A shot summary of Dracula

1. Bram Stoker’s Dracula – Summary and analysis
Anglophone literature
Jocsan G. Jimenez M.
1094246107
Bram Stoker biography
Born in Dublin, Ireland, on November 8, 1847, Bram Stoker
published his first literary work, The Duties of Clerks of
Petty Sessions in Ireland, a handbook in legal
administration, in 1879. Turning to fiction later in life, Stoker
published his masterpiece, Dracula, in 1897. Deemed a
classic horror novel not long after its release, Dracula has
continued to garner acclaim for more than a century,
inspiring the creation of hundreds of film, theatrical and
literary adaptations. In addition to Dracula, Stoker
published more than a dozen novels before his death in 1912.
Stoker was educated at Trinity College, "where he won honours in science,
mathematics, oratory, history, and composition ("Obituary"). After graduating he
entered the Irish Civil Service where he served as Inspector of Petty Sessions (Byron
9). In 1876 Stoker met the actor Henry Irving and by 1878 had moved to London
where he was acting manager at the famous Lyceum Theatre. It was there that
Stoker entered into fashionable circles through which we learn much of his character
and influences. In the same year Stoker married Florence Balcombe, who was also
courted by Oscar Wilde. There has been much speculation about the Stokers' family
dynamic, some of which suggests that the marriage was loveless (10). The Stokers'
only child, Noel, was born in 1879.
Bram Stoker Books

2. Newly inspired by his travels and exposure to the arts, in 1875, Stoker published his
first horror story, The Primrose Path. He continued to publish writings while
managing the successful Lyceum Theatre, including the story Under the Sunset
(1882) and the novel The Snake's Pass (1890), earning modest acclaim. More
notably, he garnered public praise for his many roles dedicated to the arts.
In 1897, Stoker published his masterpiece, Dracula. While the book garnered
success after its release, its popularity has continued to grow for more than a
century. Deemed a classic horror novel today, Dracula has inspired the creation of
numerous theatrical, literary and film adaptations. Among them are the 1931 film
Dracula, starring actor Bela Lugosi, and F.W. Murnau's 1922 film Nosferatu, starring
Max Schreck.
Summary
Sometime at the end of the nineteenth century, Jonathan Harker, a young English
lawyer, is traveling to the Castle Dracula, which is located in Transylvania, in order
to confirm a transfer of real estate in England to Count Dracula. Harker becomes
extremely nervous when all of the local farmers react in fear after they hear of his
destination; nevertheless, he continues on to the castle until he meets an
ambassador of the Count in the Borgo Pass. The mysterious coach driver continues
on to the castle, arriving in pitch darkness, to the accompaniment of howling wolves.
His bride Mina and her friend Lucy exchange letters back home. Lucy starts acting
strange and her friend Doctor Seward examines her. He can’t figure out what’s
wrong and brings in his friend, a famous doctor, Van Helsing. Van Helsing eventually
believes that Lucy has been bitten by a vampire.

3. Van Helsing gathers the men of the group and tells them that Lucy is not truly dead,
but is an Un-Dead vampire; the men of the group travel to Lucy's cemetery, observe
her haunting the grounds and attempting to suck the blood of children, and later
"truly kill" her by piercing her in the heart with a stake and cutting off her head.
The group makes the trip with Mina, who can tell Dracula's location when hypnotized
by Van Helsing because of her blood link with the Count. They intercepts him,
however, as he sleeps in his final box in route to the castle, and Harker and Morris
stab him in the heart and cut off his head, thus truly killing him releasing his soul
from his Un-Dead body.
Analysis
1. Plot
1.1. Initial Situation
Jonathan Harker, an English lawyer, travels to Transylvania to help
sledgehammer out the logistical details for a rich nobleman, Count Dracula,
who wants to purchase a house in England. Harker realizes pretty early on
that something is weird about the Count.
1.2. Conflict
Jonathan Harker succeeds to escape from Castle Dracula without being
killed by the vampire brides of Dracula, but he gets held up in Budapest with
a bad case of vampire-induced brain fever, so he doesn't get back to England
in time to notify anybody.
1.3. Climax
Dracula attacks Mina, Jonathan Harker's wife, under the watch of the Crew of
Light (the group dedicated to destroying Dracula). He forces her to drink his
blood, forming a connection between them that allows him to control her—but

4. also allows her to see into his mind. Unless Dracula is killed, Mina will
eventually transform into a vampire like Lucy did.
1.4. Suspense
The Helsing’s men place Holy Communion waters in all of Dracula's various
refuges, rendering them useless to him. They're trying to drive him out of
hiding so that they can kill him.
1.5. Denouement
Dracula realizes what they are up to and tries to escape to his home. Van
Helsing and the rest of the Crew of Light chase him back to Transylvania, and
eventually catch up to him just before he reaches Castle Dracula.
1.6. Conclusion
There's a final fight in which Quincey Morris, one of the vampire-fighters, gets
stabbed in the side. He stays alive long enough to help kill Dracula for good,
and then dies a noble death. Mina is healed, and everyone else lives happily
ever after.
2. Character list
2.1. Dracula
He is the vampire who has been "Un-Dead" for several hundred years and
keeps his vitality by sucking blood from live victims. He is the Transylvanian
Count for whom the book is named.
2.2. Jonathan Harker
The young London solicitor who is sent to Transylvania to finalize the transfer
of real estate in England to Count Dracula. His journals record the essential
facts of his journey from Bistritz to the Borgo Pass, where he is met by Count
Dracula's carriage, as well as recording the facts of his arrival and stay at the
Castle Dracula.
2.3. Miss Mina (Wilhelmina) Murray

5. The fiancée of Jonathan Harker; she will become a "persecuted maiden"
during the latter part of the story. She is quite young, and her job is that of an
assistant schoolmistress.
2.4. Miss Lucy Westenra
Mina Murray's closest friend. She is a young woman of nineteen who
becomes engaged to Arthur Holmwood. Her penchant for sleepwalking
allows her to become Dracula's first victim, and after her "death," she will
become one of the "Un-Dead."
2.5. Dr. Abraham Van Helsing
An M.D., a Ph.D., and a D.Litt., as well as an attorney. He is a lonely,
unmarried old bachelor who is both kindly and fatherly. He is from
Amsterdam, and his profound knowledge of medicine, folklore, and the occult
allows him to take complete charge of Lucy's illness, which he identifies
immediately as vampirism. He is also chiefly in charge of the strategy of
tracking down Count Dracula.
3. Setting
Transylvania, where the novel starts, is in southeastern Europe. It's part of
modern-day Romania. Castle Dracula is located on the eastern side of Romania,
close to the Black Sea. From there, the action moves to Whitby, which is a real
town on the Yorkshire coast of Great Britain (toward the northeastern part of the
country). The rest of the action takes place in and around London, the capital of
Great Britain. In 1897, London was the center of the British Empire, which still
covered a huge portion of the globe. It was one of the biggest cities in the world.
Its crowded, maze-like streets inspired a lot of writers at the time