Renfield's Character Development in Bram Stoker's Dracula
This paper traces the literary development of Renfield, one of the most unusual supporting characters in Bram Stoker's 1897 Gothic novel Dracula. Beginning with Dr. Seward's early diary entries and ending with Renfield's violent death, the paper charts his progression from an enigmatic asylum patient with a blood fetish to a psychologically enslaved servant of Count Dracula. Drawing on key scenes and direct quotations from the novel, the analysis examines how Renfield's erratic behavior, animal consumption, escapes, and emotional fluctuations are tied directly to Dracula's supernatural influence, ultimately arguing that while Renfield's life ends tragically, he does not constitute a classical tragic figure in the literary sense.
- Introduction to Renfield and the Gothic World of Dracula: Renfield introduced as secondary but fascinating Gothic character
- Dr. Seward's Observations: Blood Fetish and Animal Consumption: Seward records Renfield's escalating appetite for living creatures
- Renfield's Escapes and His Submission to 'The Master': Renfield escapes to serve Dracula as obedient thrall
- Count Dracula's Hypnotic Hold on Renfield: Dracula's supernatural influence controls Renfield's moods and behavior
- Renfield's Final Days: Tragic End Without a Tragic Flaw: Renfield dies violently but lacks a classical tragic flaw
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What makes this paper effective
- The paper uses a chronological, scene-by-scene structure that mirrors Renfield's development as presented in the novel, making the argument easy to follow and well-organized.
- Direct quotations from the primary text are integrated naturally and used to support each analytical point, grounding claims in textual evidence rather than assertion alone.
- The conclusion offers a precise literary distinction — arguing that Renfield is not a classical tragic figure despite his tragic end — demonstrating close engagement with literary terminology.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates close reading of a primary literary source. Rather than summarizing plot, it selects specific passages from Dr. Seward's diary entries across multiple chapters and uses them to construct a coherent argument about character arc. This technique — anchoring each analytical claim to a textual moment — is a foundational skill in literary analysis.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens by situating Renfield within the broader Gothic context of Dracula, then moves chronologically through the novel's chapters, tracking Renfield's behavioral escalation. Each section corresponds to a new stage of his psychological enslavement to Dracula. The paper closes with a brief but meaningful critical distinction about the nature of tragedy, giving the analysis a clear argumentative endpoint.
Introduction to Renfield and the Gothic World of Dracula
As perhaps the greatest and most suspenseful Gothic novel of all time, Bram Stoker's Dracula, first published in May of 1897 and originally entitled The Undead, continues to thrill readers all over the world. It is responsible for introducing one of the most enduring Gothic horror characters ever created — the infamous and bloodthirsty vampire known as Count Dracula, the King of the Undead and the Prince of Darkness. Compared to Count Dracula, most of the other characters in Stoker's novel are rather ordinary and proper Englishmen and women brought up under the strict tenets of Victorian England, possessing a number of qualities which Stoker used to great advantage in crafting a true masterpiece of English Gothic literature. Among these characters are Dr. Van Helsing, the fearless vampire hunter; Dr. Seward, the head of an insane asylum; and Miss Lucy Westenra, who falls victim to Dracula's thirst for human blood.
And then there is Renfield, who can best be described as a raving lunatic occupying one of those cold, padded cells in Dr. Seward's sanitarium for the mentally deranged. Although somewhat incidental and secondary to the plot of the novel, the character of Renfield is nonetheless quite fascinating and, as a literary character, follows a distinct line of development, beginning in Chapter 5 with the April 25th entry in Dr. Seward's diary.
For Dr. Seward, Renfield is a patient "of much interest," due to being "unlike the normal lunatic" and suffering from some type of undiagnosed hallucination. Dr. Seward describes Renfield as having a "sanguine temperament" and "great physical strength;" he is also "morbidly excitable," suffers from "periods of gloom ending in some fixed idea which I cannot make out," and is possibly a "dangerous man" (Stoker, 73–74). From this, we can surmise that Renfield is being held in Dr. Seward's sanitarium because of some kind of mental derangement related to Seward's "fixed idea," which at this point in the novel remains unknown and unexplained. Clearly, Renfield greatly appeals to Dr. Seward's scientific and psychological curiosity, for he states in his diary that he is "determined to understand (Renfield) as well as I can" and desires to "get nearer than ever before to the heart of his mystery" (Stoker, 73) — a mystery that will ultimately lead Dr. Seward to the terrible source of Renfield's "gloom," namely, Count Dracula himself.
