Arthur Holmwood & Quincey Morris

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

1.1.1Origins of Gothic Literature

1.1.2Key Ideas in Gothic Literature

1.1.3Gothic Genre Conventions in Dracula

1.2Vampires in Gothic Literature

1.2.1Vampires

1.3'Terror' & 'Horror'

1.3.1Ann Radcliffe & Lewis' The Monk

1.3.2'Terror' & 'Horror' in Dracula

1.4Narrative Features

1.4.1First-Person Narration & Epistolary Format

2Context - The Victorian Era

2.1The Victorian Era

2.1.1Fin de Siecle

2.1.2The 'New Woman'

2.1.3The Contagious Diseases Act

3Chapter Summaries & Analyses

3.1Chapter Summaries & Analyses

3.1.1Chapters 1-2

3.1.2Chapters 3-4

3.1.3Chapters 5-7

3.1.4Chapters 8-10

3.1.5Chapters 11-12

3.1.6Chapters 13-14

3.1.7Chapters 15-16

3.1.8Chapters 17-18

3.1.9Chapters 19-20

3.1.10Chapters 21-23

3.1.11Chapters 24-25

3.1.12Chapters 26-27

4Character Profiles

4.1Archetypal Gothic Characters

4.1.1Stock & Proppian Gothic Characters

4.2Count Dracula

4.2.1Count Dracula: Character Profile

4.2.2Count Dracula: Different Literary Perspectives

4.3Other Main Characters

4.3.1Jonathan Harker

4.3.2Dr Abraham Van Helsing

4.3.3Dr Jack Seward

4.3.4Mina Harker

4.3.5Lucy Westenra

4.4Minor Characters

4.4.1Arthur Holmwood & Quincey Morris

4.4.2Renfield

5Key Ideas

5.1Key Ideas

5.1.1Transgression of Boundaries

5.1.2The Supernatural & Un-dead

5.1.3Masculinity & Femininity

5.1.4Science, Modernity & Superstition

5.1.5Madness, Illness & Confinement

6Writing Techniques

6.1Writing Techniques

6.1.1Epistolary Form & Narrative Voice

6.1.2Intertextuality & Cultural References

6.1.3Structure

7Critical Debates & Interpretations

7.1Initial Reception of Dracula

7.1.1Initial Reception of Dracula

7.2Modern Reception of Dracula

7.2.1Modern Reception of Dracula

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