On the other hand, it can be difficult for the reader to accept that Renfield is truly under the influence of Count Dracula throughout the novel. It isn’t until late in the novel that the main characters (with the exception of Jonathan Harker) see the Count for the first time in Renfield’s room. Upon forcing the door open, they discover Dracula standing in the moonlight. “By [Mina’s] side stood a tall, thin man, clad in black. His face was turned from us, but the instant we saw it we all recognised the Count—in every way, even to the scar on his forehead,” recalls Dr. Seward. Before this scene, which occurs in chapter 21 of the novel, Jonathan Harker is the only narrator to have documented his firsthand experience meeting (and interacting with) the Count. But there is no longer any doubt to the reader that Dracula is indeed within their midst once the entire party of main characters witnesses the Count firsthand. What exactly has transpired within Renfield’s room is not immediately clear. After all, this is a room full of unreliable narrators and a madman—can their word truly be trusted? In the following chapter, Renfield relays his story to Van Helsing and Dr. Seward—though this incident is recited in Harker’s journal. “Van Helsing asked if [Renfield] had heard ‘voices’ or ‘a voice,’ and he said he could not say; that at first it had seemed to him as if there were two, but as there was no one in the room it could have been only one,” writes Harker. Renfield’s behavior and “symptoms” are strong evidence that he is suffering from some form of Schizophrenia, which may or may not cause him to hear voices. This makes it much more difficult for the characters and for the readers to be certain whether Renfield is hearing Dracula’s voice or he is simply hearing voices inside his mind as a symptom of his illness.
Dracula’s purpose seems to be the pursuit of immortality which, before the intervention of Van Helsing and the others, he seems to be achieving. His quest for immortality is as much metaphorical as it is literal, however. As Fry and Edwards point out, “sex isn’t just important: it is everything, because the whispers within tell us to make ourselves immortal through procreation.” This primitive drive within living creatures extends even to the Count, himself, though his methods of procreation differ greatly from everyone else’s. His desire to procreate is evident throughout the novel; from Lucy the “bloofer lady” to his attack on Mina in Renfield’s room, Dracula’s need for spreading his influence motivates his actions from the beginning. One may even begin to feel sympathy for a character like Count Dracula who, also similar to Frankenstein’s monster, feels alone and like an outcast. Like Frankenstein’s creation, Dracula’s otherness is what gives him the incentive to “corrupt” others; he is not evil by nature. Dracula may be misrepresented in popular culture, but that does not mean that contemporary scholars and casual fans should mistake a man doing what is necessary for his survival for a soulless monster.
