Help! i'm trapped in this coffin!

We all know Barnabas was chained in his coffin for nearly two hundred years. That's an awfully long time to be confined anywhere, much less a coffin. So what I'm wondering is, once imprisoned in the coffin, was Barnabas conscious every night for almost two hundred years? Or did he go in to a sleep-like state and not realize the passing of time?

Also, during the day, does he "sleep", or is he awake and just sitting there being bored? 

I'll be interested to hear everyone's opinions.

I think probably for a while he was concious of the passing of time while trapped in the coffin, but eventually time would become a blur and perhaps he did enter a dream-like state.

As for every day in the coffin he becomes for all intents and purposes truly dead, only to become "alive" again as the sun sets.

Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong (I haven't read it in a while) but I believe in the original Dracula novel Dracula could leave his coffin and move about in daylight at high noon or the change of tides or something. (I know somebody knows!)

So what I'm wondering is, once imprisoned in the coffin, was Barnabas conscious every night for almost two hundred years? Or did he go in to a sleep-like state and not realize the passing of time?

I think he was fully conscious each and every second of each and every minute of each and every night, thinking about the events of 1795, and  twisting them around until he got them into a format that he could live with:  it was all Jeremiah's fault, and Angelique was just sort of by-the-way.  The reason we don't hear about her until after the Vicky's trip to the past is that he just didn't want to remember that he had messed up so badly - but when Cassandra came along he had to dredge up some unwelcome memories.  (I can't quite make this work, but then, I'm not a vampire.)

I see fan fiction in which he says he was in some sort of a coma or dreamlike state, and I don't buy it; it's sugar-coating the issue.  He was trapped in a coffin for nearly two hundred years, and it was horrible, and that was that.

Also, during the day, does he "sleep", or is he awake and just sitting there being bored?

He's dead during the day.  He can't see the visitors to his coffin, and has no idea when he rises at night who might have seen him.

Hmm...re-reading this post, I think it's coming across as sort of hostile.  No hostility intended.  Just really definite opinions.

I think he was fully conscious each and every second of each and every minute of each and every night, thinking about the events of 1795, and  twisting them around until he got them into a format that he could live with:  it was all Jeremiah's fault, and Angelique was just sort of by-the-way.  The reason we don't hear about her until after the Vicky's trip to the past is that he just didn't want to remember that he had messed up so badly - but when Cassandra came along he had to dredge up some unwelcome memories.  (I can't quite make this work, but then, I'm not a vampire.)

Yep, totally agree!  It makes total sense when you think about it!  His history totally changes in 1795 from what we were led to believe pre 1795 [spoiler]Jeremiah being much older, having married Josette and THEN she comes to CW as J's bride and B has the hots for her, teaches her English etc...[/spoiler]Really, it's the ONLY thing THAT makes sense IMHO.

He's dead during the day.  He can't see the visitors to his coffin, and has no idea when he rises at night who might have seen him. 

This too is correct. 

(I haven't read it in a while) but I believe in the original Dracula novel Dracula could leave his coffin and move about in daylight at high noon or the change of tides or something. (I know somebody knows!)

Dracula could move about in the sunlight but, according to Van Helsing, without his powers:  "His power ceases, as does that of all evil things, at the coming of the day. Only at certain times can he have limited freedom. If he be not at the place whither he is bound, he can only change himself at noon or at exact sunrise or sunset."

Dracula could move about in the sunlight but, according to Van Helsing, without his powers:  "His power ceases, as does that of all evil things, at the coming of the day. Only at certain times can he have limited freedom. If he be not at the place whither he is bound, he can only change himself at noon or at exact sunrise or sunset."

Aha thanks! I was pretty sure it was you who would know as well! Thanks Midnite!

You're welcome!  Oh I'm so predictable.   

The Dracula of Stoker's novel is quite a different figure from what he has morphed into, most especially with the Balderston play from which the original Lugosi/Universal film was adapted. In some ways the controversial Coppola version is much more accurate, but oddly contains an introduced subplot that made Mina into a rather Josette type figure. While many people pointed to the Dark Shadows influence as having been filtered down through Dan Curtis's Dracula adaptation, I think if you're going to add this element, Mina is a better Josette surrogate than Lucy as in the Curtis version. Honestly, the root of this subplot is really found in the original Karloff film, "The Mummy."
      I prefer the concept that vampires in the day are in a "natural" state of death. I also tend to agree that at night, if trapped in the coffin, they would have some sense of the passage of time, but I wish I could remember the line Frid did so eloquently about 'winds of time sweeping past'. I would think this would be further altered by the placing of the cross in the coffin's upper lid. I'm sure someone here also remember how Anne Rice's novels refer to this, so I will beg their remembrance, as at this point its better than mine. I think it would be in a more altered state, a supernatural come so to speak.
       I always note the contradiction of Barnabas moaning about spending "years in this state" when in actuality, he was really only active as an undead for maybe a few months before Joshua chained him in. This is very unlike Count Dracula who does appear to have been an active vampyre for centuries when the novel begins.

