But isn’t Dracula a horror story? Oh, indeed it is. Written in 1897 by Irish author Abraham (Bram) Stoker, it is the most famous of all vampire tales, though not the first. Created in a time that had already seen a vampire craze sweeping through literature, stage, and even music, many of the key fictional elements of vampirism had been set long before Stoker took up his tale of the foreign count (the foreign count was one of the those pre-existing key elements).
So, yes, Dracula is horror. It’s also Gothic, part travelogue, an invasion tale, and even a romance. More to the point of this blog, though, it’s also a thriller. Despite the archaic speech patterns, not to mention speeches (conveyed via journal entries, letters, and news clippings), the structure of the thriller shines through.
Why Dracula
One of the reasons that I selected Dracula was its price: free! You can get it from Project Gutenberg, and there are also free ebooks out there, including the iTunes store. I read a free ebook that came with Adobe Digital Editions on my Mac laptop.
Another reason that I chose Dracula is my belief that many people may not actually know the novel, or even the full story, for that matter. I know I didn’t and I had even read it as a teenager.
Finally, though, it’s a thoroughly enjoyable classic–for good reason.
Plot Analysis
For my analysis, I’m using a method advocated by James Scott Bell in his oh-so useful book on novel writing called Plot & Structure. I don’t care how many fiction writing books you own, you should not miss out on this one. I’ve read several but Plot & Structure really made a few key things click for me.
At approximately 161,000 words, Dracula is a lengthy work. In this exercise, I’ll be breaking it down, scene by scene (116 in all) and noting the following for each scene: the setting, the POV character, the scene type (setup, action, reaction, deepening), a two or three sentence summary of what happened in the scene, and my assessment of whether I should read on or not (typically phrased as a question). Along the way, I’ll be noting down the milestones of the plot as they go by–the real point to the exercise.
Without further ado, let us begin Dracula!
Scenes 1 – 20
Scene: 1
Setting: Transylvania
POV: Jonathan (journal entry)
Scene type: Setup
Summary: Jonathan Harker has traveled to Transylvania from London and receives a letter from Dracula making arrangements for transportation to meet Dracula.
Read on? It’s only the most famous setting in all of horror-dom. I guess I’ll read on!
(We meet the protagonist, our hero, and our opening image is one of a strange and foreboding landscape.)
Scene: 2
Setting: The Inn
POV: Jonathan
Scene type: Setup
Summary: The old woman at the inn is obviously terrified for Jonathan’s well being on learning that he is going to see Dracula. She gives him a rosary.
Read on? What does she fear?
(This scene works as a disturbance, our first substantive hint that something is very wrong with this trip. The woman at the inn, and just about everybody else in the story, is uneasy or downright fearful when they hear about Dracula and that our protagonist is on his to the castle.)
Scene: 3
Setting: Two coaches through the countryside
POV: Jonathan
Scene type: Setup
Summary: Jonathan’s coach is met by Dracula’s coach, which conveys him through the creepy countryside to the castle.
Read on? What will he find in the castle?
Scene: 4
Setting: Dracula’s castle
POV: Jonathan
Scene type: Setup
Summary: He is visiting as a solicitor to explain the purchase of a London estate. He meets the Count and he eats dinner–Dracula does not. The Count is strong but cold to the touch, making Jonathan nauseous when he’s too close.
Read on? What is wrong with the Count?
(We meet the antagonist and the namesake of the novel. It had been titled “The Un-Dead” while Stoker was working on it but the title changed shortly before it was published.)
Scene: 5
Setting: Dracula’s castle
POV: Jonathan
Scene type: Setup
Summary: He has a late breakfast by himself, spends the latter part of the day talking with Dracula, mostly about the estate he’s purchased. Again he dines solo and Dracula keeps him up until the first light of morning.
Read on? What is wrong with the Count?
Scene: 6
Setting: Dracula’s castle
POV: Jonathan
Scene type: Setup
Summary: Dracula doesn’t have a reflection in a mirror, is excited by the sight of Jonathan’s blood, but is then put off by the rosary. Jonathan has breakfast alone again and explores the castle to find many locked doors.
Read on? Is he a prisoner?
Scene: 7
Setting: Dracula’s castle
POV: Jonathan
Scene type: Action
Summary: Jonathan is convinced he is a prisoner. He spies Dracula doing all the servants work. He needs to draw information out of Dracula without raising suspicion that he knows something is going on.
Read on? Can he escape?
Scene: 8
Setting: Dracula’s castle
POV: Jonathan
Scene type: Action
Summary: Dracula says Jonathan will be staying for a month and tells him not to fall asleep anywhere but his bedroom. Jonathan sees him crawl down the outside of the castle wall, head first.
