Dracula Chapter 7
In which there is a Ghost Ship!
The foreshadowing of deaths and something strange going on from the previous chapters came together nicely in this chapter, I feel. I was also thrilled to read about the ghost ship, I er…love stuff like that a lot and the eerie tone of this chapter worked really well for me, including the reference to the Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Other things I loved about this chapter were: the ship’s log being written, the descriptions of the strange deaths on board the ship, the captain having tied his hands tied to the steering wheel and being found with the cross on his person, the dogs reacting to the supernatural which is clearly present in this small sea town and the knowledge that Dracula is in England.
I am curious to know whether Dracula has made any previous voyages to England or if England has its own vampires? Surely, they should, although Stoker seems to consistently use sources that depict Romania and the people there as superstitious, he calls the ship's first mate who is from there as angry and bringing about the terror on the ship which is annoying. I can see that having no explanation of the vampire stuff he would want to find a natural explanation, like an angry ship’s first mate killing everyone off, but still, it is very annoying (19th Century racism,ugh >_<). The ship depicted in this chapter is also apparently based on a real life ship wreck too.
There are also a lot of deaths in this chapter, Mr. Swales the former sailor who was a really interesting character. I am genuinely surprised that the chapters are moving pretty fast now, the plot is moving along really well. We did not spend much time with Mina and Lucy on their well-deserved holiday before they were swept into a vampire story. I am also amused to think of how Dracula managed to mail himself to England. The letters that he made Jonathan write make sense now, if he intended to set sail instead of Jonathan and reach England on these dates.
Something is very much wrong with Lucy and Mina is worried about her and Jonathan. I still love Mina and her voice a lot, she seems like such an interesting character to get to know. it really feels like Lucy has also been affected by the Count and I am dreading what havoc the Count will wreak in England but for now…Ghost Ships!!
