Braham Stoker's Dracula and The Distrust Between the Sexes

777 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: What ways were gender and sexuality challenged in dracula by bram stoker? discussion

Dracula and The Distrust Between the Sexes

"Unpleasant experiences with the opposite sex seem to be unavoidable" (Horney 342). This quote from Karen Horney's essay The Distrust Between the Sexes seems to be discussing Dracula. Though her essay, (a lecture originally given to the German's Women Medical Association in November 1930), does not mention Dracula directly, the points that she argued can be transposed onto Bram Stoker's Dracula. In her essay, Horney asserts that men are very concerned with self-preservation, and also that men have an innate fear of women in power positions and therefore do what they can to prevent women from obtaining "power positions,"; these two points are applicable to Dracula.

Karen Horney observes that "because of our instinct for self-preservation, we all have a natural fear of losing ourselves in another person" (340). This is evident in Dracula when Lucy knows that her "bad dreams" (Stoker 109) come at night so she has "the pain of sleeplessness, or the pain of the fear of sleep" (Stoker 132). She has the fear that if she sleeps Dracula will appear and cause her to "lose herself." Stoker's Dracula character defies Horney's above statement, presumably because he is not "human." He has "a heart that knew [sic] no fear and no remorse" (302). However, the self-preservation clause still applies. He was very adamant in his desire to study John Harker, in order that he could pass as a native Londoner. Harker realized his place in the Count's plan, while staying at the castle. Harker says "this was the being I was helping to transfer to London, where, he might, amongst its teeming millions, satiate his lust for blood, and create a new and ever widening circle of semi-demons to batten o...

... middle of paper ...

...e processes?" (348).

Though Dracula was written a full 30 years before Horney's essay, it is most fascinating re-analyzing the novel after having read the essay. We can see Horney's two assertions (that men are very concerned with self-preservation, and than men have an innate fear of women in power positions) come to life in Dracula. She even mentions "vampires" in her essay (343), but it is a different context; she's not referring to Stoker's novel. These two works, analyzed together, make a most engaging gothic classic that much more interesting.

Works Cited:

Horney, Karen. "The Distrust Between the Sexes." A World of Ideas: Essential Readings for College Writers. 5th ed. Ed. Lee A. Jacobus. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin's, 1998. 337-351.

Stoker, Bram. Dracula. (London: 1897) introduction by George Statde. New York: Bantam Books, 1981.

Show More
Related

  • The Dark Themes of "The Picture of Dorian Gray" and "Dracula"

    2592 Words  | 6 Pages

    In order to discuss the decline in masculinity (or manhood) and moral values, synonym of religious values in both books, it becomes necessary to define what Late-Victorian society considered them to be. In Dracula, masculinity is defined almost exclusively by contrasting it with femininity. The men in the book are praised when they show the opposite qualities that women are described as possessing. While women are shown as obedient and complacent, men are stern and in command of themselves and situations. Men are expected to protect women while women expect and cherish the protection of men. While men are expected to face the unpleasant facts of life, the darkness and the evil, with integrity and courage, women are to be sheltered from danger to avoid the breakdown of their fragile characters. When the group headed by Van Helsing starts their mission of vanishing the Count and all the dangers he brings for England, the men unanimously decide to hide all the unpleasant facts f...

    Read More

  • Foreshadowing, Mood, Mythical Parallels, and Narrative Elements in Dracula

    1445 Words  | 3 Pages

    Anyone who has ever seen one of the several adaptations of Dracula as a movie will know that it was intended to be a horror story.  Stoker goes to great lengths in order to create an atmosphere of terror and villainy, while hinting at exciting things to come.  Straight from the beginning of the book, foreshadowing is utilized to hint at horrifying future events.  As Jonathan Harker was about to depart for Castle Dracula, an old lady accosted him and said, "It is the eve of St. George's Day.  Do you not know that to-night when the clock strikes midnight, all the evil things in the world will have full sway?"  (Stoker, 4).  However Harker leaves anyway, despite the warning.  Thus the reader is fully aware that something awful is going to happen to him.  This quote makes one's mind think of possible future events, thus creating imagery.  Every writer aspires to create good imagery, and Bram Stoker is particularly good at doing so.

