Paternalism in Bram Stoker's Dracula
Paternalism is the domination of a society by a male or parental figure that leads or governs much like the way a father would direct his family. In Victorian society, the idea of paternalism was prevalent. The idea was also frequently used as a motif in western literature. Bram Stoker's novel Dracula, published in 1897, depicts a paternalistic society through a repression of the female sex and a continuous exaltation of the domineering male sex. Stoker communicates this idea through an abundant use of prominent male characters, the presence of merely two women, who are each extremely suppressed, either sexually or intellectually, and the constant exaltation of the male sex over the female sex.
In a paternalistic society, men are acclaimed as the foundation and the pillar of the social order. Stoker illustrates this facet of paternalism through the use of affluent and prominent male characters. Out of the characters in Dracula that play a major role in the plot development, only two are women with the remainder consisting of influential male members of civilization, all holding high occupations and being well-esteemed by members of society. Through the illustration of a paternalistic society in both the eastern Carpathian and western Britain setting, Stoker illustrates the idea that paternalism was prevalent in all areas during that era.
The aristocratic Dracula's portrayal as the paternal figure of his society, eastern Carpathia, through his relations with the townspeople, especially the gypsies, develops the concept that males in society are domineering and have more influence than females. Dracula directs the peasants and m...
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...racters both to contrast the scant representation of the female sex and to illustrate the repressed traits of females in a male dominated and largely paternal society.
In conclusion, the novel Dracula is an accurate representation of a paternalistic society with symbols and other representations to transition the development of gender politics and female repression that are inherent to that form of social structure.
Works Cited and Consulted:
Birge, Barbara. "Bram Stoker's DRACULA: The Quest for Female Potency in Transgressive Relationships", Psychological Perspectives. 29. 22-36, 1994
Gutjahr, Paul. "Stoker's Dracula-Criticism and Interpretation." Explicator. Fall 1993. 36-40.
Keats, P. "Stoker's Dracula." Explicator. Fall 1991. 26-29.
Stoker, Bram. Dracula. Tom Doherty Associates: New York, 1988.
...sitive depiction of their sexual relationship. For Mina, however, renunciation of Dracula's evil must include the renunciation of her own physical needs and desires. The roles played by social mores and conceptions of gender and sexuality are, in the end, more than incidental. Indeed, the difference between Victorian England and 1990s America causes the subtle -- but significant -- valuation of the connections between good and evil and women and sexuality in two in many ways similar texts.
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...
Bram Stoker was born into a lower-class Irish family in late 1847. He grew up with six siblings, at least four of which were brothers. Throughout his childhood, Stoker was an invalid, sickened with an unknown disease. Many days were spent listening to his mother tell stories of Ireland. It is thought that her stories played a large role in his writing (Stoker 5). Perhaps due to Stoker’s childhood illness and relationship with his brothers, his writing in Dracula exhibited a great deal of homosociality, the idea of same-sex relationships on a social level, rather than romantically. In the novel, Stoker introduces the idea of homosociality by creating a friendship and camaraderie between the main male characters.
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,
Moers, Ellen. "Female Gothic: The Monster's Mother." Reprinted in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Norton Critical Edition. 1976; New York: W. W. Norton, 1996. 214-224.
A noticeable difference in the way movies have changed over the years is evident when comparing and contrasting two films of different eras which belong to the same genre and contain the same subject matter. Two vampire movies, Dracula and Bram Stoker's Dracula, present an interesting example of this type of study.
Podonsky, Amanda . "Bram Stoker's Dracula: A Reflection and Rebuke of Victorian Society." RSS. Student Pulse: The International Student Journal, 1 Jan. 2010. Web. 6 May 2014. .
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