Dracula · Chapter
Chapter VI: Mina Murray's Journal explained
Mina Murray arrives in Whitby to stay with Lucy Westenra.
What happens
Mina Murray arrives in Whitby to stay with Lucy Westenra. She describes the beauty of the town and the churchyard cliff. Lucy is preparing for her marriage to Arthur Holmwood, but Mina grows anxious over the lack of news from Jonathan Harker. Lucy begins sleepwalking, and her mother insists on locking the bedroom door. Mina meets old Mr. Swales, a skeptical sailor who dismisses local legends and superstitions as foolish lies. The chapter ends with a storm approaching and Mr. Swales approaching Mina for conversation.
Themes in this chapter
Modernity versus Superstition
Mr. Swales represents a skeptical, modern viewpoint, dismissing local legends, ghosts, and even the truth of tombstones as 'fool-talk' invented by parsons and railway touters.
Madness and Rationality
Lucy's sleepwalking and odd concentration, along with Mina's growing anxiety and nervousness, blur the line between rational concern and irrational fear.
Characters to notice
- Mina Harker
Mina is staying with Lucy in Whitby, writing in her journal. She is anxious about Jonathan's silence and notices Lucy's odd behavior.
- Lucy Westenra
Lucy is cheerful and planning her wedding to Arthur Holmwood, but she sleepwalks and shows an odd concentration, even in sleep.
- Mrs. Westenra
Lucy's mother is anxious about Lucy's sleepwalking and insists on locking the bedroom door each night.
- Arthur Holmwood
Arthur is Lucy's fiancé, the Hon. Arthur Holmwood, son of Lord Godalming. He is expected to visit Whitby but is delayed by his father's illness.
- Mr. Swales
An old, skeptical sailor nearly a hundred years old. He dismisses local legends and tombstones as lies, and engages Mina in conversation.
Key passages
“I wouldn’t fash masel’ about them, miss. Them things be all wore out. Mind, I don’t say that they never was, but I do say that they wasn’t in my time.”
I wouldn't worry about those things, miss. They're all outdated. I'm not saying they never existed, but they didn't exist in my day.
Mr. Swales dismisses the legends of the White Lady and the phantom bells as things of the past.
“It be all fool-talk, lock, stock, and barrel; that’s what it be, an’ nowt else. These bans an’ wafts an’ boh-ghosts an’ barguests an’ bogles an’ all anent them is only fit to set bairns an’ dizzy women a-belderin’.”
It's all foolish talk, completely and entirely. These ghosts, spirits, and bogles are only good for making children and silly women cry.
Mr. Swales delivers a sermon against superstition, calling all such beliefs nonsense.