Dracula Polycule

"Why can't they let a girl marry three men, or as many as want her, and save all this trouble?"

- Lucy - Dracula, Bram Stoker

Dracula Polycule is the poly ship between Lucy Westenra, Arthur Holmwood, Dr. John Seward and Quincey Morris from the Dracula fandom.

Dracula - Bram Stoker
Lucy's story in the novel begins with her writing and receiving letters from her best friend, Mina Murray. In her first letter to Lucy, Mina asks about the rumors she had heard of her seeing a handsome, curly-haired man. Lucy calms her down and tells her that it was just Arthur Holmwood, an old friend of her family, wealthy, but Lucy doesn't care about that.

In her next letter, Lucy excitedly tells her that she got three proposals on the same day from three different men. She urges Mina not to tell any of their shared friends out of fear that word would get out and warped, but allows Mina to tell her fiancée Jonathan about it.

Her first proposal was from Dr. John Seward, whom Lucy mentioned was introduced to her by Arthur, he runs an asylum and is almost ten years older than her. Lucy was very charmed by his calm and composed demeanor and his ability to see into the minds of his patients. Though they didn't know each other very well, Seward told her that he feels like he wants to get to know her better and would be unhappy if she didn't care about him, yet also kicked himself for making her cry, believing that Lucy carries unfortunate baggage with her that he doesn't want to add to. He deduced that there was someone else she cared about and Lucy felt obligated to tell him that there was. Dr. Seward took that information very maturely and hopes that the man she loves will make her happy, yet also asks of her that they remain friends.

Her second proposal was from a man from Texas named Quincey P. Morris, who found her alone after Arthur left. Lucy appreciated his good-humored nature, so it was as hard for her to reject him as it was with Dr. Seward. Quincey then apologizes to her for being so forward, when Lucy tells him that she's seeing another, he promises her that he will never trouble her again, but hopes that she will accept him as a friend. Morris congratulates her for her bravery, but tells her going to Kingdom Come would be a lonely road, so he asks for at least one kiss before he departs. Him believing that the man Lucy loves must be a good fellow won her over and she agreed to kiss him, which he took as an affirmation of their friendship.

She almost forgot to tell her about the third proposal, but tells her that she doesn't really need to tell her, as Mina should know by now. She only tells her that he finally wrapped his arms around her and kissed her, making her very happy.

Two months later, Lucy confessed to Mina that she accepted Arthur's proposal and they plan to marry very soon. But then Mina catches Lucy outside, sleepwalking and catching a mysterious illness. Arthur gets incredibly worried over Lucy, so he calls his friend Dr. Seward for help. Seward is overwhelmed with Lucy's illness, so he calls the attention of his own friend, Dutch professor Abraham Van Helsing, who supposedly is far more knowledgable of such diseases. He prescribes Lucy a treatment of garlic clovers being laid around her room and telling her not to open her window. However, he neglects telling Lucy's mother of his treatment, who removes the clovers from the room and opens the window complaining about the horrid smell. Worried over Lucy's worsening condition, including rapid blood loss, Van Helsing suggests that whoever is available shall give Lucy a blood transfusion to keep her alive, with Arthur, Seward and Quincey all volunteering theirs.

However, Van Helsing's efforts were in vain as the horrid beast that inflicted Lucy with said illness in the first place comes back and breaks through the window, giving her poor mother a heart attack and continues to feed on Lucy. Lucy then uses the last of her power to write her will, giving all of her possessions to Arthur before she passes out from blood loss.

Her three suitors prepare her funeral, but they are given no time to grieve. Soon, they hear stories of the local children being inflicted with similar red puncture wounds on their necks that Mina found on Lucy, the first sign of her mysterious illness. When the children were asked how they got these wounds, they tell the adults that they were visited by the "Bloofer Lady". They also hear some stories that people saw the yet-to-be-buried coffin containing Lucy's corpse open by itself. So Van Helsing recruits the three suitors to investigate and as they watch the coffin, they see Lucy open if from inside, but she was not herself anymore. The pure, innocent girl that three men fell in love with to the point of wanting to marry her on the spot had died, in her place was a bloodsucking seductress with fangs and soulless red eyes. Vampire Lucy starts making advances towards the terrified Arthur, what love she felt for her suitors had been twisted into a desire to turn them into her slaves. But before she could take a bite out of him, the men overwhelm her and regretfully cut her head off and put a stake through her heart. Van Helsing comforts them, telling them that they didn't kill Lucy, she was already dead and her soul is now free.

Still, the three men are so enraged at the beast that did this to her that they readily join Van Helsing, Mina and her now-husband Jonathan to track it down and put it to rest. Quincey ends up losing his own life when he stabs his Bowie knife through Dracula's heart.

Fanon
Though not as popular as shipping any of the men with Lucy individually or shipping them with each other, the polycule is a respected ship in the Dracula fandom, with many noting that nothing in the story speaks against it. To many a modern reader, Lucy is often interpreted as being polyamorous, with her desire to marry all of them so that none of her suitors would be sad being the biggest piece of evidence in favor of it. Many have also pointed out that the suitors are all friends throughout the story and support each other, making many wonder if they minded dating each other alongside of her.

However, it should be noted that adaptations often corrupt Lucy's interest in multiple men as her being promiscious, with her getting turned into a vampire and then killed being "karma" for leading them on. Nothing in the story suggests this, with fans of the book often regarding a person slut-shaming Lucy as a telltale sign that the person hasn't read the book.

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