Read on? What kind of creature is Dracula?
(This scene could be characterized as a Call to Adventure or an Inciting Incident. Jonathan knows he’s up against something non-human and that, if he’s going to survive, he must take matters into his own hands, conquer his fear, and escape.)
Scene: 9
Setting: Dracula’s castle
POV: Jonathan
Scene type: Reaction
Summary: Jonathan sees Dracula scaling the wall again and confirms that virtually all doors in the castle are locked. He finds one unlocked. It was apparently once occupied by ladies in the castle.
Read on? What kind of creature is Dracula?
Scene: 10
Setting: Dracula’s castle
POV: Jonathan
Scene type: Action
Summary: Jonathan is found by three women who want to suck his blood but Dracula intervenes, saying that Jonathan is his. He tosses them a small child in a bag to quiet them and they leave. Jonathan faints.
Read on? What kind of creatures suck blood? What do they want with the child?
(We meet the allies of the Count, aside from the local people he employs, who fear him. Our hero suffers his first defeat after deciding that he must try to escape.)
Scene: 11
Setting: Dracula’s castle
POV: Jonathan
Scene type: Reaction
Summary: Jonathan awakes in his room and finds that his diary is still safe in his jacket pocket. Were Dracula to read it, he would know that Jonathan will try to escape.
Read on? Will he escape before they kill him?
Scene: 12
Setting: Dracula’s castle
POV: Jonathan
Scene type: Action
Summary: Jonathan tries to enter the ladies room again, but finds it has been locked, from the inside.
Read on? Will he escape before they kill him?
Scene: 13
Setting: Dracula’s castle
POV: Jonathan
Scene type: Action
Summary: The count asks Jonathan to write three letters saying that he’s left the castle and journeying home, and future date them. Jonathan now knows he won’t be leaving.
Read on? Will he escape before they kill him?
(A ticking clock begins, building suspense.)
Scene: 14
Setting: Dracula’s castle
POV: Jonathan
Scene type: Action
Summary: A band of gypsies camps below his window. He writes a letter to Mina, his fiancé, and his employer and throws them down with money. The gypsy seems to understand, but the count intercepts the letters and gives them back to Jonathan.
Read on? Will he escape before they kill him?
(Although we haven’t met them, we know that Jonathan’s allies are Mina and Mr. Hawkins, but they are in England. We hold out the remote hope that they may yet be able to help.)
Scene: 15
Setting: Dracula’s castle
POV: Jonathan
Scene type: Action
Summary: All of his personal effects have been taken from his room.
Read on? Will he escape before they kill him?
Scene: 16
Setting: Dracula’s castle
POV: Jonathan
Scene type: Action
Summary: Jonathan sees workmen delivering large empty crates below in the courtyard. He tries to leave his room but the door is locked. He calls down to the men, but they ignore him.
Read on? Will he escape before they kill him?
Scene: 17
Setting: Dracula’s castle
POV: Jonathan
Scene type: Action
Summary: Jonathan sees Dracula leaving in his own (Jonathan’s) clothes, probably to fake his leaving. The three women accost Jonathan in the form of sparkling dust that almost hypnotizes him. The count returns and Jonathan hears a scream for the count’s room. A woman shows up in the courtyard below, screaming for her child. Dracula calls the wolves and they kill her.
Read on? Will he escape before they kill him?
(We had suspected that Dracula was linked with the “children of the night” but now we see his web of allies includes animals.)
Scene: 18
Setting: Dracula’s castle
POV: Jonathan
Scene type: Action
Summary: Jonathan climbs down in daylight to the count’s window, enters, and eventually finds him sleeping in one of the boxes.
Read on? Will he escape before they kill him?
Scene: 19
Setting: Dracula’s castle
POV: Jonathan
Scene type: Action
Summary: Dracula assures Jonathan that he’ll be leaving the next day. He hears Dracula beyond his door telling the three women that Jonathan is his now, but theirs the next day.
Read on? Will he escape before they kill him?
Scene: 20
Setting: Dracula’s castle
POV: Jonathan
Scene type: Action
Summary: Dracula is taken away in his box and Jonathan decides to brave leaving through his window, rather than be left with the three women.
Read on? Will he escape before they kill him?
(Not only is this Bell’s Doorway 1 and the end of Act 1, it is also the climax of the first sequence. Jonathan is committed now to escaping, wouldn’t go back if he could, and would likely die if he went back anyway. We are propelled into the middle part of the novel and wonder where Dracula has gone and if Jonathan will make good his escape.)
In the next part of this plot analysis of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, we look at scenes 21 through 40 and meet our hero’s love interest.
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