Michael

It's for that exact reason that I love Christopher Lee as Dracula. Sure the Hammer Dracula movies are a far cry from the Dracula novel, but Lee plays Dracula superbly. He's very feral, very menacing. I LOVE it.

(I haven't read it in a while) but I believe in the original Dracula novel Dracula could leave his coffin and move about in daylight at high noon or the change of tides or something. (I know somebody knows!)

Dracula could move about in the sunlight but, according to Van Helsing, without his powers:  "His power ceases, as does that of all evil things, at the coming of the day. Only at certain times can he have limited freedom. If he be not at the place whither he is bound, he can only change himself at noon or at exact sunrise or sunset."

So, that must explain it!  There was one scene in the book where I'm sure that several of those searching for him have an encounter with him during daylight hours and that has always driven me crazy!!!!

I wish I could remember the line Frid did so eloquently about 'winds of time sweeping past'.

If it's the line I'm thinking of, that had nothing to do with being trapped in his coffin.  It was said in 1967 when [spoiler]Julia had, at Barnabas's request, accelerated his treatments, and his hand had grown old, and he figured the rest of him would do the same.[/spoiler]

So there he was, moaning and groaning over something that was his own stupid fault.  Eloquently, though.

Willie must have gotten an odor fill when he opened Barnabas' coffin      I always wonder why Barnabas didn't wear pajamas or at least get some nice comfy pillows in that box.

I think he was fully conscious each and every second of each and every minute of each and every night, thinking about the events of 1795, and twisting them around until he got them into a format that he could live with: it was all Jeremiah's fault, and Angelique was just sort of by-the-way. The reason we don't hear about her until after the Vicky's trip to the past is that he just didn't want to remember that he had messed up so badly - but when Cassandra came along he had to dredge up some unwelcome memories. (I can't quite make this work, but then, I'm not a vampire.)

I see fan fiction in which he says he was in some sort of a coma or dreamlike state, and I don't buy it; it's sugar-coating the issue. He was trapped in a coffin for nearly two hundred years, and it was horrible, and that was that.

Putting it that way, it sounds positively excruciating! That's enough to turn anyone in to a raving lunatic. Can you imagine rehashing every second of your life over and over again for two centuries? Poor Barnabas! 

Yes, I always wondered why before the events in 1795, Barnabas regards Jeremiah with such hatred, then in 1795 we see that Angelique manipulated both Josette and Jeremiah, and that she was solely to blame for everything that happened, including the disintegration of Barnabas's and Jeremiah's close relationship.

but it makes sense, that if after a while of being imprisoned in the coffin, Barnabas would start to mull things over and turn reality in to a fiction he could cope with. And after nearly two hundred years of this, it's no wonder he's a bit unbalanced as evidenced in all the strange things he did upon his arrival at Collinwood.

I'll say it again, poor Barnabas! 

Yes, I always wondered why before the events in 1795, Barnabas regards Jeremiah with such hatred, then in 1795 we see that Angelique manipulated both Josette and Jeremiah, and that she was solely to blame for everything that happened, including the disintegration of Barnabas's and Jeremiah's close relationship.  But it makes sense, that if after a while of being imprisoned in the coffin, Barnabas would start to mull things over and turn reality in to a fiction he could cope with. And after nearly two hundred years of this, it's no wonder he's a bit unbalanced as evidenced in all the strange things he did upon his arrival at Collinwood.  I'll say it again, poor Barnabas! 

Yes, poor Barnabas.  Which is why most fans feel so sorry for the poor bastard.     I love that scene early in 1967 when [spoiler]he's in the drawing room of the Old House and lamenting his lost life w/Josette and tells her portrait that he's "alive again" and ready to live his life, whatever that may turn out to be.  It's like he was cheated out of his life before, and now all be damned, he's going to live it now, in the 20th century.[/spoiler]

  I love that scene early in 1967 when [spoiler]he's in the drawing room of the Old House and lamenting his lost life w/Josette and tells her portrait that he's "alive again" and ready to live his life, whatever that may turn out to be.  It's like he was cheated out of his life before, and now all be damned, he's going to live it now, in the 20th century.[/spoiler]

Oh yes, Buzz, I love that part too, and it's even more meaningful after you watch events unfold in 1795, realizing that he's been through so much to get where he is.