At the beginning of Chapter 3, Count Dracula gives Harker an extensive speech about the history of his race. Dracula’s monologue served several crucial purposes, such as developing Dracula’s a character, and demonstrating the mutualistic relationship between he and Harker. In this speech Dracula is unapologetically racist, blatantly claiming that the blood of his race flowing through his veins is superior to that of other European peoples. Although Dracula has appeared a friendly host thus far in the novel, this speech coincides with other motifs such as the crucifix necklace that portray a sense of uneasiness around Dracula.
Dracula’s role as the speaker is to portray himself as somewhat of an antagonist. Though he does not directly oppose our protagonist, Harker, he makes it clear that his morals are twisted and his intentions are very selfish. His views of other European races are very cynical, and the reader is left wondering what makes Dracula and his race so superior. Dracula’s audience, Harker, was meticulously addressed in this monologue. There is a sense of dramatic irony as the reader can pick up on the ill intentions of Dracula, but Harker is naive to be intrigued by the historical recounts of European races. Dracula provided exactly what Harker wanted: Dracula captivates Harker by providing more and more tales of European history, and Harker is ignorant to overlook Dracula’s racism to be curious about the story of his race.
Dracula’s precise speech could be considered as prose: Dracula carefully employed literary strategies to entice Harker. Not only does Dracula’s intense, passionate tone as he recounts history keep Harker engaged, but Dracula guides Harker’s thought process with several rhetorical questions. Dracula describes how his people were subject to poor circumstances, resulting in a grave embarrassment. He asks Harker questions that he well knows the answers to, such as asking multiple glorifying questions about “When was redeemed the great shame of my nation…?” (Stoker 43). Dracula continues to explain that it was Dracula himself who worked dilligently to bring victory and pride back to his noble people. This leads Harker to the conculsion that Dracula is a sort of martyr that would do anything to defend the pride of his people.
