Dracula, Eros, and Thanatos: Freudian Themes in Bram Stoker

Introduction: Dracula as a Cultural Meme

Bram Stoker's masterwork, Dracula, has been and remains one of the most culturally pervasive novels of the last hundred years. In multiple film versions, in the novel itself, and across myriad other media, it endures as a deeply resonant cultural idea. Part of the inspiration for the story no doubt draws on elements from Stoker's own life, fictionalized and dramatized to the point where the traces of personal struggle remain only as barely audible echoes within the text. Nonetheless, they are there: his estranged relations with his wife and his long childhood illness are both reflected in portions of Dracula. Yet the main reason for the novel's continuing popularity is its resonance with the Freudian concepts of Thanatos and Eros — among the most important ideas in twentieth-century Western culture — which continue to be of major importance today.

Bram Stoker: Biographical Background

Abraham "Bram" Stoker was born into a middle-class Irish family in Dublin, where he was the third of seven children born to his mother and father, after whom he was named (Tsipman). Early in his childhood, Stoker suffered an illness that has still not been successfully identified; it was severe enough to keep him bedridden until the age of seven (Tsipman). Perhaps it was during this long confinement that Stoker first developed the morbid fantasies we would later see reflected in his works — especially in Dracula, which is of course considered his masterwork.

It is interesting to consider this illness in light of the novel, since vampirism somewhat resembles a disease (transmitted almost like rabies) and its victims are forced to remain in enclosed spaces during the day. All of this suggests a metaphorical connection to Stoker's own childhood confinement, which was probably the locus of several primal memories unconsciously reflected in his later creative work. He recovered from the illness, however, and grew up relatively hale from that point onward, eventually attending Trinity College — the premier university in Dublin and later home to talents such as James Joyce and Brian O'Nolan (also known by his pen name "Flann O'Brien").

It was at Trinity that Stoker made several extremely important acquaintances, most notably the actor Henry Irving, who would become his lifelong friend. Stoker worked under Irving as a "publicist and theater manager" for twenty-seven years (Tsipman). Their relationship was so close that Stoker eventually penned an entire book about him, entitled Personal Reminiscences of Henry Irving. Working at the theater under Irving, Stoker was able to meet many of the most important cultural figures of his day — not least among whom was the "Hungarian professor, traveler, and adventurer named Arminius Vambery, who first introduced [Stoker] to the legends of vampirism in Eastern Europe," and who was thus largely responsible for planting the creative seed that would flower into Dracula (Tsipman).

Personal Life and Its Influence on the Novel

Stoker's relationship with Irving, given its duration and level of intimacy, has prompted much speculation. While it is generally concluded that the relationship never moved beyond deep mutual respect, some readers have detected undertones of amorous feeling. Part of the reason for this interpretation may be that Stoker, despite having fathered a child, seems to have become largely estranged from his wife as their marriage continued. The suggestion is that some of the emotional dependence of the marital bond was instead channeled into this unusual friendship:

"On the domestic front, Stoker was married, unhappily, to Florence Balcombe, a woman who was described by her granddaughter, Ann McCaw, as being 'cursed with a great beauty' while being very 'anti-sex' at the same time. His frustration with his marriage could explain some of the novel's preoccupation with women's sexuality — especially since women tend to take the dominant sexual role in Dracula." (Tsipman)

The conjecture above about the impact of Stoker's relationship with his wife on his writing demonstrates again the importance of biographical background to the characters and themes developed within Dracula. Stoker's mysterious childhood ailment, his creative partnership with Irving, and the tensions within his marriage all likely had an immense impact on the stories he ultimately crafted. Beyond the idiosyncratic powers of creativity Stoker employed, he was also unconsciously influenced by a wide array of personal experiences and larger cultural concerns. It is precisely this mixture of creative impulse and lived experience — combined with Romanian vampire legend — that makes Dracula such an important and lasting work even today.

Conclusion: The Timelessness of Freudian Archetypes

While Stoker, if alive today, might blush and respond irately to such suggestions about the provenance of so many of his ideas in the novel, and to the overt sexual implications attributed to his work, it is nonetheless these very issues that have contributed to Dracula's long and enduring success. As long as the Freudian norms of Eros and Thanatos continue to exert their hold on the cultural imagination, Dracula too will continue to feel like a timeless and powerful evocation of — and meditation on — those foundational Freudian principles.

Bibliography

Groome, Tim. "Deconstructing Dracula." Retrieved December 4, 2003.

Miller, Elizabeth. "A Dracula Smorgasbord." Retrieved December 4, 2003.

Tsipman, Phillip. "Bram Stoker Biography." Retrieved December 4, 2003.