Everything about Jonathan Harker totally explained
Jonathan Harker is a fictional character and the
protagonist in the 1897 novel
Dracula by
Bram Stoker (though other productions show
Van Helsing as the central character/protagonist).
In the novel
Harker is a recently certified
solicitor from
Exeter, who is sent by his employer to
Transylvania in order to consult a client on a property transaction. This client is a mysterious count who lives in a castle in the
Carpathian Mountains and is planning to move to
England where he plans to reside at (among other locations) Carfax Abbey. Soon after Harker's arrival at the castle, he's made a prisoner by this
Count Dracula, who is revealed as a
vampire. Harker also has a dangerous encounter with the seductive
Brides of Dracula.
Later, he manages to escape, finding refuge at a
convent. He has a
mental breakdown upon arriving at the convent because of his encounters with Dracula; his fiancée,
Mina Murray, comes to nurse him back to health with the
nuns' help and marries him there. He returns home to
England and later sees Dracula in
London. After learning Dracula killed
Lucy, he joins
Van Helsing,
Seward,
Holmwood, and
Morris. His
clerical skills prove very useful for collecting information and for tracking down Dracula's London lairs by means of paperwork. He vows to destroy Dracula and, if he could, to send "his soul forever and ever to burning to hell[..]!" even if it be at the cost of own soul. When confronted with Mina's curse, however, he's unsure how to react; Mina asks the others in the group to kill her if the need comes. While Harker says he would, in the privacy of his journal says that if it's necessary, that he'd become a vampire himself out of his love for her. However, Harker manages to avoid that because along with Van Helsing and the others he manages to destroy Dracula. At the book's climax, he pries open Dracula's coffin mere moments before sunset and slashes open Dracula's throat with a
kukri knife.
In a note following the end of the novel, it's revealed that several years have passed. He and Mina have a son whom they've named Quincy, after Quincy Morris. Noting Quincy Harker's birthday is the day Quincy Morris died fighting Dracula, Mina likes to think that some of Morris spirit is in their son. Jonathon Harker eventually visits Dracula's castle long with his wife and son and their surviving friends to reminisce. He returns home with his wife and son and is told by Van Helsing that one day his son will learn the whole story.
One interesting thing to note is Harker's religious orientation. While he, along with all the other main characters, is a Christian determined to serve Jesus by destroying the demonic Dracula, he, unlike the devout Van Helsing isn't a Catholic. Early in the book, he describes himself as an "English Churchman," that's to say a member of the state-sponsored
Church of England, an
Anglican. He is at first suspicious when an old woman gives him her own
crucifix when he says he's going to go to Castle Dracula. (With how "beads" are mentioned, it may in fact be a
rosary.) Privately thinking that such things are idolatrous, he's apparently a
low church Anglican. Yet when he's trapped in Castle Dracula and is protected by the cross' power his allegiance shifts.
In film
Harker was first portrayed by
David Manners in
Dracula (1931 film). He was played by
Bosco Hogan in the 1977 telefilm
Count Dracula. In the 1992 film,
Bram Stoker's Dracula, he was portrayed by
Keanu Reeves. Other portrayers include
Trevor Eve,
Bruno Ganz,
Corin Redgrave,
Steven Weber,
John Van Eyssen and
Rafe Spall.
In
F. W. Murnau's
Nosferatu, a Symphony of Horror, Harker is renamed Thomas Hutter, and is shown to selfish - he accepts
Knock's bargain to give
Count Orlok his neigbour's house, and also ignores the Nosferatu legend before it's too late. At the end of the film, he fails to save his wife (Ellen) from sacrificing herself to defeat Count Orlok.
Other
- A video game for Xbox 360, PS3, and Wii has been announced that will revolve around Jonathan Harker. The game is called Harker and is being developed by The Collective.
- Harker is a character in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
- The band Schoolyard Heroes has a song called "Sincerely Yours, Jonathan Harker"
Further Information
Get more info on 'Jonathan Harker'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://jonathan_harker.totallyexplained.com">Jonathan Harker Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
