Is Dracula really the evil, soulless monster from hell that he is made out to be? Was he human once?
Together we moved over to the bed, and I lifted the lawn from her face. God! How beautiful she was. Ever hour seemed to be enhancing her loveliness. It frightened and amazed me somewhat; and as for Arthur, he fell a-trembling, and finally was shaken with doubt as with an ague. At last, after a long pause, he said to me in a faint whisper:—
“Jack, is she really dead?”

pg 154 of my book.
Death: a permanent cessation of all vital functions
As time goes by we still see that Lucy’s appearance becomes more beautiful every moment that passes by as if her skin still has blood tat runs through it making her appearance look as if she is alive.
This passage is important to my research because it shows truly for the first time that Dracula has picked Lucy for something more than just a sack to suck blood from. Dracula has picked Lucy to become, what I think, his next bride of the night. I’m assuming this because back in the early chapter of Harker and the three maidens he says that one of them, the center blonde one that almost sucked him dry, looked familiar but he couldn’t connect it to anyone or know why she seemed so recognizable. I think that this maiden resembled Lucy and that Dracula is looking for another woman to be his maiden, and Lucy just happens to fit the description. This ultimately resigns me back to my question, Is Dracula really the heartless, loveless monster we make him out to be or does he have a past of humanity and emotion?

I think we can all agree that a theme thats keeps popping up in this book is this overbearing sense of dread and despair people seem to get anywhere near Dracula. We’ve witnessed it when the townspeople in the carriage were racing towards the Counts castle, when Harker first meets Dracula or is anywhere close to him, and we now see it in chapters six and seven. It’s horrifying to see how many ways the book foreshadows or warns to Draculas coming.

The very initial warning to his arrival actually starts with Lucy. The book states that her restless nights and sleep walking are over wedding issues but I think it is because she senses the dreanought that comes from the sea. Second is obviously the immense storm that hits almost out of no where. Just like in castle Dracula, we can picture is iminous grey cloud of darkness rolling over the land, almost like a trademark of the count. Third we find ourselves hearing the warning of the old man who professes his death is riding on the winds and coming for him. Finally we see the big vicious dog that jumps out of the hull of the ship, indicating Draculas arrival. All of these accounts, in one way or another, were dreadful in their own way. It is like Dracula produces an aura of darkness everywhere he goes that anyone living can feel.