Dreamy Dreamy Dracula

The exploration of dreaming and sleep is a conventional feature of the Gothic. The metaphorical link between sleep, death and the supposed afterlife comes into Stoker's use of vulnerability of the sleeper.
Many of Stolker's characters have difficulty sleeping, and unusually this inability to sleep is especially prominent at times where Dracula is near. With Lucy's attacks by Dracula comes along not only the inability to sleep, but the fear of sleep itself. From the sleepwalking and disturbed sleep initially, when Dracula is merely hovering outside her window, to a "presage of horror" which comes with sleep. Sleep becomes something to be feared, Lucy describes her "pain of the fear of sleep, with such unknown horrors as it has for me"; this "unknown horror" referring to Dracula.

This fear of sleep around Dracula is reinforced when Harker adopts a "nocturnal existence" whilst he stays at Dracula's castle. He is unable to sleep at night when Dracula is at his most powerful, suggesting he is unconsciously aware of Dracula's power and it's relation to sleep. His unconsciousness links to Freudian idea's which constantly appear throughout the novel, including the theory that ones true desires emerge through their unconsciousness. This may relate to the incident with the three brides. Harker believes he is dreaming the incident of the sexual encounter with three beautiful women, where maybe his guilty fantasies are projected.

This encounter arouses the idea of the mixing of dreams and reality, a thread which Stolker weaves into the narrative. Harker is confused as to whether he was asleep or not; "I suppose I must have fallen asleep; I hope so... for all that followed was startlingly real". This merging of dreams and reality, revolves around the power of vampires. Dracula and his brides are elements of the supernatural, and are considered by readers, imaginary. Yet if the characters are dreaming the vampires, it reiterates the idea of verisimilitude, that it could actually be happening.

However, it is more likely that the dream like state the characters adopt when in the face of vampires is purely illuminating the connection between sleep and vampires. When Mina is running to save Lucy from Dracula she says how she "Must have gone fast, and yet is seemed to me as if my feet were weighted with lead". This dreamlike imagery is familiar; wanting to run but not being able to, illustrating vampires connection to sleep.

Distinguishing between sleep and death is another theme running throughout the novel. When Harker finds Dracula lying in his coffin, he cannot tell whether he is dead or asleep; "He was either dead or asleep, I could not say which- for the eyes were open and stoney, but without the glassiness of death". The "Un-Dead" are said to be sleeping in their tombs, and as vampires are neither dead, nor alive, sleep tends to bring out their true forms.

"We thought her dying whilst she slept
And sleeping when she died"

This reinforces the connection of vampires to sleep and death. Lucy, as a beautiful corpse, looks more alive and appears to be sleeping. This quote finally establishes the link between vampires "sleeping in their tombs", never dead even in sleep.

Like A Virgin

The swift move of narrative voice from Harker to his friends back at home imminently allows room for detailed, yet subtle characterisation. The most prominent being the contrast between Lucy and Mina. Freud's dichotomy; the "Madonna/Whore complex, states that men view women as either non-sexual, sacred love objects, or a promiscuous whore. This theory may be applied to Lucy and Mina.

Lucy's innocence and naivety is portrayed through her "constant dread of wild bulls", introducing narrative irony as she is blissfully unaware of the true danger awaiting. She is the epitome of the Madonna, which is also illustrated through her desire to self improve, and her dedication to perfecting secretarial skills to assist her future husband; "if I can stenograph well enough I can take down what he wants to say". She is the dedicated, devoted sacred love object of a man, Harker, and her non-sexuality is highlighted by the contrasting flirtatious Lucy.

Lucy clearly enjoys the fact she is pursued by numerous wealthy and attractive young men. There is an ambivalence in her attitude that hints at self-indulgent, possibly even promiscuous nature; "horrid flirt", suggesting she symbolises Freud's "whore". This in reinforced at the incident by the castle in Chapter 8.

Stoker trickles in an undertone of sexuality immediately, as Lucy wonders out unaccompanied in the night in just her dressing gown. Mina expresses concern over "what might happen", "gone out as she was"; but her reluctance to distinguish what only highlights again her innocence. The promiscuous nature of Lucy is subtly implied by the suggestion of losing her virginity. Martial undertones are already presented by describing Lucy as a "white figure", conjuring the image of a white bride, and then the penetration by Dracula, and exchange of bodily fluids symbolises a sexual act. This is reinforced by Lucy's physical position at the time of penetration; "half reclining" with Dracula "bending over" her, arousing the image of a sexual position. Also, her "long heavy gasps" after resemble the state of a women after a sexual act. The final hint is the "drop of blood" on her nightdress; symbolising the drop of blood sought after on the bedsheets of a couple who have consummated their marriage. Lucy's symbolic loss of virginity here illustrates her resemblance to Freud's whore.