Jonathan Harker

Jonathan Harker is a fictional character and one of the protagonists of Bram Stoker's 1897 Gothic horror novel Dracula. He marries Mina Murray and they have a son together named Quincey, who in turn is named after one of the men who went on the hunt to kill Dracula.

Role in book
Information taken from Jonathan Harker's page on Wikipedia.

Jonathan is a recently admitted solicitor from England, who is deputed by his employer, Mr. Peter Hawkins, of Exeter, to act as an estate agent for a foreign client named Count Dracula who wishes to move to England. Harker discovers in Carfax Abbey, near Purfleet, Essex, a dwelling which suits the client's requirements and travels to Transylvania by train in order to consult with him about it.

At Bistritz Jonathan takes a coach to the Borgo Pass where at midnight another coach drawn by four black horses, waits to take him to Castle Dracula high in the Carpathian Mountains. At the castle Jonathan is greeted by the mysterious and ominous Count Dracula and finalises the property transaction. Soon, however Harker realises he has been made a prisoner by his host who is revealed as a vampire. Harker also has a dangerous encounter with the three seductive Brides of Dracula, whose designs on him are only thwarted by the intervention of the Count.

Later, he manages to escape, finding refuge at a convent. He suffers a mental breakdown after his experiences with the vampires; 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. Jonathan 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 is unsure how to react; Mina asks the others in the group to kill her if the need comes. While Jonathan says he would, in the privacy of his journal says that if it is necessary, that he would become a vampire himself out of his love for her. However, Jonathan manages to avoid that because along with Van Helsing and the others he manages to hunt down and 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, possibly decapitating him, while Quincey Morris stabs him in the heart with a Bowie knife.

In a note following the end of the novel, it is revealed that seven years have passed. Jonathan and Mina have a son whom they have named after all four members of the part, but call Quincey, after Quincey Morris. Noting Quincey Harker's birthday is the day Quincey Morris died fighting Dracula, Mina likes to think that some of Morris' spirit is in their son. Jonathan Harker eventually visits Dracula's castle along 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.

Film adaptations

 * Jonathan appeared in the 1922 film, Nosferatu, credited as Thomas Hutter. In this film, he is portrayed by Gustav von Wangenheim.


 * In the 1931 adaptation with Bela Lugosi, David Manners portrayed Harker. However, he is renamed with John as opposed to Jonathan. In this version, he is engaged to a woman named Mina, who in this version, is the daughter of Dr. John Sewar and John very much in love with her. After learning Dracula is behind it all, John wishes to stop him from harming Mina any furthur. He and Van Helsing later go down and kill Dracula, with Mina returning to normal and embracing John and both of them leave while Van Helsing remains behind. He was later played by Barry Norton in the Spanish version of the 1931 film.


 * John Van Eyssen portrays Jonathan in the 1958 version of Dracula. This version has Jonathan succumbing to vampirism and therefore, must be desposed of before he is able to cuase more harm.
 * Fred Williams portrays him later in 1969, Count Dracula
 * Bosco Hogan portrays the character in Count Dracula, released in 1977
 * Bruno Ganz portrays Jonathan in Nosferatu the Vampyre; released in 1979.
 * Trevor Eve portrays in in Dracula, released in 1979
 * Keanu Reeves plays him in Bram Stoker's Dracula.
 * Steven Weber portrayed Harker in Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995)
 * Hardy Krüger, Jr. portrays Jonathan in Dracula, released in 2002.
 * In Dracula: Pages from a Virgin's Diary, released in 2002, * Johnny A. Wright portrayed Jonathan
 * Rafe Spall was playing Harker in Dracula, released in 2006
 * In the 2012 version of Dracula, Unax Ugalde played the character
 * In the short-lived television series, Dracula, Oliver Jackson-Cohen portrayed Jonathan. He later breaks up with Mina, who is truly in love with Dracula.

Trivia

 * Jonathan's name comes from Joseph Cunningham Harker, an old friend of Bram Stoker.