Résumé
Résumé de Dracula
À qui s’adresse-t-il ?
For readers who love suspense, old houses and storms, and anyone who knows the vampire from films and wants to see where he began.
De quoi parle ce livre ?
Dracula is a novel by the Irish writer Bram Stoker, published in London in 1897. Stoker spent years reading about Eastern European folklore, travellers' accounts and the history of the Carpathian region before he wrote it. The result is a story of a Transylvanian nobleman who leaves his crumbling castle to move to England, and of the small group of ordinary people who realise what he is and set out to stop him.
The book is not told by one narrator. It is put together from the diaries of a young solicitor, the letters of two friends, the medical journal of a doctor, a ship's log and cuttings from newspapers. Each piece gives you a different mind at a different moment, so you often know more than any single character does. That method makes the horror feel like evidence being gathered, one page at a time.
In this summary you will meet the main people and follow the story up to its last stretch. You will see what the book is really about beneath the fear, and how Stoker builds his dread. Let us begin where the novel begins, on a long road east into the mountains, with a young man who thinks he is only going on business.
Dans ce résumé
- 1A solicitor travels into the mountainsFree
- 2The castle is a beautiful prison
- 3Two friends at home, and three suitors
- 4An asylum beside the house at Carfax
- 5A storm, a ghost ship and a sleepwalker
- 6Lucy fades and Van Helsing is called
- 7Old fear against a modern world
- 8Friendship, faith and the duty to fight
- 9How the story is told and why it frightens
Point clé 1 sur 9
A solicitor travels into the mountains
The story opens with Jonathan Harker, a young English solicitor, on a train heading east toward Transylvania. He works for a firm in Exeter, and his employer has sent him to help a foreign client buy a house in England. The client is Count Dracula, a nobleman who lives in a remote castle high in the Carpathian Mountains. Harker keeps a diary, noting the food he eats, the odd customs he sees and the maps he studies. He is cheerful, practical and curious, and he thinks of the trip as a chance to get ahead in his career.
As he moves farther from home, the world around him grows stranger. In the town of Bistritz he stays at an inn where the landlady becomes upset when she hears where he is going. She begs him not to go, and when he insists, she gives him a crucifix to wear. Harker is a sensible Protestant and finds the gift a little embarrassing, but he takes it so as not to offend her. The local people cross themselves and mutter words he cannot understand, and he learns later that some of those words mean evil.
The last stage of the journey is a coach ride up into the Borgo Pass, where the Count has promised to send his own carriage. Night falls as the coach waits. The passengers grow anxious, and the driver seems eager to be gone before dark. Harker sees blue flames flicker in the hills, and the horses shiver and snort as if they can smell something.
Then a strange carriage arrives, drawn by four black horses and driven by a tall man with a long beard and a broad hat. Harker climbs aboard, and the other travellers watch him go with plain pity. The road winds on through the night while wolves howl in the distance. Whenever the dogs and wolves grow loud, the driver seems to have a way of calming or controlling the dark.
Harker arrives at last at a huge ruined castle, where a tall old man with a white moustache, dressed in black, stands in the doorway with a lamp. He speaks perfect English, bids Harker welcome and carries the heavy bags himself with surprising ease. Harker feels relieved to have arrived, though something in the Count's cold handshake troubles him. The novel has already set its first mood, which is the feeling of a reasonable man stepping, politely and willingly, into danger.
That’s 1 of 9 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Who’s who
- Count Dracula
- An ancient Transylvanian nobleman, he employs Jonathan Harker to arrange his purchase of property in England.
- Jonathan Harker
- A young English solicitor engaged to Mina Murray, he travels to Transylvania to assist Count Dracula.
- Mina Murray
- A hardworking schoolmistress engaged to Jonathan Harker, she is Lucy Westenra's close friend and learns shorthand and typing.
- Lucy Westenra
- Mina's warm-hearted friend, she receives proposals from Arthur Holmwood, Dr John Seward and Quincey Morris.
- Dr John Seward
- A physician running an asylum near London, he is Lucy's suitor and Abraham Van Helsing's former student.
- Abraham Van Helsing
- A Dutch physician and scholar, he is Seward's former teacher and brings knowledge of folklore to Lucy's illness.
- Arthur Holmwood
- The son of an English lord, he is engaged to Lucy and friendly with her other suitors.
- Quincey Morris
- A brave American from Texas, he courts Lucy and remains a loyal friend to Arthur and Seward.
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 164,000 words
- Reading timeAbout 10 h 55 min
- Listening time18 h 10 min
- FormatseBook, large-print eBook, audiobook, 15-minute summary; paperback, hardcover and large print at cost
- LanguagesEnglish and 14 other languages
Questions about Dracula
What is Dracula about?
It tells how a Transylvanian count moves to England, and how a doctor, a scholar and their friends discover what he is and join forces to stop him. It is told through letters and diaries.
Who are the main characters in Dracula?
The main characters are Jonathan Harker, Mina Murray, Lucy Westenra, Dr Seward, Arthur Holmwood, Quincey Morris and Professor Van Helsing, who face Count Dracula. Renfield is an asylum patient linked to the Count.
Is Dracula a true story?
No. Dracula is a work of fiction, published in 1897. Stoker drew on folklore, travel books and history of the Carpathian region, and the name of the Count owes something to a real Romanian prince.
Why is Dracula written as letters and diaries?
Stoker built it from documents so the story would feel like gathered evidence. Each writer sees only a part, which creates suspense and makes the strange events seem more real.
Is Dracula hard to read today?
The short diary and letter entries make it easy to read in small pieces. The suspense and clear scenes carry you along.