Michel Foucault's "Panopticism"

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Michel Foucault's "Panopticism" is based on the architectural concept of the panopticon. Foucault extended this concept to create a new sort of authority and disciplinary principle. His idea was that of the anonymous watchers hold in and has the power to influence the ones being watched. This concept is two fold – it is subject to the person being watched not being able to know when they are being watched and to the rules of society places on individuals on how they should act in a given situation. This idea can be applied to every day life, like how we set up testing rooms for students or when reading literary works such as Dracula by Bram Stoker. In Dracula, there are power differentials caused by a character or characters "seeing" what others do not and caused by societal constructions.
In Bram Stoker's Dracula , Mina is intrigued by the idea of the "New Woman". This "New Woman" is not subject to men and the rules of society in Victorian England. This notion of the "new woman" is that she is more independent and isn't subject to the man but is instead an equal. Mina says "... I suppose the 'New Woman' won't condescend in future to accept. She will do the proposing herself." By this, she envisions women will forego tradition and take over some of the roles previously done only by men.
During the late 1800's, when this novel takes place, the woman's Suffrage movement was gaining momentum in Europe. It is said that Mina read about these new ideas and seemed to wonder how events in her own life would be seen by the New Woman. Including whether they would think she may eat to heartily for a woman. Although she is interested in the concepts, she does not see herself as living this way. Any new skills she learns are for the b...

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...The "Panopticism" concept presented by Michel Foucault can be used to explain how a person will react to being watched or just by the thought that they might be watched at any given time. Although society dictates the generally accepted behavior for a time period, new ideas begin to have an impact on individuals eventually forcing the change of ideals by society. The character of Mina in Dracula is an example of the complex interrelationships caused by these concepts. Although Mina is introduced to ideas of women independence, she continues to behave as the current society dictates – which was to always support the men in her life and follow their instructions. She would behave in this manner at all times as she would never know when she was being observed. Ironically, by following along with these dictates, she leaves herself open to being attacked by Dracula.

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