Dracula is an 1897 novel in which Bram Stoker carefully crafts characters and situations to

subtly expose the misogynistic and superstitious beliefs during the Victorian Era. Throughout
the novel, social context comes into play at various points and is reflected heavily through
characters. The story has an underlying conflict between traditional Victorians and
modernism, exposing the sexuality and social expectations of female characters.

Stoker's story revolves around the fight against the vampire Dracula, portrayed as an elderly
man with black clothing living in a deserted castle. Harker, a lawyer, travels to Transylvania
and keeps a journal documenting his experiences. He encounters Dracula while shaving and
realises that he is imprisoned in a castle, not a visitor. When he discovers Dracula sleeping
off in a coffin, he realises he is a monster.Letters are sent between Harker'shis fiance’s best
friend Lucy and his fiancée Mina. Lucy and Holmwood are engaged, and Dr. Seward, Lucy's
rejected suitor, observes Renfield, a dangerous patient at the insane asylum. After a month
of no communication, Lucy starts sleepwalking again, and Dr Seward observes Renfield
catching birds, insects, and other creatures only to consume them uncooked. Dracula's
vessel, the Demeter, arrives at the harbour during a storm, carrying fifty wooden boxes
containing soil for Dracula.Mina learns that Harker is critically ill in a Budapest hospital and
they get married. Dr. Abraham Van Helsing arrives, and they discover Lucy's injury and
lifeless demeanour. They give her blood transfusions and cover her room with garlic flowers.
Harker returns to Budapest with his spouse, but Renfield becomes violent and kills multiple
young children.

Van Helsing and Seward discover that Carfax Abbey, the Count's estate, received the fifty
crates of earth that the Demeter had delivered. They go to Carfax Abbey with holy water,
communion wafers, crucifixes, garlic, and stakes, but Dracula is not there. Mina is frail and
weak, and a terrifying mist appears in her dreams. Renfield has suffered severe beatings,
and Dracula returns to his window.Van Helsing and Seward head to Harker's flat out of
concern for Mina, where they discover she is being made to swallow Dracula's blood and
Harker unconscious. Dracula vanishes as a mist, but Mina is completely under his spell. To
use the bond between Dracula and Mina, Van Helsing hypnotises her and reveals that
Dracula is sound sleeping on a moored ship. Hunters seeking vampires travel across Europe
by rail to intercept the ship, and Mina starts acting more like Lucy. Van Helsing destroys the
brides and exposes Dracula, slaying Dracula and one of Lucy's previous suitors.