Bram Stoker’s Dracula

Bram Stoker’s legendary novel, Dracula, is not simply any literary piece of gothic-spawning fiction, but rather a timeline containing the popular thoughts, ideas, and beliefs of the Victorian era that paints a vivid description of what society was like for Bram Stoker’s generation.

The dated ideas reflected in Dracula focus primarily on the concepts of lust, intimacy, and immorality as they were depicted during the late 19th and 20th century, in what was considered a relatively conservative society. At the time, sex was a controversial topic, with emphasis placed upon using caution and awareness when involving such matters. Such beliefs are prevalent throughout the book, and are concentrated on the glorifying resistance of temptation while advising against the inevitable temptation to “taste the forbidden fruit”.

Though society maintained stringent social standards and expectations for Homo sapiens of both the male and female species, men enjoyed certain prerogatives, to which women were prohibited from. The patriarchal ideologies of the Victorian society further enforced male superiority and dominance over women (ultimately granting them the most civil liberties), as women were expected to suppress and refrain their sexual desires. It was unheard of for a female to be sexually assertive or domineering in any such fashion, and would run in contrast to the foundation of a conservative society. In essence, it was deemed deviant for women to conduct or compose themselves in such a manner. The theory rationalizing the abnormality of a female sex drive is that “male sexual pleasure (is) necessary for reproduction and female pleasure (is) not, (therefore) sexual pleasure (is) the sole providence of men,” (Weiman and Dionisapoulas 34;...

... middle of paper ...

...ithin the society.

Such a story as Dracula has been taken out of its nineteenth century context and into that of the late twentieth, early twenty-first century. Henceforth, gender roles are more equal and heterosexual and homosexual behaviors are no longer taboo to society. From Dracula’s beginning as a literary prototype, “vampirism” has been referenced in its coded articulations of desire and sexuality. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Coppola’s film adaptation of Dracula successfully incorporates elements of violence, sexual intercourse, and gore to his film, all elements of which the novel is devoid of. The likely explanation for this is the need to appeal to a modern, contemporary audience, rather than to an audience of 1897.

Works Cited

1) http://www.studentpulse.com/articles/184/bram-stokers-dracula-a-reflection-and-rebuke-of-victorian-society