President Theodore Roosevelt

In the early 1900's, President Theodore Roosevelt spoke about the great struggle of good versus evil. He stated, "The forces that tend for evil are great and terrible, but the forces of truth and love and courage and honesty and generosity and sympathy are also stronger than ever before" (The Man with the Muck-rake). Theodore Roosevelt's statement conveys that there is a constant battle between good and evil and the forces of both are tremendous. Although Bram Stoker published the novel Dracula centuries before Theodore Roosevelt's speech, he utilizes the same concept throughout the novel in the example of the strength of Dracula, whose horrific acts and resemblance are the embodiment of evil and Jonathan Harker and his friends exemplify faith and strong will. Throughout Dracula, the portrayal of religion creates the idea that truth redeems sins, a lesson in which only those who are strong overcome evil, and the fact that evil seduces people with illusions of magnificence. The victims of Dracula turn for guidance and protection from their religion. Van Helsing and his group use religion in order to enable them to resist and destroy evil. Their religion shows them what is right from wrong and what they are fighting for.

At the beginning of the novel, when Jonathan Harker first arrives in Transylvania, an elderly lady gives him a rosary: "She then rose and dried her eyes and taking a crucifix from her neck, offered it to me"(9). The rosary is a representation of protection in order to ward off evil, which is Dracula. At first Jonathan is mistrustful of Catholic, ritual, relics and symbols because he is protestant but the superstitions in Transylvania have created fear within Jonathan and cloud his judgment. Once he arrives to Count Dracula's castle, Jonathan slowly begins to comprehend that he is part of battle between truth and myth, which relates to good versus evil.

Women also play an essential part to the struggle versus good and evil. Mina is known as the heart and soul of the five righteous warriors. She is an ideal Victorian woman who is able to overcome hardship because of her strong will and morals. She grasps onto her faith and does not allow Dracula to take that away from her. Through bravery and faith, she is able to resist Dracula, which demonstrates her integrity and uprightness. In contrast, Lucy is a seductive flirtatious woman. After the incident of Dracula biting her, she depicts many of the evil characteristics that Dracula possesses. Even though both women are bitten at almost identical times, only one is able to overcome evil. Lucy is an easy prey whose, "sweetness was turned to adamantine, heartless cruelty, and the purity to voluptuous wantonness" (231). Dracula bites Lucy and her emotions overwhelm her to a contrast of the Victorian idol female. Her wickedness even seduces Arthur, whose morals are much greater than her own. Lucy's shady character is revealed into light after these shameful incidents, but using these examples, it can be seen that her ethics aren't strict at all. In this context, it shows an ideal example of people and their weakness to resist the "dark" side. All can be seduced by evil, but it takes someone of true character to withstand it. Unfortunately with Lucy's beauty and Dracula's control over her, she had no chance of pushing through after getting bit.

The main characters demonstrate the idea of people being easy preys to evil but with redemption, they can always atone for their sins. The characters of Dracula continually allow evil to inhibit their bodies. Lucy invites Dracula to her room and Renfield allows Dracula to be his master, which shows evidence of weak-willed creatures' vulnerabilities to the sin of evil. Because of their weaknesses, they are able to convince themselves that Dracula's promises aren't empty, but in fact (in their belief) are or shall be reality. Even though they pay the ultimate price for their mistakes, their deaths show that redemption always allows evil to atone for their mistakes. Lucy is transformed by her second death into a vision