# Mrs. Westenra — Dracula character guide

> Mrs. Westenra in Dracula by Bram Stoker.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Mrs. Westenra

**First appearance:** 0010-viii

## Snapshot

Mrs.

## Who they are

Mrs. Westenra is a widowed society woman devoted to Lucy, but her own fragile heart and her refusal to be told the truth about her daughter's illness make her an unwitting obstacle to Van Helsing's defenses. She strips the garlic from Lucy's room as a kindness, and her death — from shock at the sight of the wolf — leaves Lucy alone on the very night she most needs guarding. Her love is genuine and her timing catastrophic, which is precisely what makes her so painful to read.

## In the story

### [Chapter VI: Mina Murray's Journal](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dracula_se/chapters/vi)

Lucy's mother is anxious about Lucy's sleepwalking and insists on locking the bedroom door each night.

### [VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dracula_se/chapters/viii)

Revealed to have a fatal heart condition; unaware of Lucy's nocturnal episodes.

### [Chapter X: The Blood Transfusion and the Garlic Wreath](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dracula_se/chapters/x)

Lucy's mother, who is kept from the full extent of Lucy's illness.

### [XI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dracula_se/chapters/xi)

Unknowingly removes the protective garlic and opens the window; later dies of shock during the wolf attack.

### [XIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dracula_se/chapters/xiii)

Deceased; her will leaves everything to Arthur Holmwood, and she is buried alongside Lucy.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dracula_se/characters/mrs_westenra
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dracula_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dracula_se/characters