Chapter 4 Practice Quiz — Dracula
by Bram Stoker — tap or click to flip
Practice Quiz: Chapter 4
What does Dracula force Harker to write, and what are the three dates?
Three post-dated letters to England, dated June 12, June 19, and June 29, each implying Harker is progressively closer to leaving the castle.
How does Harker try to smuggle letters out of the castle?
He throws letters along with a gold coin through his barred window to the Szgany (Romani people) encamped in the courtyard, asking them to post them.
What happens to the letters Harker gives to the Szgany?
The Szgany give both letters to Dracula. He burns the shorthand letter to Mina and forces Harker to reseal the letter to Peter Hawkins.
What does Harker discover when he searches his room on May 31?
Every scrap of paper is gone, including his notes, memoranda, letter of credit, and travel documents. His traveling suit and overcoat have also been stolen.
What does Harker find in the underground chapel?
Fifty great wooden boxes filled with newly dug earth, and Count Dracula lying in one of them — apparently dead, with open stony eyes, red lips, but no pulse or breath.
How has Dracula changed in appearance when Harker sees him the second time in the coffin?
Dracula looks younger: his white hair has turned dark iron-grey, his cheeks are fuller, his skin appears ruby-red underneath, and fresh blood trickles from his mouth.
What happens when Harker strikes at Dracula with the shovel?
Dracula's head turns and his basilisk-like eyes fall on Harker, paralyzing him. The shovel glances off, only making a deep gash above the forehead, and the coffin lid falls shut.
What is Harker's final plan at the end of Chapter 4?
He resolves to scale the castle wall farther than before and attempt to climb down the precipice, accepting that death from a fall is preferable to remaining with the three vampire women.
Who are the Szgany, and what role do they play in Chapter 4?
The Szgany are Romani people loyal to Dracula. They camp in the castle courtyard, intercept Harker's smuggled letters, and help load the fifty boxes of earth onto wagons.
Who is Peter Hawkins, mentioned in this chapter?
Peter Hawkins is Harker's employer, a solicitor in England. Harker writes to him hoping to communicate his imprisonment, though Dracula controls the letter.
Who is the woman at the castle gate, and what happens to her?
She is a desperate mother demanding the return of her child. Dracula summons a pack of wolves that devour her, implying the vampire women have taken her baby.
How does Dracula maintain his pretense of hospitality in this chapter?
He speaks in smooth, courteous tones, apologizes for breaking Harker's letter seal, and grandly offers to open the front door — knowing wolves wait outside to prevent escape.
What does the Count say to the three vampire women outside Harker's door?
He commands, "Back! Back to your own place! Your time is not yet come. Wait! Have patience! Tonight is mine. Tomorrow night is yours!" — promising Harker to them.
How does the theme of imprisonment and control intensify in Chapter 4?
Dracula systematically strips Harker of all means of communication and escape: intercepting letters, stealing documents and clothing, locking doors, and commanding wolves to block the entrance.
How does the day/night motif function in this chapter?
All danger occurs at night. Morning restores Harker's courage — he describes sunlight hitting the gateway "as if the dove from the ark had lighted there," associating daylight with divine salvation.
What is the "reverse colonization" fear expressed in Chapter 4?
Harker realizes the fifty boxes of earth are being shipped to London, where Dracula could "amongst its teeming millions, satiate his lust for blood" — embodying Victorian fears of a foreign predator invading England.
How does the conflict between rationalism and the supernatural resolve in this chapter?
Harker can no longer deny the supernatural. Seeing Dracula in his coffin, gorged with blood and showing no pulse, forces Harker to abandon rational explanations and accept that Dracula is truly undead.
What literary device does Stoker use with Harker's post-dated letters?
Dramatic irony: the reader and Harker both know the letters are instruments of deception, but the recipients in England will believe them genuine, making each sent letter a step toward Harker's planned murder.
What simile does Stoker use to describe Dracula in the coffin?
Stoker compares the blood-gorged Count to "a filthy leech, exhausted with his repletion" — reducing the aristocratic vampire to vermin and emphasizing his parasitic nature.
How does Stoker use the epistolary format to build suspense in Chapter 4?
The dated journal entries compress weeks of escalating dread. Gaps between dates (May 31 to June 17, for example) imply stretches of hopelessness, while the final entry on June 30 reads like a farewell letter.
What does the word "boyar" mean in the context of this chapter?
A boyar is a member of the old aristocratic order in Eastern Europe (especially Romania and Russia). Dracula references the boyar code of hospitality when quoting "Welcome the coming, speed the parting guest."
What does "repletion" mean as used in "exhausted with his repletion"?
Repletion means the state of being completely filled or gorged, especially with food or drink. Here it describes Dracula being bloated with consumed blood.
What is a "leiter-wagon" as described in the chapter?
A leiter-wagon is a large, open wagon with a ladder-like frame on the sides, used for transporting heavy goods. In the chapter, two leiter-wagons drawn by eight horses each deliver the fifty empty boxes to the castle.
Who says "I know now the span of my life. God help me!" and what does it mean?
Jonathan Harker writes this after learning the three letter dates (June 12, 19, 29). He believes June 29 marks the date Dracula will kill him, as the final letter will eliminate the need to keep him alive.
What is the significance of Harker's closing words: "At least God's mercy is better than that of those monsters, and the precipice is steep and high"?
Harker implies he would rather risk death falling from the castle wall than remain a prisoner. It suggests he views death as a mercy compared to becoming a vampire's victim — and foreshadows his desperate escape attempt.
What does the Count mean when he tells the vampire women: "Tonight is mine. Tomorrow night is yours!"?
Dracula is claiming Harker for himself that night (likely for his own purposes) but promising the three women they can have Harker the following night — confirming Harker is being kept alive only temporarily.