Power and Control in DraculaIn the universe, no being has complete control over another. In Bram Stoker's novel Dracula, God, Dracula, nature, and humanity exert some form of influence over each other, whether direct control or an instrument by which a another must exercise his power. In this article I will examine how power and control are presented in Dracula. One of the main challenges to the power of God is Dracula. God does nothing to help Lucy's character. For what? She did not commit any great sin. Yet she is still Dracula's prey. There are two possible explanations for this: first, God does not have the power to save her from Dracula. Dracula is almost out of God's power. Since Dracula renounced God, he (God) no longer has dominion over Dracula. Or second, God feels that she is being justly punished for her sins (sins the reader is never informed of). Lucy is very flirtatious, and perhaps she is more promiscuous than we are led to believe. In Francis Ford Coppola's film version, when Lucy and Mina look at the book which shows sexual acts, Lucy states that "people can do that (sexual acts)". Mina then asks Lucy how she knows people commit these sexual acts, and Lucy replies "because I did it last night...in my dreams." We assume she actually dreamed of sexual acts, but what if she wasn't telling the truth? Lucy knew that no respectable woman would ever admit to having sex outside of marriage in her time. Maybe she was trying to hide her reputation. It would seem that the most likely of the choices discussed above is that God is incapable of saving the innocent. However, this does not mean that God is powerless. God maintains his power over Dracula in several ways: sacred objects, such as the crucifix, holy water, and holy wafers, repel Dracula. The first time we see Dracula's reaction is when Jonathan Harker shaves. Dracula approaches behind Jonathan Harker and sees the crucifix. He is forced to stop looking at the crucifix and he (Dracula) says that "our ways are different from those of your England" and "you should not trust such objects of deception". We see, as Harker does, that Dracula has a hatred towards God..