Classics and the Western Canon discussion
Stoker, Dracula
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Week 1 - Dracula, Chapters 1-4
Chapter 3: Jonathan is forced to do the Counts bidding and is witnesses more strange eventsJONATHAN HARKER’S JOURNAL—(continued)
Dracula discusses the local history and battles fought there, Jonathan notes that he spoke as if he had been present at them all. Jonathan has witnessed so many uncanny events that seeing Dracula crawling head first down the outside of the castle walls is just another unexplained oddity. Finally Jonathan encounters three young women after falling asleep in another part of the castle which Dracula had warned him against. When Dracula arrives in the room it seems these three women are not completely submissive to him, and Dracula almost seems hurt when he defends himself from them by reminding them that he can and has loved. Does this generate a little sympathy for Dracula? It probably does not help any case for sympathy that Dracula gives the women a half smothered child in a bag that is received greedily; devoid of any appearance of motherly devotion.
Chapter 4: Dracula abandons Jonathan to his fate in the castle with the three women.
JONATHAN HARKER’S JOURNAL—(continued)
Dracula calls in wolves to silence a distraught mother looking for the baby Harker thinks he saw. Jonathan, a man used to being in control of himself has been struggling to maintain that control and now acknowledges he has lost that control to the Count
I would fain have rebelled, but felt that in the present state of things it would be madness to quarrel openly with the Count whilst I am so absolutely in his power.Utter hopelessness begins to creep in,
I passed to my room and went to bed, and, strange to say, slept without dreaming. Despair has its own calms.Nevertheless, Jonathan does make several attempts to escape but is countered at each turn. The count makes a show of destroying his coded messages, opens the door inviting Jonathan to leave while blocking is way with wolves. Jonathan even fails to kill Dracula while the strangely rejuvenated count laid bloated with fresh blood in his box. Finally, Jonathan declares he will risk it all in attempting to scale down the walls of the castle to escape.
Things worth considering.What do you like and dislike about the epistolary format of the book?
What can we infer about Johathan Harker''s character from detailed entries in his journal of the fact they are in shorthand? What about Jonathan's prejudices can be discovered from entries like these?
I read that every known superstition in the world is gathered into the horseshoe of the Carpathians, as if it were the centre of some sort of imaginative whirlpool. . .Is Jonathan likeable; is he a reliable note taker?
and
It seems to me that the further east you go the more unpunctual are the trains. What ought they to be in China?
What are those blue flames the mysterious coachman keeps stopping for and why are they important?
Suddenly, away on our left, I saw a faint flickering blue flame.Of special note here: St. George’s Day in Eastern Europe is May 6th compared to April 23rd in Western Europe. St. George, the dragon-slayer, is the patron saint of England. Dracula is the Slavonic genitive form of Dracul, meaning "[the son] of Dracul (or the Dragon). The “blue flames,” or will o’the wisps, that Jonathan witnesses are said to be especially in evidence on the eve of St. George’s Day. There is probably something symbolic in that.
David wrote: "Ok, there is a lot to go over here, lets jump into it.Introduction
First we are informed, or warned, that the papers we will be examining have been edited and contain just the relevant facts, pre..."
I really enjoy the epistolary format, and the introductory note. A couple of thoughts:
First, I checked out the only copy of Dracula from my local library, and the copy they had is The New Annotated Dracula, edited by Leslie Klinger. It's very long and has copious notes, but tons of interesting material...but perhaps the most interesting thing about it is that the editor, Leslie Klinger, takes the introductory note and the epistolary format of Dracula completely seriously, and his footnotes reflect his strong feeling that the events described in the book are non-fiction! His notes indicate a belief that Jonathan Harker, Mina, etc. are all historical personages. (Apparently, Klinger is a member of the "Baker Street Irregulars," a club who believe that the events of the Sherlock Holmes stories all took place as written.) I had not expected the Annotated Dracula to take this kind of stance, but given Bram Stoker's insistence that the entire narrative is based on accurate, firsthand accounts of events, perhaps Klinger is on to something.
Second, the Annotated Dracula also includes the "Author's Preface," which it notes was written by Bram Stoker for the first translation of the novel (into Icelandic, published 1901). The "Author's Preface" is a few paragraphs long, and completely doubles down on the idea that all of the events truly happened. The author writes:
"I have let the people involved relate their experiences in their own way; but, for obvious reasons, I have changed the names of the people and places concerned...I am quite convinced that there is no doubt whatever that the events here described really took place, however unbelievable and incomprehensible they might appear at first sight."
