Mina can assist them through the hypnosis connection that they are finally able to destroy Dracula. In this respect, Mina can be considered the true protagonist of the novel in terms of her relationship with Dracula.

The novel thus presents two archetypal Victorian women: the pure and devoted Mina, whose loyalty to her husband ultimately saves her, and the mildly promiscuous Lucy, whose vulnerability is amplified as she transforms into a vampire. While the two characters share many similarities, it is Mina's commitment to Jonathan that distinguishes her as the "ideal" Victorian wife and leads each woman to her individual fate.

Hannibal Lecter's power can be described in many ways. In the novel, one of those ways manifests as manipulative help — assistance that comes from where it is least expected. In The Silence of the Lambs, Clarice Starling finds this unsettling help in the form of serial killer Dr. Lecter. He assists her in two ways: he helps her resolve the case of a serial killer still at large, and in the process forces her to confront her past, helping her move forward. In return, Clarice fills a void in Lecter's life — that of a female companion, something he has longed for since the death of his sister.

Clarice has little choice but to be drawn in by his power; she needs information from Dr. Lecter to solve her case. As the novel progresses, she becomes increasingly intrigued by him and begins to realize that his influence over her, however disturbing, is real: "Starling cut out the picture of Hannah and put it in her wallet. It was the only thing she saved. She was healing." (p. 332). Clarice starts to forget that Hannibal is a wanted serial killer with the power to manipulate. She becomes obsessed, allowing her fascination to overtake her professional judgment. Eventually, this shows just how effectively Dr. Lecter used his power to slowly draw her to him.

In the follow-up novel Hannibal, set several years later, the developing bond between Dr. Lecter and Clarice Starling is examined more closely. The books demonstrate that even two people who are complete opposites — an FBI agent and a cannibalistic fugitive on the Bureau's Ten Most Wanted list — do not necessarily become enemies. They are allowed to overlook their differences and become dependent on one another. Lecter saves Clarice from being dismissed from the FBI, reviving her career, and Clarice returns the favor by saving his life.

Although Lecter has been labeled a "pure sociopath," his behavior does not perfectly match the standard diagnostic criteria. To be classified as a true sociopath, a person must exhibit all three sociopathic features from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual's checklist. Lecter appears to display only two. It has also been noted that Lecter did not fit any current psychiatric disorder precisely, and doctors who examined him during his stay at the Baltimore Asylum reported that his brain patterns were inconsistent with those of typical sociopaths, though he demonstrated an unusual ability to control those around him. Some physicians in the novel believed Lecter suffered from a neurological disability resembling a severe congenital malformation. Upon his initial interview with Clarice Starling in The Silence of the Lambs, Lecter performs a self-diagnosis in a manner designed to display his power of influence, essentially labeling himself as pure evil and insisting that his behavior cannot be reduced to any recognizable disorder.

The novel can also be examined through the lens of gender representation. While the media has often held The Silence of the Lambs up as an example of Hollywood's pro-feminist sensibility, others find it profoundly anti-feminist in the way it depicts its characters both physically and psychologically — particularly in the physical portrayal of Clarice Starling and Hannibal Lecter, and the psychological portrayal of Buffalo Bill (Jame Gumb) and Starling.

The opening sequence of the novel is an excellent example of the physicality Starling projects throughout. Our first impression is of Starling running through a wooded area with mist in the air, suggesting she may be fleeing something — but it emerges that she is on the FBI training course. Inside the FBI building, she greets her friend Ardelia and we see several other women involved in FBI training. The next scene contrasts sharply: Starling enters a lift where large, powerfully built men in red shirts tower over her smaller body, which is clothed in a feminine blue sweatshirt. Her body language reveals her discomfort. When she enters Crawford's office and sees photos of Gumb's victims, she is visibly shaken and must take a moment to compose herself. This pattern reveals her determination in a male-dominated environment but simultaneously frames her femininity as a weakness. Even though Starling occupies the traditionally masculine role of hero, she is acutely aware that her gender is perceived as a liability and works to conceal it wherever possible.

Starling continues to suppress her sexuality throughout the narrative. She is regularly seen dressed not in overtly masculine clothing, but in garments that make no effort to emphasize her femininity. Despite Lecter's efforts to isolate her and exploit her psychological vulnerabilities, she is quick to suppress her memories and maintain her professional composure. In so doing, she sacrifices her emotional identity in order to earn recognition within the FBI. Her "cross-dressing" — not literal, but behavioral — earns her professional respect. It could be argued that the society in which she lives actively encourages her to shed her "weak" femininity and adopt a more masculine role. To succeed in her career, she has little choice but to suppress her feelings, and therefore her femininity, becoming not merely a cross-dresser in outward appearance but in her own mind as well.

