Lucy Westenra: Created to Die
Lucy Westenra always seems to get the short end of the stick when it comes to ‘Dracula’ and all its adaptations — often portrayed in her vampire state as a seductress and flighty, dressed in white with flowing blonde hair. However, this is far from the ‘Lucy’ that exists in the text. A sweet soul who is excited about her impending marriage, Lucy is unfortunately created as the perfect victim and set up to be killed from her first introduction.
Lucy has one fatal flaw that leads to her “deserving” to die: she is aware of her desirability and flaunts that three men proposed to her. Bram Stoker has an apparent view that the best women are pure and innocent, fitting with the Victorian Ideal. Unfortunately, while Lucy holds these qualities, she also is comfortable and playful in her sexuality. When Lucy says:
“Why can’t they let a girl marry three men, or as many as want her, and save all this trouble?” (page 70, Collins)
she has signed her death warrant in the eyes of Stoker.
However, Lucy is saying this not out of an unsustainable lust or desire. She merely wishes she did not have to break the hearts of two men whose friendship she holds in such high esteem. I feel that Stoker does Lucy a massive disservice in his treatment of her. Later on, Van Helsing will joke about the fact Arthur feels married to her through the transfusion of blood, and how, as he and Seward have also performed transfusions, they too were Lucy’s Husbands — making poor Lucy a bigamist after death. When she has become a vampire, Lucy has changed completely.
“The sweetness was turned to adamantine, heartless cruelty, and the purity to voluptuous wantonness.” (page 254, Collins)
These moments are all justified in Stoker’s mind from this one moment of weakness and her revelry in having been proposed to by three men in one day.
It is possible that this sexualisation of Lucy is what leads to her portrayal in various adaptations. Generally portrayed as a young, blonde, flirtatious woman, starkly different from her description in the book. Starting with the fact that Lucy is not blonde:
“…a dark-haired woman, dressed in the cerements of the grave.”(page 253, Collins)
This image likely came to fruition through her portrayal in Bela Lugosi’s ‘Dracula’ in 1931. Lucy is often shown in strict contrast to Mina in these adaptations, somehow seeming more wanton. However, I think it’s important to note that there is very little difference between Mina and Lucy in terms of personality. Bram Stoker only differentiates them by setting Lucy apart to be killed by Dracula. However, Mina too nearly meets this fate.
So why is Lucy marked for death? It appears to be a) a delayed understanding of her situation by Van Helsing and b) her seemingly sexual nature. Bram Stoker essentially needed to motivate the men of the story to fight and give them a deep understanding of the possible outcomes to work together to save Mina. Unfortunately, there was nothing Lucy could have done that would have allowed her to live. Stoker needed a victim, and Lucy was the perfect target. It is a sad truth that poor Lucy Westenra was merely created to die. Without her death, many of the characters would not have the determination and connection they had to destroy Dracula. However, I don’t think this means we can’t love Lucy for who she is, and I think we need to change how she appears in various forms of media. Let’s claim her back from this seductress image, and show the sweet girl who was so excited to marry her true love.
Sources
- ‘Dracula,’ Bram Stoker, ISBN: 987–0–00–742008–7, Collins Classics, 2011 Edition
- ‘Dracula,’ Bram Stoker, eISBN: 9781542097673, Amazon Classics Edition
- Lucy Westenra in Dracula: Description, Character Analysis & Death, Erin Carroll, https://study.com/academy/lesson/lucy-westenra-in-dracula-description-character-analysis-death.html
- Dracula 1931 Film, Encyclopaedia Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Dracula-film