Here's my current thought about Stoker's insistence on the "reality" of the narrative: perhaps the goal is to create a space where we become assured of the reality of the narrative, with its epistolary format and all of the references to science, new technology, modern civilization, and bourgeois English values, such that we will be that much more shocked by the supernatural elements of the narrative. I certainly enjoy the author's insistence on the factual nature of the story...
I have no problem with the epistolary format. But I'm beginning to wonder how reliable our narrator is. He comes across as being a bit manic. Tom's post that Bram Stoker insisted the story is factual may just be Stoker's ploy to spook the reader. He certainly builds up the tension to prepare the reader for the bizarre happenings. But it seems to me our narrator is acting pretty weirdly, himself.It's early days yet. I'm sure if I keep calm and carry on, all will be crystal clear in due time.
I am thinking that a bit of fun was being had with the fact that a book can be said to be a true story, i.e., it is true that Dracula is a story, without being a story that is true to actual events? The point being that along with the introduction affirming the veracity of the notes to follow, the intention of the epistolary format is to add to the believability of the events by creating the appearance of being true. We are obliged to at least hear them out and consider them as seriously as any other eye witness accounts. Of course believability is one criteria by which works of fiction are judged and in my opinion, Dracula does pretty well, even with its fantastic elements, because of the epistolary format.By comparison, a single narrator would lose mutual coherency the body of individual observations of different people creates. An omniscient narrator, especially one that operated inside of Dracula's thoughts, would be even less believable.
Also, this work flirts with many taboos and the epistolary format may be one of them. After all we are reading personal letters and diary entries, generally meant to be just that, personal and private. Perhaps we will see some other entries or letters containing private confessions not intended for others? Jonathan admits to the private nature of these notes upon his encounter with the three ladies in the Castle.
I felt in my heart a wicked, burning desire that they would kiss me with those red lips. It is not good to note this down, lest some day it should meet Mina’s eyes and cause her pain; but it is the truth.
Susanna wrote: "This tradition of making the audience think a fictional story is true is still with us. The movie and tv show, Fargo..."GMTA! I was thinking of Fargo as well!
David wrote: "What are those blue flames the mysterious coachman keeps stopping for and why are they important?Suddenly, away on our left, I saw a faint flickering blue flame...."
I am not sure if Stoker was aware of this, but there is a rare natural phenomenon called "The Living Fire" in the Carpathian Mountains. It appears due to the emanation of natural gas that comes to the surface through the cracks of the earth's crust. The gas is ignited by the sun rays and can form beautiful blue flames (methane burns with a blue flame):
The “treasure under the blue flames” superstition on the eve of St. George’s Day is still present in Transylvania: If you see those blue flames in the night you should make a sign and return the next day to dig up the treasure. Trying to dig it up in the night would get you disfigured and eventually killed.
Om the eve of St. George's day you should also avoid going out without a hat, else the "strigoaice" would hunt and kill you. The "Strigoaice" are a kind of female vampires, pretty similar to the three sisters from the third chapter.
Tamara wrote: "it seems to me our narrator is acting pretty weirdly, himself."What is weird about the ways Jonathan is acting? Does Jonathan's position and Western perspectives in life hinder his fully apprehending the nature of situation until it is too late?
David wrote: "Tamara wrote: "it seems to me our narrator is acting pretty weirdly, himself."What is weird about the ways Jonathan is acting? Does Jonathan's position and Western perspectives in life hinder his..."
I wouldn't have said that Jonathan Harker is acting "weird"; I'd say that he has a very privileged, Victorian, colonial mindset. Hence how his journal sounds like he's gathering anecdotes to tell to Mina and other friends about the local customs, recipes, and fashions in Transylvania. He seems to come into this trip treating it like an exotic little getaway that he can recall as a bit of an adventure.
Tamara's comment above is that Jonathan seems to be an unreliable narrator. I would agree with her statement to the extent that Jonathan is writing very much from his own biases and preconceptions, and he fails to see some of the "clues" about Count Dracula until it's too late. I think it makes sense to view Jonathan's journal as a set of light-hearted entries about the local color, until his visit takes a darker, more terrifying turn.
Tamara wrote: "I have no problem with the epistolary format. But I'm beginning to wonder how reliable our narrator is. He comes across as being a bit manic. Tom's post that Bram Stoker insisted the story is factu..."He's even misquoting Hamlet!
