#Horror comes in multiple faces and today it comes from Seward's treatment of Renfield

[immediatebreakfast]

The relationship between Dracula the novel, and its telling of ableism around the characters is a rather complex issue that stems from both the narrative itself, and the framing of said ableism when applied to a character.

The book has gone on lenght to describe, and establish the power dynamic, the tension, and the interactions between Seward and Renfield in way that is clearly uncomfortable.

The illusions of Seward clinging to Renfield's status as a patient to defend a treatment that clearly puts the old man in the category of test subject. Renfield's performative words and actions towards Seward (that he knows will work) are painted as unsettling not only thanks to the internal ableism of the novel, but also to put Seward in a spot of morality in his profession at the cost of Renfield's treatment as a human being.

Remember that regarding Renfield's motives for his actions, Seward is at best drawing the wrong conclusions from them, and at worst turning into an unrealiable narrator to fit the version of Renfield that he has in his head. This gets worse when you add Seward's problems with sleeping, and depression.

The difference is that Renfield, despite his plans and his manipulations, at the end of the day is a mentality ill old man who is vulnerable. Even if Seward's unethical treatment si something that Renfield has known from the beginning, and sadly knows the exact consequences of it. He is human, and there is a point where we can't take it anymore.

"Happy thought! We shall to-night play sane wits against mad ones. He escaped before without our help; to-night he shall escape with it."

Narrative wise, it seems that Seward has dropped the pretense of convincing himself about how Renfield is a patient that he must treat, and instead Renfield is a test subject that he needs to observe.

Even if Jack said before how he wouldn't cross the line of feeding into Renfield's dellusions to study him, it was more to convince himself to not do it. That was also a time when Renfield was actively performing, and keeping afloat the power dynamic between to get a few pieces of freedom. So maybe Seward felt more comfortable in keeping that "line" when he perceived Renfield as a more (ugh) illogical madman that at least knew his "place" in their dynamic.

If Renfield now "sees" him as an equal, as a mere person entrusted with his care, then Seward has to admit to himself that his diagnosis, and theory about Renfield is wrong. That he observed, but did not process anything.

But now that Renfield has been "acting out" of the established dynamic, along with Seward's own depression taking a hold on his biases within the system of doctor-patient? If the constant use of restraining jackets, and a padded room says something, it's something that is not pretty.