Chapter 1
This chapter starts off with character Jonathan Harker traveling to Transylvania to meet with Count Dracula for soliciting purposes and real estate business. He seems like a kind and well mannered person; Harker wants to get recipes from the places he is traveling to, and bring them back to Mina, his fiancee. This novel is very descriptive of the scenery and setting that Jonathan is traveling in and around. Dracula does not seem all that bad at first; he has recommended a hotel and has sent a coach to bring him to Castle Dracula. I have a feeling about Dracula though based on my general knowledge of Dracula and the warnings that towns people are giving Harker. People are acting strangely towards Harker as he leaves for Castle Dracula as if he is cursed. A creepy experience on the way to the castle leaves Harker paralyzed with fear. Overall I feel that this chapter was a little confusing to read with all the places Jonathan Harker was traveling to but it was suspenseful, interesting, and very well described.
Chapter 2
Harker arrives at the castle and is basically picked up out of his carriage and dropped off in front of the massive doors outside the castle. Dracula is and old man dressed in all black, with long white facial hair, bushy eyebrows, pointed ears, pale complexion, and hairy palms. Dracula shows Harker to his room himself which came off as a little strange because normally you would have your servants do that but he says they are all in bed (it is the middle of the night when he arrives, so when it is time for ‘dinner’ Harker is not surprised to find that the Count has already dined. ) For the rest of the night the two talk by the fire side and Harker is strangely disgusted with the presence of Dracula. The next day Jonathan sleeps for a long while, into the noon hours. Breakfast is set and there are no servants still, Dracula is not present and their are also no mirrors. Harker looks for something to read and Dracula eventually joins him and Harker helps The Count with his English and common speech. Jonathan is allowed anywhere but the places with locked doors (probably foreshadowing.) Count Dracula tells Harker stories of the area. The two stay up until dawn because Jonathan feels obligated because he is Dracula’s guest. When Jonathan is finally released from the shackles of conversation he sleeps for a few hours but not before he writes in his journal, and even after that he does not sleep very long. As I stated before there are no mirrors in the house so Jonathan must use his travel mirror to shave and Dracula walks in on him doing this. Jonathan is startled at this because he did not see Dracula in the reflection and he knicks his face on the razor. Dracula’s eyes blazed with fury when he saw the blood and he gripped Harkers throat (RED FLAG!) Dracula takes his mirror and throws it out the window and it breaks on the rocks below. Harker finishes shaving as best he can and wanders around the castle to find nothing but locked doors, he soon realizes he is a prisoner! In my opinion this chapter is very dark and shows Dracula’s obsession with blood is comparative to an addiction.
Chapter 3
It is confirmed that there are no servants in the house and it is only Dracula and Jonathan. Jonathan tries to act normal and just talk to The Count. Dracula uses “we” when talking about Transylvanian history, in my opinion this adds to the creep factor of the novel. Dracula asks a series of detailed and overall strange questions, one of them being if he is willing to agree to elongate his stay at the castle, Jonathan agrees. They write letters for a while but then Harker goes back to his quarters to sleep and he is once again warned about traveling to places where he should not go to in the castle (repetition of this warning adds to the creep factor as well and foreshadows more dangers Harker may face.) Later in the night Harker catches a glimpse of The Count crawling out of a window and down the wall like a lizard. Harker catches The Count doing this on more than one occasion and since he knows Dracula is not in the castle he decides to explore the castle further. Jonathan finds a dusty room and just when he is going to fall asleep he comes to the realization that there are three other women in the room with him. Harker is attracted to and completely repulsed by them all at once. One of the women puts he lips on his neck and Dracula appears stating that Jonathan is his property and that they can have him when he’s done. The women complain but Dracula pulls out a bag and lets the women feast upon a child and Harker faints. This chapter was very frustrating to me because all I wanted to do the entire time I was reading was tell Harker that all the things he was doing was wrong and that it would be best if he just stayed in the places that were unlocked.
