In Bram Stoker's Dracula, sleep is a prevalent theme throughout the novel. The characters of have a large connection with sleep. Although sleep is part of life, for the characters of Dracula it is much more. Sleep is rest, it is peace but it is also fear and unease.

Dracula gets his guest, Jonathan Harker, on a nocturnal schedule and speaks of sleep several times through out his visit to the castle.  After talking to Jonathan all evening about London, Dracula's future home, Dracula says, "Why there is morning again! How remiss I am to let you stay up so long. You must make your conversation regarding my dear new country of England less interesting so that I may not forget how times flies by us" (Stoker, 55). This happens several times. This shows that Dracula does what is in his control to have Jonathan on his nocturnal schedule of being awake in the evenings and asleep during the day. As a way to discourage Jonathan from exploring more of Dracula's castle, Dracula warns Jonathan by saying, "Should sleep now or ever overcome you, or be like to do, then haste to your own chamber or to these rooms, for your rest will then by safe" (Stoker, 64). By saying this to Jonathan, Dracula sends the message to Jonathan that he can not safely sleep anywhere else within the castle walls besides the room Jonathan has for his stay. Sleep does not come easy to Jonathan in the castle, this can be determined by his journal entry that states, "I shall not fear to sleep in any place he is not. I have placed the crucifix over the head of my bed - I imagine that my rest is thus freer from dreams; and there it shall remain" (Stoker, 65). This shows that Jonathan can not sleep peacefully if Dracula is present; instead he worries and keeps himself awake.

Dracula proves his nocturnal existence as readers learn his habits through the journaling of Jonathan Harker. Jonathan's breakfast would sit on the table awaiting for Jonathan to wake up for the day and Dracula could never be found during the light hours to keep Jonathan company as he did during the evenings.  In the evenings they do not stay up speaking of England, Jonathan sees Dracula crawling in a lizard like fashion along the exterior castle walls. Jonathan does exploring through the castle to find, "There is one of the great boxes, of which there were fifty in all, on a pile of newly dug earth, lay the Count! He was either dead or asleep, I could not say which -for the eyes were open and without the glassiness of death - and the cheeks hard the warmth of life through all their pallor, and the lips were as red as ever. But there was not sign of movement, no pulse, no breath, not beating of the heart" (Stoker, 80). This shows how Dracula rests, whether it is defined as sleep or not we can determine that this takes place during the day. This shows the nocturnal pattern Dracula takes on.

For Lucy, sleep is a constant battle. Mina learns that Lucy is walking in her sleep through Lucy's mother, "Lucy, although she is well, has lately taken to her old habit of walking in her sleep. Her mother has spoken to me about it, and we have decided that I am to lock the door of our room every night" (Stoker, 105). This quotes shows that Lucy has sleep-walked throughout her life by the word choice of old habit meaning that it happened long ago and frequently. Mina sees this herself when she visits Lucy and notices, "It is a strange thing, this sleep-walking, for as soon as her will is thwarted in any physical way, her inanition, if there be any, disappears, and she yields herself almost exactly to the routine of her life" (Stoker, 12). After Mina leaves, sleep becomes more difficult for Lucy as she becomes ill.

Lucy expresses her fear of sleep when she becomes ill. As Dr. Seward stays to keep Lucy company, he notices, "After a long spell she seemed sinking off to sleep, but with an effort seemed to pull herself together and shook it off. This was repeated several times, with greater effort and with shorter pauses as the times moved on" (Stoker, 161). This shows Lucy fighting off sleep the best she can even though she is exhausted. When Dr. Steward questions Lucy about her sleep, she says it is a "presage of horror!", and, "All this weakness comes to me in sleep; until I dread the very thought" (Stoker, 161). This shows Lucy is afraid and uneasy when it comes to sleep because as soon as she feels better, he strength is taken from her during the night. Lucy expresses her fear again in her diary when she writes, "How blessed are some people, whose lives have no fears, no dreads; to whom sleep is a blessing that comes nightly, and brings nothing but sweet dreams" (Stoker, 169). This shows Lucy's unrest even when she does sleep. Here she implies that she is envious of people with sweet dreams.

By looking at Jonathan, Dracula and Lucy, sleep is shown as a love-hate relationship for the characters. For Johnathan, it is the matter of being kept up all night with the company of a vampire and sleep during the day is interrupted by the thought of Dracula's presence or where within the castle he is permitted to sleep. Dracula is a prisoner to his nocturnal lifestyle of being a vampire that includes being away during the day a coffin and soil setting as he rests with his eyes open and at night hunts or keeps his guest company by speaking of London. Lucy, even when asleep, is up and changing clothes or walking around the house. When she gets ill, rest does not come easier even though her exhaustion and need for it is greater. Instead, she feels all her strength leaves her during the night and experiences only horror during sleep.