Anyway, who wouldn't act weird in his situation? Jonathan was quite coherent at the beginning of the novel, but there is a big difference between our enthusiastic business tourist from the first chapter and the frightened prisoner from the fourth chapter.
One of the interesting things we are told is that everything about Dracula’s castle is old. The lamps, rugs, furniture, doors, and what not are all described as being expensive antiques. A lot of the locked off rooms are described as being covered in dust.
I try not to read the introductions of these classic fiction novels as they often tell too much up front. Although I know the basic story, I have never read this vampire origin story. I don't mind the epistolary format of the story. I was a little frustrated in the first 2 chaps as there was no mention why Jonathan was on this far-flung trip to see Count Dracula (although revealed later), but the creepy atmosphere and foreboding was being layered on from the beginning. I see just in these beginning chapters some of the classic characteristics of vampires are presented. Fun!
As Jonathan starts to put the puzzle pieces together, I was somewhat surprised that he came to the conclusion that he was a vampire. Were vampires a common myth or superstition during that time period, so that J would think of it?
I also didn't think Jonathan was acting weird. He seemed perfectly normal, had some trepidation after he arrived at the castle and then as he realized her was being kept prisoner & perhaps his days were numbered...his reaction and behaviors seemed understandable to me. What am I missing?
I think Jonathan has his biases and he expresses them with his notes about the supernatural imaginative whirlpool of the Carpathians and how the trains become more disorganized the further East one travels.Beyond these biases, Jonathan seems to be a capable, well organized, symbol of rationality. He passed the solicitor's exam, keeps thorough and accurate notes in shorthand and shuns superstition. I think he puts his rationality to good use in the detail included in his note taking, his measured responses to Dracula's demands, and is learning the rules in this non-rational environment and adapting to his uncanny predicament, even concluding as a matter of fact that a desperate and risky attempt to scale the walls is his only hope of escape.
Oh, I forgot to thank Emil for the info on the "living fire" Very interesting!
Chris wrote: "I was somewhat surprised that he came to the conclusion that he was a vampire. Were vampires a common myth or superstition during that time period, so that J would think of it?..."Definitely! Belief in vampires back then was as common as today's belief that vaccines cause autism.
There were a lot of vampire mass hysterias in the 18th and 19th centuries, not only in Eastern Europe but also in the Western World. They were mostly triggered by cases of tuberculosis, rabies or other diseases with scary symptoms.
One example just five years before Dracula was published:
"The Mercy Brown vampire incident occurred in Rhode Island, US, in 1892. It is one of the best-documented cases of the exhumation of a corpse in order to perform rituals to banish an undead manifestation. The incident was part of the wider New England vampire panic. The Mercy Brown incident was the inspiration for Caitlín R. Kiernan's short story "So Runs the World Away", which makes explicit reference to the affair. It has also been suggested by scholars that Bram Stoker, the author of the novel Dracula, knew about the Mercy Brown case through newspaper"
If you want to read more about it, there is a Wikipedia article called "Mercy Brown vampire incident"
David wrote: "What is weird about the ways Jonathan is acting?..."You want to know weird? Let me count the ways.
He is given all sorts of clues at the hotel with folks crossing themselves, one begging him on her knees not to go, etc. etc. He admits to feeling uncomfortable but decides to go anyway. Not necessarily weird, but maybe a bit dim on his part.
But then we get this: when he gets picked up by the count/count’s driver, he realizes the guy is driving him in circles.
It seemed to me that we were simply going over and over the same ground again; and so I took note of some salient point, and found that this was so. I would have liked to have asked the driver what this all meant, but I really feared to do so, for I thought that, placed as I was, any protest would have had no effect in case there had been an intention to delay.
Bram Stoker. Dracula (Kindle Locations 209-211).
With all that has gone on before, you would think he would have a stronger reaction. If it were me, I would be jumping up and down, demanding to know why we were going around in circles. But he’s a British gentleman so he might not share my fiery temperament. At a minimum, he might say something along the lines of, “I say, old chap, would you mind telling me why you’re taking me in circles on a pitch black night when there are wolves howling all around us?” But he doesn’t even do that.
Strike one.