    Read More

  • A Morally Ambiguous Character In Bram Stoker's 'Dracula'

    1038 Words  | 3 Pages

    “‘We have learnt-much! Notwithstanding his brave words, he fears us; he hear time, he fear want! For if not, why he hurry so? His very tone betray him, or my ears deceive” (333). Dracula could have attacked the men quite easily, but instead he chose to run away from them. Dracula’s actions show that he is not out to hurt the men. Dracula is susceptible to death and does not want to attack men when he does not have to.Dracula may have attacked the girls because he thought he was helping them escape victorian society rules. In Transylvania women did not have such strict rules so maybe Dracula’s intentions of killing the women were actually for the best. The ladies in England must abide by the men and keep to themselves or else they were whorish and impure. Living a life like that is no life at all. So it is understandable that Dracula would go after the women and not the men. The men can live great lives and prosper in society, while the women would have a tough time doing that without a man by her side. He is saving the women, not hurting

    Read More

  • Comparing Gender Roles In Dracula And The Lady Of The House Of Love

    2299 Words  | 5 Pages

    The passage depicts the unnatural occurrence of the female’s sexual advances, and establishes the link between vampirism and sex that is seen throughout the novel: unlike Mina and Lucy, who are idyllically virtuous and pure, these un-dead women are insatiable and dominant. Stoker takes the fantastic image of the sexual woman to its most extreme manifestation, and suggests that Harker would not only lose his reputation by indulging in these sexual acts, but also his life. The three vampires that Harker encounters in Dracula’s castle are embodiments of the ‘beautiful nightmare’ of the male Victorians; they are representations of everything that the Victorian society states that women should not be – they are sexually aggressive, ‘voluptuous’, and seductive. This sexual proficiency, though appealing, is rebuked and seen to undermine the male dominancy within the patriarchal society, and therefore must be destroyed. The notion that a woman can be both attractive and repulsive is also presented by Angela Carter in The Lady of the House of Love. The character of the countess is presented as both the predator and the prey – the victim and the vixen. Just as the female vampire in Dracula is described as “thrilling and repulsive”, the countess is described as “beautiful and ghastly”. Despite her beauty and “fragility”, the countess

    Read More

  • Miller's Dramatic Effects of Dishonesty in Death of a Salesman

    1025 Words  | 3 Pages

    girl he's hitting on so that he can get her attention. He is a natural

    Read More

  • Dracula and the Threat of Female Sexual Expression by Bram Stoker

    1398 Words  | 3 Pages

    The late nineteenth century Irish novelist, Bram Stoker is most famous for creating Dracula, one of the most popular and well-known vampire stories ever written. Dracula is a gothic, “horror novel about a vampire named Count Dracula who is looking to move from his native country of Transylvania to England” (Shmoop Editorial Team). Unbeknownst of Dracula’s plans, Jonathan Harker, a young English lawyer, traveled to Castle Dracula to help the count with his plans and talk to him about all his options. At first Jonathan was surprised by the Count’s knowledge, politeness, and overall hospitality. However, the longer Jonathan remained in the castle the more uneasy and suspicious he became as he began to realize just how strange and different Dracula was. As the story unfolded, Jonathan realized he is not just a guest, but a prisoner as well. The horror in the novel not only focuses on the “vampiric nature” (Soyokaze), but also on the fear and threat of female sexual expression and aggression in such a conservative Victorian society.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Repression In Dracula

    2232 Words  | 5 Pages

    The Victorian England setting and culture of “Dracula” by: Bram Stoker attributes to many stylistic components and character behaviours in the novel. One of which is the behaviour and actions characters express that are a result of sexual repression. In Dracula, sexual repression is best expressed by the character’s desire to create. This desire is exemplified by the way Dracula creates other vampires, Lucy’s sexual desires, and the men’s expression of aggression. The creation of other Vampires is evident through events including Dracula’s aggressive encounters with Lucy and Mina, and the fact the Dracula is building up a Vampire army. Lucy’s sexual desires are exemplified through her longing to have sex with multiple men and how she compares