As a serial killer, Lecter places great importance on ritual in the killing of his victims. This is suggestive of the "primal horde" theory, which Freud adapted from Darwin's proposal that original societies were built upon male hierarchies, each male having an equal claim to the females of the group. Freud believed that brothers expelled from such a group would unite to remove the father and reclaim the women — a dynamic that produced the Oedipus complex, in which sons form sexual connections with the mothers within the group. Lecter suggested that Gumb had suffered severe childhood trauma leading to Oedipal guilt and confused sexuality. According to the primal horde theory, the brothers consumed the father's body, creating a "totem" meal. Totem animals were considered sacred protectors of the group, and their ritual killing was surrounded by ceremony. Members of the group would dress in the totem animal's skin and re-enact its behavior. In this framework, Gumb transformed his first victim into a totem animal as a means of purging Oedipal guilt. Even his nickname, "Buffalo Bill," suggests a connection to sacred totem animals. By becoming a serial killer, the rituals associated with the killing of the totem took on greater significance — exemplified by his agitation when Catherine failed to apply skin lotion, as he demanded.

Gumb's crisis of sexual identity resulted in a failed attempt to find peace as a transsexual, ultimately producing his psychotic state. By making garments from the skin of women, he was making a final attempt at cross-dressing, startlingly similar to Starling's cross-dressing in her effort to function as an FBI agent. Gumb has the mind of a man but attempts to transform it by taking on the physical appearance of a woman. Starling, conversely, presents as a woman but attempts to think as a man. By strict definition, both Gumb and Starling could be described as transsexuals. Both have been pushed into their respective gender performances by their social environments — yet Gumb is socially intolerable while Starling is actively encouraged. A man wishing to take on the appearance of the "weaker" sex is portrayed as repulsive; his desire to be dominated reflects his obviously traumatic childhood. The novel portrays him as a monster, making no attempt to invite empathy.

Here we see two depictions of femininity — Starling's and Gumb's — both of which are shown as flawed and unwelcome. Starling recognizes that her sex is a liability in her career-driven world and works to suppress it. Gumb has failed as a male, descended into psychosis, and adopted the function of a woman, resulting in his expulsion from society as a freak. Starling has attempted to take a feminist position by rejecting her femininity, yet the novel refuses to reward her for it. By killing Gumb, the masculine drive within her seems to win, leaving her as an imperfect figure. One must ask why Starling undergoes no true self-revelation — typically, a hero must overcome a personal barrier. In The Silence of the Lambs, no such revelation occurs. Starling's character is given remarkably little complexity: the only glimpses into her private life come through flashbacks of her father, brief scenes with Ardelia, and the nightmares she exchanges with Lecter as material for his assistance.

As a result, Starling serves as a troubling symbol: as a woman in the FBI she is presented as a feminist figure, but the novel simultaneously undermines everything feminism represents. She will always have to fight to prove her worth. This is perhaps most clearly illustrated when Crawford takes credit for identifying the killer and Starling, despite her better judgment, does not challenge him. Her unwillingness to fully trust her own instincts — and the system's unwillingness to trust women — nearly leads to her death, demonstrating how dangerous it can be, not only for women to think independently, but for them to be sanctioned to work in environments such as the FBI.

Understanding Hannibal Lecter's criminal mind requires beginning at the beginning. Hannibal Lecter was born in 1938 in Lithuania into a very wealthy family. His father was reportedly a count, and his mother descended from the noble Visconti family of Milan. His younger sister was named Mischa.

When Hannibal was six years old, he witnessed both of his parents being killed by German deserters. This murder ignited violence in him. Lecter, his sister Mischa, and other children were held captive by the deserters and intended to be killed for food during the bitter Baltic winter. Lecter witnessed Mischa's murder: she was cannibalized by the deserters. Lecter managed to escape, but the gruesome murders he witnessed scarred him permanently. He lost his faith in God and came to believe that justice would never prevail. As a child, Lecter first displayed signs of sociopathic behavior through aggression toward animals; he appeared unrepentant of his actions and lied habitually.

According to police records, Dr. Lecter killed at least nine people before he was captured. The last six were killed in a concentrated period of violence. All of his victims were partially disfigured, and Lecter himself confessed to consuming parts of his victims. He targeted men he considered rude and inferior — Raspail the mediocre flutist, Krendler the corrupt official, Pazzi the unethical detective, a census taker, and even Mason Verger, one of the few survivors of his attacks. All of them in some way mirrored the qualities of the deserters who had cannibalized his sister.

Conclusion

A number of critics have noted similarities between Hannibal Lecter and Dracula, a connection which Thomas Harris compounded in Hannibal Rising by making Lecter, like Dracula, an Eastern European Count. Both characters share habits of vicious biting and a darkly seductive charm. Many of Lecter's physical features — such as his maroon-colored eyes that spark red when exposed to light, his widow's peak, and his acute senses (especially smell) — are also characteristics of Dracula.