Chapter 16 Practice Quiz — Dracula
by Bram Stoker — tap or click to flip
Practice Quiz: Chapter 16
What do the men find when they first open Lucy's coffin at midnight?
The coffin is empty. Lucy's body is not there because she has risen as a vampire.
What does Van Helsing use to seal the tomb so the Un-Dead cannot enter?
He crumbles communion wafers (the Host) into a putty-like substance and presses the mixture into the crevices around the tomb door.
What is the white figure the men see carrying something dark at its breast?
It is vampire Lucy carrying a small child through the churchyard. The child cries out when she feeds on it.
What does Lucy say to Arthur when she sees him at the tomb?
"Come to me, Arthur. Leave these others and come to me. My arms are hungry for you. Come, my husband, come!"
How does Van Helsing stop Arthur from going to vampire Lucy?
He springs forward and holds his golden crucifix between them. Lucy recoils from it with a distorted face full of rage.
What tools does Van Helsing bring for the staking ceremony?
A round wooden stake (two and a half to three inches thick, sharpened and charred), a heavy coal-breaking hammer, operating knives, a soldering iron, plumbing solder, and a small oil lamp.
What happens to Lucy's appearance after she is staked?
Her face returns to its living sweetness and purity. The pointed teeth and blood-stained mouth are gone, replaced by a look of unequalled sweetness and holy calm.
What do Van Helsing and Seward do to Lucy's body after the staking?
They saw off the top of the stake (leaving the point in the body), cut off her head, and fill her mouth with garlic. Then they solder the leaden coffin shut.
How does Arthur react when he first sees vampire Lucy?
He gasps in horror. When Lucy beckons him, he seems to fall under a spell and opens his arms to her before Van Helsing intervenes.
How does Quincey Morris behave during the graveyard watch?
He is phlegmatic and accepts the situation with cool bravery. Unable to smoke, he cuts a plug of tobacco and chews it while waiting.
What does Arthur say after staking Lucy and seeing her peaceful face restored?
"Forgiven! God bless you that you have given my dear one her soul again, and me peace." He then weeps silently on Van Helsing's breast.
What does Van Helsing explain will happen if Lucy is not destroyed?
She will continue preying on children, who will lose their blood and come under her power. Those who die from the preying of the Un-Dead become Un-Dead themselves, widening the circle of evil endlessly.
How does the chapter present the idea of Christian redemption?
The communion wafers, crucifix, prayers, and ritual staking all serve as instruments of salvation. Lucy's destruction frees her soul to "take her place with the other Angels," transforming an act of violence into one of mercy.
What does the chapter suggest about the relationship between love and horror?
The men must destroy what they loved to save it. Arthur's act of staking is framed as the ultimate expression of love—Van Helsing calls it "a blessed hand" and says Arthur will rejoice more than his pain was great.
What classical allusions does Stoker use to describe vampire Lucy's face?
Her wrinkled brow is compared to "the coils of Medusa's snakes" and her distorted mouth to "the passion masks of the Greeks and Japanese."
To what mythological figure is Arthur compared as he drives the stake?
Thor, the Norse god of thunder. Melville describes Arthur looking "like a figure of Thor as his untrembling arm rose and fell."
How does Stoker use contrast between the outdoor air and the tomb?
The night air is described as "fresh and pure" with sweet breezes and the "red lighting of the sky," while the tomb is full of "terror," "death and decay." This contrast reinforces the boundary between life and Un-Death.
What does "adamantine" mean in the phrase "the sweetness was turned to adamantine, heartless cruelty"?
Adamantine means extremely hard or unyielding, like diamond or unbreakable stone. Lucy's former gentle sweetness has become cruel and impenetrable.
What is "the Host" that Van Helsing brings from Amsterdam?
The Host refers to the consecrated communion wafer used in the Christian Eucharist, representing the body of Christ. Van Helsing says he has "an Indulgence" (special permission from the Church) to use it this way.
What does Van Helsing mean by "nosferatu"?
Nosferatu is the Eastern European term for vampire or Un-Dead. Van Helsing uses it when explaining that anyone who receives a vampire's kiss and dies will become one of the Un-Dead.
What does Van Helsing promise the men about Lucy after she is destroyed?
"Instead of working wickedness by night and growing more debased... she shall take her place with the other Angels."
What pledge do the four men make at the end of the chapter?
They each take Van Helsing's hand and promise to pursue Dracula "to the bitter end." Van Helsing warns them of danger and pain but says they must not draw back once their "feet are on the ploughshare."