 |
|
|
Table of Contents Chapter 5 Summary This chapter comprises of a series of letters. The first is from Miss Mina Murray to Miss Lucy Westenra, which dated 9th May. She writes that she was sorry for the delay in writing as an assistant schoolmistress and that she is very busy. She was practicing shorthand. She writes to her in shorthand and vice versa. She tells Lucy that Jonathan is in Transylvania and is well and returning in a week. She ends with teasing Lucy about rumors of her and a tall, handsome curly haired man. Lucy Westenra replies to Mina. She complains about the delay of Mina’s letters and then talks about her friend, Mr. Arthur Holmwood, whom she is in love with Then she talks about the doctor, who she believes would be just right for Mina, if she didn’t met Jonathan first. Lucy writes another letter dated 24th May, in which she writes of her three proposals in one day from Dr. Seward, Quincey Morris and Arthur Holmwood, who she will marry. She is very excited about it. Dr. Seward, who is the doctor of a lunatic asylum records in his phonograph about his strange patient. He is desolate after Lucy refuses him. He throws himself in his work. He records the day to day behavior of his patient R. M. Renfield who is potentially a very strange and dangerous man. In the meantime, Quincey Morris writes to Arthur to come to his place for dinner with Dr. Deword, Arthur agrees.
This chapter suddenly breaks the excited action of the last four chapters. This chapter is a series of letters of other characters. Mina, who is Jonathan’s fiancée mentioned in his journal, writes a letter to Lucy, who appears frivolous and carefree happy girl, almost like a child, cosseted and pampered. She is going to be important, as with the fatal lute of the vampire, she becomes, from a carefree girl to a dreaded vampire. Mina, in her letter, also talks about shorthand, which Jonathan dabbles in. Undoubtedly, she does not know about the horrible happenings in Transylvania. In this chapter, the author uses the tool of several letters, seemingly unconnected to each other. However, as the reader finds out that all the incidents are like links in a chain. All are connected to Dracula whether it is the negative band of Lucy and Renfield or the positive player of Dr. Seward, Arthur Holmwood, Quincey Morris, and Jonathan Harker. Mina of course comes in between these two influences, as Dracula bites her. Yet with her will power she helps the band. This chapter is almost like an anti-climax, a relief after tension packed chapters. It turns the dramatics to normalcy. | |
