Chapter 3 Practice Quiz — Dracula
by Bram Stoker — tap or click to flip
Practice Quiz: Chapter 3
What does Jonathan Harker realize at the beginning of Chapter 3?
He realizes he is a prisoner in Castle Dracula. He rushes through the castle trying every door and window before the conviction of his helplessness overpowers him.
What does Harker deduce when he sees the Count making the bed and laying the table?
He deduces that there are no servants in the castle, and that the Count himself must have been the coachman who drove Harker to the castle and controlled the wolves.
What does the Count ask Harker to write in his letters?
The Count instructs Harker to write to Mr. Peter Hawkins and others saying he will stay at the castle for another month, and warns him not to discuss anything other than business.
What does Harker witness the Count doing from the castle window?
Harker sees the Count emerge from a window and crawl face-down along the castle wall over the abyss with considerable speed, "just as a lizard moves along a wall," with his cloak spreading like great wings.
What does Harker discover when he explores the castle after the Count leaves?
He finds all doors locked with new locks, the main door locked with its key missing, and eventually forces open a heavy door to discover a suite of south-facing rooms that were once the ladies' quarters.
What happens when the three female vampires visit Harker?
The fair-haired woman bends over Harker to bite his throat, but the Count bursts in, furiously hurls her away, and commands all three to leave, declaring "This man belongs to me!"
What does the Count give the three female vampires before they depart?
He throws them a bag that moves as though there is a living thing inside it. When one of the women opens it, Harker hears a gasp and a low wail, as of a half-smothered child.
Describe the three female vampires Harker encounters in the castle.
Two are dark-haired with high aquiline noses like the Count and dark piercing eyes. The third is fair with golden hair and pale sapphire eyes. All three have brilliant white teeth and voluptuous red lips.
How does the Count react when he finds the female vampires with Harker?
He is consumed by fury — his eyes blaze with red light, his face turns deathly pale, and he hurls the fair woman away with giant strength, warning them all that Harker "belongs to me" and they must not touch him.
How does the Count speak about his ancestors, and what pronoun does he use?
The Count speaks with intense pride and passion, always using "we" instead of "I" when discussing the Szekelys, as though he personally participated in centuries of battles against the Turks, Magyars, and other invaders.
How does Harker plan to communicate secretly despite being watched?
He writes formal notes that the Count can read, but also writes secretly in shorthand to Mr. Hawkins and to Mina Murray, knowing the Count would not be able to decipher shorthand.
Who is Mr. Peter Hawkins, and what is his connection to the story?
Mr. Peter Hawkins is Harker's employer, a solicitor based in Exeter. He arranged for Harker to travel to Transylvania to assist Count Dracula with purchasing property in London.
How does Chapter 3 explore the theme of modernity versus the ancient world?
Harker represents modern Western rationalism with his legal expertise, while the Count embodies ancient supernatural power. Dracula absorbs modern legal knowledge to plan his invasion of England, suggesting modernity is vulnerable to primal forces.
How does the encounter with the female vampires reflect Victorian anxieties about sexuality?
The sexually aggressive vampire women invert Victorian gender norms of passive femininity. Harker feels both desire and guilt, admitting a "wicked, burning desire" while worrying about Mina, reflecting the era's conflicted relationship with sexuality.
What does the Count's speech about the Szekelys reveal about the theme of blood and lineage?
The Count's passionate recitation of ancestral battles connects vampirism to a broader obsession with bloodlines and inherited power, foreshadowing how vampiric "blood" will be used to corrupt and control others throughout the novel.
How does Harker's imprisonment develop the theme of entrapment?
Harker is physically trapped (locked doors, no key, sheer castle walls) and psychologically trapped (forced to write controlled letters, unable to trust his host). His helplessness mirrors a prey animal, as he compares himself to a "rat in a trap."
What literary device does Stoker use when Harker watches the Count crawl down the wall?
Stoker uses vivid imagery and simile — comparing the Count to a lizard and his cloak to great wings — to create one of Gothic literature's most iconic scenes of supernatural horror, confirming Dracula's inhuman nature.
How does the epistolary format function in Chapter 3?
The chapter is written entirely as Jonathan Harker's journal entries, creating intimacy and immediacy while underscoring his isolation. The journal becomes both a survival tool and a way to maintain sanity.
What foreshadowing appears in the Count's questions about English law?
The Count's detailed questions about solicitors, shipping, and banking foreshadow his planned invasion of England. His interest in using multiple agents and avoiding centralized knowledge hints at his cunning and predatory strategy.
What does "Boyar" mean in the context of the Count's speech?
A Boyar is a member of the highest rank of the feudal aristocracy in Eastern Europe, particularly in Romania and Russia. The Count uses it to describe his noble warrior class, the Szekelys.
What does "Voivode" mean as used by the Count?
A Voivode is a military commander or prince who ruled a province in Eastern Europe. The Count uses the term to describe a historical Dracula who crossed the Danube to fight the Turks.
What is a "culverin" as mentioned in the description of the castle?
A culverin is a type of large cannon used in medieval and early modern warfare. Harker notes the castle windows were placed where "sling, or bow, or culverin could not reach," emphasizing the castle's defensive design.
Who says "This man belongs to me!" and in what context?
Count Dracula says this when he discovers the three female vampires attempting to feed on Jonathan Harker. He hurls the fair woman away and commands them all to leave, asserting his ownership over Harker.
What does Harker mean when he writes, "It is the nineteenth century up-to-date with a vengeance"?
Writing in shorthand in a medieval castle room, Harker reflects on the irony of bringing modern methods into an ancient setting. He acknowledges that despite modernity, "the old centuries had, and have, powers of their own which mere modernity cannot kill."