Moving away from the traditional story-telling methods, Bram Stoker, in his iconic

novel Dracula, introduces the events of his story through a plurality of narrative voices based

on different characters’ perspectives in the form of personal letters, diary entries and newspaper

reports. This technique referred to as epistolary narrative allows him to distance himself from

the role of an omniscient narrator and gives his characters voice and space to determine what,

how , when and how much they want to reveal about themselves and the information they

possess. Consequently, the readers feel intrigued to dive deeper into the fictional world of

Dracula in order to make of all its fragments one coherent unity of meaning. This essay is an

attempt to study this sophisticated narrative structure1 and its implication, as well as studying

its contribution in the development of some major themes.

Dracula’s excessive degree of narrative sophistication, achieved by the utilization

of the epistolary form, makes it a timeless gothic. Its structure and narrative style is one of the

aspects of a long lasting gothic with a long lasting effect on readers. Indeed, it is an epistolary

novel consisting of several interlocking stories; the diary of Jonathan Harker, an account of his

trip to Transylvania and his stay at Dracula's castle; the letters of the female characters, Lucy

Westenra and Mina Harker; the diary of Dr. Seward, an alienated doctor; and the memorandum

of Professor Van Helsing. According to David Punter2, the Gothic narrative is based on delayed

information, equivocation and suspense. This creates an emotional intensity associated with

1
The epistolary form
2 Professor of English at the University of Bristol in his book The Literature of Terror 1996

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horror, abjection, and the exhibition of the monstrous or cadaverous body or terror, which,

according to Anne Radcliffe3, has a spiritual and initiatory function, taking the readers to

another level of experience and knowledge. Bram Stoker's novel is thus within this vein, as it

constitutes a late and nostalgic avatar. Some of the book's most resounding horrors such as

Dracula clambering bat-like down a wall, the attack of the vampire women, a mother clamoring

for her slaughtered baby and so on, occur in the early chapters at Transylvania's Castle Dracula.

Nevertheless, they are revealed to the readers at a distance from narrative immediacy; they are

read as entries in Jonathan Harker's journal. Written by the character long after the events have

taken place, Stratford4 argues “these opening episodes avoid the breathless sense of clichéd

first-person adventures told as the events happen. These are the horrors Harker remembers at

a distance, which makes them even more vivid.”5 The fact that Dracula is written in a an

epistolary or a diary form thus plays an important role in meeting the intense and desired effect

of a gothic novel on its readers, subsequently contributing to the popularity and success of this

masterpiece.

Dracula’s narrative made possible the realistic account of a fantastic universe. The

realism of the story is largely due to its mode of narration. Devanshi Jain6, in her essay “The

Epistolary Form of Bram Stocker’s Dracula,” argues that “As the novel deals with supernatural

themes, the epistolary structure and use of different narrators with varied viewpoints who

corroborate each other’s narrative lends an element of realism to the story”. By using different

3
An English author and the pioneer of Gothic fiction
4
An education reporter for POLITICO Pro.
5 Stratford, Michael. ‘‘The Narrative Technique of Bram Stoker’s Dracula.” 2017
6
An interdisciplinary artist and the founder and editor of the Curious Reader website

HAJER MRABET 2
means of narration, Stoker creates a sense of documentary realism while telling his story. The

characters’ descriptions of events “blend together to give the impression of realism, supported

by the information presented as historical facts”7. Stoker chose the epistolary exchange to

construct his novel and to communicate the different points of view of the characters who live

the adventure to the end. This makes possible knowing the protagonists, Jonathan Harper, his

wife Mina and Dr. Seward. The reader becomes aware of the bonds that unite them and

gradually discovers Dracula's identity. Jonathan Harker recounts his encounter with Count

Dracula up to the final confrontation, keeping a diary in which his fears and apprehensions are

revealed. This mode of writing reinforces the impression of living a realistic narrative, like a

testimony delivered to the reader. Thus, the reader is held as a confidant for all the characters,

except for Count Dracula, who intends to keep his share of mystery, as if to make the story

credible. The reader tends to give credence to this dark and gothic universe that takes place in

realistic locations from London to Transylvania. They share the anguish of the adventurers, as

well as their most intimate doubts. Realism is also seen in the distinct tone of every character’s

voice, achieved by the epistolary narrative and its multiple narrative voices. In Dracula, every

character shows fear of the unknown, but each one of them shows it differently, making it

even more realistic. Jonathan spent most of his time traumatized from being trapped by

someone or something he did not understand, so, many of his journal entries had a tone of

