A Level English Literature Notes:
Dracula by Bram Stoker
Indicative Content:
- Summary and analysis of each of the chapters
- AO1, AO2, AO3
- At points, AO4 has been noted in comparison to Dorian Gray
- Themes, motifs, Allusions, Context
- Further research
- + more
*Note: These notes are original, containing my own thoughts and analysis. However, I am
thankful for the support, knowledge and guidance from my two A Level teachers and my
classmates who encouraged and inspired me throughout my A Levels, helping me to achieve
my A*. I hope these notes are of help to you when your making your own analysis . Good
Luck! 😊
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,Dracula Bram Stoker
Epigraph:
'How these papers have been placed in sequence will be made manifest in the
reading of them. All needless matters have been eliminated so that a history almost at
variance with the possibilities of later-day belief may stand forth as a simple fact. There
is throughout no statement of past things wherein memory may err, for all the records
chosen are exactly contemporary, given from the standpoints and within the range of
knowledge of those who made them.'
- Dracula is composed of first-person journals, letters, and statements, and
therefore, various points of view are represented.
- Stoker's prefatory statement explains this and insists that the only "editing" that
has been done is to cross out anything irrelevant to the story.
- All the journal letters, otherwise, are exactly as they were originally written.
- The entire book is a fictional composition of Stoker's imagination.
- A little prefatory remark gives us a sense that we are reading non-fiction.
- Legitimate manuscripts, and that we are going to read them and judge for
ourselves.
- Stoker got the idea, both for the style of composing a novel in the form of multiple
first-person narratives and for including a prefatory statement like this, from the
earliest British novelist, Wilkie Collins, who pioneered the style in his famous
novels, like The Woman in White and The Moonstone.
Summary:
Chapter One:
- It begins with the diary kept by Jonathan Harker as he travels from England to Eastern
Europe, embarking on his first professional assignment as a solicitor and travelling to
the castle of Count Dracula, a Transylvanian nobleman. Harker wants to sell Count
Dracula a residence in London and plans to take notes through his journey so he can
share the details with his fiancée, Mina Murray.
- In the first Diary entry on May 3, and Harker describes the picturesque countryside of
Eastern Europe and the exotic food he has tasted at the roadside inns notes several
recipes that he plans to obtain for Mina. Harker arrives in the northern Romanian
town of Bistritz and checks into a hotel Count Dracula recommended to him. The
innkeeper gives Harker a letter to count. Letter welcomes Harker to the beautiful
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, Carpathian Mountain and informs him that he should take the next day's coach to the
Borgo pass, where a carriage will meet him to bring him the rest of the way to the
castle.
- Harker prepares to leave the next morning, and the innkeeper's wife delivers an
ominous warning – reminds Harker that it is the eve of St. George's Day, when "all
the evil things in the world will have full sway". She then puts a crucifix around his
neck. Practising Anglican who regards Catholic paraphernalia as somewhat
idolatrous. Harker accepts the crucifix but is disturbed by the exchange. However, his
uneasiness increases when a crowd of peasants gathers around the inn as he boards the
coach. Mutter' queer words' at Harker, and he uses the dictionary to translate to mean
"were-wolf" or "vampire". As the coach departs, everyone in the crowd makes the
sign of the cross in his direction, a gesture that a fellow passenger explains is meant to
protect him from the "evil eye."
- Journey to the Borgo Pass takes Harker through incomparably beautiful country,
Dusk; he passes by quaintly attired peasants kneeling in prayer at roadside shrines.
Darkness falls, and the other passengers become restless, urging the coachmen to
quicken their speed. The driver whips the horses into a frenzy, and the coach rockets
along the mountain road. One by one, the passenger begins to offer Harker small gifts
and tokens that he assumes are also meant to ward off the evil eye.
- The coach soon arrived at the Borgo Pass, but there was no carriage waiting to ferry
Harker to his final destination. The driver offers to bring Harker back to the pass the
next day. However, a small, horse-drawn carriage arrives. Harker boards the carriage
and continues towards the castle. He has the impression that the carriage is covering
the same ground over and over again, and he grows increasingly fearful as the ride
progresses. Harker is spooked several times by the wild howling of wolves.
- Harker looks outside the carriage and sees a flickering blue flame burning somewhere
in the distance. The driver pulls over without explanation, inspects the flame, then
returns to the carriage and continues on. Harker recounts several more stops to inspect
similar flames and notes at one point, the driver gathers stones around the flames, and
he is able to see the flame through the driver's body. When Harker arrives, he is
paralysed by fear at the dark and ruined castle.
Chapter 2:
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, - Jonathan Harker stands outside Dracula's remarkable castle and thinks about the
adventure he will have. After a long wait, the count appears and welcomes Harker. He
is dressed in black and is a tall man who is clean-shaven apart from a white
moustache.
- The two shake hands, and Harker is impressed by the strength of Dracula's grip but
notes that the ice-cold hand is more like that of a dead man than a living one. Count's
greeting is so warm that the Englishman's fears vanish. Harker enters and takes his
dinner before a roaring fire. As the two converse, Harker notices what is called
Dracula's "marked physiognomy": the count has pointed ears, exceptionally pale skin
and sharp teeth. Harker's nervousness and fears return.
- The next day, Harker wakes to find a note from Dracula, excusing himself for the day.
Harker enjoys a meal and encounters no servants in the castle, exploring his bedroom
and the unlocked room adjacent to it. Sees expensive furniture, rich tapestries and
fabrics, and a library filled with reading material in English – notes there are no
mirrors to be found anywhere.
- Evening, Dracula joins Harker for the conversation in the library, as he is eager to
learn inflexions of English speech before moving to his new estate. Men discuss the
pervasiveness of evil spirits in Transylvania. Harker describes the house that the count
has purchased: an Old Mansion called Carfax, isolated, with a lunatic asylum and old
chapel nearby. Dracula draws out the conversation long into the night but abruptly
leaves his guests at daybreak. Count's strange behaviour increases the Harker's sense
of uneasiness.
- The next day, Dracula interrupts Harker's shaving. Harker is startled and accidentally
cuts himself. Glancing at his shaving mirror, he notices that the count has no
reflection. Harker is also startled by Dracula's reaction to the sight of his blood: the
count lunges for his guest's throat, drawing back only after touching the string of
beads that holds Harker's crucifix. After warning Harker against cutting himself in
this country, Dracula throws the shaving mirror out of the window. His suspicions are
aroused, and he once again goes exploring, only to discover one locked door after
another. Harker realises he is a prisoner in the count's castle.
Chapter 3:
- At night, Harker questions the host about the history of Transylvania. Dracula speaks
enthusiastically of the country's people and battles and boasts of the glories of his
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