6.1.1

Epistolary Form & Narrative Voice

Test yourself

Epistolary Form and Narrative Techniques

Dracula is written in the form of an epistolary novel. Each narrator has their own distinctive voice.

Illustrative background for Epistolary novelIllustrative background for Epistolary novel ?? "content

Epistolary novel

  • Dracula is written in the form of an epistolary novel.
  • The anonymous preface asserts that there is a deliberateness to their sequencing.
  • The multiple first-person narratives create an element of immersive realism, enabling the reader to suspend their disbelief and “believe things which we know to be untrue" (Chapter 14)
Illustrative background for Narrative voicesIllustrative background for Narrative voices ?? "content

Narrative voices

  • Each narrator has their own distinctive voice - relaying the events subjectively as they saw them.
  • In places, Stoker utilises elements of the Gothic convention of the unreliable narrator - particularly through Jonathan’s account of his time in Transylvania, which places him under a great deal of mental stress.
Illustrative background for Narrative delusion? Illustrative background for Narrative delusion?  ?? "content

Narrative delusion?

  • Critic Andrés Roméro Jódar from the University of Zaragoza takes this idea further, proposing the narrators are constantly suffering delusion and that the events that are said to have happened through the diaries of the characters of the novel may not have even happened at all.

Jump to other topics

1Context - Gothic Literature

2Context - The Victorian Era

3Chapter Summaries & Analyses

4Character Profiles

5Key Ideas

6Writing Techniques

7Critical Debates & Interpretations

7.1Initial Reception of Dracula

7.2Modern Reception of Dracula

Go student ad image

Unlock your full potential with GoStudent tutoring

  • Affordable 1:1 tutoring from the comfort of your home

  • Tutors are matched to your specific learning needs

  • 30+ school subjects covered

Book a free trial lesson