NovelGuide: Dracula: Novel Summary: Chapter 10

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Chapter 10

Summary
Seward writes to Holmwood about the declining state of Lucy's health. Mrs Westenra has consulted Seward professionally about her, meaning that Seward and Van Helsing can be open about treating her.
Seward's diary records how Van Helsing arrives to find Lucy pale and gaunt, with the blood having gone from her lips and gums. He arranges for her to have an emergency blood transfusion, taking the blood from Holmwood. As Van Helsing adjusts Lucy's pillow, the black velvet band she wears around her throat shifts to reveal two red puncture wounds on her throat. Van Helsing asks Seward what he makes of the wounds, and Seward replies that he does not know, though he believes that the wound might account for her loss of blood.
Van Helsing leaves for Amsterdam, telling Seward to watch over Lucy all night and not to fall asleep. He adds that he will return soon, and then they can begin their work.
Seward does as he is asked, and Lucy awakes feeling much better. The following evening, she tells Seward that she dreads falling asleep, as sleep for her is full of "horror." He assures her that he will watch over her and wake her if he sees any sign that she is having bad dreams. The night passes without incident and Lucy again awakes feeling better. The following night, however, the exhausted Seward obeys Lucy's instruction to get some sleep, and falls asleep on the sofa.
Next day, Seward is woken by Van Helsing, and together they go into Lucy's room. They are shocked to find her pale and wan, in a faint. Her gums have shrunk back from her teeth, "as we sometimes see in a corpse after a prolonged illness." Van Helsing orders another blood transfusion. This time, Seward is the donor. Afterwards, Seward falls asleep, waking to thoughts of the ragged puncture wounds in Lucy's throat.
A package arrives for Van Helsing, full of white garlic flowers. Van Helsing rubs the flowers over the windows and doors, and hangs a wreath of them around Lucy's neck, warning her not to take off the wreath or open her window or door that night. He assures Seward that she will sleep safely.
Analysis
Seward's joy at giving his beloved Lucy his blood ("No man knows till he experiences it, what it is to feel his own life-blood drawn away into the veins of the woman he loves") points to the symbolic nature of the exchange of blood in the novel. The Count destructively penetrates and extracts blood from his victims, as if taking their maidenheads; Seward lovingly pours his blood into Lucy's veins. As with sex, there is an exchange of bodily fluids, but while the Count robs his victims of life, Seward is giving Lucy her life back. The parallel with sex is emphasized by Van Helsing's insistence that Seward should not tell Holmwood that he (Seward) has given blood to Lucy, as it would "enjealous" him. In addition, the physiological effects of the transfusions are similar to those of sex, with the men who give the blood feeling drained afterwards, and Lucy restored to glowing health.
The repeated blood transfusions, which literally drain the donor men of their lifeblood, also emphasize the Count's expanding power. Not only does he take Lucy's blood, but indirectly, he takes the blood of the donor men and so has their lives in his power. This lends a sinister significance to his declaration to the vampire women in chapter 3, to the effect that Harker "belongs" to him.
Lucy's eventual fate is foreshadowed in the image of her with her gums shrinking back from her teeth, like a "corpse." At this point, she belongs more to death than to life.
Van Helsing's use of garlic flowers to ward off vampiric attack is a pagan (pre-Christian) and non-scientifically based tradition. It is an example of the esoteric and occult knowledge (the 'metaphysics') of which Van Helsing is master. Knowing how closed are the minds around him to such knowledge, Van Helsing does not explain his use of garlic to Seward, Lucy or her family. This is to prove a fatal omission, but it is difficult to see how he could act differently, given the prejudices of those around him - along with the general determination of the men in the novel to protect women's delicate sensibilities from unpleasant truths.
As well as being an expert in matters of the occult, Van Helsing is also a master of modern Western science, as can be seen in his use of blood transfusions, which repeatedly save Lucy's life.