Madness, Illness & Confinement

Madness, Illness and Confinement

Common Gothic tropes and closely associated with Gothic ‘terror’, Dracula presents these three concepts as interrelational.

Confinement

Typically for the 19th century, the ‘treatment’ for what the characters consider 'madness' and illness in Dracula often takes the form of confinement.

Jonathan's insanity

Jonathan, when confined within Dracula’s castle, believes he’s going insane.
He has visions of Dracula turning into a bat and isn’t quite sure what’s real or imagined when he sees the three vampire women.
Jonathan escapes but falls ill “with a violent brain fever” and is nursed by nuns, who are able to contact Mina back in England.

Lucy's somnambulism

Lucy suffers from somnambulism (sleepwalking) which leads to Dracula attacking her and her contraction of a mysterious ‘illness’.
Lucy is confined to her room by Dr Seward who eventually calls in Van Helsing to help with her case.

Mina's hypnotic visions

Mina’s blood connection to Dracula causes her to have hypnotic visions of the Count’s whereabouts.
Van Helsing wants her confined during this ‘illness’ at first, but later she’s brought along on the mission to Transylvania to track down the Count.

Arthur's fit

Arthur is so horrified at Lucy death that he collapses in Mina’s arms in a fit of hysterics approaching madness.
“Sad and broken”, he is imprisoned by his own grief, only finding release once he has saved Lucy’s soul.

Questioning sanity

Van Helsing and Seward question their own sanity at times as they are ‘men of science’ tracking down Dracula according to the ‘laws’ of superstition.

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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