He meets the count and notices a series of strange things. The count’s reflection doesn’t show up in a mirror. There are no servants in the house. The count warns him against sleeping anywhere in the castle other than his own room. He watches the count emerge from a window and crawl down the castle wall, face down. But then he goes exploring and ends up in a cozy little room, makes himself comfortable while writing in his diary. He even has the presence of mind to imagine a quaint scenario where “some fair lady sat to pen, with much thought and many blushes, her ill-spelt love-letter” (Kindle: 604-606). Seriously? Bizarre things are happening all around you. You’ve seen a man climb down a castle wall, bat-like. You’re a prisoner. And yet you can conjure up an elaborate scenario of a fair lady writing a love letter. My good man, aren’t the circumstances a little out of joint for such a gentle, tender image?
Strike two.
And now we come to the icing on the cake. He is so comfortable in this cozy, little room, he does the exact thing the count has advised him not to do: he falls asleep. How can he be so relaxed to fall asleep in a room where he has no business being, especially after everything he has witnessed? But sleep he does only to wake up to find three young women have materialized in front of him. You would think he would jump up, grab something to protect himself. Far from it. He goes all amorous on us. He feels “a wicked, burning desire that they would kiss me with those red lips” (Kindle 632). Say what? And then he worries that poor Mina back at the office will read this one day and it will cause her pain. Seriously?
As one of these mysterious women approaches him, he elaborates on her voluptuousness, on the way she licks her lips like an animal, on her red tongue as it laps her sharp teeth. He can’t wait for her to dig her teeth into him. Alas, it is not to be for the count intervenes.
Strike three.
Weird, bizarre, whatever else you want to call it. But in my opinion, rational it aint.
Tamara wrote: "And now we come to the icing on the cake. He is so comfortable in this cozy, little room, he does the exact thing the count has advised him not to do: he falls asleep. How can he be so relaxed to..."
OK Tamara, I see your point! I think he chalked up all the pleas and protective gestures by the "peasants" as pure superstition. I did feel he got more uncomfortable and frightened and desperate as time went on. He did think of ways to escape or notify someone of his predicament even though he was in the middle of nowhere. But definitely wasn't all in the Count' s face about things or demand to leave right away and seemed to resigned to his fate once he had thought there was a date for his demise.
I wondered about this last episode. Was he in the "thrall" of the women, as the mythology suggests that vampires were able to control humans.
Emil wrote: Definitely! Belief in vampires back then was as common as today's belief that vaccines cause autism.There were a lot of vampire mass hysterias in the 18th and 19th centuries, not only in Eastern Europe but also in the Western World. They were mostly triggered by cases of tuberculosis, rabies or other diseases with scary symptoms.
Great information. Thanks! It does make Jonathan's inklings and then conclusions more understandable.
Chris wrote: "I wondered about this last episode. Was he in the "thrall" of the women, as the mythology suggests that vampires were able to control humans..."I wonder if there is some sort of mythology about vampires, i.e. that they have the capacity to seduce humans. But a little later on, he sees specks floating about in the moonlight. The specks cluster and materialize into the shape of the three women. He freaks out and runs back to his room. That incident seems to contradict a vampire's capacity to hold his attention.
Tamara wrote: "And now we come to the icing on the cake. He is so comfortable in this cozy, little room, he does the exact thing the count has advised him not to do: he falls asleep. How can he be so relaxed to..."
You make a number of good points, Tamara, and I'm inclined to agree: in a world so clearly full of bizarre and uncanny things, it is irrational to continue to act as if everything is normal. I hadn't thought about it like that.
I also agree with David's earlier comment, that Jonathan "puts his rationality to good use." We've learned that Jonathan is pretty up on all the latest trends: he has a "kodak" camera (which was quite new, and the first camera marketed for amateur photographers), he knows shorthand, he has a scientific, positivist way of viewing the world.
Tamara wrote: "David wrote: "What is weird about the ways Jonathan is acting?..."You want to know weird? Let me count the ways."
Great summary! Now we know why you avoid horror movies. You would go hoarse yelling at screen at all of the bad decisions being made. :)
Jonathan does give reasons for his choices.
I must go at once, and that I was engaged on important business,JH is a man of the modern West on important business who disdains superstition, and quite frankly thinks less than of the old, wild, i.e., less civilized, Carpathian region.
there was business to be done, and I could allow nothing to interfere with it. . .I thanked her, but my duty was imperative, and that I must go. . .taking a crucifix from her neck offered it to me. . .as an English Churchman,i I have been taught to regard such things as in some measure idolatrous. . .
(Mem., I must ask the Count about these superstitions.)
