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Definition of Simile
A simile is a figure of speech that directly compares two unlike things. To make the comparison, similes most often use the connecting words "like" or "as," but can also... read full definition
A simile is a figure of speech that directly compares two unlike things. To make the comparison, similes most often use the connecting words "like... read full definition
A simile is a figure of speech that directly compares two unlike things. To make the comparison, similes most often... read full definition
Chapter 1
Explanation and Analysis—Jonathan in Transylvania:
In Chapter 1, as he journeys to Castle Dracula for the first time, Jonathan Harker uses both hyperbole and simile to describe Transylvanian superstitions:
I read that every known superstition in the world is gathered into the horseshoe of the Carpathians, as if it were the centre of some kind of imaginative whirlpool; if so my stay may be very interesting (Mem., I must ask the Count all about them.)
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Chapter 3
Explanation and Analysis—Dracula's Movement:
In Chapter 3, Jonathan observes Count Dracula climbing down the castle and describes his movements using a characteristic simile:
Unlock with LitCharts A+I saw the fingers and toes grasp the corners of the stones . . . and by thus using every projection and inequality move downwards with considerable speed, just as a lizard moves along a wall.
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Chapter 6
Explanation and Analysis—Prelude to a Storm:
Towards the end of Chapter 6, Stoker uses a combination of foreshadowing, imagery, and simile to generate a sense of dread and foreboding:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Today is a grey day, and the sun as I write is hidden in thick clouds, high over Kettleness. Everything is grey - except the green grass, which seems like an emerald amongst it . . . . Dark figures are on the beach here and there, sometimes half shrouded in mist, and seem "men like trees walking."
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Chapter 8
Explanation and Analysis—Renfield's Animalism:
Renfield, the patient in Seward's insane asylum, is described using the same animalistic and dehumanizing language often leveled against Dracula. In Chapter 8, Seward describes a fight with his patient:
Unlock with LitCharts A+When we closed in on [Renfield] he fought like a tiger. He is immensely strong, for he was more like a wild beast than a man . . . . With strength and determination like his, he might have done wild work before he was caged.
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Chapter 9
Explanation and Analysis—Lucy's Animal Transition:
In one of her letters to Mina in Chapter 9, Lucy uses a simile to describe her appetite:
Unlock with LitCharts A+This strong air would soon restore Jonathan; it has quite restored me. I have an appetite like a cormorant, am full of life, and sleep well.
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Chapter 12
Explanation and Analysis—Lucy Transformed:
At the end of Chapter 12, Lucy tries to kiss Arthur; knowing that she has designs to bite him, Van Helsing prevents this. Lucy's response is as follows, described by Seward with an apt simile:
Unlock with LitCharts A+I kept my eyes fixed on Lucy, as did Van Helsing, and we saw a spasm of rage flit like a shadow over her face; the sharp teeth clamped together.
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Chapter 14
Explanation and Analysis—Seward's Confusion:
Towards the end of Chapter 14, Seward remains confused about Van Helsing's thought process, not understanding why Lucy passed away nor how her death is linked with a series of other events. Stoker uses a striking combination of imagery and simile to describe Seward's intellectual position:
Unlock with LitCharts A+At present I am going in my mind from point to point as a mad man, and not a sane one, follows an idea. I feel like a novice blundering through a bog in a mist, jumping from one tussock to another in the mere blind effort to move on without knowing where I am going.
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Chapter 16
Explanation and Analysis—Lucy and Medusa:
In Chapter 16, after blocking the passageway to Lucy's tomb, Seward, Van Helsing, Quincey, and Arthur corner Lucy (in vampire form). Upon viewing her changed appearance, Seward makes an apt allusion:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Never did I see such baffled malice on a face; and never, I trust, shall such ever be seen again by mortal eyes. The beautiful color became livid, the eyes seemed to throw out sparks of hell-fire, the brows were wrinkled as though the folds of the flesh were the coils of Medusa's snakes, and the lovely, bloodstained mouth grew to an open square.
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Chapter 23
Explanation and Analysis—Dracula as a Predator:
In Chapter 23, the male protagonists corner Dracula at one of his hideouts, flushing him out. Using simile, Stoker describes the Count's appearance in this moment:
Unlock with LitCharts A+As the Count saw us, a horrible sort of snarl passed over his face, showing the eye-teeth long and pointed; but the evil smile as quickly passed into a cold stare of lion-like disdain.
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Chapter 25
Explanation and Analysis—Infantilization:
There are several instances throughout Dracula of certain individuals being compared to children: most prominently, Mina Harker and Dracula himself. This comparison is a form of diminishing, or infantilization, though purposed towards different ends. Several of the characters describe Dracula's brain as "child-like," including Dr. Seward in Chapter 25:
Unlock with LitCharts A+There I have hope that our man-brains, that have been of man so long and that have not lost the grace of God, will come higher than his child-brain that lie in his tomb for centuries, that grow not yet to our stature, and that only do work selfish and therefore small.
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