Dracula’s Speech Rhetorical Analysis
In Chapter 3 of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Count Dracula vividly tells the history of Transylvania to Jonathan Harker after Jonathan inquired about it. While Jonathan asked about the history of Transylvania, the Count is sure to boast the history of his own race, which he highlights as the strongest of them all. As a speaker, he forefronts his own powerful lineage while also recounting the races and battles fought in a suspiciously detailed manner. Dracula is telling a narrative, as he is using personal pronouns such as “we” and “us,” which implies he is recounting his own observations (Stoker 34). As Jonathan notes, the use of these personal pronouns create the imagery that Dracula is a king speaking of his conquests and victories. This boastful and triumphant manner of speaking sets the tone for the speech, and the diction and analogies Dracula employ contribute heavily to this idea.
An individual’s blood and lineage is very important to Count Dracula. In the blood of his race, the Szekelys, flows the same blood of countless brave races. In him flows the Ugric tribe, blessed with a fighting spirit from the Norse warrior gods themselves, and the Huns, who displayed a similar “warlike fury” and conquered countless around the earth (Stoker 34). The theme of the importance of blood reigns again in his speech, as Dracula takes offense at the comparison of witches and devils to the great Huns. No, not even witches or devils or the mix are as worthy and great as Attila of the Huns. Dracula is of the conquering race, and all other blood is inferior.
Dracula also asks a multitude of rhetorical questions throughout his speech. Though never expecting Jonathan to answer them, he asks these questions to solidify his point. The way he begins his questions as he boasts of his race’s strength, by asking if it were “a wonder” or if it was so “strange” that his people were unconquerable frontiersman, is reminiscent of an anaphora (Stoker 34). In this manner, he ironically places emphasis on the unquestionable strength and power of his race.
The use of this type of anaphora and parallelism continues as he begins answering his own questions. The repeated use of his own name when accepting the credit for the aforementioned successes — “this was a Dracula indeed!” and “Was it not this Dracula, indeed” — once again forefronts his own name and race, placing it on a pedestal above all else (Stoker 35). He continues to spotlight the Dracula lineage. The repetition of the word “again” when narrating of a Dracula’s triumph and ascendance highlighted the ability of his lineage to prevail and overcome any obstacle — again, again, and again (Stoker 35). Only he could prevail too — no other race or lineage could stand in par with this Dracula. Only “he alone,” and he who had “come alone,” was befitting (Stoker 35).
The stark gap between the Dracula and their lineage compared to the rest of the races is prevalent when Dracula asks “what good […] peasants [are] without a leader” (Stoker 35). This line is reminiscent of a proverb that declares that an army of sheep led by a lion is better than an army of lions led by a sheep. A similar idea is said by none other than Tywin Lannister, who states that “a lion doesn’t concern himself with the opinions of a sheep” (Game of Thrones). In all of these metaphors, the point is clear: the Szekelys are in a whole other level in terms of power and superiority — all other races are inferior.
The triumphant tone of the speech, as well as the parallelism that creates a cadence throughout stories of ruthless conquerors and victorious leaders, creates a powerful narrative that grips the attention of its readers. After all, Jonathan himself can’t help but admit how “fascinating” his stories were (Stoker 33). The stories themselves, told in such a vivid manner that the Count moved about the room as he spoke, are encaptivating. The rhetoric the Count employs accentuates both his position of power and his power over words.
Martin, George R.R. “Game of Thrones.” Season 1, episode 7, 29 May 2011.
Stoker, Bram. Dracula. 1st ed., W. W. Norton & Company, 1996.