“helplessness and frustration.” Mina was more worried about the people she loved even after

being attacked, so her detail-oriented journal entries and letters to others were full of

“empathy and concern.” Lucy’s were full of innocence and hope while enduring a corruption

her “bright personality” could not ward off. Dr. Seward however, is a “compassionate man”

with a “keen eye” for human behavior especially of those around him. Van Helsing,

7 Šubrt, Michal. “Bram Stoker’s Storytelling in Dracula”

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throughout his few entries, speaks in a “cryptic and philosophical tone” with “strong

religious and romantic undertones.”8 Comparing the tones of each character adds to the

realism of the story not only by paralleling the real world but also by shedding light on the

range of perspective within it and how the characters’ views on one thing ultimately brought

them together, thus progressing the plot.

The diary form in Dracula also contributes to the overall narrative, as it provides

the reader with a greater insight into the characters’ viewpoints and personal experiences. It

tells the latter about each of the characters’ intention and motive behind writing down these

experiences. In the first chapters of the novel, Johnathan journeys to Transylvania while writing

everything he encounters in his journal. Through his writing, the reader discovers that his

original intentions for writing solely rested on remembering his traveling experiences. He

claims “I shall enter here some of my notes, as they may refresh my memory when I talk over

my travels with Mina.” The concept of writing for remembrance also serves as a driving force

for others within the novel, such as Dr. Seward and his observation journals. Writing for

remembrance is also experienced through the businesses that the troupe interrogates while

discovering the whereabouts of Count Dracula. Dr. Seward encounters one business in

particular who reflect on their writing to help the doctor. He writes that the business “looked up

the transaction in their day-book and letter-book, and at once telephoned to their King’s Cross

office for more details. By good fortune, the men who did the teaming were waiting for work,

and the official at once sent them over, sending also by one of them the way-bill and all the

papers connected with the delivery of the boxes at Carfax.” “Though the business’s intentions

8 Kris Leliel’s words

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differ from the troupe’s purpose of killing Dracula -and therefore the vampire disease- ,”

Salazar argues, ‘‘they are still writing in their books for remembrance, thus unintentionally

contributing to the overall narrative.”9 Writing also provides the troupe with the possibility to

reach outside readers. Lucy writes in her diary, “I must imitate Mina, and keep writing things

down.” Though she is not required to write for others, she feels compelled to continue, believing

that an unknown reader will one day benefit from her writing. Feeling obliged to contribute to

the narrative also persists among the other characters. From Dr. Seward, who writes “Let all be

put down exactly” to Van Helsing, who says “Read all, I pray you, with the open mind; and if

you can add in any way to the story here be told do so, for it is all-important,” all characters

within the troupe feel obliged to write down their experiences. Though it starts with Johnathan

writing to please Mina, everyone eventually succumbs to this arduous task. Therefore, stoker’s

choice of the diary or epistolary form for his novel is not arbitrary but rather well studied as it

not only serves the gothic aspect of the story and the but also adds up to the narrative as a whole

as well as sheds light on characters’ experiences and intentions. It makes the concept of writing

itself an interesting point to be analysed as a theme in the novel.

The epistolary form of Dracula’s Narrative also contributes to the theme of

monstrousness and the “other” in the novel. It is argued that one of the things that make Dracula

so frightening -besides the blood-sucking- is that he's foreign. This foreignness is highlighted

by the fact that, unlike most of the characters, no diary entries of Dracula are provided. The

9Salazar, Anthony. ‘‘Curing the Vampire Disease with Transfusion: The Narrative Structure of
Bram Stoker’s Dracula.”

HAJER MRABET 5
reader only knows about Dracula through other characters’ journals and their perspectives.

