As Jonathan journeys deeper and deeper into the Transylvanian wilderness over the course of Chapter 1, nature is an ever present force, at times personified to the point of its becoming a kind of character. This personification increases the closer Jonathan gets to Castle Dracula:
Soon we were hemmed in with trees, which in places arched right over the roadway till we passed as through a tunnel; and again great frowning rocks guarded us boldly on either side.
Stoker personifies rocks in this passage as "frowning" guards, standing watch over the road that leads to Castle Dracula. This figurative language positions nature as a malignant and possibly hostile force. In this region of the world, the landscape is not a welcoming presence. Awe-inspiring, terrifying, yes—but not welcoming, and certainly not a source of comfort. In fact, when Jonathan and other characters are in Dracula's territory, natural forces seem allied against them, siding with Dracula and his supernatural compatriots. Gone are the rolling hills and beautiful pastures of England, where the protagonists feel safe and secure. In Transylvania, the landscape and the weather are extensions of the supernatural and are under Dracula's control. Thus nature is personified as an antagonist in this passage and in many others, as is typical of gothic horror fiction.
In Chapter 13, Van Helsing personifies laughter as an entity, "King Laugh," justifying his outpouring of laughter at the strange and perverse situation the main protagonists have found themselves in:
Oh, friend John, it is a strange world, a sad world, a world full of miseries, and woes, and troubles; and yet when King Laugh come he make them all dance to the tune he play.
There is something strange yet very human about laughing in the midst of an emotionally trying situation. This personification of laughter provides a momentary interlude in which the reader can rest from the drama of the story and laugh along with Van Helsing. This laughter is cathartic, both for Van Helsing and the reader. Amidst the supernatural and inhuman, in a novel so serious in tone and somber in mood, such a joyous interlude is refreshing. Stoker does not often break from the nearly non-stop action and tragedy in his gothic narrative: it follows, then, that when he does, such change, however momentary, must be important. As it stands, this moment provides important insight into Van Helsing's character. He is, above all things, an optimist, believing in human good despite the darkness of his surroundings.
