Mina Harker
Wilhelmina "Mina" Harker is a fictional character and the main female character in Bram Stoker's 1897 Gothic horror novel Dracula.
In the novel
She begins the story as Miss Mina Murray, a young school mistress who is engaged to Jonathan Harker, and best friends with Lucy Westenra. She visits Lucy in Whitby on July 24 of that year, when schools would have closed for the summer. Unlike her best friend, Mina is an orphan, who never knew her father or mother.After her fiancé Jonathan escapes from Count Dracula's castle, Mina travels to Budapest and joins him there. Mina cares for him during his recovery from his traumatic encounter with the vampire and his brides, and the two return to England as husband and wife. Back home, they learn that Lucy has died from a mysterious illness stemming from severe blood loss as the result of repeated attacks by an unknown, blood-drinking animal. The animal, they learn, was none other than Dracula taking a different shape.
It is because of Mina that the party learn of the Count's plans, as she is the one who collects the journals, letters, and newspaper clippings. She assembles all of the relevant information regarding the Count, places it in chronological order, and types out multiple copies, giving them to each of the other protagonists. The end result is the epistolary novel itself. Mina and Jonathan then join the coalition around Abraham Van Helsing, and turn their attention toward destroying the Count. The party uses this information to discover clues about Dracula's plans and further investigate the locations of the various residences he purchases as a means to track him and destroy him. Each subsequent action the party takes is recorded by the various members and added to the collection of events surrounding Dracula.
After Dracula learns of this plot against him, he takes revenge by visiting — and biting — Mina at least three times. Dracula also feeds Mina his blood, dooming her to become a vampire should she die. Afterwards, he kills Renfield and destroys all of the copies of their except for one, which Dr. Seward kept in a safe. The rest of the novel deals with the group's efforts to spare Mina a vampiric fate by tracking and attempting to kill Dracula. When Van Helsing attempts to bless her by placing a wafer of sacramental bread against her forehead it burns her flesh, leaving a scar, thus proving that Dracula has made her unholy. Mina slowly succumbs to the blood of the vampire that flows through her veins, switching back and forth from a state of consciousness to one of semi-trance, during which she is telepathically connected with Dracula. Mina then uses her inherent telepathic abilities to track Dracula's movements under the hypnotism of Van Helsing. Dracula later flees back to his castle in Transylvania, followed by the entire group who split up. As Van Helsing takes Mina with him on his journey to Dracula's castle to slay the brides of Dracula, the rest of the party attempt to locate and raid the ship Dracula is using, to ambush him. As time goes on, Helsing's ability to hypnotize Mina to obtain intelligence on the whereabouts of Count Dracula diminishes significantly. Her appearance and manner become more vampire-like, to the point where she even loses her appetite as well as her ability to stay awake during the day despite multiple attempts by Van Helsing to wake her.
While Mina and Van Helsing are at camp, Helsing crumbles sacramental bread in a circle around Mina as she sleeps during the daytime. Upon waking, she is unable to cross the circle at all. Van Helsing does this as a test; if Mina is unable to exit the circle, he reasons that vampires would be unable to enter, as well. This is confirmed when, later in the night, the brides come to the camp, but are unable to cross the ring around Mina and Van Helsing. The brides beckon her to join them but fail, and fly back to Dracula's castle before sunrise where they meet their demise at Van Helsing's hands.
When the party kills Dracula just before sunset, Dracula's vampiric spell is lifted and Mina is freed from the curse.
The book closes with a note written seven years after these events about Mina's and Jonathan's married life and the birth of their first-born son, whom they name Quincey in remembrance of their American friend Quincey Morris, who was killed by Dracula's Szgany minions during the final confrontation. The birth of Jonathan and Mina's son signifies hope and renewal of life as the close of the novel ushers in the 20th century.
In other media
Mina has appeared in most film adaptations of Stoker's novel.In Stoker's original novel, Mina recovers from the vampire's curse upon Dracula's death and lives on to marry Jonathan. However, in some media, Mina is killed at some point in the story, while in others, she becomes a full vampire and keeps her powers after the death of Dracula.
