0:33 Hello and welcome to another English
0:37 terms Dracula chapter discussion and analysis.
0:39 analysis.
0:41 Adding a bit of suspense there. Anyway,
0:44 here's chapter 4. Um, we've still got
0:47 Jonathan Harker, prisoner of Count
0:51 Dracula at Castle Dracula. And again, as
0:53 normal, we will go through and we will
0:57 find little things to look at.
1:00 But we can think about themes of
1:03 homoeroticism here because look at this.
1:06 He's gone to bed. Why isn't the point
1:10 working today? Not sure.
1:12 Um but anyway, we will carry on. Don't
1:15 know why that's not working.
1:19 Because Dracula's taken him to his room
1:22 and taking all his clothes off. Taking
1:24 Jonathan Harker's clothes off. So, his
1:27 clothes were folded and laid in a manner
1:30 which was not my habit.
1:32 Okay. So, oh yeah, point is working now,
1:34 but I've got to change it to green for
1:36 some reason. His watch was still
1:37 unwound. Well, he would have been
1:39 meticulous about winding that as a
1:43 Victorian gentleman himself.
1:47 Then we have more references to the sexy
1:50 vampire ladies who are a constant threat
1:52 in the castle as well as Dracula himself.
1:55 himself.
1:56 It is now a sort of sanctuary for
1:58 nothing can be more dreadful than those
2:02 awful women who were who are waiting to
2:03 suck my blood. So there's a sense of
2:05 incrementum there as in buildup and
2:07 there's parallel phrasing as well there.
2:08 You could use that, couldn't you?
2:10 There's a sense of suspense. A stoker is
2:11 creating some more suspense there
2:13 because we know how dangerous the sexy
2:17 vampire women are. Then we have I must
2:19 know the truth. So remember this is all
2:23 in epistoy format. So this is a pisto
2:26 form sorry and it's writing his journal
2:28 but you've still got so emulating
2:33 elements of preodic features or proided
2:35 where you've got the emphasis there. I
2:38 must know the truth and as harker is our
2:39 protagonist here we're meant to
2:42 obviously be invested in his struggles and
2:44 and
2:47 count being suave. Great word suave
2:48 isn't it really? But the idea of how
2:50 elegant and persuasive he is. So that's
2:52 a nice little adjective you can talk
2:55 about there as well. Then about this
2:57 manipulation of the letters that's very
2:59 weeping with the Gothic genre of the
3:01 villain and the damsel in distress
3:04 except we said before me that Jonathan
3:05 Harker is even though he's male he's
3:08 like a damsel in distress and he's imprisoned
3:10 imprisoned
3:12 and the the Gothic horror villain will
3:15 manipulate things and manipulate uh the
3:17 environment that they're in and imprison
3:19 people and control. You see things like
3:21 the clothes here as well. There's lots
3:24 of references to things here that show
3:27 Dracula's villain even, you know, even
3:30 without the actual of devouring people
3:33 as well or at least drinking their
3:36 blood. So something may occur which will
3:38 give me a chance to escape. That's very
3:40 fitting with a typical Gothic heroine
3:43 normally and the idea of trying to
3:46 explore the castle and escape. I
3:47 therefore pretended to fall in with his
3:48 views. He hasn't really got a lot of
3:50 options, has he really? Again, very much
3:53 like a Gothic heroine characteristic
3:56 here as well. He calculated a minute.
3:59 The first should be the first should be
4:02 June 12th, the second June 19, and the
4:04 third June 29.
4:08 I know now the span of my life. God help
4:10 me. So that's a little exclamatory
4:13 sentence there. And then pragmatics
4:16 being used here to imply of course these
4:18 letters are going to correspond with
4:20 well the latest one that's how long he's
4:21 got to live. He's going to be left with
4:24 the sexy vampire ladies.
4:26 Dracula's brides is the more official
4:31 term to use. Then we have references to
4:34 uh the gypsies and there's kind of
4:37 racial uh descriptions here. The suzani
4:39 are gypsies. I've noted them in my book.
4:40 they are peculiar to this part of the
4:42 world. They're allied to the ordinary
4:45 gypsies all the world over. He he mainly
4:47 shows not necessarily prejudice but
4:49 definitely a sense of um I think there's
4:52 a sense of superiority maybe curiosity
4:54 and he doesn't really understand them
4:56 and they they are being presented like
4:58 to the Victorian readers as they are
5:00 strange foreigners is how they're being
5:03 presented here and then allied to the
5:05 ordinary gypsies all the world over. It
5:07 kind of implies that they're all kind of
5:09 some kind of vast gypsy network where
5:12 they're all uh in sync with each other.
