Dr. John Seward is a
fictional characterA character is the representation of a person in a narrative or dramatic work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr through its Latin transcription character, the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its...
appearing in
Bram StokerAbraham "Bram" Stoker was an Irish novelist and short story writer, best known today for his 1897 Gothic novel Dracula. During his lifetime, he was better known as the personal assistant of actor Henry Irving and business manager of the Lyceum Theatre in London, which Irving owned.-Early life:He...
's 1897 novel
DraculaDracula is an 1897 novel by Irish author Bram Stoker, featuring as its primary antagonist the vampire Count Dracula.Dracula has been attributed to many literary genres including vampire literature, horror fiction, the gothic novel and invasion literature. Structurally it is an epistolary novel,...
.
In the novel
Seward is the administrator of an
insane asylumA psychiatric hospital, sometimes known as an asylum, is a hospital specializing in the treatment of serious mental illness, usually for relatively long-term inpatients....
not far from
Count DraculaCount Dracula is a fictional character, the titular antagonist of Bram Stoker's 1897 Gothic horror novel Dracula. Some aspects of his character may have been inspired by the 15th century Romanian voivode, Vlad III the Impaler...
's first
EnglishEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
home, Carfax Abbey. Throughout the novel, Seward conducts ambitious interviews with one of his patients,
RenfieldR. M. Renfield is a fictional character in the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker.-In the novel:A description of Renfield from the novel:R. M. Renfield, aetat 59. Sanguine temperament, great physical strength, morbidly excitable,...
, in order to understand better the nature of life-consuming
psychosisPsychosis literally means abnormal condition of the mind, and is a generic psychiatric term for a mental state often described as involving a "loss of contact with reality"...
. As a psychiatrist, Seward enjoys using the most up-to-date equipment, including using a recording
phonographThe record player, phonograph or gramophone was the most common device for playing recorded sound from the late 1870s until the late 1980s.- Terminology :...
to record his interviews with his patients and his own notes. Several chapters of the novel consist of transcriptions of Seward's phonograph recordings.
He is best friends with
Quincey MorrisQuincey P. Morris is a fictional character in Bram Stoker's horror novel Dracula.-In the novel:He is a rich young American from Texas, and one of the three suitors for the hand of Lucy Westenra. Quincey is friends with the two other suitors, Arthur Holmwood and Dr. John Seward, as well as Jonathan...
and
Arthur HolmwoodThe Honourable Arthur Holmwood is a fictional character in Bram Stoker's novel Dracula.-In the novel:He is engaged to Lucy Westenra, and is best friends with the other two men who proposed to her on the very same day — Quincey Morris and Doctor John Seward...
. All three propose to
Lucy WestenraLucy Westenra is a fictional character in the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker. She is the 19-year-old daughter of a wealthy family. Her father is not mentioned in the novel and her elderly mother is simply stated as being Mrs. Westenra. Lucy is introduced as Mina Murray's best friend. In the 1931...
the same day. Although Lucy turns down Seward's marriage proposal, his love for her remains, and he dedicates himself to her care when she suddenly takes ill.
He calls in his mentor,
Abraham Van HelsingProfessor Abraham Van Helsing is a fictional character and a protagonist from Bram Stoker's 1897 novel, Dracula.Van Helsing is a Dutch doctor with a wide range of interests and accomplishments, partly attested by the string of letters that follows his name: "M.D., D.Ph., D.Litt., etc., etc." The...
, to help him with her illness, and he helps Seward to realize that Lucy has been bitten by a
vampireVampires are legendary creatures said to subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, generally by drinking their blood. Although typically described as undead, some minor traditions believed in vampires that were living people....
and is doomed to become one herself. After she is officially destroyed and her
soulThe soul, in many religions, spiritual traditions, and philosophies, is the spiritual and eternal part of a living being, commonly held to be separable in existence from the body; distinct from the physical part. It is typically thought to consist of ones consciousness and personality, and can be...
can go to
HeavenHeaven may refer to the physical heavens, the sky or the seemingly endless expanse of the universe beyond. This is the traditional literal meaning of the term in English...
, Seward is determined to destroy Dracula. The novel's
epilogueAn epilogue, or epilog, is a piece of writing at the end of a work of literature or drama, usually used to bring closure to the work. The writer or the person may deliver a speech, speaking directly to the reader, when bringing the piece to a close, or the narration may continue normally to a...
mentions that Seward is now happily married.
In adaptations
Seward often appears in different adaptations of
Dracula but in a wide variety of different roles. He is often referred to as "Jack" Seward. The most common change is to portray him not as Lucy's suitor, but as her father (or sometimes
Mina HarkerWilhelmina "Mina" Harker is the main protagonist, and heroine in Bram Stoker's 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 friends with Lucy Westenra...
's father). This was almost certainly based on the decision made in writing the
Hamilton DeaneHamilton Deane was an Irish actor, playwright and director. He played a key role in popularising Bram Stoker's Dracula as a stage play and, later, a film.-Life:Deane was born in Clontarf, a suburb of Dublin...
stage adaptationDracula is a 1924 stage play adapted by Hamilton Deane from the novel of the same name by Bram Stoker, and substantially revised by John L. Balderston in 1927...