Books
- In Dracula the Un-dead, co-written by Dacre Stoker, a great-nephew of the original author, Mina's son, Quincey, is claimed to be a product of rape and Dracula's biologically human son, conceived at some point when Dracula was attacking Mina.
- In From the Pages of Bram Stoker's Dracula: Harker, written by Tony Lee and endorsed by Dacre Stoker and Ian Holt, Mina becomes bound to Dracula's spirit as his remaining allies attempt to use her unborn child as his new body.
- In Anno Dracula, a 1992 novel by Kim Newman, the first in the Anno Dracula series, Mina Harker became a vampire and Dracula's bride. The novel tells an alternate history in which Dracula marries Queen Victoria and rules England as her consort, and vampirism is widespread.
- Mina is one of the main characters in 1975 novel Dracula Tape by Fred Saberhagen, which is the retelling of Bram Stoker's Dracula from Dracula's point of view. This is actually book one of a ten part book series of which Mina is a major recurring character.
- Mina Murray is one of the lead characters of Alan Moore's and Kevin O'Neill's comic book series The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. She is a bisexual suffragist and leader of the titular team, and is involved in a romantic relationship with Allan Quatermain. She and Allan are the only remaining members of the initial League after a Martian invasion. She subsequently becomes immortal, remaining young even in the year 2009. She is in a polyamorous relationship with the gender-changing omnisexual Orlando. It is implied that she still feels trauma over her encounter with Dracula and has disfiguring scars on her neck, which she covers with a red scarf.
- Mina Murray appears in the novel European Travel for the Monstrous Gentlewoman by Theodora Goss. In the novel she is former governess of Mary Jekyll, daughter of the infamous Dr. Jekyll. Mary receives a letter from Mina, asking for her help, and sets on a mission to help Mina, discovering later that Mina Murray isn’t all that she seems.
On screen
Film
- In F. W. Murnau's Nosferatu, the character is renamed Ellen, due to the copyright issues surrounding this film, and is portrayed by Greta Schröder. In a significant deviation from the original novel, she sacrifices herself to Count Orlok so he will be destroyed by the rising sun.
- Helen Chandler played her in Universal Pictures' Dracula, directed by Tod Browning and starring Bela Lugosi as the Count. In this adaptation, Mina was Dr. John Seward's daughter and so it is implied that her name was Mina Seward.
- In 1953 Turkish film Drakula İstanbul'da Güzin is played by Annie Ball. The events of the novel are updated to 1950s and Dracula here moves to Turkey from his castle in Transylvania. Güzin is the cabaret dancer. At one point Dracula places Güzin under his hypnotic control and has her dance for him on the stage as he sits alone in the audience. As she finishes this command performance, Dracula applauds, and then tells her “Tonight you danced better than any other night. I won't harm you. You are a beautiful being. I will drink you bit by bit”.
- In Hammer Horror's Dracula, Mina was portrayed by Melissa Stribling and was married to Arthur Holmwood instead of Jonathan Harker.
- In a 1970 Spanish-Italian-German horror film Count Dracula, Mina was portrayed by Maria Rohm and Christopher Lee played the title role, though it was not a Hammer production like his other Dracula films. This adaptation tried to stay faithful to the novel.
- In the 1978 adult horror film Dracula Sucks, Mina is portrayed by Annette Haven and it is implied that she becomes a vampire by the end of the movie.
- In 1979 romantic horror comedy Love At First Bite Dracula moves to New York in 1970s and pursues there fashion model Cindy Sondheim, who is mentioned to be Mina in one of her past lives. Cindy does retain some of the memories from her past life.
- Mina was played by Martje Grohmann in the 1979 film Nosferatu the Vampyre, remake of Murnau's classic. This adaptation switches Mina's role, here she is killed by vampire, and makes Lucy - who here is wife of Jonathan Harker - vampire's primary victim.
- Mina was played by Jan Francis in the 1979 film Dracula directed by John Badham, in which she is Van Helsing's daughter. This adaptation also switches Mina's role and makes Lucy — who here is the daughter of Dr. Seward — Jonathan Harker's fiancée and Dracula's primary victim.
