I do think itās interesting how the novel Dracula is meant to be a modern setting from its perspective. Itās very much that genre of story about an ancient fantasy archetype finding itself in a modern setting, complete with the rules-lawyering that often comes with modern parodies (that isnāt to say the stories of Olde didnāt have fun with loopholes either though).
Except Dracula is a story that plays itself straight. The vampire himself is not stupid. Heās possibly the oldest vampire of all which means he upgraded from animal instinct and mindless echoes of past memories to someone whoās regained his critical thinking skills. The story begins because heās already adapted to how the modern world works now by hiring a solicitor who understands modern laws.
He knows now that he doesnāt have to march into London with an army like he used to; He can just buy property and the laws of London are forced to respect that. Similarly heās already experimented in and discovered loopholes to vampire rules and limitations; Vampires are bound by the permission of owners so he simply uses his solicitor to buy and own a bunch of properties. If he needs to be invited in, Dracula hypnotizes someone to let him in.
Vampires need to return to their grave every dusk/dawn (whichever comes sooner), which causes their coffin to act as an anchor that limits how far from it they can travel? Dracula simply rations the earth of his grave into fifty coffins and spreads them across London so his range becomes exponentially larger.
All of these things make the story almost come across as a deconstruction and it might just be! Itās just that Dracula the novel became such a trendsetter that people nowadays see it as playing things fully straight. It almost feels as if the novel is written with the idea that readers have a basic understanding of vampires and their rules, so part of the thrill comes in the revelation of how the titular vampire is working around these rules. Likewise Iāve heard it used to be a trope in English literature for a traveler to visit some foreign land with a monster and escape by going home. But here the foreign aspect of the story is just the first (and final) arc; The monsterās plan hinges on coming to the UK itself!
So yeah. Dracula isnāt stupid and he reflects the idea that people of the past had just as common sense as the rest of us, they just had access to less/inaccurate knowledge and things worked differently back then. Dracula would be likeā¦ That bit of someone showing a medieval peasant a meme as they comprehend it perfectly and arenāt even wowed by the Doritos. If Dracula was set in the 21st century heād probably understand social media well enough to become an influencer if he wanted to, though the issue of being invisible in cameras wouldnāt help.
