« Dracula » , Bram Stoker (1897)

This is an extract from the novel Dracula which was published in 1897. The author of this best-seller is Bram Stoker. This passage is an extract from Jonathan’s diary. It is a day-to-day record of his experience. The scene takes place before dawn and we don’t know which year it is. The only think we know is the day: the 8th of May. Besides, we know that this scene is located in Dracula’s castle, in Jonathan’s room.
The main characters are Jonathan Hanker who is a young, educated and sophisticated English solicitor. He’s on business trip to Transylvania to help Count Dracula purchase an estate in England. And Count Dracula, a Transylvanian nobleman who plans to move to England. While he is shaving, Jonathan discovers the strangeness of Count Dracula. Jonathan is writing his impression about the incident in his journal. We are going to focus on the discrepancy between impressions and reality. Firstly we will see the inner feelings of Jonathan, secondly we will explain the dramatic irony, finally it will be interesting to deals with the Gothic Genre.

I. The Inner Feelings of Jonathan

When he wakes up, Jonathan already realizes that the atmosphere is mysterious as he says line 3, « It may be that this strange night-existence is telling on me ». But he feels indifferent « I cannot but feel uneasy » line 2 . He feels alone in this castle, even if he has the count, as the line 5 shows « I fear I am myself the only living soul within the place ». Then, he decides to shave him-self, but he was surprised by the Count « Suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder » line 11, and as Jonathan uses a mirror to shave, he realizes that the Count has no reflection. Then he cuts him-self with the razor. At this moment, Jonathan feels very uneasy, and on seeing the blood trickling from Jonathan throat, the Count seems to become possessed as shows the text line 19 « His eyes blazed with a sort of demoniac fury » . Moreover, he notices that