. . .I really feared to do so, for I thought that, placed as I was, any protest would have had no effect in case there had been an intention to delay.
After that it becomes clear he is a prisoner and the rules and responses to the oddities must change. Jonathan is fish out of water in the Carpathians. Watch for signs that Dracula may be a fish out of water in England. The difference being that Dracula is aware of this and uses it to both take advantage of Jonathan and guard against the corresponding disadvantages in himself as demonstrated by his library and his request to Jonathan to
tell me when I make error, even of the smallest, in my speaking. . . so that no man stops if he see me, or pause in his speaking if he hear my words, to say, “Ha, ha! a stranger!”While Jonathan was no doubt conscious of these types of errors, Jonathan's hubris made him blind to the dangers in making them, until it was too late.
Tamara wrote: "I wonder if there is some sort of mythology about vampires, i.e. that they have the capacity to seduce humans"The short answer is, yes. We will see other examples of this. Plus the work is rife with sexual taboos and their lure. For example, the following description alludes to the common sexual myth.
Strange to say, there were hairs in the centre of the palm.
Also, regarding the three women, they remind me of the sirens from mythology, which was probably intended.
Emil wrote: "Chris wrote: "I was somewhat surprised that he came to the conclusion that he was a vampire. Were vampires a common myth or superstition during that time period, so that J would think of it?..."D..."
I was curious about this point, too, and looked into it a bit. There were a couple of vampire novels/poems written in German in the 18th century (one of which, "Lenore" by Gottfired August Burger, was quoted by a peasant while Jonathan Harker transfers from the coach to Dracula's caleche). The first vampire story published in England was in 1819, by John Polidori (it was part of the famous ghost story competition among friends that was the genesis of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein). Several other vampire stories or novels were written in English prior to Dracula.
My understanding is that folk tales of vampires circulated for hundreds of years, and some of the most common elements in these folk tales included: a corpse that would awaken at night and kill creatures to drink their blood; the creature would go back to sleep in its grave, often with fresh blood on its face; and that it could be killed (or its awakening prevented in advance) by stabbing it with a stake.
Two historical people who were rumored to be vampires: first, Jure Grando, a villager from a place in modern-day Croatia, who died in 1656 and allegedly terrorised the region around his grave every night for years after his death. Second, the Countess Erszebet Bathory de Esced, Hungarian countess who died in 1614 and was ostensibly a serial killer who was accused of vampiric acts (eg. she bathed in the blood of virgins to stay eternally young).
Tamara wrote: "And now we come to the icing on the cake. He is so comfortable in this cozy, little room, he does the exact thing the count has advised him not to do: he falls asleep. How can he be so relaxed to..."
Earlier Jonathan decided,
I shall not fear to sleep in any place where he is not.and just prior to meeting the three ladies he writes
The Count’s warning came into my mind, but I took a pleasure in disobeying it. The sense of sleep was upon me, and with it the obstinacy which sleep brings as outrider.Though they are ill advised, I can see these decisions as desperate acts of defiance to try and salvage some control over himself and his situation.
David wrote: "Plus the work is rife with sexual taboos and their lure. For example, the following description alludes to the common sexual myth.Strange to say, there were hairs in the centre of the palm.."
I had no idea there is a common sexual myth about hairs in the centre of the palm. I thought the hairy palms had something to do with wolves. I had to google it to find out the sexual reference.
Just goes to show what a novice I am about all matters pertaining to vampires. This will be quite an education for me. And we're only on Chapt. 4!
David wrote: "Also, regarding the three women, they remind me of the sirens from mythology, which was probably intended."Also, the three witches in Macbeth.
Tamara wrote: "David wrote: "Also, regarding the three women, they remind me of the sirens from mythology, which was probably intended."Also, the three witches in Macbeth."
Good one!. Now as far as the three women, I don't know how to interpret their interaction with Dracula here.
‘How dare you touch him, any of you? How dare you cast eyes on him when I had forbidden it? Back, I tell you all! This man belongs to me! Beware how you meddle with him, or you’ll have to deal with me.’ The fair girl, with a laugh of ribald coquetry, turned to answer him:— ‘
You yourself never loved; you never love!’ On this the other women joined, and such a mirthless, hard, soulless laughter rang through the room that it almost made me faint to hear; it seemed like the pleasure of fiends. Then the Count turned, after looking at my face attentively, and said in a soft whisper:—
‘Yes, I too can love; you yourselves can tell it from the past. Is it not so?
