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Dracula: Chapter 6
Element

Notes

Plot summary The chapter starts with Mina Murray’s journal and her description
of exploring the scenery in Whitby whilst visiting Lucy
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Swales, his friends, and Mina and Lucy walk through a
graveyard nearby and look at names on the graves
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Lucy and Mina sit for a moment on the grave of a
man Swales informs them to be a suicide, despite the flowery
language on his tombstone
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The narrative switches to Dr Seward’s diary and he is intrigued by
Renfield’s fascination with flies and spiders
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An attendant at the asylum
reports that he believes Renfield to have eaten his sparrow
collection raw
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​He still longs for Lucy
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Nevertheless, Lucy is
well, although Arthur’s father is taken seriously ill
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As they are chatting, a coastguard
approaches them and declares that a storm is coming and a
Russian-looking boat will soon dock
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[Renfield] ​“has certain qualities very largely developed:
selfishness, secrecy and purpose” - ​this triad reinforces the fact
that Seward is still getting to know Renfield and is treating him as
almost like a case study
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This makes him
all the more unpredictable for Dr Seward and therefore all the
more fascinating
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The idea that Renfield needs to kill an
animal to give himself life is very similar to Dracula - Renfield also
enjoys watching his victims die a slow and painful death in the
traps that he creates
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He clearly enjoys other
living creatures’ pain, making him seem sadistic and severely
mentally unwell
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Renfield asks for ​“a kitten, a nice little, sleek, playful kitten, that I
can play with, and teach, and feed - and feed - and feed!” - ​this
shows how manipulative Renfield is, as this phrase evokes a
child asking their parents for a pet
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The repetition of feed (x3) makes this seem like
Renfield wants to fatten up the kitten to be slaughtered
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“I could see a warning of danger in it, for there was a sudden
fierce, sidelong look which meant killing
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This clearly frightens Dr Seward as he has never seen
anyone quite so disturbed in his career
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Themes and
features (e
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Gothic)

Pathetic fallacy of the bad weather at the end of the chapter
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May hint at Dracula’s omnipresence
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Mr Swales can also detect prophecies
and approaching horror, yet everyone ignores him - perhaps due
to his almost comical accent (which, in Victorian times, would
have suggested that he was illiterate)

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