Repressed Sexuality in Bram Stoker's Dracula
Perhaps no work of literature has ever been composed without being a product of its era, mainly because the human being responsible for writing it develops their worldview within a particular era. Thus, with Bram Stoker's Dracula, though we have a vampire myth novel filled with terror, horror, and evil, the story is a thinly veiled disguise of the repressed sexual mores of the Victorian era. If we look to critical interpretation and commentary to win support for such a thesis, we find it aplenty "For erotic Dracula certainly is. 'Quasi-pornography' one critic labels it. Another describes it as a 'kind of incestuous, necrophilious, oral-anal-sadistic all-in-wrestling matching'. A sexual search of the novel unearths the following: seduction, rape, necrophilia, pedophilia, incest, adultery, oral sex, group sex, menstruation, venereal disease, voyeurism" (Leatherdale 155-156). While there are many other interpretations of the novel, such as the vampire as a Satan figure who wishes to take away the mortality Christ won mankind, this analysis will explore how it reads as a story of repressed sexuality and the conflict it creates for the characters living in a repressed Victorian world.
Christopher Craft, in his review of the novel, argues that the gender roles of males and females were extremely well-defined and limiting in Victorian society. The male was perceived as the stronger of the sexes, and women were relegated to a voiceless and submissive role. He argues that Harker's eager anticipation of the incestuous vampire daughters is a direct parallel of the roles of men and women in Victorian society, but the roles are reversed "Harker awaits an erotic fulfillment ...
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... novel allows an outlet for natural, human biological necessities, no doubt many Victorian readers were similarly thrilled and repulsed by its deliberate depiction of them.
WORKS CITED
Auerbach, N. A. and Skal, D. J. Bram Stoker: Dracula: Authoritative Text, Contexts, Reviews and Reactions, Dramatic and Film Variations, Criticism. New York, W. W. Norton & Company, 1997.
Carter, M. L. (ed.). Dracula: The Vampire and the Critics. Ann Arbor, U.M.I. Research Press, 1988.
Darling, L. Dracula is us: the vampire always sinks his fangs into our deepest fears. Newsday. Nov. 8, 1992, (07) 1-5.
Leatherdale, C. Dracula: The Novel and the Legend: A Study of Bram Stoker's Gothic Masterpiece. Brighton, Desert Island Books, 1993.
Taylor, S. B. Stoker's Dracula. The Explicator. Vol. 55. Sept. 1, 1996, (29-31) 1-3.
Florescu, Radu R., and McNally, Raymond T., Dracula, Prince of Many Faces: His Life and Times (1989)
... die, innocence and good is corrupted and there is a connection to sexuality. Both novels create an aspect of mystery for the reader of the 19th century. Stoker’s portrayal of a creature little known by the English public of the 1890’s would have been of fear inspiring fascination to read about. Though few would have read John Palidori’s vampire novel, more perhaps would have heard the tale of Vlad the Impaler. He was a man who supposedly drank human blood or the blood of his war victims, and was in fact a ‘Dracule’. This basis in reality would add a sadistic interest to the novel. Wilde’s novel, though equally inexplicable, doesn’t create the same feeling of terror, but does raise a number of reservations in its reader.
Podonsky, Amanda . "Bram Stoker's Dracula: A Reflection and Rebuke of Victorian Society." RSS. Student Pulse: The International Student Journal, 1 Jan. 2010. Web. 6 May 2014. .
As of late, society has stolen the traditional idea of a vampire. These undead creatures are manipulated in countless genres and media, ranging from comedic reliefs and complex villains to sparkly heartthrobs. Songs, video games, movies, books, and TV shows all are guilty of this. Movies in particular have done the most with vampires, and clearly show their evolution in society’s eyes. In the earliest movies such as Nosferatu; directed by F. W. Murnau, and Dracula; directed by Todd Browning and Karl Freund, vampires are used as devices of horror. They are meant to be unhuman and terrifying. As time passes, they become portrayed in sympathetic lights and with more human traits. Emotions such as love, guilt, and fear were added to vampire vocabulary,
In society, the significance of social status and role is observable with both genders. This includes the acceptable behaviors and responsibilities for both men and women within one’s culture. It is a constant struggle to follow these established guidelines in order to preserve a good reputation and not possess a low social status. In Bram Stoker’s novel, Dracula, the different characters each represent a different stand in the transformation from “True Woman” to the “New Woman” that surfaced in the late nineteenth century. This new idea made women more independent, with their lives no longer revolving around their husbands, and most importantly created a big change in social expectations. The characters Lucy, Mina, and the three brides of Dracula play a part in revealing Stoker’s belief that social status is changed for the worse with this change in women’s roles.
