Who is godalming in dracula

For a moment or two we stood appalled, all save Lord Godalming , who was seemingly prepared for such an emergency. Rushing over to the great iron-bound oaken door, which Dr. Seward had described from the outside, and which I had seen myself, he turned the key in the lock, drew the huge bolts, and swung the door open. Then, taking his little silver whistle from his pocket, he blew a low, shrill call. It was answered from behind Dr. Seward's house by the yelping of dogs, and after about a minute three terriers came dashing round the corner of the house.

Unconsciously we had all moved towards the door, and as we moved I noticed that the dust had been much disturbed. The boxes which had been taken out had been brought this way. But even in the minute that had elapsed the number of the rats had vastly increased.

They seemed to swarm over the place all at once, till the lamplight, shining on their moving dark bodies and glittering, baleful eyes, made the place look like a bank of earth set with fireflies. The dogs dashed on, but at the threshold suddenly stopped and snarled, and then, simultaneously lifting their noses, began to howl in most lugubrious fashion. The rats were multiplying in thousands, and we moved out.

Lord Godalming lifted one of the dogs, and carrying him in, placed him on the floor. The instant his feet touched the ground he seemed to recover his courage, and rushed at his natural enemies. They fled before him so fast that before he had shaken the life out of a score, the other dogs, who had by now been lifted in the same manner, had but small prey ere the whole mass had vanished. With their going it seemed as if some evil presence had departed, for the dogs frisked about and barked merrily as they made sudden darts at their prostrate foes, and turned them over and over and tossed them in the air with vicious shakes.

We all seemed to find our spirits rise. Arthur Holmwood gets the girl So why is he important? Because he's connected. Arthur Holmwood goes by so many different names in this novel that we'd better pause and clarify here. His father is Lord Godalming, a wealthy aristocrat. While his father is still alive, at the beginning of the novel, Arthur just goes by his first and last names, Arthur Holmwood although, as the son of a lord, he can sign his name "the Honorable Arthur Holmwood".

After his father dies, though, Arthur inherits his father's wealth and his title, so he becomes "Lord Godalming. Seward and Quincey Morris have been friends with him for ages, so it makes sense that they'd call him Arthur. But Van Helsing and the Harkers have just met him—they occasionally refer to him by his official title, but he prefers to be called "Arthur. What does this say about him? Seward notes that Mina Harker wishes to see Renfield.

He takes her to Renfield's room, and Renfield, curiously, asks them to wait until he tidies things up. He simply swallowed all the flies and spiders in the boxes. Van Helsing arrives and is pleased to discover that all the records — diaries, journals, etc. Mina Harker, in her journal September 30th , recalls in detail many of the things known about vampires, a subject which prior to this time she has been ignorant of.

Van Helsing presents many conclusions about the nosferatu or the "Un-Dead" : 1 They do not die; 2 can be as strong as twenty men; 3 can direct the elements — storms, fog, thunder, etc.

The problem which the vampire's adversary must overcome is how to deal successfully with all of these obstacles. They all make a pact to work together in order to see how "the general powers arrayed against us can be controlled and to consider the limitations of the vampire. From the world's information about vampires, it is known that: 1 the vampire cannot die due to the passing of time; 2 the vampire flourishes on the blood of human beings; 3 the vampire grows younger after feeding on blood; 4 its physical strength and vital faculties are refreshed by blood; 5 it cannot survive without blood; 6 it can survive for great lengths of time without any nourishment; 7 it throws no shadow; 8 it makes no reflection in a mirror; 9 it has the strength of many; 10 it can control wild packs of wolves and can become a wolf as the Count did when his ship arrived at Whitby ; 11 the vampire can transform itself into a bat; 12 it can appear in a mist, which it itself can create; 13 the vampire can travel on moonlight rays as elemental dust; 14 it can become so small and transparent that it can pass through the tiniest crevices; and 15 it can see perfectly in the dark.

Its limitations are as follows: 1 it cannot enter a household unless it is summoned first; 2 its power ceases at daylight; 3 in whatever form it is in when daylight comes, it will remain in that form until sunset; 4 the vampire must always return to the unhallowed earth of its coffin, which restores its strength this, of course, is the purpose of the fifty cases of earth ; 5 garlic is abhorrent to a vampire; 6 the crucifix, holy water, and holy wafers the host are anathemas; 7 it is rendered inactive if a wild rose is placed over it; and 8 death occurs when a wooden stake is driven through the heart, the head cut off, and garlic stuffed in the mouth.

As Van Helsing concludes his lecture, Quincey Morris leaves the room, and a shot is heard outside. Morris explains that he saw a bat and fired at it. On October 1st, early in the morning, Dr. Seward records that as they were about to leave the asylum, he received an urgent message from Renfield. The others ask if they may attend the meeting with Renfield, and they are astonished at the brilliance and lucidity of Renfield's plea to be released immediately.

His scholarly logic and perfect elocution are that of a totally sane man. His request is denied. In Chapter 19, in his journal, Jonathan Harker records that Seward believes Renfield's erratic behavior to be directly influenced by the immediate proximity of Count Dracula.

Later, as they are about to enter Dracula's Carfax residence, Van Helsing distributes objects which will protect each of them from the vampire. The house, they discover, is musty, dusty, and malodorous. They immediately search out the chapel and, to their horror, they can find only twenty-nine of the original fifty boxes of earth. Suddenly, the chapel is filled by a mass of rats. Towards noon, Seward records that Van Helsing is deeply fascinated by Renfield.

On the same day, Mina feels strange to be left out of Jonathan's confidence, because she has no idea what happened last night, but she does remember that just before falling asleep, she heard unusual sounds and noises outside her window, and she felt as if she were in the grip of a strange lethargy.

She thought that she saw a poor man "with some passionate entreaty on his part" who wanted inside.