Dracula Nexflix Ep. 1

The Story of Dracula Old vs New

By: Madison Gustin

The classic Bram Stoker novel is shown through a short Netflix series that follows the story line of Count Dracula's plot against London. The mini series features some of the well known characters from the novel such as Jonathan Harker, Mina Murry, Van Helsing, and of course Dracula himself. Although it does have similar elements from the original story, the Dracula series puts a spin on the gender aspect of the story in a few different ways.

 The first major role reversal that is revealed is the role of Van Helsing. In the novel the character is shown to be a strong knowledgeable doctor who has done an immense amount of research on vampires. As a twist, the writers of the Netflix series cast Van Helsing as a woman by the name of Agatha which in the novel is the name of the nun who writes to Mina about Jonathan! This may come to a surprise to many viewers because it's not typically shown that a woman can take down a man, especially one as powerful as Dracula. This really is a sign of the times, in today's world we are seeing events such as woman's rights marches and inspirational girl power quotes all over society. It's no longer the view of "It's a man's job" it's the view of equal rights and whatever a man can do, a woman can do just as well and at times even better. Shown in the series, Agatha is able to outsmart Dracula by knowing that he can't enter without an invite. She taunts Dracula with crosses and is sure to tell all the nuns not to invite him in. With these actions it is clear that Dracula is very annoyed as he paces back and fourth and yells at her. The novel shows Van Helsing, Jonathan, Morris, and Arthur all coming together in efforts to help Mina. On the other hand, the Netflix series clearly shows Jonathan as being the weak one in need of the help and Agatha and Mina catering to him. 

 

 Another change up the Netflix series decided on was allowing Dracula to go after Jonathan. Bram Stoker made it clear in the novel that Dracula only bit and drank from woman. When the novel was released that made sense because Stoker did not want to take any chances of getting questioned on him putting a gay character into his novel. However times have changed and the LGBTQ community is much more accepted. The Netflix series shows signs that Dracula has fed off of Jonathan when the viewers see the large scar on his neck and his inability to die which means Dracula has given him eternal life. Dracula calls Jonathan "My Johnny" and "My Bride" which is another way the series puts a twist on the stereotypical views from the novel. The writers of this series made sure to portray to the viewers that men are not superior to woman in a variety of different ways. 

If you finished all three episodes and waiting upon more, here is a link that has some predictions on whether there will be a season 2 in the near future!  Dracula Season 2 Predictions