Gothic Motifs In Dracula

Dracula, a gothic novel by Bram Stoker, prominently displays three gothic motifs -- the supernatural, entrapment, and nightmares. Throughout the entirety of the novel, the main characters were being harmed or attempting to destroy the vampire, Count Dracula. Without this supernatural character there would not have been a plot line to the story. Count Dracula makes his victims feel physically entrapped as well as entrapped in their own mind. The characters in the novel that had direct interaction with Dracula seem to confuse reality with nightmares, making it hard for them to understand what was happening to them. Without these three main gothic motifs Dracula would not portray the same message.

The supernatural element of this story started

This realization led to the feeling of entrapment. The obvious form of entrapment the characters felt was the entrapment of the body. Dracula had locked many of the doors in his castle and Jonathan was forbidden to open them. When Jonathan was in Dracula’s castle he was trapped and could not escape. If Jonathan were to leave the castle, Dracula would summon the wolves. If Jonathan was to leave, the wolves would have an easy meal. Jonathan could not receive or deliver any information to the outside world without the knowledge of Dracula. Renfield felt trapped inside the lunatic asylum and even begged Dr. Seward to release him. In the last chapter of the book Dr. Van Helsing asked Mina to come sit by the fire and she was not able to move. At the end of the novel Mina instructed Dr. Van Helsing to stay inside of the Holy circle to ensure this safety. Many of the characters were physically trapped at different times but many of them also felt trapped within their own

The transition to becoming believers was very mentally exhausting for some people. There were many times during Jonathan’s stay in Transylvania that he thought he was going mad. Renfield knew that Dracula was in his mind on several occasions. At the very end of Lucy’s life there would be moments where she would act as a vampire before she had officially died. Mina called herself unclean on many occasions even though she exemplified exceptional character everyday. These characters were constantly struggling with their own thoughts and did not know how to control the things they were thinking. Many of the main characters in the novel felt as if they had gone insane, but in all reality their fears had become terrible realities.

The feeling of entrapment added to the urgency in the tone and mood. Often times when one is trapped he starts to panic. Since the novel was written in first person point of view from the viewpoints of the main characters in the book, the reader felt the same sense of panic that the characters felt. After the characters had been “released” from their entrapment feeling, they were dreading the thought of being trapped again. The character’s feeling of entrapment undoubtedly added to the feeling of urgency, panic, and dread in the tone and mood of the