5:13 Or he could just mean in terms of or
5:15 Stoker's writing in this case of course
5:19 Stoker could just mean it's in purely um
5:23 in terms of ethnicity. Um but you could
5:25 explore that can't you? And then there's
5:27 use of language here that's a way of
5:31 setting Jonathan Harker apart from where
5:34 he is his location. is in he's in a
5:35 foreign country. He doesn't understand
5:38 the people or what they say. So it helps
5:41 to create that sense of isolation and
5:44 threat. Stoker set up there
5:45 and then he yeah he can't understand
5:47 them so he doesn't understand their
5:48 customs which is kind of what I've said
5:51 already. He's worried about what mean
5:52 would think about the letters. So it
5:54 would frighten her to death while I
5:57 expose my heart to her. Well, and he
5:58 means not heart as in he already loves
6:00 her, but he means the truth about what's
6:05 been happening here at Castle Dracula.
6:09 Then I'd highlighted this bit for a
6:11 reason. Let me have a look. Why did I do
6:14 it then? Oh yeah, because he gives these
6:18 letters to the Suzani and he's double
6:19 crossed by them. Basically, they're
6:22 loyal to Dracula. So again, there's
6:24 Stoker is setting up like glimmers of
6:26 hope and then they're very quickly
6:28 dashed straight away. So he's seeing
6:30 these letters.
6:32 Um the other is a vile thing, an outrage
6:35 upon friendship and hospitality is he's
6:37 not signed well so it cannot matter to
6:39 us. And then he burns them. He burns the
6:42 letter anyway. That letter
6:44 more things which are a feature of like
6:46 a Gothic heroine being trapped in the
6:49 castle there. Obviously, he's he's a
6:50 male character. He's a hero. He's like a
6:54 gothic hero. He's the protagonist, but
6:57 Stoker is crossing gender boundaries
7:00 with his depiction here of
7:02 Jonathan Harker.
7:04 Very courteous and very cheery in his
7:06 manner. So again, that links with
7:08 earlier on we had the adjective about
7:11 suave, but he's courteous, cheery.
7:13 He's almost like a Bond villain, you
7:14 know, like they're always very suave and
7:17 whine and dine there. Uh well, James
7:20 Bond and uh and whoever's helping him
7:22 out at that time. It's always like that,
7:25 isn't it? Then
7:27 carrying on, we have Yeah. So, remember
7:29 I said about
7:32 Dracula being like a classic Gothic
7:34 villain and he locks doors and he
7:36 restricts Jonathan's movements and
7:38 everything. And in this case, every
7:40 scrap of paper was gone. is stopping him
7:42 from being able to write any other forms
7:44 of communication. He's just having that
7:48 as an insurance. Then we also have
7:51 mystery here about where of uh where's
7:53 Harker's clothes gone. Well, it turns
7:56 out Dracula is doing a bit of cosplay as
8:00 Jonathan Harker and uh that's well
8:02 that's coming up. But that's where his
8:04 clothes have gone. Dracula's going
8:06 around disguises Jonathan Harker was
8:09 part of his plan to trick people into
8:12 thinking that he's still in the area.
8:14 More gothic stuff there of being locked
8:16 up. And then there's also references to
8:19 all those boxes of earth
8:21 that Dracula is having transported to
8:24 England as well. So when he sees
8:26 Dracula, here it is. Look at this. It
8:27 was a new shock to me to find that he
8:29 had on the suit of clothes which I had
8:31 worn whilst traveling here and slung
8:32 over his shoulder the terrible bag which
8:35 I had seen the women take away. So that
8:36 was where it had the child in it. Isn't
8:39 it? A new scheme of evil. He will allow
8:42 others to see me as they think so that
8:44 most leave evidence that I have been
8:45 seen in the towns and villages posting
8:49 my own letters
8:50 and that any wickedness which he may do
8:52 shall by the local people be attributed
8:54 to me. So
8:56 So
8:57 that's an interesting thing there in
9:00 terms of power and control from Dracula
9:03 taking his clothes posing as Jonathan
9:06 Jonathan Harker and then because
9:08 reflecting Jonathan Harker's character
9:10 as a solicitor as well he notes that
9:13 he's it's unlawful imprisonment isn't
9:15 it? So veritable prisoner but without
9:16 the protection of the law which is even
9:19 a criminal's right and consolation. So,
9:22 he hasn't even got that.
9:25 Then more reference to the dogs, which
9:28 is actually probably wolves, I think.
9:30 And this is another great little
9:33 sequence here. Um, the the the sound of
9:35 dogs, but it does seem to be wolves
9:37 because it's actually the uh brides of
9:39 Dracula. The floating moes of dust are
9:41 taking new shapes to the sound as they
9:43 danced in the moonlight.
