Summary Dracula Chapter-by-Chapter Study Notes and Analysis
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Course
Literature post-1900
Institution
OCR
A chapter-by-chapter set of study notes on Bram Stoker's Dracula, consisting of a chapter summary and analysis of the contents of the chapter, with links to broader themes in the novel and the Gothic genre. Excellent to use alongside first-time readings of the novel or as a last-minute recap of key...
Chapter 1
Jonathan Harker travels to Transylvania to meet with the Count; upon reaching a
village he encounters several superstitious peasants who act oddly, one
bestowing a crucifix upon him. Despite their warnings, he embarks on a carriage
journey, which is long, perilous, and mysterious.
1) ‘Transylvania’ means the ‘land beyond the forest’. In what ways does
Stoker create the impression that Jonathan is travelling to a part of the
world beyond the reach of an ordinary Victorian reader?
Highlights a distinction between the West to the East, one of the ‘least
known portions of Europe,’ unmapped and ambiguous, Dracula gives him
no location
First meetings with Count acts as a metonym for the text:
indistinguishable location between reality and illusion, not wholly material
or locatable, transitional ‘Mittel Land’
Entrapped in the carriage, surroundings are ominous: jagged rocks,
mountains, wolves
2) How does Jonathan react when faced with sights for which he can
find no rational explanation?
Harker is the paragon of Victorian rationality, shown when he ‘visits the
British Museum’ to learn about Eastern culture: he cannot make sense of
rustic superstitions
When he cannot rationalise the sights he sees during his journey, he
dismisses them as dreams or curiosities of the region, doubting his reality,
unable to accept the unprovable
3) Why does Stoker use the form of journals (epistolary form) in the
novel?
Fitting to the darker content and create a sense of familiarity: private
journals are revealed to the public, with their realistic and factual
documentation of mysterious and illicit truths
Omitted information and switching perspectives add to sense of tension
and intrigue
Focalises on the emotional impact of characters, furthering empathy with
terror
4) What are the effects of Stoker’s prefatory statement?
Provides the reader with sense that that the text is a non-fiction
compilation of legitimate manuscripts, heightening the realism and factual
nature of the terrifying content
Declares that the novel is a metaphorical representation of actual (non-
fiction) social fears
Chapter 2
Harker arrives at Castle Dracula, welcomed by the Count, who- he notes- has
peculiar facial features. Left alone, Harker explores the richly furnished castle,
before conversing with the Count on Transylvanian culture in the evening. The
,next day, he cuts himself whilst shaving- Dracula immediately lunges for his
neck and is only deterred by Harker’s rosary. He throws the shaving mirror out
the window. Harker soon discovers several locked doors and realises he is a
prisoner.
1) ‘I think strange things which I dare not confess to my own soul.’
What is the significance of this?
Expresses Harker’s inner conflict between his Victorian sense of reason
and his emotional responses to inexplicable events and terrifying scenes:
denial of the supernatural
Though he is now opening his mind to the ‘otherness’ of Castle Dracula,
his sense of reason still resists something so intangible, implausible, this
form of forbidden occult knowledge
2) In this chapter, Harker meets Dracula properly. Analyse the
description of him linking to key gothic context. Compare his
description to that of Frankenstein’s monster/the Lady of the House of
Love.
Dracula: tall and old, clean shaven except a long, white moustache,
colourless in clothing and complexion, strong handshake with an ice-cold
grasp, holding antique lantern
He is inhuman (‘stood like a statue’ ‘extraordinary pallor’ ‘more like the
hand of the dead than a living man’) and animalistic (‘eyebrows were very
massive’ ‘peculiarly sharp white teeth’)
3) What is your view of Stoker’s treatment of women in the novel?
Stoker treats women- vicariously, through the character of Harker- with
contempt and disdain throughout the novel, expressing a preference for
conservative, womanly values
o Lucy, for daring to express some form of feminine sexual desire, is
vilified, preyed upon, and ultimately becomes a horrific, child-
harming monster
o Mina, is only redeemed from the corruption of her sympathy for the
New Woman by the daring actions of several men, who protect her
purity from the Count
Both female characters are dependent, forced into submission, and
generally degraded
4) How is fear expressed in the novel? Refer to context.
Appearance of determinism: Harker believes he has no choice in
travelling to Castle Dracula and fulfilling his duties to his firm; the reader
is fearful, knowing it will not end well
Fear of forbidden knowledge: numinous setting, conspiracy of silence
in the town, supernatural and transcendence beyond the established
norms of nature
Fear of the unknown: reverse colonialism, foreigners, physiognomy,
dichotomy between appearance and self (the Count’s unsettling
friendliness), xenophobia
, o 19th Century: fear of degeneration, fear of female promiscuity, fear
of modernisation (social and technological), fear of breaching social
conduct or roles (New Woman)
5) What elements of modernity does Stoker include in Dracula?
References to Kodak cameras, portable typewriters, telegrams being sent
across Europe, blood transfusions, and Dr Seward’s phonograph diary all
illustrate new technologies
Characters in the novel frequently refer to contemporary theories in
medicine and psychology, and the novel is presented in the form of
realistic, almost non-fiction letters
o Modern elements heighten fear in the novel, by imbuing the reader
with a sense of familiarity, whilst contrasting this with archaic,
occult, and terrifying themes
o Throughout the novel, scientific rationality is set against folklore
and superstition; old Europe is set against modern London; and
traditional notions of civilised restraint and duty are threatened at
every turn by the spread of corruption and wanton depravity.
‘It is the nineteenth century up-to-date with a vengeance. And yet, unless
my senses deceive me, the old centuries had, and have powers of their
own which mere ‘modernity’ cannot kill’
Chapter 3
Harker questions his host about the history of Transylvania. The Count, in turn,
inquires about English culture and law. He instructs Harker to delay his
departure by a month, and Harker complies. That night, Harker explores the
castle: he sees the abhuman Dracula crawling down the sheer face of the castle.
Soon after, Harker forces a locked room open and falls asleep; he is visited by
three voluptuous women who attempt to seduce him, but Dracula arrives,
ordering the women to leave Harker alone.
1) Analyse the following quotations making detailed references to
context:
‘I am, either being deceived, like a baby, by my own fears, or else I am in
desperate straits’
o Harker is struggling to process whether his fear is rational or
irrational, illustrating key tropes of heightened emotion, reason vs
emotion, and fear of the unknown
‘Bless that good, good woman who hung the crucifix round my neck! For it
is a comfort and a strength to me whenever I touch it’
o Harker’s reliance on the protection of religion, seen as an anti-
occult source of goodness and strength: trope of the natural good
vs the supernatural evil
Dracula encourages Harker to write to his colleagues: ‘noticing his quiet
smile with the sharp canine teeth lying over the red under-lip, I
understood… I should be careful what I wrote’
o Harker finally realises that the Count cannot be trusted, overcoming
his naivety and realising the extent to which he is being exploited
and is in danger
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