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Table of Contents Chapter 3 Summary Jonathan Harker’s journal continues. He realizes he is a prisoner and he is panic-struck. He rushes up and down looking for an exit point only to be denied. The Count and Jonathan meet and have a discussion on Transylvania. Jonathan is horrified when he realizes he is a prisoner, but manages to talk to Dracula calmly. During the conversation, he realizes Dracula is ageless and has been living through the centuries. On May 12, the Count talks to Jonathan about legal matters. He asks whether any man in England can have two solicitors. On being answered, in the affirmative, he continues talking about legal matters. Suddenly, he asks Jonathan whether he has written a letter to his boss, Peter Hawkins. He tells him to write and say that he will be back after a month. Jonathan is panicky but cannot do anything about it when Dracula hands him some thin foreign post. He writes two letters one to his loss and second to Mina in short hand. Dracula warns him not to leave the room. In the room, Jonathan gazes out of the sealed windows; he is horrified to see Dracula crawl on the castle walls. On May 15, Jonathan searches for the key of the locks of the door, but can’t find. On 16th May, Jonathan writes in his diary and lies on his couch. He finds three of the most beautiful ladies with him. They all want to kiss him. They overwhelm Jonathan. But a furious Count enters and says to them, "How dare you touch him ... he belongs to me?" "Well now I promise you that when I am done with him you shall kiss him your will." Jonathan falls down unconscious.
This chapter begins the horror. Jonathan is a prisoner at the mercy of Dracula. This chapter is almost like a semi-climax to the tale of Jonathan. He is enveloped by evil and is faced with foreboding death in the most horrific manner. This chapter, along with the next, tells the story of the evil that would be unleashed on the world in the next chapters. This was the ageless Dracula - an almost superhuman villain. He has been unleashing his terror and evil for long in the world. The gothic aspect, which dwells in other tales of horror is absent, because it is not a story only of terror but perhaps an adventure story of a band of brave men fighting against a reign of evil. Jonathan also meets the other vampire women. For perhaps the first time, in the Victorian prudish era of Bram Stoker, women are the initiators of sex. There are also hints of homosexuality in Dracula, though nothing is denoted in the action. | |
