Dracula 9

Study Guide Questions for Ch. 9 “Letter, Mina Harker to Lucy Westenra”

If you are looking for the beginning of the study of Bram Stoker’s Dracula then you can go HERE for a brief introduction. At the bottom of the introduction you will find the links to each section of the study guide as it becomes available. If you would like to see the growing list of available book studies available for free on this site you can go HERE. Enjoy!

Virtues/Vices/Great Ideas: (Find them in the Text)

Love, Duty, Happiness, Deception

Grammar Questions: (The Information of the Text)

1. When Mina found Jonathan, what was his state of being?

2. What did Jonathan entrust to Mina’s care and discretion?

3. In what “solemn” ceremony did Jonathan and Mina partake while Jonathan was still in the hospital?

4. Dr. Seward couldn’t decide in which way Renfield distinguished him from the others working at the asylum, what two options did he consider?

5. How did Renfield behave when Dr. Seward confronted him during his second escape attempt?

6. What animal did Dr. Seward observe “in the moonlit sky?”

7. What noise did Lucy hear “at the window” as she was trying to go to sleep?

8. What did Arthur Holmwood ask Dr. Seward to do?

9. What reasons did Dr. Seward give as to why he called upon Professor Van Helsing to lend him aid?

10. What had Dr. Seward done for Van Helsing which made Van Helsing his dedicated friend?

11. What did Van Helsing tell Lucy was Dr. Seward’s goal with “his madmen” at the asylum?

12. Why was Arthur not presently with Lucy himself?

13. Describe the changes in Renfield’s behavior in Dr. Seward’s last entry concerning him?

14. What did Dr. Seward’s last telegram communicate?

Logic Questions: (Interpreting, Comparing/Contrasting, Reasoning)

1. What did Sister Agatha means when she said, “the ravings of the sick [are] the secrets of God?”

2. Why did Jonathan and Mina choose to get married while Jonathan was still in the hospital?

3. What did Mina mean by telling Lucy, “I want you to see now, and with the eyes of a very happy wife, whither duty has led me; so that in your own married life you too may be all happy as I am?” Specifically, what has duty to do with her happiness?

4. What do you think Renfield is waiting for when he says, “I can wait; I can wait?”

5. Why might Renfield be more active and violent in the nighttime than in the day?

6. What should be inferred from the fact that Lucy was trying to “mislead her mother” in the manner she was?

7. Why might it be important to the story that Professor Van Helsing is both a “philosopher and metaphysician” as well as “one of the most advanced scientists of his day?”

8. What might Van Helsing have wanted to ask Lucy’s maid?

9. Why did Renfield say, “All over! All over! He has deserted me. No hope for me now unless I do it for myself!” What does he mean by this? What is he wanting to accomplish?

10. Why might Renfield have abandoned his pursuits completely by the end of this chapter?

Rhetoric Questions: (The Analysis of Ideas in the Text)

1. Duty is a theme in this chapter (consider Mina’s words about duty as a wife and Arthur’s stated duty to his father). Offer a definition for the concept of duty? How does one come to have a duty in their life? Are some duties of greater weight than others? If so, give an example. If not, why not? What difference does it make whether or not a person honors their duty? 

2. Is it morally permissible to mislead people close to us (as Lucy is misleading her mother) if we do so with good intentions? Why or why not?

3. Van Helsing said that the goal of Dr. Seward’s work with the madmen at the asylum was “to bring them back to happiness, and to those who love them.” What is the relationship between happiness and being of sound mind (sane)? Is being sane essential to being truly happy? What if the delusional person lives in a fantasy world in his mind wherein he conceives he has everything he could ever want? Is such a person truly happy? Why or why not?

Theological Analysis: (Sola Scriptura)

1. How does Luke 17:7-10 impact our discussion about the nature of duty?

2. Read Acts 6:1-7. What does this tell us about one way a person might receive a duty? Also, what does this teach us about the importance of doing our duty and how that affects other people?