Chapter 4
The Count requests that he writes three letters one for each stage of his departure, Dracula will mail them on separate days and Harker realizes the last letter sent is the day Dracula will kill him. Harker tries to write letters home to imply that he is in danger but Dracula destroys them and does not send them out. Jonathan tries to rewrite the letters but The Count has taken all of his paper and envelopes; not only are Harker’s writing materials missing, but his traveling clothes have disappeared as well. Harker sees The Count leave in his clothes and realises that he is creating witnesses that will say they saw him leave on the correct day to go home. While Harker waits for The Count to return, dust dances on moonbeams and hypnotizes him; the dust takes the shape of the female vampires. Harker can awake himself from this hypnosis just in time before he is attacked. The next day Harker realises that The Count must sleep at some time also he figures if The Count can sneak out of the window than he can too. After maneuvering himself out the window and down the wall he gets to Dracula’s room and it is completely empty and dusty but their are stairs that lead to a horrid room. The Count is found laying in a coffin-like box filled with dirt, his eyes are open but empty and like glass. It is inapparent if he is dead or in a death like sleep. Harker hastily returns to his own room. The next morning has arrived. The last letter is to be sent on this day, Harker’s expected death day. Harker requests to leave a day early and Dracula grants it to him but upon opening the door he is rushed by a pack of wolves and immediately shuts the door and waits another day. The next day Harker knows he must get the front door key if he wants to live. He finds The Count in the coffin-like box again but he appears younger, but he also evidently has large amounts of blood residue on his lips. Jonathan finds a shovel and bashes Dracula in the face with it but only makes a small gash in the forehead and he remains unconscious. Through his unconscious state he was still able to tilt his head in order to dodge the full force of the shovel. After this he escapes and writes a letter to Mina. This chapter was VERY suspenseful. This chapter also shows how important Mina is to him, though he is scared for his life he is still concerned with writing to her. I also think this might be a turning point in the novel which is strange because it is so early on.
Chapter 5
This chapter begins with a complete change in tone of the novel. Back in England Mina Murray, Jonathan’s fiancee has been corresponding with her good friend Lucy Westenra. The two women gossip over men and how Mina wants to hear about any men Lucy has met, and how busy she has been with her job as a teacher’s assistant. Lucy reveals that she has been proposed to by three men all in one day, Dr. Seward, Arthur Holmwood, and Quincey Morris. Lucy agrees to marry Arthur. Personally I think that this chapter’s only purpose was to introduce more characters and it lacked depth.
Chapter 6
Mina arrives in a shoretown by the name of Whitby. She meets an older man who tells her stories and folktales of the region. Mina takes a disliking to the stories but he informs her that they’re all just stories and they’re primarily fictional. Lucy and Mina meet up and the older man keeps telling stories about the graveyards and he soon leaves them. Lucy and Mina talk of Lucy’s upcoming marriage and this upsets Mina because she has not heard from Jonathan is about one month. The setting changes to Dr. Seward’s mental asylum where he documents thing on one of his patients who is a “zoophagous maniac” which translates to a life-eating or life consuming maniac. Dr. Seward has been intently focusing on his work in order to avoid facing the harsh truth of Lucy declining his marriage proposal. The scene changes back to the lives of Mina and Lucy in the next part of this chapter. Mina is still concerned about Jonathan because she still has not heard from him. She also has started worrying about Lucy because an old habit of hers has resurfaced. Lucy has taken to sleepwalking. Lucy’s health is back and forth, sometimes she is sleepwalking and other times she is completely fine; sometimes Lucy is strangely concentrated on things and the next moment she is excitable. Mina has not heard from Jonathan still and a big storm is coming up from the sea. A ship is out at sea and the old man makes remarks about how it is being steered, it looks like it is not being steered at all. I think there was heaps of symbolism in the different elements in this chapter. I think the zoophagous maniac symbolises Dracula. Dracula should be considered a zoophagous maniac. Also Mina missing Jonathan and how worried she is about him is a very stressed point throughout this chapter. The repetition of this point adds suspense to the chapter because readers want to know what has happened to Jonathan just as much as Mina does.
