4.4.1
Arthur Holmwood & Quincey Morris
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Arthur Holmwood
Arthur and Quincey share a love for Lucy Westenra and of adventure. Arthur and Quincey lend their hunting expertise during the pursuit of Dracula.
Victorian 'knight'
- Arthur is the Victorian equivalent of the chivalrous knights from the legend of his namesake - King Arthur.
- Duty-bound to the salvation of Lucy’s soul, then to ensure that she did not die in vain, Arthur is - and so too Quincey - far more accepting of the supernatural than his other close friend, Jack Seward.
Antithesis (contrast) to Dracula
- As the novel’s other aristocrat, Holmwood acts as the antithesis to Count Dracula:
- Arthur’s title (Lord Godalming) is reminiscent of Lord God Almighty.
- His role as a force of good is largely unquestionable in the novel. He uses his wealth and his title to aid the others in their quest to destroy Dracula.
Quincey Morris
Arthur and Quincey share a love for Lucy Westenra and of adventure. Arthur and Quincey lend their hunting expertise during the pursuit of Dracula.
Loyal
- Whilst a relatively minor character compared to the principal male narrators (Seward and Jonathan), Quincey Morris is a loyal foot-soldier in the battle against evil.
- He does not hesitate in offering his blood to try and save Lucy; as Van Helsing says, “God sends us men when we want them.”
Gunslinger
- A man preferring to let his actions speak as opposed to his words, Quincey is in possession of a Winchester rifle - an advanced piece of military technology.
- The adventurous Texan is the gunslinger of the group - he leaves Van Helsing’s meeting in Chapter 18 having spotted Dracula in the form of a bat and fires a pistol-shot, causing Mina to shriek when it pierces the window-glass.
- Such impulsive behaviour makes Seward's epithet of a “moral Viking” a worthy one.
Significance of America
- If London is the centre of the 19th-century modern world, then Quincey and Dracula are its polar opposite.
- America was a country still in its relative infancy and yet, as Seward notes in the aftermath of Lucy’s death, "If America can go on breeding men like that, she will be a power in the world indeed”.
- America, just like Dracula, is a threat to the established order of British Imperialism - in this light, it does seem significant that at the end of the novel, both ‘threats’ are killed off.
1Context - Gothic Literature
1.1Origins & Conventions of Gothic Literature
1.2Vampires in Gothic Literature
1.3'Terror' & 'Horror'
1.4Narrative Features
2Context - The Victorian Era
2.1The Victorian Era
3Chapter Summaries & Analyses
4Character Profiles
4.1Archetypal Gothic Characters
4.2Count Dracula
4.3Other Main Characters
4.4Minor Characters
5Key Ideas
6Writing Techniques
7Critical Debates & Interpretations
7.1Initial Reception of Dracula
7.2Modern Reception of Dracula
Jump to other topics
1Context - Gothic Literature
1.1Origins & Conventions of Gothic Literature
1.2Vampires in Gothic Literature
1.3'Terror' & 'Horror'
1.4Narrative Features
2Context - The Victorian Era
2.1The Victorian Era
3Chapter Summaries & Analyses
4Character Profiles
4.1Archetypal Gothic Characters
4.2Count Dracula
4.3Other Main Characters
4.4Minor Characters
5Key Ideas
6Writing Techniques
7Critical Debates & Interpretations
7.1Initial Reception of Dracula
7.2Modern Reception of Dracula
Practice questions on Arthur Holmwood & Quincey Morris
Can you answer these? Test yourself with free interactive practice on Seneca — used by over 10 million students.
- 1What's Arthur's title reminiscent of?Multiple choice
- 2What epithet does Seward give Quincey Morris?Multiple choice
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