Dracula Notes | Chapter 5

The fifth chapter describes the events happening in England while Jonathan Harker is in Transylvania. It is written in the form of four letters, a diary entry and a telegram. The first is a letter from Mina Murray, Jonathan's fiancée, to her friend Lucy Westenra. Both are girls just becoming women, though Mina is clearly the more mature and grounded of the two.

In a letter, Mina tells her friend how much she misses her. She writes of her longing for Jonathan, and of her determination to keep a real journal, not "one of those two-pages-to-the-week-with-Sunday-squeezed-in-a-corner diaries..." She believes that with practice, one can remember everything that happens during the day and store it in your diary.

The next two letters are from Lucy to Mina. In the first, Lucy tells of two men. One is a young, handsome doctor, John Seward, who runs a lunatic asylum. The other is Arthur Holmwood, a tall, curly-haired man from a good family. Of Arthur, Lucy writes, "But, oh, Mina, I love him; I love him; I love him!" Chapter 5, pg. 61

In the second letter, Lucy writes of her new dilemma: she was proposed to by three men in the same day. The first, Dr. Seward, "was very cool outwardly, but was nervous all the same." When she informs him of her love for another, he replies gracefully, hoping she will be happy and telling her that he will stand by her as a friend.

The second suitor is an American from Texas, Quincey P. Morris. He takes his rejection with similar composure.

Topic Tracking: Friendship 2

After complaining that she must choose only one, Lucy writes that she has accepted the proposal of the suitor that she loves in return, Arthur Holmwood.

The diary entry belongs to Dr. Seward. He writes that in order to take his mind off of Lucy's rejection, he will study an interesting patient. He chooses R.M. Renfield, a lunatic with "quaint" ideas.

The next letter is from the American, Quincey Morris, to Arthur Holmwood. He reminisces about the adventures they have had together and invites him to join him and their third friend, Seward, to congratulate him on winning "the noblest heart that God has made."

The telegram is from Holmwood to Morris, saying he has some interesting stories to tell.

Topic Tracking: Friendship 3