Van Helsing as the Moral Driver in Stoker’s Dracula

Religion is a heavy weight on the shoulders of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. The novel asks the reader to question the weight and might of religion against the backdrop of the limited power of science. The novel positions religion as the moral arbiter of ultimate good. When all other reason fails religion and religious symbols win against the forces of darkness and ignorance. Christopher Herbert describes it in “Vampire Religion” as a “strong religious thrust” (100). Dracula is a novel fixated with facts and minutia while simultaneously giving way to overarching raids into the occult and divine. As an analogy to the overarching mechanics of religiosity and the divine Stoker positions Van Helsing as a God-like figure, while Count Dracula represents the more obvious devil-like figure. However, it is Van Helsing who carves the moral and religious reasoning that moves the plot forward. In this essay, we will analyze Van Helsing’s semi-deified role, his position as an arbiter between good and evil, and his interpretation of the world.

Van Helsing is an atypical character. Jonathan Harker, Mina Harker, Lucy Westenra, Arthur Holmwood, and John Seward are all British. We can confer the status of British on Mr. Morris under the United States previous colonial status and its cultural connection to England. However, the only two characters that are not British or connected to Britain by cultural association are Van Helsing and Dracula. He is described by Dr. Seward as “Professor Van Helsing, of Amsterdam who knows as much about obscure…