Tamara wrote: I had no idea there is a common sexual myth about hairs in the centre of the palm. I thought the hairy palms had something to do with wolves. I had to google it to find out the sexual reference.Now I'm rethinking my life choices when I find out there are people who don't know what hairy palms mean. Apparently I spend too much time around late adolescents.
Which of Jonathan's observations during his travels and of the count and the castle have been the most disturbing so far?
First, the fact that the stagecoach left town at all. If everyone knows how spooky St George's Day is, and they keep telling Jonathan to delay his journey by a day or two, why don't they all just stay home? Then the carriage driver being able to control the wolves.
I wonder if there is some sort of mythology about vampires, i.e. that they have the capacity to seduce humans.
One of the books I read in October was called The Vampire: A New History. There is a lot of mythology surrounding the undead, but a lot of our 20th century ideas of vampires is grounded in this novel.
The thing I found the most disturbing are all of the lies and deceptions that Dracula keeps up even after Jonathan knows and Dracula knows he knows. On the matter of these lies, Jonathan writes,Sincerity! It seems like a profanation of the word to write it in connection with such a monster...A very versatile statement, indeed.
Somewhat further down the list of disturbing events, but still quite unsettling is when Jonathan catches Dracula making the bed. Of course this is a significant confirmation of Jonathan's suspicion that there are no servants in the house and Dracula himself was the driver of the coach, but its still makes for an oddly funny picture in my imagination.
One of the scenes I found disturbing is the one where he finds Dracula in the box and decides to bash in his head. He picks up a shovel and strikes his face. But as I did so the head turned, and the eyes fell full upon me, with all their blaze of basilisk horror.
I could visualize the head slowly turning and the eyes ablaze with venom and a sort of cool detachment that comes with knowing you are in complete control of the situation and there isn't a thing anyone can do to stop you.
JH comes upon D lying on the couch reading the English Bradshaw's Guide.Bradshaw's Guide is railroad time tables! JH is surprised by this. If y'all had not given it away that D would go to England, I might have guessed it here.
The women's voices tinkled like some skilled hand ringing tones from water glasses: The water organ was a real musical instrument. Music for it was composed at least by Mozart if not many others.
Three diaphanous women occur quite often, as Greek Chorus, among other places. Macbeth, yes. But most significantly as The Fates who weave a man's destiny. and you may see another trope in Boticelli's "Spring" in the Ufizzi. That two are dark and one fair: this opposition is a constant theme in the literature of the Romantic Period (ca. 1800-1860).
Despite his pooh-poohing the gift of the rosary he does pretty soon come to imbue it with protective power I think his first or second night.
He does not mention the garlic among the gifts the peasants give him in that scene, only later when he is much more fearful in his bedroom does he first mention it. If he had Stoker might have given away the reveal when he does name the gifts.
This novel is very rich throughout. No bald spots. His descriptions of the countryside he passes through at night in his journey to The Borgo Pass. They color the approach to the castle quite deeply. Another characteristic of Romantic literature. It's almost German, among the Volk in the deep forests.
When D gives his genealogy he says the fighting spirit came from Iceland of all places. Why I thought it noteworthy that the first translation was to Icelandic. The central mythology of Iceland, The Edda, is a heroic journey older even than Beowulf. I have read that Hamlet (The Dane, the Norsemen?) is a figuration from the Edda and that in Astrology this would be Orion, the hunter, was an important navigational aid, that it rises from and descends to the horizon in the Northern Latitudes.
I think Iceland must become more significant as we read, given that someone from Iceland was the first to bless it with translation.
Sorry if I have gone on too much and become a little less secure.
Oh! The Lunatic Asylum! D must have made it explicit in his instructions, and JH is proud of his finding just the right property, including being near a madhouse. Shouldn't this have alerted Mr. Dimwit?
What gives some believability to the tale being true is that Stoker uses real places. In the first three paragraphs, one goes from Munich to Vienna to Budapest to Kausenburgh (Bucharest). Then a few paragraphs later the town of Bistritz (Bistrița) comes in. He also mentions the peoples of the Carpathians (Saxons, Wallachs, Magyars, and Szekelys). Great devices. By the way, the current train trip from Munich to Bucharest would take over 31 hours (I looked it up). At that time, it would have taken days. All covered in three paragraphs.
