John Seward: A Villainous Hero?
Dracula may indeed have succeeded in his plots if not for Doctor John Seward. He is truly a hero in the sense that he provides valuable insights, was the person to call upon Van Helsing and is present at all critical moments in the battle against Dracula. However, I would argue that underneath this facade is a dark streak, one which separates him from normal human emotion and allows him to coldly interact with his patients sometimes more to satisfy his curiosity than actually helping them to recover from their ailments. I don’t think Seward would see this coldness in his actions; he merely wishes to try and do the best for the common man. But in the end, his treatment of Renfield is evidence enough that the old saying “the road to hell is paved with good intentions” is correct.
Whether it be the horrors of lobotomies and ice baths to the deep stigmatism associated with mental illness that still exists, we as a species have never been great at dealing with mental health issues. By the Victorian era, mental illness was considered a disease that could be cured through effective treatment (Druga, 2016). What consisted as treatments however could be cruel and often inhumane. These are evident in ‘Dracula’ with Renfield being placed in a straight jacket several times, often left in complete isolation and the things Renfield can do while in his cell, for example eating several live sparrows.
So why does this separate Seward as a villain if he was following the treatments of the time? It is his emotional coldness towards his patients and desire to sate his curiosity even at their expense that places him firmly in a villainous territory. Renfield is compared by Seward to a dog, and he refers to him as “my own pet lunatic” (page 281, Collins). Seward keeps him in the asylum despite clear signs that his mental state has improved due to his connection to Dracula though he argues that Renfield is faking his recovery. Poor Renfield also suffers a gruesome death in his cell; his injuries are not discovered until a while after his attack. He struggles with his last breaths to help Van Helsing understand his role in the whole affair but is ultimately left alone to die in pain on the floor of his cell while everyone rushes to the aid of Mina. Renfield was in Seward’s care, but in the end, he was abandoned to die alone. Seward didn’t even stop to ask an attendant to sit with him. This moment is heartbreaking to me, despite Renfield’s faults he did not deserve his lonely death.
What shows Seward’s coldness in stark detail is his lack of concern for the safety of others when his curiosity is on the line. While I sympathise with the character of Renfield, it is clear that he is a violent and dangerous man when in an agitated state. So the fact that Seward sets up for Renfield to escape as a test is surprising given the risk this could pose to the general public, although he does have attendants on standby should he successfully leave. He also has little care for the animals that Renfield is killing. Renfield asks for a cat which Seward considers saying “I did not care that his pretty family of tame sparrows should be wiped out in the same manner as the flies and the spiders”(page 84, Collins). He still considers giving Renfield a cat despite knowing later that he would likely kill and eat the cat as he does his sparrows and flies.
It is important to note that common opinions likely influenced several of these factors with the stigmatism towards the mentally ill and the desire to understand how the brain works. Seward’s love of Lucy is a clear example that Seward is by no means emotionless, but, he shows such different faces in his care of Lucy and Renfield that you get the feeling that Seward is quite a selfish being.
Despite all of this, I do think John Seward is still a hero overall. His ability to do everything in his power to stop Dracula’s menace is incredible and shows a willingness to open his mind. While his treatment of Renfield is abominable, we don’t get an impression of how he treats his other patients. It may merely be a case that Renfield was an unfortunate oddity who simply raised too high a level of disgust in Seward. At the end of the day, Renfield was not a good person, but he still deserved to be treated like a human being.
I find it interesting that what started as me exploring the coldness of Seward has led to me examining more the treatment of Renfield a side character who barely gets a chance to tell his side of the story. Without him, Seward in some ways would have very few fatal flaws that would mark his character. So, maybe John Seward isn’t a villainous hero, but he is undoubtedly a flawed one.
Sources
- ‘Dracula,’ Bram Stoker, ISBN: 987–0–00–742008–7, Collins Classics, 2011 Edition
- ‘Dracula,’ Bram Stoker, eISBN: 9781542097673, Amazon Classics Edition
- ‘Victorian Insane Asylum: Treating Disease with Torture,’ Melina Druga, 2016, https://www.melinadruga.com/victorian-and-edwardian-insane-asylums/
- ‘MENTAL ILLNESS IN THE VICTORIAN ERA,’ infogram, https://infogram.com/mental-illness-in-the-victorian-era-1gnl8m3y8yxjp36
- ‘Mental Institutions,’ The Science Museum, http://broughttolife.sciencemuseum.org.uk/broughttolife/themes/menalhealthandillness/mentalinstitutions
Notes
- There are two copies of Dracula in my sources due to a series of errors in the Collins Classics edition
- I have focussed more on the conditions once in asylums rather than what could see you consigned to one due to the fact this would take too long to go into here and feels more fit for a future article I plan on Jane Eyre