- Mina was portrayed by American actress Winona Ryder in Bram Stoker's Dracula, the 1992 Francis Ford Coppola film adaptation of the book, in which she is the reincarnation of Dracula's centuries-dead wife, Elisabeta.
- In Mel Brooks' parody , Mina is portrayed by Amy Yasbeck. Here she is Dr. John Seward's daughter, like in 1931 film.
- In the 2003 film The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Mina Harker was portrayed by Peta Wilson. In a deviation from the comic the film was based on, the film has Mina remain a vampire after Dracula's death, and she keeps the surname Harker, having outlived her husband Jonathan rather than divorced him. Unlike the comic, there is no relationship between her and Allan Quatermain, but she attracts some interest from Doctor Henry Jekyll and Special Agent Tom Sawyer, and a past relationship with Dorian Gray is hinted at before he is revealed to be a double agent working for their enemy.
- In 2012 vampire horror film Dracula 3D by Dario Argento Mina Harker was portrayed by Marta Gastini. In this version she comes to Dracula's castle in search of her husband Jonathan Harker and turns out to look exactly like Dracula's wife, Dolingen de Gratz, who died some centuries ago.
- A woman named Mina appears at the end of Dracula Untold, portrayed by Sarah Gadon. Following the film's climax, the movie flashes forward to the present day, when a woman named Mina, who strongly resembles Dracula's long-dead wife Mirena, is approached by Dracula himself. After Dracula compliments Mina and recites Mirena's favourite piece of poetry, which turns out to be Mina's favourite poem as well, the movie ends with the two departing together.
Television
- In 1968 British TV film Dracula Mina Harker was played by Suzanne Neve. It's implied that she becomes a vampire by the end of the film.
- In 1971 Czechoslovakian TV film Hrabě Drakula Mina Harker was played by Klára Jerneková. It was a fairly faithful adaptation of the novel. It was the first screen adaptation to show Mina drinking Dracula's blood from the cut on his chest.
- In the 1973 television film Bram Stoker's Dracula Mina is portrayed by Penelope Horner.
- Blair Brown portrayed Mina Harker in the 1973 Dracula episode of the Canadian Purple Playhouse TV series.
- The BBC produced a version entitled Count Dracula in 1977. Mina was played by Judi Bowker. The film was fairly faithful to Stoker's original novel, except that it portrayed Mina and Lucy as sisters.
- In the 2002 Italian two-part English-language TV miniseries Dracula, Mina is portrayed by Stefania Rocca. This adaptation updates the events of the novel to the present day and takes place entirely in Budapest. Mina is the one, who kills Dracula in the end.
- In 2006 a British television film entitled Dracula aired, with Stephanie Leonidas in the role of Mina Murray. She is depicted as a Roman Catholic.
- Zoe Tapper portrayed Mina Harker in Demons as a half-vampire whose full powers come out when she ingests some of Dracula's blood, which still flows in her veins. Her 'default' state leaves her blind, with psychic abilities that she can use to sense the nature of the demons the main characters are presently facing.
- Jessica De Gouw portrayed Mina Murray in the TV series Dracula. In this role, she is a medical student who is engaged to Jonathan Harker, and is said to be a reincarnation of Dracula's deceased wife.
- Olivia Llewellyn portrays Mina Murray in the TV series, Penny Dreadful. In this continuity she is the daughter of Sir Malcolm Murray and best friend of Vanessa Ives. She is transformed into a vampire by Dracula, and her father shoots her to save Vanessa Ives.
- Morfydd Clark portrays Mina Murray in miniseries Dracula . In this continuity she is fiancee of Jonathan Harker and visits him in the convent in Hungary after his escape from Dracula's castle. The convent is infiltrated by Dracula himself due to Harker's invitation, Dracula kills everybody, and then wears Harker's skin to get to the last survivors, Sister Agatha Van Helsing and Mina. Agatha surrendered her life in exchange for Mina, who was let go by Dracula. Later it's mentioned that Mina set foundation in the name of her perished fiance on the money from her father and Van Helsing's family. The foundation though is presented as a shady organization with undisclosed goals and operations.
Characters based on Mina
- The 2004 film Dracula 3000 features a character named Mina Murray, though it is a futuristic science fiction/horror film and this Mina is not intended to be the same person.
