Key Characters in Bram Stoker's Dracula
Lucy Westenra
Lucy Westenra is Mina Murray's closest friend. She is a young woman of nineteen who becomes engaged to Arthur Holmwood. Her penchant for sleepwalking allows her to become Dracula's first victim, and after her "death," she becomes one of the "Un-Dead." In many ways, Lucy is much like her dear friend Mina. She is a paragon of virtue and innocence, qualities that draw not one but three suitors to her. Lucy differs from her friend in one crucial aspect, however—she is sexualized. Lucy’s physical beauty captivates each of her suitors, and she displays a comfort or playfulness about her desirability that Mina never feels.
Arthur Holmwood
Arthur Holmwood is a vigorous man, twenty-nine years old, and the only son of Lord Godalming; Holmwood later inherits this title after the death of his father. His engagement to Lucy and the necessity of driving a stake through her heart after she becomes one of the "Un-Dead" motivates Holmwood to join in tracking down and exterminating Dracula.
Dr. John Seward
Dr. John Seward is the head of a lunatic asylum. He is roughly the same age as Holmwood and is one of Lucy Westenra's suitors. He is an intelligent and determined man.
Quincey P. Morris
Quincey P. Morris is another of Lucy's suitors. Morris is an American from Texas. His great wealth allows him to pay many of the expenses incurred in tracking down Dracula.
Dr. Abraham Van Helsing
Dr. Abraham Van Helsing holds an M.D., a Ph.D., and a D.Litt., as well as being an attorney. He is a lonely, unmarried old bachelor who is both kindly and fatherly. Hailing from Amsterdam, his profound knowledge of medicine, folklore, and the occult allows him to take complete charge of Lucy's illness, which he identifies immediately as vampirism. He is also chiefly in charge of the strategy for tracking down Count Dracula.
R. M. Renfield
R. M. Renfield is a huge, lumbering, fifty-nine-year-old madman who is a patient of Dr. Seward; he also comes under the influence of Dracula.
Mr. Swales
Mr. Swales is an old man who befriends Lucy and Mina at Whitby, the site of the landing of Count Dracula's ship. He is an archetypal figure—the one person who senses and articulates the approaching horror of Dracula—but, Cassandra-like, he is not believed.