Chapter 7
This Chapter starts differently than the previous chapters for it has a newspaper article at the beginning rather than a narrative or journal entry. This storm that had passed through Whitby was truly monumental. It is revealed that nobody was steering the ship for the captain was found dead, tied to the helm and no crew was found on board, the only living thing found on the ship was a dog who immediately left the ship as soon as it was stable enough. The only cargo onboard was boxes of dirt that was shipped from The Count. The Captain’s Log was found and goes into detail about what happened in the events leading up to the ship appearing on the coast of Whitby. Men on the ship start disappearing, some men are believed to be going insane, others throw themselves overboard, and the captain refuses to give up his ship so he ties himself to the helm and prays. The older man that Lucy and MIna befriended is found dead on the same day the town was going to have a funeral for the captain who passed at his post. This chapter was electrifyingly creepy. Having insight into the captain’s log added to the levels of suspense.
Chapter 8
Mina and Lucy attend the funeral for the deceased captain and after that they both go to sleep. When Mina wakes, Lucy is not in the room with her. Lucy is found on a bench in her white nightgown, but a large, dark, and shadowy figure with red glowing eyes is found bending over her. Mina goes over to the two and the figure disappears. Mina takes Lucy back to the room. Mina locks Lucy’s bedroom door and Lucy tries to get up in another sleepwalking fit but she cannot get out thanks to Mina. Lucy gets up again and points at the window and a bat is spotted outside the window. Lucy’s health deteriorates after many sleepwalking incidents and Mina still has not gotten word from Jonathan. Towards the transition to the end of the chapter Lucy starts to get happier but she is still weak, she also reveals that she remembers what happened during her sleepwalking extravaganza with the dark being with glowing eyes. On August 19 Mina has finally hear from Harker! She discovers that Jonathan has been severely ill and made it to Budapest where he received medical care for his brain fever. Mina decides it would be best if she packed up her things and went to see him, so she does. The chapter shifts to Dr. Seward’s asylum. His zoophagous maniac has escaped and gone to the house next door but they put him in a straightjacket and contain him. This chapter was really all over the place and I feel like it could have been split in separate chapters. Lucy gets attacked and her health deteriorates, Harker is found in Budapest but in poor condition, and a maniac escapes his asylum all in one chapter.
Chapter 9
Once Mina reaches Jonathan in Budapest they get married because her last name has changed in her letters. Jonathan was still in a horrible medical state, a priest had to come to his bed side so he could say his vows to Mina. Lucy seems to be getting stronger as well and her fiancee (soon to be husband) comes to visit her and they do activities like fishing and horseback riding. In the chapter Dr. Seward’s mental patient, Renfield escapes again, but he does not struggle when they capture him this time. Lucy starts to feel weak again and she is having strange dreams. Arthur calls Dr. Seward to come and diagnose Lucy but he cannot find anything wrong with her so he calls his mentor and colleague, Professor Van Helsing. Renfield has become strangely restless towards the end of the chapter. Lucy seems to be getting better for two days but on the third she has started declining at an astounding rate. Dr. Seward thinks that Professor Van Helsing should come back and reevaluate Lucy. This chapter is very contradicting. It is just a rollercoaster of people getting sick, getting better, and then having their medical state decline rapidly.
Chapter 10
Professor Van Helsing returns to see Lucy and he thinks he knows what is wrong with Lucy, he is not confident in his diagnoses yet, but he orders blood transfusions. Dr. Seward wants to donate his blood to Lucy because he is still in love with her and he is the youngest and strongest of the rest of the group, then her fiancee arrives and he does it instead. Van Helsing stays with Lucy all night and he sees the bite marks on her neck and is alarmed by them but says nothing to anybody about them. Lucy sleeps well but when she wakes up she does not want to go back to sleep because of her nightmares. Dr. Seward stays with Lucy because she is afraid. Lucy starts to look better but soon declines again, worse than ever this time, and she needs another blood transfusion. This time Dr. Seward donates his blood to Lucy. Lucy seems better and Van Helsing puts medicinal garlic flowers in her room and tells her that she should not move them. Lucy is skeptical at first but accepts this. Again this chapter repeats the previous theme of increasing and decreasing health status but not as much as before. This chapter was not unnecessary but it was not vital to the story and could have easily been slipped in another chapter.
