Differences And Similarities Between Dracula And Carmilla

Gothic stories often provide differentiated frameworks for the appearance of many characters within the stories. We find a multitude of characters ranging from the hunter, to the prey, from damsel in distress to women appearing as sexualized monsters. Bram Stroker’s Dracula, John William Polidori’s Vampyre and J. Sheridan LeFanu’s Carmilla provide a keen insight on the culture, norms, societal values and the writing of early gothic literature. It is imperative to note that in the Victorian era, sexuality as a gender role was assigned to men and the placement of women as vampires in the gothic stories either challenge or reaffirm these expectations of sexuality of the women. Stephen D. Arata in his article, “The Occidental tourist: Dracula

This could be derived as a parallel between how closely associated, early onset of sexual desire was seen as unnatural for women. In Stroker’s Dracula, it is suggested that, “I was afraid to raise my eyelids, but looked out and saw perfectly under the lashes. The fair girl went on her knees, and bent over me, fairly gloating. There was a deliberate voluptuousness which was both thrilling and repulsive, and as she arched her neck she actually licked her lips like an animal, till I could see in the moonlight the moisture shining on the scarlet lips and on the red tongue as it lapped the white sharp teeth.”(Chapter 3, page 8) The verbiage and imagery in the writing suggests that the character _____ saw a sexual drive and

She has man's brain - a brain that a man should have were he much gifted - and woman's heart.” It is evident that Mina’s smartness is clearly seen as offensive to the author, her difference is that she can easily be compared to a man with the intellect that she possesses. In a similar instance, ______ in the story Carmilla comments, “From these foolish embraces, which were not of very frequent occurrence, I must allow, I used to wish to extricate myself; but my energies failed me.” The author notes here that the experiences she was having was not something she had previously experienced, thereby effectively making it unnatural and uneasy. We notice this parallel drawn in the quote as well where the writer suggests that, “If Dracula’s kiss serves to deracinate Lucy, and by doing so to unleash what the male characters consider her incipiently monstrous sexual appetite then the only way to counter this process is to re-incarnate her by re infusing her with proper blood.” In a way, the author suggests that Lucy’s conversion could have been seen as an unnatural thing because of her desire to be sexually fulfilled. And with this desire, she challenges herself against the male