Definition of Setting
In gothic novels, the physical setting—and frequently, elements of the natural world at play within that setting—are of tantamount importance. Stoker uses less dramatic language to describe London (and most other physical locations in England) when compared to the language that he uses to describe Transylvania. In Chapter 3, Jonathan Harker observes the landscape surrounding Dracula's castle:
The castle was built on the corner of a great rock, so that on three sides it was quite impregnable . . . . To the west was a great valley, and then, rising far away, great jagged mountain fastnesses, rising peak on peak, the sheer rock studded with mountain ash and thorn, whose roots clung in cracks and crevices and crannies of the stone.
In gothic novels, the physical setting—and frequently, elements of the natural world at play within that setting—are of tantamount importance. Stoker uses less dramatic language to describe London (and most other physical locations in England) when compared to the language that he uses to describe Transylvania. In Chapter 3, Jonathan Harker observes the landscape surrounding Dracula's castle:
Unlock with LitCharts A+The castle was built on the corner of a great rock, so that on three sides it was quite impregnable . . . . To the west was a great valley, and then, rising far away, great jagged mountain fastnesses, rising peak on peak, the sheer rock studded with mountain ash and thorn, whose roots clung in cracks and crevices and crannies of the stone.