Dr. Seward's Observations: Blood Fetish and Animal Consumption
The fascination that readers find in the character of Renfield stems from several unique character traits. First, he is extremely secretive, so much so that Dr. Seward has a difficult time trying to reach him psychologically. Second, Renfield's "sanguine temperament" stands as a symbol for a blood fetish — he craves blood much like Count Dracula, but on an entirely different level. As Dr. Seward writes in his diary for June 5th, Renfield's current hobby is catching flies, which soon progresses to collecting spiders, which he keeps in a box and nourishes from his fly collection. Dr. Seward also mentions that Renfield delights in eating flies: "when a horrid blow-fly... buzzed into the room, (Renfield) caught it, held it exultingly for a few moments... put it in his mouth and ate it" (Stoker, 82).
After being scolded by Dr. Seward for this strange act, Renfield "argued quietly that it was very good... that it was life... and gave him life" (Stoker, 82). This indicates that Renfield enjoys the "sanguinary" taste of blood, a tendency made even more distinct when Dr. Seward notices a drop of blood on Renfield's pillow, which turns out to be from a bird. According to an attendant, Renfield "has been very sick and has disgorged a whole lot of feathers" before declaring, "he has eaten his birds... he just took and ate them raw!" (Stoker, 84).
In his diary entry for August 19th, Dr. Seward notes that Renfield has undergone a "strange and sudden change," for he is now acting like a dog, "sniffing about" his room in search of some unknown new prey to satisfy his unnatural appetite for blood. When Dr. Seward attempts to talk sensibly to Renfield, he becomes "quite haughty" and says, "I don't want to talk to you; you don't count now; the Master is at hand." At this point in the novel, Renfield's character is developing along a very specific line — one which begins with eating flies and moves into what seems to be "homicidal and religious mania," as evidenced by his reference to "the Master." As time passes, Renfield becomes excited "in greater and greater degrees" but soon quiets down and simply "stares into space with lackluster eyes" (Stoker, 116).
Renfield's Escapes and His Submission to 'The Master'
Renfield then manages to escape from his cell by pulling the window straight from the wall. Dr. Seward and his men quickly pursue him through the grounds of the sanitarium and find him "pressed close against the old iron-bound oak door of the chapel... talking apparently to someone." Dr. Seward hears Renfield say, "I am here to do your bidding, Master. I am your slave... I await your commands." This "Master" is none other than Count Dracula, Stoker's archfiend of the night, who maintains a psychological hold on Renfield comparable to that of a hypnotist over his patient. "You will reward me," Renfield says of Dracula, "You will not pass me by, will you, dear Master, in your distribution of good things?" (Stoker, 118). In return for his services to the Count, Renfield expects to receive "good things" in the form of insects, rats, and vermin to satisfy his maniacal thirst for blood.
However, Renfield is not a vampire in the sense that his "Master" is, for he only craves the blood of animals. In fact, Renfield behaves like an animal himself — when Dr. Seward and his men capture him, he "fought like a tiger... like a wild beast (rather) than a man" (Stoker, 118). This hypnotic hold on Renfield develops even further in Chapter Nine, when he is allowed to escape from his padded cell so that Dr. Seward can follow him to his mysterious destination. Once again, while "pressed against the old chapel door," Renfield looks "into the moonlit sky" and sees "a big bat... flapping its silent and ghostly way to the west" (Stoker, 124).
This bat, which Dr. Seward observes acting as though it intentionally knows where it is heading, is Count Dracula — for according to Eastern European and Transylvanian tradition, a vampire can transform itself into many things, such as a wisp of smoke, a wolf, or, in this case, a bat. For Renfield, the presence of Count Dracula in the guise of a black bat serves to calm his nerves, much like a sedative drug used to quiet a violent patient. Renfield's emotional state is also beginning to fluctuate markedly: he swings from calm resignation to great violence, falling into "a paroxysm which exhausted him so that he swooned into a sort of coma" (Stoker, 123).
Works Cited
Stoker, Bram. Dracula. Köln, Germany: Konemann Publishers, 1995.
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