The Development of Dracula's Weaknesses

Earlier in Dracula, though we had seen Dracula's weaknesses like having to sleep in a coffin with his own soil, or needing permission to enter a space, there were workarounds for these weaknesses. For example, by scattering coffins throughout the town, Dracula was able to move without worrying about being far away from one of his coffins. Additionally, his weakness of needing permission to enter a space was countered by his ability to control minds, allowing him to guide Lucy outside so he could feed on her. Even when he didn't control her mind, he could come in through the windows which Mina had opened to, ironically, keep away away. However, towards the end of Dracula, we begin to see his the Count's weaknesses actually come into play. Once the protagonists are able to find several of his coffins, he is not able to move around as easily. Another major factor in his weakness is that Van Helsing and Mina have figured out what they are, and can now take action to defend against him. Though it had appeared that Van Helsing knew some of Dracula's weaknesses, as the novel goes on he learns more and more about them, and is able to take advantage of them to finally kill him.

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