Chapter 11
Mrs. Westenra, Lucy’s mother, removed the garlic from Lucy’s room. Van Helsing starts to sob knowing that she may have killed Lucy. Lucy starts to get pale and weak again, she receives another blood transfusion but this time from Van Helsing. After this, Van Helsing patiently explains to Mrs. Westenra that the garlic was part of her treatment, and then he offers to watch Lucy through the night. Lucy starts to feel more well rested as she sleeps through the night, she starts to trust the garlic cure as well. The next part of the chapter is a newspaper article and it discusses a wolf escaping the zoo and a tall, dark figure, with red eyes, was seen with the wolf earlier on in the day. Renfield escapes again and attacks an already exhausted Dr. Seward.The events in which these events are shown in the novel are out of order and Dr. Seward being attacked by Renfield actually happens a day prior to the wolf escaping the zoo. During the night of the seventeenth as Lucy is sleeping she is awakened to a sound outside of her window. Lucy’s mother comes into her room and a wolf lunges through the window. Mrs. Westenra’s already weak heart fails and she has a fatal heart attack. Lucy does not expect to survive the night. In my opinion, if Lucy dies this night due to the wolf attack, I will be a little upset. These men that love Lucy have been exhausting themselves, staying up all night, and giving Lucy their blood, just to make sure she is safe. All these efforts to keep Lucy safe and alive will all go to waste, just so a wolf can take her life. That is just so aggravating to me.
Chapter 12
Seward and Van Helsing break into the Westenra house the day after the wolf lunged through the window. Lucy’s maids draw her a bath when Seward and Van Helsing wake them up. Lucy would be needing a fourth blood transfusion but none of the men present could do it because they do not have enough to spare since they already did this for her. Conveniently and in the nick of time Quincey Morris arrives and donates his blood to Lucy. After the transfusion is complete the men run errands such as arranging a plan on how to take care of Mrs. Westenra and contacting Holmwood to inform him of the incident. All the men collectively decide to care for Lucy. Lucy cries over the death of her mother and they pledge not to leave her side. Lucy’s health declines again but the men come to the realization that she is stronger when she is sleeping than when she is awake (Lucy’s gums start receding as well making them appear pointed.) Mina sends a letter to Lucy stating that she and Jonathan have returned. Jonathan is too weak to be left alone so Mina cannot leave him to see Lucy just yet. Renfield escapes once again and attacks delivery men, delivering heavy wooden boxes. Lucy’s teeth have grown even longer and sharper than the last time they checked. Next, Van Helsing notices her puncture wounds on her neck have disappeared. Lucy will not last long and that is certain. She passes within the next few moments, her breathing slows and stops. This chapter was disappointing because as a reader you can tell what is happening to Lucy and the characters do not and there is nothing you can do to stop what is happening to her. Lucy dies and all of the effort put into keeping her alive and safe goes to waste.
Chapter 13
Dr. Seward arranges funeral plans for both Lucy and her mother. Garlic and a crucifix is implanted into the coffin with Lucy in it. Van Helsing wants to make sure that Lucy is dead and stays dead. He wants to cut out her heart, cut off her head, and stuff her with garlic, there is no use though, one of the servants took the crucifix out of the coffin. Mina is worried about the mental status of her husband because she notices strange paranoid behavior since he has returned. Mina has also been informed of her good friend Lucy’s death. All people who took care of and were acquainted with Mina grieve over her, some in different ways than others. The chapter shifts and is told through a portion of a newspaper and it reports that many children have gone missing. When the children return home, they have small puncture wounds on their throats and only say that they were with a beautiful lady. This chapter is also flustering because the reader can tell what is going to happen to Lucy now that she is ‘dead’ and what is going to happen to the children.