Alan wrote: "What gives some believability to the tale being true is that Stoker uses real places. In the first three paragraphs, one goes from Munich to Vienna to Budapest to Kausenburgh (Bucharest). Then a fe..."I googled the trip. Maybe Emil can confirm the route. Munich to Vienna to Kausenburg, to Bistritz to the Borgo Pass. Google says it is 15 hr 17 min (1,289 km) or 801 miles by car.
https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Munic...
Note: Klausenburgh is now the Romanian city of Cluj, or Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Bistritz was found as Bistrița, Romania, and The Borgo Pass appears as Pasul Birgaului, Romania
I never gave the blue flames much consideration on previous reads. Thanks to Emil's pictures I looked into their significance a little more and offer these incites into the puzzle:Jonathan describes the driver/Dracula marking the spots where the blue flame appear.
He went rapidly to where the blue flame arose. . .and gathering a few stones, formed them into some device.Later on Dracula explains the superstition to Jonathan.
He then explained to me that it was commonly believed that on a certain night of the year—last night, in fact, when all evil spirits are supposed to have unchecked sway—a blue flame is seen over any place where treasure has been concealed.On one of his foray's into Dracula's room, Jonathan discovers the fruits of those treasure hunts.
The only thing I found was a great heap of gold in one corner—gold of all kinds, Roman, and British, and Austrian, and Hungarian, and Greek and Turkish money, covered with a film of dust, as though it had lain long in the ground. None of it that I noticed was less than three hundred years old. There were also chains and ornaments, some jewelled, but all of them old and stained.The significance of all of this is that it is the source of Dracula's considerable wealth. Even Dracula needs money to grease palms and fund his foray into England.
This may also explain why Jonathan reported
that we were simply going over and over the same ground again;It was because Dracula was delaying his trip over the ground where he expected to find the blue flames marking the treasure until after midnight. Recall Jonathan looks at his watch at just a few minutes before midnight. Soon after that the wolves begin howling signaling midnight. Once the driver calms the horses he begins his race to find treasure and
. . .started off at a great pace. This time, after going to the far side of the Pass, he suddenly turned down a narrow roadway which ran sharply to the right.
David wrote: "I googled the trip. Maybe Emil can confirm the route. Munich to Vienna to Kausenburg, to Bistritz to the Borgo Pass. Google says it is 15 hr 17 min (1,289 km) or 801 miles by car...."That's the route. I live in south Germany but have some relatives in Klausenburg, so I've made this trip by car many times. You can still travel by train or even by boat on the Danube until Budapest.
David wrote: "Note: Klausenburgh is now the Romanian city of Cluj...."
It can be quite confusing because most toponyms in Transylvania are in three languages: Romanian, Hungarian and German.
Transilvania = Erdély = Siebenbürgen
Cluj-Napoca = Kolozsvár = Klausenburg
Bistrița = Beszterce = Bistritz
Keeping in mind, this is the book that set the bar on vampire powers, what vampire characteristics have you found most intriguing or disturbing as exhibited by Dracula and the three ladies so far in the first four chapters?
David wrote: "Dracula discusses the local history and battles fought there, Jonathan notes that he spoke as if he had been present at them all. ..."Here Dracula is definitely talking about Vlad the Impaler:
"Who was it but one of my own race who as Voivode crossed
the Danube and beat the Turk on his own ground? This
was a Dracula indeed! Woe was it that his own unworthy
brother, when he had fallen, sold his people to the Turk and
brought the shame of slavery on them!"
He's referring to Vlad as "one of my own race", but at the same time he identifies himself as "Székely". Vlad was a wallachian, but some of his descendants might have Székely blood. We don't know much about his first wife, but Vlad second wife was Justina Szilágyi, a hungarian countess.
...or maybe Stoker decided to link Dracula to the Székelys just because of their misterious origins. I will write more about it in the Background Discussions thread.
David wrote: "Keeping in mind, this is the book that set the bar on vampire powers, what vampire characteristics have you found most intriguing or disturbing as exhibited by Dracula and the three ladies so far i..."In folklore, vampires are described as monstrous, bloated, blueish, smeared with blood and usually unable to talk properly. That's not the case with Dracula. He is classy, smart, presentable and he can hide his nature. That's the most disturbing thing for me.
I love it when D says"A house cannot be made habitable in a day; and after all, how few days go to make up a century."