Conclusively, while Bram Stokers novel Dracula is seen as a gothic and horror story, I argue that it is a novel that seeks to address female sexuality directly. Seen through numerous passages, Stoker confronts and battles the views between sexuality during the Victorian era though his genius of characterization of characters present within the novel. As it seems highly intentional to me, I respect the way in which he criticizes and critiques upon female sexuality by bringing into light new ideas regarding female desires. When contrasting his text upon today’s culture, the differences to how one perceived the vampire has changed significantly.
In Homer's epics women were very respected by journey and warrior men. The women were looked upon as beautiful, nurturing human beings. The mortal women in Homer's "Iliad" were mostly known for being faithful wives and very giving mothers. These women care for their children, such as Odysseus's mother did, when he was in great need of confidence and reassurance. After the death of Odysseus's mother, she returned as a shade from the underworld to tell Odysseus, "Your wife weeps for your return as she lives in your house with a loyal heart, and your son has kept your kingdom whole."(90) This gave Odysseus the confidence in his heart to continue on home to Ithaca, to reunite with his dear wife, Penelope. A perfect example of how nurturing and dedicated the women were, not only to their children, but also to their husbands.
Medea is a tragedy written by acclaimed Greek playwright Euripides.fortunately, had the opportunity to view last night's performance. Euripides cleverly uncovers the reality of Ancient Greek society, shining a light on the treatment of women and the emotions and thoughts that provoked during their time in society. As they were voiceless, Euripides acted as a voice. The scene is set during a male- dominated society, Medea the protagonist challenges the views and chooses to ignore the normality of civilisation. Treated as an outsider her passion for revenge conquers the motherly instincts she possesses, provoking a deep hatred and sparking revenge towards her once loved family.
Stoker uses phenomenal imagery to produce a late nineteenth century setting, located somewhere within eastern Europe. Transylvania, the infamous home to Dracula himself, is described in great detail in Harker’s journal. There, Stoker purposely and meticulously outlines Dracula’s castle and the surrounding town. Stoker manages to do this with a very gothic tone, immediately lowering the societal status of women. In conjunction with Dracula’s gothic tone comes the understanding of male and female traditional roles of the era. The reader sees that there is no hesitation differentiating between the two, as Stoker “ cast[s] men as rational, strong, protective and decisive…[and] women as emotional (irrational), weak, nurturing and submissive.” (Tyson, 82).
Medea, a barbarian woman who once complied with Jason to acquire the Golden Fleece betrays her country by killing her brother and father to run in exile to Corinth. Jason takes Medea, who is not from a Greek background to Greece, a male-dominated society, where he then betrays her for a royal bed. This causes Medea to seek revenge and kill individuals around Jason including her own children. Medea is considered a tragic drama where the protagonist, Medea, atrociously murders innocent individuals in order to get revenge on Jason who betrayed her by marrying a princess. Although Jason’s betrayal causes Medea sorrow, there is overwhelming evidence throughout the play of characters who heard Medea’s evil plans of revenge towards innocent victims, therefore, her immoral actions shall be given a trial in Corinth where
Since the 19th Century, Bram Stoker’s Dracula has entertained its readers taking them to heights of excitement in the climax
Euripides shows his views on female power through Medea. As a writer of the marginalized in society, Medea is the prime example of minorities of the age. She is a single mother, with 2 illegitimate children, in a foreign place. Despite all these disadvantages, Medea is the cleverest character in the story. Medea is a warning to the consequences that follow when society underestimates the
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The most common English translation for dharma is religion but this is a demonstrably problematic translation (Sharma 307-08).The word dharma comes from the verbal root dhṛ meaning to uphold, sustain, or integrate, thus dharma is that which sustains and integrates, and the meaning of “dharma is the essential nature of a thing, without which it ceases to be” (Tejoymaynanda 22). This wide conception of dharma stands in contrast to some others that tend toward the laconic and cursory. Larson offers a very succinct and insufficient definition of dharma as “correct usage” (147), while Ingalls provides a similarly limited explanation of dharma as “an ideal or goal of human morality” (45)
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