What Dracula himself thinks, feels and what he really is, remain unknown, which emphasizes

both the otherness and the monstrousness of his character. According to Manuel10, The monster

is that creature that is born out of the perception of self and other, of what is deemed

unacceptable by social norms. It is somewhere between the human and the inhuman, between

the known and the unknown: from there it becomes monstrous, since it does not fit into any

category11. His acts, of extreme cruelty and violence, are often what makes him a monster12 ,

which is exactly the case for Dracula. The narrative used in Dracula and the type of focus

chosen contribute greatly to the construction of the monster itself. The readers are kept in

ignorance of what the monster perceives and experiences, thus making it distant from them and

from humanity. The thoughts of the main protagonist, Dracula, are never known other than

through the reports of the others given to read, which provokes a distance from the vampire

who is only perceived through the eyes of the characters and therefore becomes alien to the

reader as well. The emergence of the figure of the other finds its logic in the novel and is

intensified by the plural narrative voices. Dracula presents himself in turn as a divine or

demonic Other. Renfield sees him as his master; "the master is at hand,” he tells Dr. Seward.

Jonathan exclaims "my God” when he sees him. His castle is the "throne of God,” his malignant

eye, that of the devil, his smile is "malignant and saturnine." Moreover, he descends from a

noble lineage suspected of having made a pact with the devil. "The Draculas were, says

Arminius, a great and noble race, though now and again were scions who were held by their

coevals to have had dealings with the Evil One." Like a king, Dracula uses the plural of majesty:

"Whenever he spoke of his house he always said, 'we', and spoke almost in the plural, like a

king speaking." He belongs to the line of tyrants, of supermen, consequently categorized as an

10
Didier Manuel : an artist, performer, director and author of Franco-American origin.
11
Ancet, Pierre. ‘‘L’ombre du corps monstrueux.’’ 2009
12
Pharo, Patrick. ‘‘La monstruosité morale.’’ 2009

HAJER MRABET 6
“Other.” Jonathan Harker then asks: "What manner of a man is this, or what manner of creature

is it in the semblance of a man?” "What it was, whether man or beast, I could not tell," writes

Mina. He is a wolf with hairy hands; "there were hairs in the centre of the palm" with "long

sharp teeth." He appears to Jonathan Harker as a bat as he advocates “But my very feelings

changed to repulsion and terror when I saw the whole man slowly emerge from the window and

begin to crawl down the castle wall over that dreadful abyss, face down, with his cloak

spreading out around him like great wings.” These images contribute to dehumanising him, to

making him more disturbing, and to reinforcing the monstrous figure of the Other pleasure

seeker that he embodies. Dr.Seward compares him to a panther as well as to a lion and calls

him a monster. Dracula tells Jonathan Harker that in London, his aim is to become an

incarnation of the absolute Other, of the one who does not exist; like Ulysses. He will become

'nobody', and to meet his aim, he wants to master the language perfectly to not be spotted as a

foreigner: “did I move and speak in your London, none there are who would not know me for a

stranger. That is not enough for me.” Dracula’s animalistic character and consequently his

otherness is thus a central theme in the novel to which the form of the narrative has contributed

in developing. The epistolary created even more distance from the character of Dracula by

describing him only through the eyes of the other characters who themselves consider him as

an “other.” As a result, the readers could feel his Otherness as well.

Stoker’s narrative technique in Dracula also adumbrates13 the theme of limited

knowledge. Since it is an epistolary narrative, Dracula’s characters are the narrators of the

story. This means that the author relies on the characters’ knowledge of the events in unfolding

13
Foreshadows

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and progressing the storyline. His choice of a plurality of narrative voices and not just one

character’s, shows that, unlike an omniscient narrator, each narrator’s knowledge is limited,

which means that the each character’s diary is only one fragment of the truth that needs to be

assembled with the other fragments in to create greater meaning and understanding of the story.

Each character in the novel reveals the information they possess- that are of course limited-

from their perspective and according to their viewpoints, which are, as aforementioned,

different from the other characters’. This results in a sense of fragmentation when moving from

one narrator to another. Consequently, the reader’s knowledge is also limited, as they only know

what the characters want to reveal to them. Sometimes the reader even have to infer meanings

and to fill in the gaps of information that are resulted from such a narrative structure in order to

have a better picture of the events. It is as if the readers are in a pursuit of knowledge, seeking

the absent information in one character’s diary in another’s. Indeed, this concept of the

knowledge and its limits that the structure of the novel implies is not only formal, but also is

