Why Dracula Is a Gothic Novel

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Why Dracula is a Gothic Novel The horror story Dracula, written by Bram Stoker, is a thrilling novel about the notorious vampire, Dracula, and about a group of men and women who suffered from his evil and fought back. This novel, written in 1897, is one of the most famous gothic novels, and one of the most famous pieces of literature still to this day. The setting of the novel, the terminology, and the deep emotion that Stoker used allows the reader, and literary critics, to classify Dracula as Gothic Literature. The elements that Dracula contains to make it gothic include the setting of a castle, a suspenseful atmosphere, dreams and visions, inexplicable events, overwhelming emotions, distressed women, metonymy of horror, and of course gothic vocabulary. For a novel to be considered gothic, it must contain certain elements; Dracula reflects many of these unique principles. The setting largely affects the gothic feel of the novel. The medieval castle, the literally dark location, and the gloomy and suspenseful atmosphere, which are all utilized in the novel, are examples of a gothic setting. In his journal, Jonathan Harker described Count Dracula’s castle as he approached it: “...in the courtyard of a vast ruined castle, from whose tall black windows came no ray of light, and whose broken battlements showed a jagged line against the moonlit sky” (Stoker 22). This quote shows the medieval castle aspect almost always found in the gothic novel type, but also even begins to set up the dark, gloomy, and uneasy atmosphere that is so important in this kind of literature. Within the first four chapters, Jonathan, describes the setting of the Count’s old abandoned-looking castle which gave Jonathan, not to mention the reader, an uneasy feeling: “..for there is something so strange about this place and all in it that I cannot but feel uneasy. I wish I were safe out of
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