I have to wonder if the shaving mirror incident took place during the early morning daylight. Jonathan writes,I had hung my shaving glass by the window, and was just beginning to shave. Suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder, and heard the Count’s voice saying to me, ‘Good morning.’ . .Does hanging the mirror by the window, I assume in order to see to see better by the sunlight, the 'good morning', from Dracula, and reporting the glass shattering into a thousand pieces, instead of only hearing it break on the stones of the courtyard far below mean there was enough light to see by? Does this mean vampires can exist in the daylight? Jonathan does note later that,
. . .opening the heavy window with one wrench of his terrible hand, he flung out the glass, which was shattered into a thousand pieces on the stones of the courtyard far below.
I have not yet seen the Count in the daylight. Can it be that he sleeps when others wake, that he may be awake whilst they sleep?Is this explainable or is this a continuity problem in Jonathan's notes?
Dracula usually disappears when he hears the cock crow, which is just before sunrise. Jonathan says he had slept only a few hours before getting out of bed to shave. So even though Dracula says good morning, since we didn't hear the cock crow, maybe the sun still hadn't risen.I only slept a few hours when I went to bed, and feeling that I could not sleep any more, got up. I had hung my shaving glass by the window, and was just beginning to shave. Suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder, and heard the Count’s voice saying to me, “Good-morning.”
Dracula (Kindle Locations 435-437).
Tamara wrote: "...since we didn't hear the cock crow, maybe the sun still hadn't risen."Of course, that must be it. Although, it isn't very clear, is it? Vigilance may serve us well.
JH not seeing Dracula in the mirror, and Dracula throwing it out the window smashing it , could not be more a symbol of the absolute denial of Science. The history of optics traces from the ancients, Plato, Ptolemy, Kepler, Newton, even the double-slit experiment of Quantum science in 1800. To deny reflection in a mirror is to utterly deny a scientific era. JH's whole world view was smashed in the courtyard.
Sam wrote: "JH not seeing Dracula in the mirror, and Dracula throwing it out the window smashing it , could not be more a symbol of the absolute denial of Science."Great catch, Sam. It seems there is more to the mirror scene than mere demonstration of the non-reflective characteristic of vampires. Dracula himself provides the, bauble of man's vanity, excuse for the characteristic; Sam suggests a thematic explanation for it. Does that imply and element of vanity in science contrasts with an element of humility in superstition?
Classics and the Western Canon
Authors mentioned in this topic
Mortimer J. Adler (other topics)Charles van Doren (other topics)
Mortimer J. Adler (other topics)
Charles van Doren (other topics)
Introduction
First we are informed, or warned, that the papers we will be examining have been edited and contain just the relevant facts, presented [mostly] in the order they occurred and accurately represent what was known by the originator at the time. We are told these notes will be of events that may challenge contemporary, i.e., modern-day, belief.
Chapter 1: Jonathan Harker travels to Castle Dracula
JONATHAN HARKER’S JOURNAL - (Kept in shorthand)
We are transported along with Jonathan near the end of his travels (in medias res?) from the "civilized" West into the "wild and mysterious" east to provide legal services for Count Dracula's impending move to a property in London. Despite the odd looks and vague warnings from the locals, Jonathan attempts to keep control of himself with typical "Keep Calm and Carry On" attitude by trying to stick to his Western mindset and giving little credence to the old superstitions, setting up not only a clash of good and evil, but West and East, modern and old, science and superstition, Protestant, e.g., English Churchman, and Catholic. Just before midnight, a tall mysterious coachman with red eyes arrives in a black carriage drawn by black horses to drive Jonathan on the final leg of the journey to the castle. Jonathan observes strange events involving travel on the same road several times, stops for blue flames, and strange interactions with wolves.
Chapter 2: Jonathan arrives at Castle Dracula and soon realizes he is a prisoner
JONATHAN HARKER’S JOURNAL—(continued)
Upon Jonathan's arrival, Dracula welcomes greets with a strange intonation, Welcome to my house. Come freely. Go safely; and leave something of the happiness you bring! It is OK to say that using your best Bella Lugosi impersonation. Even crossing the threshold into the castle is strange, The oddities, too numerous to list here continue to mount. Which of Jonathan's observations during his travels and of the count and the castle have been the most disturbing so far? We are also introduced to the Count's library and the many English resources in the collection. Dracula refers to his books as friends, something we can all relate to. But it appears he has been studying the smallest details more like a military commander planning for an invasion than an enthusiastic traveler to a new land. As Harker's fears continue to mount he concludes, The castle is a veritable prison, and I am a prisoner!.