Victorian Science and Religion

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Victorian Science and Religion
Bram Stoker's Dracula is an 1897 novel about a Transylvanian nobleman who turns into a vampire and spreads vampirism through London after his enemies kill him. The hyped-up descriptions of the lead character were in stark contrast to other characters in the book, making an interesting representation of scientific thoughts and religion. The Victorian era believed that scientific thoughts were not supposed to mix with religious believes because the two were considered to present opposing sides. Although Stoker's novel represents the Victorian fear of scientific thought meshing with religious beliefs, he argues that religion and science are supposed to co-exist instead of working against each other because they can solve strange and detrimental occurrences in life.
Jonathan is one of the characters used to show that scientific thoughts should coexist with religion to solve real-world issues. Jonathan is amazed by the comfort he takes in the strange gifts given to him while on the carriage. He considers the Catholic rosary to symbolize idol worship, but he feels comfort while holding it (Landix). All he could think about was the amazing nature of the Christian superstition of law. In this way, the leaded glass beads come to represent a symbol of his anxiety and fear at being forced from his familiar world into existence of new terrors so terrifying that even the knowledge of Christ cannot save him from them. In chapter 21, Jonathan is terrified by what he considers a monster in the form of a bat, though he learns later that Vampires do not have wings (Stocker 27) before witnessing a Vampire fly away with Lucy. At this point, it begins to dawn on him that there is more going on around him than just superstition or religious fanaticism, but rather some other element that does not fit within his understanding of life as he knew it. The appearance of Count Dracula himself drives home this realization, for when he wakes up, he knows at once that the Count was there because he could smell him, an ability no man has or ever had before.
The shock of Draconian difference, which Jonathan experiences again in chapter 25 when Dracula reveals his true nature, does not fit into any preconceptions about life as Johnathan knows it. For instance, walking through solid stone to visit Lucy secretly at night is a sign of activity present in the world of science and religious beliefs. It shows the connections that creatures have for one another (Sanders 80). This insight into the Vampire’s reality comes just after Johnathan admits falling in love with her. She has returned his feelings despite the prohibition against her marrying a non-Szgany. Stoker places one of his most poignant descriptions of moments that are now lost but tinged with sadness. The moment is tinged with the irony of a world where “a man such as Jonathan, who went to church and said his prayers, could believe such things” (Stocker 25). Such disbelief shed light on what could happen if scientific thoughts and religious beliefs were combined to solve real-world- issues. Such a co-existence would solve a wide array of problems caused by the differences in ideologies between r...