    Read More

  • Dracula by Bram Stoker

    971 Words  | 2 Pages

    As the saying goes, “Women can do everything Men can do.” In the Gothic Novel Dracula by Bram Stoker, there is a constant theme of sexuality, from both male and females in society. In the Victorian era, the roles of male and females have caused a lot of tension. After reading Dracula, some would argue the roles men and women hold in society. As mentioned in Dr. Seward’s Dairy from Val Halsing., “Ah, that wonderful Madam Mina! She has man’s brain—a brain that a man should have were he much gifted—and a woman’s heart. The good God fashioned her for a purpose, believe me, when He made that so good combination” (Stoker and Hindle, 2003 250). A women’s mind is not the always the first thing on a males mind. Some would overlook what a woman really has to offer.

    Read More

  • Stoker's Portrayal of Women in "Dracula"

    1196 Words  | 3 Pages

    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).

    Read More

  • Summary Of Feminism In Dracula

    657 Words  | 2 Pages

    Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula, is a highly controversial work of fiction that is still being read for the first time today. Dracula touches many different categories including; sci-fi horror to 1800’s English romance literature. This is the main reason why the novel Dracula can be analyzed in many different ways using many different literary theories. The theory which stuck out most to me while reading this novel was the Feminist Theory. The Feminist Theory cannot be used to analyze Dracula as a whole novel, but it can be used in order to analyze the different female characters throughout the book. Therefore, Bram Stoker’s Dracula can be analyzed through the feminist theory by focusing on the characters Mina Harker, Lucy Westenra, and the three brides of Dracula.

    Read More

  • The Treatment of Women in Bram Stoker's Dracula

    1042 Words  | 3 Pages

    In reading Bram Stoker's Dracula, I find the treatment of the two main female characters-- Lucy Westenra and Mina Harker-- especially intriguing. These two women are two opposite archetypes created by a society of threatened men trying to protect themselves.

    Read More

  • Suppressing Feminism In Dracula By Bram Stoker

    733 Words  | 2 Pages

    There are a few characters in Dracula that embody society’s views of the time towards the uprising of women for better rights. On the other hand there are also characters that portray the Victorian ideals that men are stronger than women and how it should stay that way. As author Bram Dijkstra mentions in his response essay, “Stokers work demonstrates how thoroughly the war waged by the nineteenth century male culture against the dignity and self -respect of women had been fought”.(Dijkstra , p.460).

    Read More

  • A Comparison Of Bram Stoker's Dracula And Dracula

    1013 Words  | 3 Pages

    That morning he is to leave, a crowd is awaiting him and muttering strange things. Harker says, "I could hear a lot of words often repeated, queer words" (Stoker 6) to address his confusion about what was going on around him. He Count Dracula, a hermit who lives on a cliff, detached from society, strikes at night to find anyone alone--whom he considers easy prey. A prime example of one of these victims is Lucy Westenra, who ends up outside in the middle of the night after she sleeps walks to the town square. When Mina Murray finds her, she describes the discovery, “There was undoubtedly something, long and black, bending over the half-reclining white figure.”

    Read More

  • Impurity In Dracula

    999 Words  | 2 Pages

    The novel Dracula by Bram Stoker has plentiful examples of key concepts we have examined in class including: Purity and impurity, magical thinking, strong emotions such as disgust and shame, , formalization, and myth. In this essay I will summarize events that take place within the novel when the protagonists deal with Dracula and then relate these events to the key concepts to demonstrate why the characters view him as dangerous, and therefore something to be avoided completely.

    Read More

  • Speed Demon - Original Short Story

    422 Words  | 1 Pages

    that circuit, it was his, and he made sure that it was his by beating

    Read More

More about Braham Stoker's Dracula and The Distrust Between the Sexes

Open Document