“But at that instant, another sensation swept through me as quick as lightning. I was conscious of the presence of the Count, and of his being as if lapped in a storm of fury. As my eyes opened involuntarily I saw his strong hand grasp the slender neck of the fair woman and with giant’s power draw it back, the blue eyes transformed with fury, the white teeth champing with rage, and the fair cheeks blazing red with passion. But the Count! Never did I imagine such wrath and fury, even to the demons of the pit. His eyes were positively blazing. The red light in them was lurid, as if the flames of hell fire blazed behind them. His face was deathly pale, and the lines of it were hard like drawn wires. The thick eyebrows that met over the nose now seemed like a heaving bar of white-hot metal. With a fierce sweep of his arm, he hurled the woman from him, and then motioned to the others, as though he were beating them back. It was the same imperious gesture that I had seen used to the wolves. In a voice which, though low and almost in a whisper seemed to cut through the air and then ring in the room he said,” (Stoker 36)
This passage showcases the supernatural powers of Dracula and his attitude towards the other creatures. Here, Dracula is described as having a “giant’s power” as he deals with the fair woman before attacking Jonathan. His eyes were “blazing,” and his eyebrows were like a “heaving bar of white-hot metal,” as Jonathan would describe it. These descriptions could be visually seen and might have physically occurred in front of Jonathan instead of some psychological illusion occurring inside Jonathan’s head. If those descriptions were true, Dracula would also possess the power to control fire or heat along with tremendous physical power.
Later on, Dracula’s powers are further explained in the following text, “He has the strength of many of his hand, witness again Jonathan when he shut the door against the wolves, and when he help him from the diligence too. He can transform himself to wolf, as we gather from the ship arrival in Whitby, when he tear open the dog, he can be as bat, as Madam Mina saw him on the window at Whitby, and as friend John saw him fly from this so near house, and as my friend Quincey saw him at the window of Miss Lucy” (Stoker 215–216). Which means Dracula can transform to many different animals and fly as one. It is speculated that Dracula turned Lucy into a breed of a vampire before she died as she was under some “spell.” These numerous powers make up Dracula, who also created all of the tragic and mysterious incidents throughout the novel. Dracula displays his superiority over the wolves and women in his castle in front of Jonathan. This indicates that Dracula is the leader of these mysterious creatures and holds much power seen in these quotes. Dracula, the mastermind behind the happenings concerning Jonathan and Lucy, affects the story on a deeper scale than a simple supernatural accident. Mina and Quincey’s testimonies help confirm many of Dracula’s powers and therefore are not far off to claim him as a powerful antagonist. This power spectrum of Dracula is what I want to research more heavily throughout the novel.
Works Cited:
Stoker, Bram, et al. Dracula. W.W. Norton, 1997.
