Gender Roles In Dracula

1605 Words4 Pages

Vin Signorile
Professor Swanson
EN 215-01
3 May 2016
Sexuality in Dracula: From Novel to Film Sexuality is both prevalent in Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula, and in Francis Ford Coppola’s 1992 film version of Dracula. However, they are both portrayed in different ways. In the novel version of Dracula, the Count is shown as someone who is unable to love. He is also portrayed as someone who is physically ugly. Coppola’s film version of Dracula veered away from the norm of the book and turned Dracula into someone that is very sexual and able to love. The thought process behind Coppola’s decision could have something to do with making money, since sex sells. Sexuality will be compared in Stoker’s novel Dracula to Francis Ford Coppola’s film version of Dracula. The article titled, A Vampire in the Mirror: The Sexuality of Dracula, written by John Allen …show more content…

The first type of woman portrayed is the asexual victim (Senf 67). This is Lucy, before her transformation. As Lucy transforms into a vampire she becomes more sexualized. “Come to me, Arthur. Leave these others and come to me. My arms are hungry for you. Come, and we can rest together. Come, my husband, come (Stoker 181). This quote shows the sexualization of Lucy after the transformation, and shows how sexually aggressive she is being. The second type of women being portrayed is the women at Dracula’s castle, and Lucy, after her transformation, which play the part of the sensual vampire-brides (Senf 67). This type of women being portrayed is the opposite of the asexual type. These types of women are portrayed as over-sexual. The third type of women portrayed in Dracula, “are fully developed human beings” (Senf 67). The woman that this closely resembles is Mina. Even though Mina is not nearly as well developed in Coppola’s film version, as she is in Stoker’s novel, she still possesses some of the similar

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