Original artwork, not a still
Dracula · 1897
Welcome to my house! Enter freely and of your own will!
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
Dracula's courtesy is the trap: a vampire can only enter by invitation, so the Count makes sure his guest steps in freely. The line is both hospitality and a formula, and Stoker's reader only sees in hindsight that Harker has just walked into a cage. It is the template for every polite, menacing host since.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for DraculaShow the scene
In Chapter 2 of Bram Stoker's 1897 novel, Jonathan Harker reaches Castle Dracula in the Carpathians after a night coach journey. A tall old man, clean-shaven save for a long white moustache and clad in black from head to foot, holds an antique silver lamp at the open door and welcomes him in excellent English with a strange intonation. He makes no move to meet Harker until he steps over the threshold, then grips his hand with a strength that makes him wince; the hand is cold as ice. He repeats the welcome with a variation.
Sources (1)
- Dracula by Bram Stoker (Project Gutenberg #345)Chapter 2 (Jonathan Harker's Journal, 3 May), arrival at the castleReference checked
Context reviewed
