4: Exploring Research Interests (Mina Harker)
Throughout the novel Dracula thus far, Mina Harker (previously Mina Murray) is a prominent character, supported by her connection with Jonathan Harker and Lucy Westenra. As I explore different research topics, I find that I am interested in understanding Mina Harker through the ways in which she uses her journal to reflect, express her anxieties, and make decisions as she writes. I want to explore what makes Mina a strong heroine and analyze Bram Stoker’s intention to portray her as a symbol of purity.
Towards the middle of the novel — after Mina reunites with and marries Jonathan — Jonathan goes into shock when he sees a man who may be the Count. Mina, worried about her husband, decides to read his journal to help him and discusses such information with Van Helsing. After the meeting with Van Helsing, Mina reflects in her journal:
He has come and gone. Oh, what a strange meeting, and how it all makes my head whirl round. I feel like one in a dream. Can it be all possible, or even a part of it? If I had not read Jonathan’s journal first, I should never have accepted even a possibility. Poor, poor, dear Jonathan! How he must have suffered. Please the good God, all this may not upset him again. I shall try to save him from it. But it may be even a consolation and a help to him, terrible though it be and awful in its consequences, to know for certain that his eyes and ears and brain did not deceive him, and that it is all true. It may be that it is the doubt which haunts him, that when the doubt is removed, no matter which, waking or dreaming, may prove the truth, he will be more satisfied and better able to bear the shock. (207–208)
In this scene, Mina uses her journal to take everything in. Throughout this process of deep thoughts, Mina utilizes certain words reflecting her struggle to figure out what she should do and what she should believe. She begins with expressing, “I feel like one in a dream” but following after, considers possibilities, “consequences”, and the “truth”. However, she ends with writing “waking”, “dreaming”, and “haunts” in relation to Jonathan. The battle between dreams and the truth illustrates how others have reacted to the discovery of vampires. Nevertheless, even though she feels like she is in a dream, Mina is open to understanding the truth. She takes in the new information, connects them to Jonathan’s journal, and doesn’t disregard or deny it: “Can it be all possible, or even a part of it?”.
Most importantly from this passage, Mina expresses agency. Mina quickly comes to a decision as she focuses her attention on Jonathan and wants to do what’s best for him: “it may be even a consolation and a help to him…”. This can also be seen when Mina was with Lucy, her best friend (quickly rushing to Lucy’s aid when she sleepwalks and keeping these moments a secret). With her agency in her reflection, Mina shows the attributes of a hero. First, she sympathizes with Jonathan, “Poor, poor, dear Jonathan! How he must have suffered.” Then, Mina declares that she should “try to save him”, a key part in showing her strength to help others, especially those closest to her. Further, she considers the consequences — though it may be “terrible” and “awful” — to finally come to an answer: “It may be that it is the doubt which haunts him, that when the doubt is removed, no matter which, waking or dreaming, may prove the truth, he will be more satisfied and better able to bear the shock”.
Mina Harker is compassionate and intelligent. She finds answers as to what she should do to help others. In these moments, Stoker gives Mina agency, portraying her as a character who is willing to save her loved ones as best as she can, a strong heroine. However, how will this develop? Are there other factors that empower her or, rather, question why Stoker portrays her in this way? There are already instances where other characters begin to develop Mina’s image of purity. I have yet to see more of how these factors contribute to how Mina encounters the Count.
Stoker, Bram. Dracula. Apple Books Classic, e-book.