9:45 I felt myself struggling to awake to
9:47 some call of my instincts. name. My very
9:48 soul was struggling and my
9:50 half-remembered sensibilities were
9:52 striving to answer the call. I was
9:54 becoming hypnotized. [snorts]
9:55 [snorts]
9:58 Victorians very interested in hypnotism
9:59 of a cultural reference. They're quite
10:03 interested in that as a fairly new
10:06 mysterious thing. It wasn't fully
10:08 understood. Then the moon seemed to
10:10 quiver as they went by me into the mass
10:12 of gloom beyond. More and more they
10:13 gathered till they seemed to take dim
10:16 phantom shapes. And then I started broad
10:17 awakening full possession of my senses
10:19 and ran screaming from the place. The
10:21 phantom shapes which were becoming
10:22 gradually materialized from the moon
10:25 beams were those of three ghostly women
10:28 to whom I was doomed. So it's the bride
10:30 of Dracula again manifesting themselves.
10:33 So lots of ghostly
10:35 women phantom shapes like good
10:37 adjectives there as well. Even
10:38 possession in some ways. I know he's
10:40 talking about his own senses or Stoker
10:42 has hawker talking about his own senses,
10:44 but possession's got connotations
10:47 obviously of the supernatural and and
10:54 I still can't get the raised lightsaber
10:57 to appear anywhere else. It would be um
10:59 will be on the side of uh will be the
11:01 side of the light side of the force.
11:04 Then we have this incident of a mother
11:06 looking for a child as well. So
11:09 emphasizes Stoker emphasizing Dracula's
11:12 villain and the and what's actually
11:14 approaching England, what's going to be
11:16 going to England, isn't it? So that's
11:18 why he's doing it. Reference, we've had
11:21 references to his and also of the brides
11:23 as well having kind of metallic laughs,
11:25 haven't we? As well.
11:27 This dreadful thing of night and gloom
11:31 and fear. That's a nice example of a
11:36 synthetic list as well. So that's good.
11:37 Oh, had a little glitch there. Hope
11:43 that's all okay. Then over the page and
11:45 25th of June. I'd not yet seen the count
11:47 in the daylight. Can it be that he
11:48 sleeps when others wake that he may be
11:50 awake whilst I sleep? It seems like he's
11:51 taken a long time to work this out with
11:54 this rhetorical question here. If only I
11:57 could get into his room.
12:00 references to the hereafter. So that is
12:03 a synonym for heaven
12:05 in contrast to the villain and demonic
12:08 nature of Dracula.
12:11 Then he gets into what he thinks is
12:13 Dracula's room, but the room was empty.
12:16 It's full of odd things. We've got gold
12:18 here from different countries and it's
12:20 also none of it that I noticed was less
12:23 than 300 years old. So again, some of
12:25 these kind of warning signs are, you
12:27 know, he he's starting to realize what
12:28 he's up against here. Really, it's
12:32 taking him quite a long time. In true
12:36 Gothic horror genre style, Harker
12:39 explores the actual castle itself and he
12:42 goes deeper and deeper into the castle
12:44 and he finds the chapel that he says is
12:46 being used as a graveyard as well. So
12:48 again, this is maintaining the tone,
12:50 isn't it, of the of the horror genre
12:53 here. And he finds Dracula in one of the
12:56 boxes, either dead or asleep. And he difference,
12:58 difference,
13:02 and the lips were as red as ever,
13:06 so he can see this obviously. Um,
13:07 I flew from the place and leaving the
13:09 count's room by the window, I crawled
13:12 again up the castle wall. Strangely,
13:14 he's kind of echoing what Dracula does
13:16 himself, like climbing around outside,
13:17 doesn't he? That's how he's getting
13:20 around the castle as well. Uh, again, I
13:21 saw him leave the castle by the same
13:24 window and in my clothes.
13:26 So, he heard about that earlier on. You
13:28 return to your beautiful England. I to
13:29 some works. You may have had such an end
13:32 that we may never meet. And there's
13:34 again Stoker's use of pragmatics.
13:36 There's actually a hint of menace there,
13:38 isn't there? Because he's the charming
13:40 villain implying that he's going to be dead.
13:42 dead.
13:44 Um, there's more insincerity.
13:47 Why may I not go to go tonight? Because
13:50 dear sir, my coach and horses on a way
13:51 on a mission. I've been forgetting to do
13:54 the Dracula voice today. I do apologize.
13:57 Out of practice,
13:59 first recording since after uh Christmas
14:03 holidays. [snorts] Then lame excuse.
14:05 Then uh the cow stood up and said with a
14:07 sweet courtesy which made me rub my
14:10 eyes. It seems so real. So again, that
14:13 courtesy, that suave nature, uh really
14:15 emphasize it from Stoker, isn't it? That
14:19 how much of a villain it is as well.