- The 2006-2014 Young Dracula TV series feature character Mina Van Helsing, who is a vampire fighter and wife of Eric Van Helsing, hereditary vampire slayer.
Animation
- A character based on Mina appears in an American animated television series called Mina and the Count about a seven-year-old girl named Mina Harper and her encounters with Vlad the Count, a 700-year-old vampire.
- In a 2000 anime film the protagonist Vampire Hunter D sees a vision of his human mother in a room filled with blood, in which she apologizes to D for birthing him as a dhampir, and states that she couldn't help it as she was a human in love with D's vampire father. D, realizing that it's a vision conjured by his enemy Carmilla, strikes this vision of his mother down with his sword. In Vampire Hunter D's lore his mother is implied to be Mina, while his father is mentioned to be Dracula.
On stage
- Mina was played by Edith Craig in the first stage adaptation of the novel, called Dracula, or The Un-Dead, that was written and directed by Bram Stoker himself, and performed once only at the Lyceum Theatre in London for the sole purpose of securing a stage copyright on the material in England. It took place on May 18, 1897.
- Mina was played by Dora Mary Patrick and Dorothy Vernon in Hamilton Deane's 1924 play in Derby and London, England. In this version the events of the novel were updated to 1920s, happen entirely in England and were turned into drawing-room mystery drama. In 1927 the play was brought to Broadway by producer Horace Liveright, who hired John L. Balderston to revise the play for American audiences. As a result of Balderston's revision, the names of female characters were swapped, and what was Stoker's Mina character became now Lucy Seward, daughter of Dr.Seward. She was played on Broadway by Dorothy Peterson. Ann Sachs played the role of Lucy Seward in the revival of the play in 1977. Lauren Thompson replaced Sachs in the role some time later before the play closed in 1980.
- Mina was played by Victoria Kingsley in 1927 play by Charles Morrell. The play was commissioned by Florence Stoker, who wanted a new stage play that she could completely own, as she was dissatisfied with royalties from Deane's play. The play had large sections of verbatim dialogue from the novel and a number of Shakespearean references. It also included the scene, where Mina drank blood from Dracula's chest, with Dracula saying to her "Come, drink of my blood, that you may become even as I". The play premiered in Royal Court Theatre in Warrington, England and run for a few weeks.
- Mina was played by :es:Cecilia Milone|Cecilia Milone in 1991 original Argentinian production of :es:Dr%C3%A1cula, el musical|Dracula el musical. The musical is the most popular musical in Argentina and had several revivals.
- Mina was played by Melissa Errico in 2004 Broadway production of Dracula, the Musical by Frank Wildhorn.
- Mina was played by Andrée Watters in 2006 French Canadian musical Dracula – Entre l'amour et la mort.
- Mina was played by Nathalie Fauquette in 2011 French musical Dracula, l'amour plus fort que la mort. The part was entirely dancing one.
- Mina was portrayed by Abigail Prudames in 2019 Northern Ballet's production of Dracula by David Nixon. The production was recorded and showed in UK cinemas on Halloween and then broadcast on BBC4 in 2020.
Music
- German gothic rock darkwave band Mina Harker was named after her.
- Swiss metal band Impure Wilhelmina was named after her.
- She is the subject of Cradle of Filth's song "Lovesick for Mina" on their Thornography album.
- She is the subject of Zander Nyrond's song "Mina's Song", told from Mina's point of view after the defeat of Dracula.
Japanese media
In the 1997 manga series Hellsing, a character referred to only as "She" is eventually revealed to be Mina Harker's corpse. She died before Dracula could be defeated, but because he did not die, the curse was still active in her, which the Doctor exploited to create Millennium's vampires.
In the 2005 manga series Dance in the Vampire Bund, the central female vampire protagonist is named "Mina Țepeș", a reference to Vlad Țepeș, one of the inspirations for Dracula.
Miscellaneous
- In radio drama Dracula by The Mercury Theatre on the Air, which was broadcast in 1938, Mina was played by Agnes Moorehead. In the drama Dracula refers to her as “my bride” and “my love” at one point. Mina is the one, who stakes him in the end. Dracula was played by Orsen Welles.