Savoy White Professor Sarah Farrell English 2319 25 April 2018 Identity Construction in Dracula Stokers Dracula was a well thought out novel that successfully boggled some minds in the Victorian era also known as the fin de siècle. Stoker made sure to focus on gender roles in the novel concerning men’s masculinity and the role of the ideal Victorian women which I’m sure baffled some readers. He made sure to show that men are meant to be the protectors, fighters, and providers in the novel but also didn’t shy away from showing how women can be more resourceful than being just the house wife. He still makes sure to put the overall security in the man’s hand to let it be known that men do overcome and come out victoriously. During a period where …show more content…
there was a lot of confusion concerning gender norms in the 1900’s Stoker flooded his novel with quite a few interesting characters with different traits other than the norm. Stoker gave a look into British culture and the anxieties that troubled the British empire at the end of the 19th century which included: The idea of the “new” Victorian woman, male dominance, sexuality, illness and social restraints to name a few. Greg Buzwell mentioned in his article that Dracula,” presented a series of contrasts and clashes between old traditions and new ideas” which I highly agree with. Dracula included a fearful and somewhat naïve character in the beginning that was unheard of when pertaining to men, and also included a fearless strong woman in the novel which was also unusual or against the ideal of women in that era. Dracula showed that men were capable of having emotions and being fearful. Dracula also showed that women were capable of being smart, strong, and courageous. In the beginning of Dracula stoker makes readers perturbed or worried with the arrival of Jonathan Harker at the counts castle. Everything was telling him no and the signs just weren’t pleasant but still he proceeded. Harker even said to himself on his first night staying in the castle "I am all in a sea of wonders. I doubt; I fear; I think strange things, which I dare not confess to my own soul. God keep me, if only for the sake of those dear to me!" (Stoker). Harker showed some bravery trying to complete his quest but naïve when taking warnings from others. When Harker came to the realization he was a prisoner he felt completely powerless. He knew his life was coming to an end and fear quickly overcame him. To Victorian readers I’m sure this kept them on their toes about what was going to happen next. Harker, a man, being in distress and powerless so early on in the book was a quick change in the gender norms of society then. Nonetheless Stoker made sure to turn anyone’s thoughts quickly around when Harker became bold and courageous escaping from the castle at his last chance. I’m sure that put Victorian men at ease. In the 19th century men were considered brave and superior to women. Men took pride in their work, provided for their families, and were protective of their wives. Men were even believed to make better rational decisions then women. The man was the breadwinner and head of the household. Women were to possess class and feminine qualities such as cooking, cleaning, and raising the kids up right. Women were not expected to have a decision-making voice but be loyal and willing to follow their husbands lead. According to Catherine Hall,” gender divisions were reworked and men placed firmly in the world of business, commerce, and politics; while women were placed in the private world of home and family.” But let’s not forget that the end of the 19th century possessed women of strong character and strong voices who had the power to influence other women especially in the political world. The Victorian era was a confusing time and Stoker made sure to mention it throughout his novel. Harker’s imprisonment may have questioned masculinity for a short period in the novel.
But the confusion was exactly what Stoker was hoping for in my opinion. Honestly, we can’t expect a man to be powerful and fearless at all times. In situations where they might feel like the end is near I’m sure all kinds of emotions are thought and shown. After the successful escape and regaining his strength and mind Harker quickly became the determined, strong, and fearless man that Stoker wanted him to be portrayed as. He then became the perception of how a man should be. Stoker also made sure to include two women in his novel who both displayed the ideal Victorian woman but also a glimpse of the “New Woman” that was upcoming in the Victorian era. For instance, Lucy, she was beautiful innocent, and vulnerable and served as the counts first victim. Her thoughts included marriage and promiscuity. She even added to her letter to Mina that she wishes she could marry as many men that she wanted. She stated,” Why can’t they let a girl marry three, or as many as want her, and save all this trouble?” Lucy may have even been a bit naïve, but submissive …show more content…
indeed. On the other hand, we have mina who was an important character in Dracula.
Mina was engaged to Harker and seen as pretty and maternal but not as beautiful as Lucy. Mina was intelligent, independent, and had thoughts and words of her own but she did not stray from her fiancé. She cared for Harker while he was sick with her maternal ways but she does not let her knowledge go to waste. Van Helsing even mentions that Mina has “man’s brain”. He said,” She has man's brain--a brain that a man should have were he much gifted--and woman's heart. The good God fashioned her for a purpose, believe me when He made that so good combination” (Stoker). Mina was quick on her feet when she got heed of the horrible experiences Harker had to go through and made the decision to get help without his approval. The character Mina in stoker’s novel displayed an educated woman who moved somewhat independently. Reminding us that in the Victorian era women like this were seen as too masculine, too intellectual and could be deemed as a concern. In the late 19th century an organization called “women’s work for women” started up. It gave women the opportunity to be more involved, speak independently, and join mission societies in large numbers
(Kaur). I believe Mina played an important role in the novel giving the men ample guidance on the capture of the count. Mina showed bravery and was courageous even after being captured by the count herself. I believe Mina became the last fight for the men when they knew they had to do everything in their power to protect her and save her life after unsuccessfully saving Lucy. In the end gender norms of the 19th century was challenged throughout Dracula. However, Stoker made sure to prove the masculinity of the men in the book which could’ve helped the men in the Victorian era realize even more so how superior they are. But also give women the recognition they need about being more than a trophy wife.
