Dracula

Bram Stoker

Study Guide

Summary Characters Main Ideas Quotes Further Study Writing Help

Main Ideas
Style

Dracula’s style is epistolary, which means the novel is composed of diary entries, telegrams, letters, and memos. While
Stoker utilizes several di!erent first-person narrators, their narrative styles often sound remarkably similar. They all speak
straightforwardly, recording events in complete sentences with great detail. They also tend to narrate events in an episodic
manner, recording them in their letters and journal entries shortly after they have occurred. This gives the novel a sense of
immediacy, heightened in particularly dramatic moments through a more exclamatory style. At times of great stress, the
narratives tend to become filled with exclamation points, ellipses, and melodramatic language. Jonathan Harker’s diary, for
instance, becomes increasingly frantic after he realizes that he is trapped at Castle Dracula: “To-morrow! to-morrow! Lord,
help me, and those to whom I am dear!”

At the same time, slight variances do appear in the styles of individual narrators. Dr. Seward, for instance, speaks in a more
clinical style, utilizing scientific terminology that reflects his identity as the logical doctor. After Lucy rejects his proposal,
Seward writes, “If I don’t sleep at once, chloral, the modern Morpheus—C2HCl3O.” He oddly blends scientific language
(“chloral”) with romantic language (“the modern Morpheus”), reflecting his status as both doctor and would-be lover. In a
similar way, style also distinguishes the English characters from the non-English characters. Although Harker confirms that
Dracula speaks English “excellently,” the vampire’s style is highly formal and at times features grammatical oddities. “I would
that you tell me when I make error, even of the smallest, in my speaking,” he asks Harker, when “even the smallest error”
would be more standard. These slight irregularities signal that Dracula is an outsider in London, where, as he points out,
“none there are who would not know me for a stranger.” Dracula’s preoccupation with style and intonation highlights the
importance of language to his successful assimilation in English society. Meanwhile, Quincey Morris speaks with a heavy
dose of what Lucy calls “American slang.” In a letter to Mina, Lucy renders his speech full of colloquialisms and
stereotypically “American” turns of phrase (for instance, “I know I ain’t good enough to regulate the fixin’s of your little shoes”).
The narrators’ stylistic di!erences clearly identify characters who come from di!erent social strata and parts of the world.

Previous section Next section

Genre Point of View
Popular pages: Dracula

Character List
CHARACTERS

Count Dracula: Character Analysis

CHARACTERS

Plot Analysis
MAIN IDEAS

What role does Mina play in the plot to defeat Dracula?

MAIN IDEAS

Quotes by Theme
QUOTES

Themes
MAIN IDEAS

Review Quiz
FURTHER STUDY

Take a Study Break

Every Book on Your English Syllabus Summed Up in a Quote from The O!ce

Greek Mythology Summed Up in John Mulaney Quotes

Pick 10 Books and We'll Guess Whether You're an Introvert or an Extrovert

Pick 7 Books and We'll Tell You Which Holiday Movie You Should Watch Tonight
 QUIZ: Would You Be Asked to Dance in a Jane Austen Novel?

Every Book on Your English Syllabus, Summed Up in Marvel Quotes

Literary Characters Summed Up in Quotes from The O!ce

The #1 FREE study site for students

Most More Help Find Us On
Popular About
No Fear Contact Us
Shakespeare
How to Cite
Literature
SparkNotes
Guides

Other
Subjects

SparkNotes
Blog

Copyright © 2021 SparkNotes LLC Terms of Use | Privacy | Cookie Policy |

Do Not Sell My Personal Information