Was Jonathan Harker Wearing a Red Hood?

An icon of Gothic literature and forerunner of vampire lore, Dracula is credited as being inspired by Stoker’s nightmare after eating a particularly rich crab dinner. It’s also evident that he was influenced by other British invasion tales, LeFanu’s tale “Carmilla,” and The Woman in White. However, no work is evident as of yet about the possibility of Dracula being influenced by fairy tales, specifically “Little Red Riding Hood” in structure, themes, and characters. This essay will be considering Dracula’s background, why Stoker wrote it and its Victorian influences. Then I will examine Bettelheim’s fairy tale structure as it applies to Dracula; how the themes of both pieces compare, and lastly, compare the characters between the two pieces. Using both primary texts and other researchers who have approached these two novels utilizing a socio-historical aspect, I will synthesize and prove how “Little Red Riding Hood” was a forerunner and influence to Dracula. This will be the first of its kind and potentially start a new scholarly conversation for Dracula