. Such portrayals include:
- Gustav Botz (as Dr. Sievers) in Nosferatu (1922)
- Herbert Bunston
Herbert Bunston was a British stage and screen actor. He is probably best remembered for his role as Dr. John Seward in the Broadway and film versions of Dracula....
in DraculaDracula is a horror film directed by Tod Browning and starring Béla Lugosi as the title character. The film was produced by Universal Pictures Co. Inc. and is based on the stage play of the same name by Hamilton Deane and John L...
(1931 film)
- José Soriano Viosca in Dracula (1931, Spanish language
Spanish or Castilian is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that originated in northern Spain and gradually spread in the Kingdom of Castile, evolving into the principal language of government and trade in the Iberian peninsula...
version)
- Charles Lloyd Pack
Charles Lloyd Pack was a British film, television and stage actor.He was born in East London, England. He was seen in several horror movies produced by the Hammer Studios including Dracula, The Man Who Could Cheat Death, The Revenge of Frankenstein and The Reptile...
in DraculaDracula is a 1958 British horror film, and the first of a series of Hammer Horror films inspired by the Bram Stoker novel Dracula. It was directed by Terence Fisher, and stars Peter Cushing, John Van Eyssen and Christopher Lee...
(1958)
- Paul Muller
Paul Müller is the name of:*Paul Hermann Müller , Swiss chemist*Paul Müller , Swiss actor*Paul O. Müller, German physicist...
in Count Dracula (1970)
- Donald Pleasance in Dracula (1979)
- Harvey Korman
Harvey Herschel Korman was an American comedic actor who performed in television and movie productions beginning in 1960...
in Dracula: Dead and Loving ItDracula: Dead and Loving It is a 1995 comedy film directed by Mel Brooks. It is a parody of the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker, and of some of the films it inspired....
(1995)
In recent years, the trend has been to return Seward to his role in the novel, as a suitor for Lucy's hand in marriage, in:
- Mark Burns
Mark Burns was an English actor.Mark Burns was born on 30 March 1936 in Worcester in the county of Worcestershire...
in Count DraculaCount Dracula is a television adaptation of the famous novel Dracula by Bram Stoker. It first aired in December 1977. It is among the more faithful of the many adaptations of the original book...
(1977)
- Richard E. Grant
Richard E. Grant is a Swazi born English actor, screenwriter and director.-Early life:Grant was born Richard Grant Esterhuysen in Mbabane, Swaziland. He adopted the surname Grant when he moved to the UK as an adult and registered with the British Actors' Equity Association...
in Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)
- Matthew Johnson
Matthew Johnson or Matt Johnson may refer to:* Matt Johnson , Canadian ice hockey player in the National Hockey League* Matt Johnson , lead singer of the British band The The...
in Dracula: Pages from a Virgin's DiaryDracula: Pages from a Virgin's Diary is a 2002 horror film directed by Guy Maddin. It is a silent interpretation of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet's take of Bram Stoker's Dracula...
(2002)
- Tom Burke
Thomas Edward Burke was an American athlete. He was the first Olympic champion in the 100 and 400 metres races....
in DraculaDracula is a television adaptation of Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula produced by Granada Television for WGBH Boston and BBC Wales in 2006, it was written by Stewart Harcourt and directed by Bill Eagles.- Plot :...
(2006)
In the 1938
Mercury TheatreThe Mercury Theatre was a theatre company founded in New York City in 1937 by Orson Welles and John Houseman. After a string of live theatrical productions, in 1938 the Mercury Theatre progressed into their best-known period as The Mercury Theatre on the Air, a radio series that included one of the...
radio production of
Dracula, Seward's character was combined with
Arthur HolmwoodThe Honourable Arthur Holmwood is a fictional character in Bram Stoker's novel Dracula.-In the novel:He is engaged to Lucy Westenra, and is best friends with the other two men who proposed to her on the very same day — Quincey Morris and Doctor John Seward...
's and renamed Arthur Seward. He was voiced by
Orson WellesGeorge Orson Welles was an American film director, writer, actor and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television, and radio. Welles was also an accomplished magician, starring in troop variety spectacles in the war years...
, who also voiced
DraculaCount Dracula is a fictional character, the titular antagonist of Bram Stoker's 1897 Gothic horror novel Dracula. Some aspects of his character may have been inspired by the 15th century Romanian voivode, Vlad III the Impaler...
in the adaptation.
In other works
In the alternate history novel
Anno-DraculaAnno Dracula is a 1992 novel by British writer Kim Newman, the first in the Anno Dracula series. It is an alternate history using 19th century English historical settings and personalities, along with characters from popular fiction...
, where Van Helsing fails and Dracula becomes the ruler of Britain, Seward becomes the murderer well known as "
Jack the RipperJack the Ripper was a pseudonym given to an unidentified serial killer active in the largely impoverished districts in and around Whitechapel, London, in late 1888. The name originated in a letter by someone claiming to be the murderer that was sent to the London Central News Agency and...
", whose targets are vampire prostitutes who remind him of Lucy.