Gothic Motifs In The Novel By Bram Stoker

The novel Dracula was written by Bram Stoker and is one of the most popular novels among gothic literature. In any piece of gothic literature there are also gothic motifs which set the mood and tone of the story. A motif is a general theme, idea, or even a dominant symbol that plays a major role in any novel. A gothic motif is the same concept that is seen mostly in gothic literature. In Dracula, the audience will read about many different motifs such as cemeteries, revenants, entrapment, and an unreliable narrator just to name a few. Each of the motifs that are in the novel provide detail and vivid descriptions about the mood and tone of the story. For instance, if one would try to imagine Dracula without motifs like a cemetery or revenance,

This is when characters in a novel are trapped within something and they feel that there is no possible way to escape. This sets a mood of being scared for the characters and it is also very suspenseful for both the characters and the audience. Bram Stoker uses the motif, entrapment, in numerous ways throughout the novel. The first example would be at the beginning of the novel when Jonathan Harker is trapped inside Dracula’s castle. The doors are all locked and there is no way for Jonathan to escape. Jonathan is beginning to feel like a prisoner and in no time is wondering if he will ever be able to get out of Dracula’s castle and be able to see Mina again. Even when Jonathan tries to get help by sending out letters to Mina, he wakes up one morning and finds that all of his paper and pens are gone. He later comes to the conclusion that Dracula must have been the one behind the disappearance of his paper and pens. To Jonathan, this was more proof that he was a prisoner in Dracula’s castle and that it was going to be very difficult trying to get out of Dracula’s castle because he now had no way of getting in touch with someone to rescue him. Jonathan being trapped inside Dracula’s castle creates a suspenseful mood and when he is writing down his experiences in his journal, the audience can tell that he is very scared and has a fearful

Mina experiences this towards the end of the novel when Jonathan, Van Helsing, Dr. Seward, Arthur, and Quincey figure out that Dracula is targeting Mina to be his next victim. Mina begins to have the same problems that Lucy had. For example, Mina would become ghostly pale like Lucy and she had the same pricked points on her neck that Lucy had as well. In contrast to Lucy, it seemed that Mina was having a better chance of survival because she was fighting and was not needing blood transfusions like Lucy did. Mina becoming another one of Dracula’s victims is another example of entrapment because it shows that MIna is unable to escape from the wrath of Dracula. Mina also knows that if Dracula does not die, she will become a vampire and that makes her fearful of what could happen. The mood is suspenseful because it makes the other characters and the audience wonder what could happen to