★★★★★★☆☆☆☆
"I want you to believe."
"To believe what?"
"To believe in things that you cannot."
Stoker's novel surprised me at first for, being written at the end of 19th century when all of the industrial and technological advancements made the idea of everlasting more possible than ever and everyone strove for a kind of immortality for themselves, it's unusual that it seems to battle the very notion of immortality in this world, marking it as a curse.
The most apparent explanation is that Stoker was against immortality as it defies God. The weapons used against the UnDead are the symbols of Christianity: the crucifix, holy water and wafer, and the characters pray to God and call him for help on many occasions throughout the book. That seems to speak in favor of religion and God's existence, but some details reveal a possibility of a different interpretation.
Van Helsing, the man whose knowledge brought Dracula to his end and thus the most important character of the book, at one point defines faith as "that faculty which enables us to believe things which we know to be untrue". At that moment we realize it's not about religion or God but faith as such.
In the "scientific, sceptical, matter-of-fact nineteenth century" there was little room for faith. People wanted facts and explanations and turned to science which "if it explain not, then it says there is nothing to explain". Though obviously appreciating science (Van Helsing is a doctor), Stoker opposes the blindness it caused in people who thought of it as the only provider of answers, and marking immortality as a curse speaks against those who thought their work was everlasting.
Stoker tells of importance to "have an open mind" because "there are always mysteries in life", and relying just on science can't solve them all. So he wants us to have faith...in the fantastic.
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