History Fridge / DRACULA

* The nature of the Sisters. Their relation to Dracula is very ambiguous with and many readers have assumed them to be his mistresses. Jonathan notes that the two younger, dark haired ones resemble Dracula which suggest that they are his children or at least close relatives, which have made some think the blonde one his wife. But the sisters talk about the blonde one in terms as being their elder as if older sibling or the first one to be turned it does not seem to fit that she is his wife. Later they refer to Mina as their "sister" as she is turning. This seems to support that their sisterhood primarily is as vampires and that the love Dracula claims to have showed them is of a sexual nature. Then again, given two seem to resemble him enough to make Jonathan think they are related, it does heavily imply [[VillainousIncest they are incestious]].

In the scene where Harker goes down to Dracula's crypt and almost makes the novel considerably shorter by chopping the vampire's head off with a spade, he only misses because Dracula makes eye contact with him, the spade 'somehow' twists in his grip, and he immediately suffers a tremendous headache. The eye contact and the immediate headache also appear in the scene where Lucy sees Dracula sitting on her and Mina's favourite seat above Whitby, which is implied to be where Dracula reaches through the link forged by drinking her blood to plant the suggestion that she should open her window later that evening so he can safely feed on her.

Harker’s total memory blank regarding the events prior to his escape from Castle Dracula could be put down to PTSD, but the scene where he sees the Count in Piccadilly and goes through a process of mental fireworks, trancelike sleep and then amnesia suggests instead a post-hypnotic compulsion not to remember or discuss Dracula similar to the ones binding Renfield and Mina.

The scene where Harker’s hair changes colour in seconds is often dismissed as narm, but another character’s hair changes colour as well: Lucy Westenra, who goes from blonde to brunette after she becomes a vampire.

!! The 1931 Film
[[AC:FridgeBrilliance]]
* Dracula's famous quote, "I never drink... wine": In many mythologies, vampires don't need to drink liquids to stay hydrated like living creatures do. The pause between "drink" and "wine" could be interpreted as Dracula accidentally revealing his vampiric nature, then covering his slip by implying he simply abstains from alcohol.
** Mind you, the more common interpretation means Dracula actually does have a black sense of humor.

* Quincy is somewhat infamous for having a very overblown and exaggerated american accent. Which could be explained by him not being a viewpoint character. We only hear his dialogue through the lense of Englishmen who are writing it down or recounting it after the fact, and may have exaggerated it in their memory.

Harker’s total memory blank regarding the events prior to his escape from Castke Dracula could be put down to PTSD, but the scene where he sees the Count in Piccadilly and goes through a process of mental fireworks, trancelike sleep and then amnesia suggests instead a post-hypnotic compulsion not to remember or discuss Dracula similar to the ones binding Renfield and Mina.

* Mina's diaries from the second act notes that Jonathan occasionally has flashbacks that start and end suddenly, often caused by some sort of trigger (most notably seeing the Count himself, only younger, on the streets of London), and causing him to completely freak out. Sounds awfully similar to PTSD, doesn't it? This was probably unintentional, since post traumatic stress disorder wouldn't be diagnosed until after WWI.