r he is still discovering what the extent of his powers are. From his actions and speeches you learn that he is centuries old and of the evilest intent. Dracula’s only goal is to drink the blood of the innocent and gain control of larger territories for himself. Not very much can be learned from this character for he does not make a journal or a log of any kind and has very few speeches. Although he is a very important gothic character he is very flat and static showing no growth in any way from beginning to end of the novel. Van Helsing is the shinning light against the dark Gothic evil of Dracula. Van Helsing is the most important protagonist for he is the leader of our heroes and is a moral center throughout the novel. He is an aged man gifted with super human intelligence and incredible foresight. Van Helsing is highly educated in many fields including medicine, religion, psychology and law. Stoker created Van Helsing to be the epitome of the scientific matter-of-fact mind of the nineteenth century. Van Helsing’s only real flaw is the fact that he is socially inept, he is the kind of character who would laugh at a funeral. Van Helsing is a very dynamic character in that he learns and grows at an astonishing rate throughout the novel. An example of this is when he sees the symptoms of Lucy Westenra‘s illness. Van Helsing is very quick to make the connection between loss of blood in Lucy and blood sucking vampires. Most western people of that era could never accept into their minds the existence of vampires, “A year ago which of us would have received such a possibility, in the midst of our scientific, matter of fact nineteenth century?”# .The settings in Dracula are also very Gothic. The entire novel is characterized by eerie, desolate and mysterious settings that are the trademark of all good Gothic literature. The setting surrounding Dracula’s castle is bleak and unforgiving. It is an ancient bat...