Even though women such as Lucy demonstrate stereotypical female weakness, characters such as Mina defy the conventional submissive female, as an independent woman, a role uncommon of novels in this era. In addition, Mina, in comparison to men, possesses substantially stronger emotional fortitude and controls her emotions, while the men who are supposed to be strong expose emotional weakness and frailty. Ultimately, however, no matter Mina’s intelligence or strengths, the men continually suppress Mina’s vast amount of wisdom in order to maintain their perceived dominance. Nonetheless, Stoker’s messages throughout the novel regarding women silently protest the sexist expectations of the overly limiting Victorian era. Should today’s modern feminists take Stoker’s peaceful approach and protest subtly hoping for long-term change? Or should feminists act with violent protests in hope for prompt change? Gender equality will not happen overnight, however, instead of rushing minuscule modifications with violent protest, society must patiently wait for productive and peaceful change, in order to prevent an even larger
... period where there was a mix of different feeling and ideas coming about. Religion was the core of his tale, and also modeled it. On one side were the humans and on the other Dracula. Through their struggles to defeat the monster they experienced changes in gender roles, which was also present in real time. Women were becoming more free and working. The only way this change happened was because of the trust and the love between family members; that led to good stable home and ultimately success in life. Stoker wrote Dracula later on his career, this way he had more experience and knowledge of life and grew to believe in common universal truth. Dracula was a hit because it had truth and history in it, and it turned the ordinary good beats bad story into a compelling and interesting narrative, and if readers read carefully they could even find themselves in the book.
In Dracula, Bram Stoker explores the fantastic image of a sexually dominant woman within a patriarchal society. The battle between good and evil within the novel very much hinges upon feminine sexuality: Lucy and Nina are embodiments of the Victorian virtues, which Dracula threatens to corrupt,
...battle to life. In the novel, on the other hand, Stoker makes sure that his female character triumphs (by surviving) and that she returns home to “become a dutiful wife and caring mother”. This is where we could argue that “Stoker is much ahead of his times in portraying a ‘New Woman surpassing even the best male ‘professionals’ in terms of intellectual labor, a ‘gallant’ woman wit a remarkable ‘man-brain’ who helps save the empire, even though her power abruptly dimishes toward the end of the novel, and she is finally summoned home to become a traditional mother figure” (Kwan-Wai Yu 158). Although Stoker was very accurate in the new scientific and technological advances that he incorporated into Dracula, he was also very accurate in portraying a strong willful woman who is able to complete a job that was unwittingly given to her in the most extraordinarily manner.
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.
In Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula, Stoker’s use of inverted gender roles allows readers to grasp the sense of obscureness throughout, eventually leading to the reader’s realization that these characters are rather similar to the “monster” which they call Dracula. Despite being in the Victorian era, Stoker’s use of sexuality in the novel contributes to the reasoning of obscureness going against the Victorian morals and values. Throughout the novel the stereotypical roles of the Victorian man and woman are inverted to draw attention to the similarities between Dracula and the characters. Vague to a majority of readers, Bram Stoker uses Dracula as a negative connotation on society being that the values of the Victorian culture are inverted amongst the sexes of characters, thus pointing out the similarities of the characters and the so called “monster” which they call Dracula.
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
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.
In Victorian society, according to Dr.William Acton, a doctor during the Victorian period argued that a woman was either labelled as innocent and pure, or a wife and mother. If a woman was unable to fit in these precincts, as a result she would be disdained and unfit for society and be classified as a whore (Acton, 180). The categorizing of woman is projected through the “uses the characters of Lucy and Mina as examples of the Victorian ideal of a proper woman, and the “weird sisters” as an example of women who are as bold as to ignore cultural boundaries of sexuality and societal constraints” according to Andrew Crockett from the UC Santa Barbara department of English (Andrew Crockett, 1).... ... middle of paper ...
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).
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.
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.
In Dracula, Mina is known as the “New Woman”, she is an independent, resourceful and intelligent. Compare to Lucy, where she is a tradition innocence woman who stays home and works as a housewife or is needed to be taken care of. Mina helps her fiance later to be her husband, Jonathan Harker with his work. Compare to Mina, Lucy is a lot
Mina seems to have a disposition to cry; for example when the old man she meets in Whitby talks of his own death, she writes that “It all touched [meher] , and upset [meher] very much” (100). One time she admits to becoming hysterical when talking to Van Helsing (238). However, her fit of hysterics is far less severe than that of Van Helsing earlier. This is noteworthy, since women were the ones who were supposed to suffer most from hysterics. Later on, this reversal of gender roles is taken further when, as soon as the male characters encounter emotional crises, Mina remains the stable one. After comforting one of the men, she writes in her diary that crying often helps, yet she herself has stopped crying in order to support the men. She even keeps up superficial cheerfulness when she herself is worried. She decides to repress her own feelings in order to support and comfort the male characters. Her mothering instinct therefore establishes her as an emotional haven and a source of faith for the men. She writes in her diary, “[T]here is something in woman’s nature that makes a man free to break down before her … without feeling it derogatory to his manhood” (294-5). Thus, while she represents the secure home that Victorian men expected to find in women, she accomplishes this by taking on the more stoic, emotional role assigned to men.
In the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker, there are many topics which have importance to the plot. These ideas are outlined quite well in this story. The problem is that these morals and beliefs have changed in the 117 years since this book was written. The ideas have evolved rather fast and may be unfamiliar to a modern audience. 1897 was a very different time that had more religious influence along with a lack of technology to help suffice. Such subjects that have evolved are: society’s take on women, problem solving, and the overall amount of resources available to common people.