Chapter 8 Practice Quiz — Dracula
by Bram Stoker — tap or click to flip
Practice Quiz: Chapter 8
What does Mina discover when she wakes up during the night of August 11?
She finds Lucy's bed empty. Lucy has sleepwalked out of the house in only her nightdress.
Where does Mina find Lucy sleepwalking, and what does she see there?
Mina finds Lucy on their favorite seat in the churchyard near the abbey. She sees a dark figure with a white face and red, gleaming eyes bending over Lucy.
How does Mina get Lucy home from the churchyard without attracting attention?
She wraps Lucy in a shawl, puts her own shoes on Lucy's feet, and daubs mud on her own bare feet so no one would notice and gossip about them.
What does Mina find on Lucy's throat the morning after the churchyard incident?
Two small red puncture marks like pin-pricks with a drop of blood on her nightdress. Mina assumes she caused them with the safety pin she used to fasten the shawl.
What happens to Lucy's health over the days following the sleepwalking episode?
Lucy grows progressively paler and weaker, gasping for air at night. The puncture wounds on her throat do not heal and actually grow larger, despite her eating and sleeping well.
What is contained in the business letters included in Chapter 8?
They arrange the delivery of fifty boxes of earth from the Demeter to Carfax, Dracula's newly purchased estate near Purfleet, London.
What news does Mina receive about Jonathan Harker in Chapter 8?
A letter from Sister Agatha reveals Jonathan is alive but recovering from a violent brain fever in a Budapest hospital. Mina prepares to leave England to go to him.
What does Renfield do after escaping the asylum?
He runs to Carfax and presses himself against the chapel door, pledging obedience to his unseen "Master" and asking to be rewarded for his faithfulness.
How does Mina Murray demonstrate her resourcefulness in Chapter 8?
She searches for Lucy alone at night, wraps her in a shawl, gives her shoes, muddies her own feet for disguise, locks the bedroom door nightly, and ties the key to her wrist.
What secret about Mrs. Westenra's health is revealed in Chapter 8?
Mrs. Westenra confides to Mina that her doctor has given her a death warrant -- her heart is weakening and she may die within months. A sudden shock could kill her.
How does Lucy describe her experience during the sleepwalking episode?
She recalls passing through streets and over a bridge, hearing dogs howling, then seeing something long and dark with red eyes. She felt as if sinking into deep green water with her soul floating out of her body.
What is Renfield's attitude toward Dr. Seward and the attendant in Chapter 8?
Renfield becomes haughty and dismissive of both, saying "I don't want to talk to you. You don't count now. The master is at hand." He treats them as equally insignificant.
What does Dr. Seward reveal about his personal feelings at the end of Chapter 8?
He admits he is weary and low in spirits, thinking of Lucy and "how different things might have been," revealing his lingering heartbreak over her rejection of his marriage proposal.
How does Chapter 8 develop the theme of knowledge versus ignorance?
Each narrator sees only fragments of the larger threat. Mina blames a safety pin for bite marks, Seward diagnoses religious mania in Renfield, and solicitors unknowingly ship Dracula's earth-boxes. The reader understands what the characters cannot.
What sexual undertones are present in Dracula's attack on Lucy in Chapter 8?
Lucy's half-reclining posture, the dark figure bending intimately over her, the penetration of her throat, and her dreamlike description of something "sweet and bitter" all carry erotic implications that parallel sexual predation.
How does Chapter 8 explore the theme of female vulnerability versus agency?
Lucy becomes increasingly passive and victimized under Dracula's influence, while Mina acts as protector and decision-maker -- running through Whitby at night, securing the room, and managing others' secrets.
What does the motif of locked doors and windows represent in Chapter 8?
Locked doors and secured windows represent the fragile boundary between safety and supernatural invasion. Despite Mina's precautions, Dracula still reaches Lucy through the window, suggesting that human defenses are insufficient against his power.
Identify the dramatic irony in Mina's explanation of the puncture marks on Lucy's throat.
Mina blames herself for pricking Lucy with the safety pin, while the reader recognizes the marks as vampire bites from Dracula. This irony highlights how the characters' rational explanations blind them to the supernatural truth.
How does Stoker use foreshadowing in Chapter 8?
The bat at the window, Lucy's murmur about "his red eyes again," the bird-like creature on the windowsill, and the steadily worsening throat wounds all foreshadow Dracula's continued predation and Lucy's eventual fate.
How does the epistolary format create suspense in Chapter 8?
By interweaving Mina's diary, business letters, Sister Agatha's letter, and Seward's diary, Stoker fragments the narrative so no character has the full picture. The mundane shipping letters sit alongside gothic horror, and the reader must connect the dots.
What does Renfield mean when he calls Dracula "Master" and pledges to be his "slave"?
Renfield uses biblical language of worship and servitude to express his psychic bond with Dracula. His words echo a disciple's devotion, but twisted to serve a demonic rather than divine figure.
What is a "strait waistcoat" as mentioned in Dr. Seward's diary?
A strait waistcoat is the Victorian-era term for a straitjacket, a garment used to restrain violent patients in asylums by binding their arms against their body.
Who says "I don't want to talk to you. You don't count now. The master is at hand" and what does it reveal?
Renfield says this to the asylum attendant. It reveals his awareness of Dracula's arrival in England and his complete devotion to the vampire, whom he considers infinitely superior to any human.
What does Lucy mean when she murmurs "His red eyes again! They are just the same"?
Lucy is subconsciously recognizing Dracula's presence near the churchyard. Though in a half-dreamy state, she connects the red eyes she sees with those of the figure who attacked her during her sleepwalking episode.
Who says "I shall be patient, Master. It is coming, coming, coming!" and what is its significance?
Renfield says this after being restrained in a straitjacket and chained to the wall. It suggests his continued psychic awareness of Dracula's plans and his faith that the vampire will eventually come to reward him.