Dracula's Brides

Bram Stoker, an English author of the XIX century, wrote several books but it was Dracula  the work that made him immortal so to speak. The vampire that defines all the others though fascinating  as a concept is as a character a flat one: his main purpose is to secure a good and constant source of blood. Perhaps I am mistaken and this character's personality has more sides that he appears to be. The problem perhaps is that in order to explain Dracula what other writers have done is to offer new versions of his affairs writing other books but rarely have I seen a detailed analysis of what the original story had to offer, As a proof here is a comment on what happened to Jonathan Harker who was visiting count Dracula in his castle to make some business (Dracula wanted to  buy a house in London) when he discovered there were other secret dwellers in the dark castle. 

One night Jonathan is alone and decides to explore the castle and runs into a room where there are three beautiful ladies who happen to be wampires as well, they tempt him, trying to lure him into accepting being bitten. These ladies are two brunnette and a blonde with the blonde having apparently some predominance over the others since "the First Bite" is hers. Dracula appears and saves Jonathan who under the influence of the female vampires was only a mre toy. Now, the question is, who are these three mysterious ladies? They are usually identified as the "Brides of Dracula", but the book does little to help us understand who they were.

Were they related? To Dracula? Perhaps. They call one another "sister" (was he their father?) and maybe they formed some kind of sisterhood to endure their own tragedy. Later on, when they appear again , this time in front of Mina Harker, they call her "sister", so probably the term is used loosely and not to reveal real family ties. If this is true or not  it is  never uncovered. In fact very little is said and only one can imagine what was the story behind their becoming vampires.

Why Does Dracula have them in the castle? That's another mystery. If they were not his relatives, were all of them his lovers? Were they women he grew fond of so he decided to keep them?  Was there another reason I'm not considering?

Who were they before they were attacked by Dracula? They had names, did they not?                                                                                                                                                                 Were they aristocrats like the Count presumably was? Would that mean that Dracula was also an elitist on top of all?

Who was their leader? The blonde vampire who seems to be the only one who defies Dracula. In the scene when Dracula arrived just in time to save Jonathan Harker, the blonde asks Dracula: "Have you never been in love?"  "You know I have...!" Thus revealing an unsuspected side of the Count, an untold story.

There are more questions to raise but that is not the purpose of this article, However, there is space for reflection. Perhaps the Brides of Dracula were his attampt not to be alone. Vampires are described as beings of simple motivations: they just want our blood. What happens when that need is satiated?  How do they feel? What do they talk about? Eternity then is not a blessing but a curse, one whose effects can be mitigated if one is not alone.

                                                                                                                                                 

                                                                                                                          

                                                                                                                                                                        .