one of the major themes of Dracula. This quest for knowledge also lies in Van Helsing, Lucy,

and Parker's endeavors to comprehend the nature and working of Dracula as a character. It is

because they are not aware of the extent of his power, capacity and his horrendous access to

human nature, that they must learn how to fight against him. The novel also hints to the limits

of modern knowledge, as despite Stoker's admiration for and inclusion of latest scientific

knowledge and advancing technology, which he reveals in small details about cameras,

portable typewriters, and the like, what saves the day is the lore Van Helsing gathers from

old sources and from experts in ancient myths. It shows the limits of modern knowledge and

the benefits of retaining traditional knowledge. Moreover, knowledge itself is not exactly safe

in the novel. A reverberation of the genesis story from the bible in which the desire to know

good from evil causes Adam and Eve to risk expulsion from heaven. This ambivalence could

be detected in the novel when Seward admits wanting to let Renfield's madness run to murder

HAJER MRABET 8
to advance science for instance, and when Van Helsing accuses Dracula of overstepping what

humans may rightly know and learning dark arts in the Scholomance. Knowledge, as Van

Helsing says and demonstrates, must be controlled and people must understand its limits. Stoker

thus intentionally foreshadows these limits through the epistolary form of the novel, paving the

way for this theme.

Stoker skilfully utilizes the epistolary narrative in which he blends different voices

and characters and accesses their most intimate thoughts and feelings, captivating the minds of

his readers and triggering their imagination. This formal aspect of his quintessential novel

granted Dracula an unparalleled popularity and influence both as an ideal timeless gothic novel

meeting the expectation of its readers and its required effects on them, and as a mythical

supernatural character, that has been an inspiration to several authors, artists, and even movie

directors. Moreover, Dracula’s narrative structure adds a realistic impress to the story,

facilitating the readers’ identification with its characters, and contributes in the development of

two of the major themes of the novel namely the theme of foreignness and the “Other” and the

theme of knowledge and its limits. In conclusion, the epistolary form of the novel is, for the

most part, what makes Dracula such an interesting and fascinating iconic text.

HAJER MRABET 9
 Bibliography:

 Seed, David. “The Narrative Method of Dracula.” Nineteenth-Century Fiction, vol. 40, no. 1, 1985,

pp. 61–75. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3044836. Accessed 22 Dec. 2020.

 Altman, Janet Gurkin. “Toward a Cultural Poetics of Literary Genres: The Case of Diary

Fiction.” Poetics Today, vol. 7, no. 3, 1986, pp. 547–553. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/1772510.

Accessed 22 Dec. 2020.

 Day, Robert Adams. “SPEECH ACTS, ORALITY, AND THE EPISTOLARY NOVEL.” The

Eighteenth Century, vol. 21, no. 3, 1980, pp. 187–197. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/41467221.

Accessed 22 Dec. 2020.

 Maupin, Amy. “From the Scroll to the Screen: Why Letters, Then and Now, Matter.” The English

Journal, vol. 105, no. 4, 2016, pp. 63–68. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/26359229. Accessed 22 Dec.

2020.

 Cribb, Susan M. “‘If I Had to Write with a Pen’: Readership and Bram Stoker's Diary

Narrative.” Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts, vol. 10, no. 2 (38), 1999, pp. 133–141. JSTOR,

www.jstor.org/stable/43308379. Accessed 22 Dec. 2020.

 Jann, Rosemary. “Saved by Science? The Mixed Messages of Stoker's Dracula.” Texas Studies in

Literature and Language, vol. 31, no. 2, 1989, pp. 273–287. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40754893.

Accessed 22 Dec. 2020.

 Salazar, Anthony. ‘‘Curing the Vampire Disease with Transfusion: The Narrative Structure of

Bram Stoker’s Dracula.” Canadian Center of Science and Education.

 Jain, Devanshi. ‘‘The Epistolary Nature Of Bram Stoker’s Dracula.” TheCuriousReader. May

26, 2018.

 Ainsworth, Alexia Mandla ."Constructing Evil through the Epistolary in Bram Stoker’s

Dracula." The Macksey Journal, Vol. 1 , Article 128. 2020.

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 Leliel,Kris. “Three Essential Writing Techniques from Stoker's Dracula and the Epistolary

Narrative.” 2019.

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