Chapter 14
Mina makes copies of Jonathan’s journal to make sure he has documentation of what life in Castle Dracula was like and how he described the count and his castle. Van Helsing writes to Mina and introduces himself, he wishes to meet her to discuss Lucy’s illness and what she was like in her final stages; Mina agrees to meet with Van Helsing. Mina starts to overthink and dream up ways that it might be possible that she might have been the reason Lucy died. Van Helsing and Mina use the journal entries they have collected to put together as much information about The Count as possible. Van Helsing is piecing together the fact that Dracula might be the source of all the evil that has crept into their lives. Jonathan Harker begins to continue writing about things he believes are related to Dracula in his journal that he used to document his time in Castle Dracula. Van Helsing reveals what he believes has happened to Lucy to Dr. Seward. At first Seward is skeptical but Van Helsing says he has a way to prove his theory.Van Helsing wants to track down ‘Lucy’ and prove his theory. This chapter is more satisfying because people are starting to believe Van Helsing. I think Van Helsing has a similar mindset to the readers because he seems to know what is going on just as the readers to.
Chapter 15
Seward finally agrees to help Van Helsing because he has London’s, Lucy’s, and the children’s best interests at heart. The two men visit one of the children affected by the “dark lady.” Van Helsing and Seward go the tomb and find that Lucy’s coffin is empty. Seward still doubts that she has transformed into a vampire and thinks that it is likely that graverobbers have swept through the area. A child appears from essentially nothing and the two men put it in the possession of a police officer and leave the scene as they fear the officer will think they were doing something wrong. They return to the grave in the day and Lucy is there again. Seward is beginning to believe Van Helsing and that she is only sleeping and that she is ‘active’ at night. Seward does not want to kill Lucy though because he still cares about her. The men set out to find Arthur because they want him present when they complete the slaughter of vampire Lucy, they believe it will provide him with closure. Seward still questions Van Helsing’s sanity, but he is one of the smartest men he known to Europe and afterall is his mentor, and friend so he goes along with it. Not knowing what Van Helsing intends to do, Arthur agrees but he will not do anything that takes away from christianity and his values. Then Arthur finds out that Van Helsing wants to reopen Lucy’s casket and he thinks that it is completely and morally wrong. Arthur agrees to go with them to see Lucy but will not participate in anything that the other men are doing. I think this chapter was pointless because even if they did not get Arthur’s consent to go back to Lucy’s casket, that would not change the fact that they already went without him. I also think Van Helsing and Seward would have kept returning to Lucy’s casket without Arthur’s permission.
Chapter 16
The three men go back to the casket to find it is empty, they all wait outside awaiting Lucy’s return. Van Helsing puts a communion wafer on the ground so Lucy will not be able to get back in the mossallam. Lucy comes back to her burial sight holding a child but when she sees the men she tosses the child aside and tries to entice Arthur. Van Helsing convinces Arthur not to go with Lucy and she tries to open the mossallam door and she fails because of the wafer Van Helsing previously put on the floor. He then removes the wafer and she gets inside and they then replace the wafer so she is stuck in a prison like state. When they return in the morning Arthur is chosen to stab Lucy in the heart. Seward cuts off Lucy’s head and stuffs it with garlic to ensure that her soul has been freed. I think this chapter not only gives Arthur and the people who cared about Lucy closure, but it also gives the readers closure because we now know that Lucy is free and she cannot hurt anybody else.
Chapter 17
Mina returns, Dr. Seward, Van Helsing, and now Jonathan meet up to present diary entries about the recent unfortunate vampire related incidents. Mina talks to Seward and adds to his information about the incidents with her’s and Jonathan’s information. This causes Mina to become upset, she works through this though because she knows that this is for the greater good. Mina and Seward think that the others should read the gathered information. Dr. Seward realizes that Renfield going periodically insane is a product of The Count. The men read the passage and realize they indeed have a vampire problem, similar to an infestation. The group finally comes together and agrees to defeat Dracula. This chapter is vital to the plot because so far the characters seem in denial and do not want to believe that the vampire problem exists. By the end of this chapter they all decide to defeat Dracula; I see this as another turning point in the novel.