Chapter 2

This chapter is all about the introduction of Dracula himself and it is our fist glimpse of his features and his behavior. The chapter starts with a description of Dracula's castle, which relates back to the sublime. i have discovered that everything in this book is described in immense detail and it was no exception for the castle. Harker notes the castle's great round arches, the immense iron-studded stone doors, the rattling chains, and the clanking of massive bolts, and he compares the scene with a nightmare. Dracula himself is as mysterious as the castle itself, in keeping with the books theme of mystery. He is an old man and is clean shaven, except for a long white Victorian moustache, and he is clad all in black without "a single speck of color about him anywhere." He speaks in perfect English and welcomes Harker inside, shaking his hand with an ice-cold, vice-like grip.Although the count has this very cold looking appearance he still acts welcoming and polite in his home which is completely contrasting the look of him.


There are signs throughout this chapter that may show us that Dracula, although looking physically human, may be something different, unknown, maybe supernatural. Firstly Dracula never seems to eat at the same time as Harker when they live in the same house, from the information we are given we are not even sure that he eats at all. Also Harker notices something while he is shaving and Dracula enters the room, we see that Dracula himself does not seem to possess a reflection, which is enough evidence in itself to show that there is something unusual and unnerving about the count. Also when Harker cuts himself by accident while shaving, the count cannot seem to restrain himself. when the Count sees Harker's fresh blood trickling from his chin, his eyes blaze up "with a sudden demoniac fury," and he lunges for Harker's throat. Instinctively, Harker touches his crucifix, and Dracula's fury vanishes. The signs we have seen are signs that any of us would compare to our stereotypical view of a vampire. Harker then explores the castle farther and finally concludes that no matter how many beautiful vistas which he is able to see from the battlements, the castle is a veritable prison, and he is its prisoner. From what i have read so far it seems like everything is not what it seems on first appearances.

Carpathians!!! (mountains not vampires :P)

for blog number two I'm going discuss the effect of the sublime and give you a description of what Carpathians are, so people who have the same intellect as me can begin to understand the complex variety of words used in the Gothic novel 'Dracula'.

Firstly i think I'll inform you of why i decided to talk about the Carpathians as my first blog about the content of the book. well, i started to read the book subconsciously, to be honest i couldn't be bothered to read it. Each word i read seemed to leave my brain as quickly as they entered. And when it came to my lovely teacher :) asking me what i understood from the first chapter, i was lost for words. I seemed to think the Carpathians were a species of vampire, rather than there correct meaning of mountains, i don't see how i can confuse the two, but that's just my luck. Below i am going to give a brief description on the 'Carpathians' and the 'Sublime'.

(quoted from wikipedia)

'The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians are a range of mountains forming an arc of roughly 1,500 km (932 mi) across Central and Eastern Europe, making them the largest mountain range in Europe. They provide the habitat for the largest populations in Europe of brown bears, wolves, chamois and lynxes, with the highest concentration in Romania, as well as over one third of all European plant species' (they mentioned all of this in the first chapter so only a pathetic excuse for a English student, like me, would not understand).

These mountains are mentioned frequently throughout the text in chapter one, the Carpathians are described as enormous, they are something of such greatness, that nothing else can be compared to them, they are of enormous magnitude. 'Edmund Burke' is the first philosopher to state that the sublime and the beautiful were mutually exclusive (meaning that they are the same, but that is very unusual comparing something so large and scary but at the same time it could be beautiful). I think the sublime is going to become a common use in the book, already i have seen uses of eye saws in the book (the mountains, castles which show size yet beauty) but maybe as i progress through the book i am expecting there to be a comparison to Dracula and the sublime, showing that although he is terrifying he still has beauty, well see what happens...

I am looking forward to discussing more words which confuse me throughout blogging :)