Portrait of Dracula
“His face was not a good face; it was hard, and cruel, and sensual…”
Inspired by the countless incarnations of Stoker’s Dracula and my love of sky puppies. The original character is described as cunning, predatory, and one who’s patient-yet-raging desire for revenge fuels his very existence.
“There was something so panther-like in the movement—something so unhuman, that it seemed to sober us all from the shock of his coming… As the Count saw us, a horrible sort of snarl passed over his face, showing the eye-teeth long and pointed; but the evil smile as quickly passed into a cold stare of lion-like disdain.”
Of course, later iterations often shift Dracula’s desires from revenge to a more relatable ‘lost love found’ saga, as though that would make his cursed constitution more desirable, or at least more palatable. No matter the rationale or how human his motives, Dracula is a blood-sucking creature that embodies evil at its very core. And his character eternally speaks to a potent, supernatural allegory of proliferating disease – reflective of the era’s dark and unabating anxiety and mirrored through countless, future generations.
While the classic tale is far from my favorite (the pace murders my patience at times), the evolution of Count Dracula’s character, throughout cinema and modern writing, grips my imagination and thrills my beating heart to no end.