14:21 Ponderous bolts unhook the heavy chains.
14:24 And so this is all connotations of of
14:26 imprisonment, doesn't it? As well, and
14:27 when the doors are open, when Dracula
14:29 says, "Oh, yeah, it's fine. You just go
14:31 out this door here." He opens the door
14:34 and then who should be outside? But it's
14:36 the Well, howling of the wolves is
14:37 actually the women, isn't it? in their
14:40 wolf forms
14:41 and I knew then to struggle at the
14:44 moment against the count was useless. So
14:46 he can't uh there's no escape. Crew is
14:49 setting up again created like this
14:51 classic sense of being a gothic heroine
14:56 in many ways. Jonathan Harker
14:59 um he addresses them doesn't he? The
15:02 brides back back to your own place. Your
15:05 time is not yet come. Wait, have
15:07 patience. Tonight is mine. Tomorrow
15:10 night is yours. There was a low, sweet
15:12 ripple of laughter, and in a rage I
15:14 threw open the door and saw without the
15:17 three terrible women licking their lips.
15:18 So, it's very predatory and it's got
15:20 kind of sexual connotations as well,
15:22 isn't it really as well. They all joined
15:24 in a horrible laugh and ran away. So
15:26 Stoke is doing everything he can here to
15:29 maintain the sense of menace, the sense
15:31 of threat, the sense of danger to
15:33 Jonathan Harker and encouraging kind of
15:38 audience fear and concern about how he's
15:40 going to get out of this even though
15:44 this is all his journal. So somehow
15:46 somehow he was writing this all the time
15:47 and remembering all this detail, but
15:48 we're not going to think too much about that.
15:50 that.
15:52 So he tries to escape but it's locked.
15:56 Decides to get the key actually. Then
15:57 Then
16:00 when he goes to investigate Dracula in
16:01 the chapel again as well he knows
16:04 Dracula's got the key. So when Dracula's
16:06 recharging his vampiric batteries he
16:08 goes down to don't use that phrase in
16:13 real essays and things. Um just a joke
16:14 saw something which film a very soul
16:16 with horror. Dracula could have
16:18 regenerated himself. He's renewed
16:20 himself, half renewed. So, he's looking
16:23 younger because he's been feeding and
16:25 he's getting ready to travel. So, he's a
16:27 lot more healthy there. Great simile
16:29 here. He lay like a filthy leech. Blood
16:32 sucking. Are they mollisks? I think
16:34 leeches, aren't they? They are mollisks.
16:38 But yeah, blood sucking mollisks. There
16:39 was a mocking smile on the bloated face
16:41 which seemed to drive me mad. And this
16:43 is foreshadowing. And look here as well.
16:46 The very thought drove me mad. The idea
16:48 is, you know, he does actually get sent
16:49 to the brink of madness, doesn't he,
16:51 from his experiences?
16:54 And Harker realizes now this was the
16:56 being I was helping to transfer to
16:57 London where perhaps for centuries to
17:00 come, he might among steaming millions
17:02 satiate his lust for blood and create a
17:04 new and ever widening circle of semi
17:06 demons to batten on the helpless. That
17:09 means as in feed on them.
17:11 So we said earlier on about in the
17:13 previous chapters about Dracula's plan
17:15 coming to England. It's really turning
17:17 on its head what the British Empire has
17:19 been doing. And the British Empire in
17:21 the 19th century and even into the early
17:24 20th century thought of itself in terms
17:27 of hundreds of years of rule. That's how
17:29 it saw it. So I think there's definitely
17:33 connection there to that.
17:36 Then we have oh yeah more this is a
17:39 little supernatural bit I noticed where
17:42 the door gets blown mysteriously closed.
17:44 you know, there's a puff of wind and the
17:45 door gets locked. So, I thought that was
17:46 quite a little bit. I'm not going to
17:50 spend too long on that bit. And then we
17:53 have the idea of at least God's mercy is
17:54 better than that of these monsters. And
17:56 the precipice is steep and high and its
17:59 foot a man may sleep as a man. Goodbye
18:01 all mean. This is the last thing he
18:04 writes before he does his literal
18:06 cliffhanger where he's actually going to
18:08 climb out of the castle and uh and
18:10 escape. And spoiler alert, he does
18:13 survive, of course. But anyway,
18:15 and that's the end of the introductory
18:17 sequence of Dracula, the first few
18:21 stages of it. And then chapter five, we
18:24 will go on. We will meet Mina and Lucy
18:26 and it'll be good. So hopefully you've
18:28 enjoyed that. Listen to the others.
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