van helsing's ideal woman

dear emily,

isaac gave me a beautiful copy of stoker's "dracula" for Christmas,
and i was so moved by van helsing's praise of mina, that i wanted
to pass it along to you.

van helsing is a brave, perceptive professor who has discovered the
the horrific vampire rampage.  mina  is a lovely and troubled bride
whose industrious foresight delivers the final piece of the puzzle.

in response to her respect and sensitivity, he says:

"my life is a barren and lonely one...and you have given me hope
that there are good women still left to make life happy---good
women, whose lives and whose truths may make good lesson for
the children that are to be..."

later he extols mina to her husband, jonathan:

"she is one of God's women, fashioned by His own hand to show
us men and other women that there is a heaven where we can
enter and that its light can be here on earth.  so true, so sweet, so
noble, so little an egoist."

mina is the humble, contrasting light to dracula's egocentric
predatory shadow.  sounds like a proverbs 31 woman to me.

love,
lea