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Discuss critically the significance of the setting of the story
Women in 19th literature
Portrayal of women in literature
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Typically, the Gothic genre can be considered a male dominated genre, historically speaking, however there have been exceptions since the birth of the genre, very notable examples are Mary Shelly and her book “Frankenstein” Angela Carter’s“ The Bloody Chamber” and of course the author of one of the most famous Gothic pieces ever written, “ Wuthering Heights”, Emily Bronte. I do not believe that women are always excluded completely or presented entirely in a negative light, however what can be argued is that often, women are portrayed in a subtly, albeit negative light, as either promiscuous, conniving, or of weak character. The aforementioned can be observed throughout “Dracula”. Throughout the Victorian period, arguably the most principle …show more content…
These depictions are represented through different characters. The characterisations of the women who depict these varying representations are direct reflections of the ideal during the Victorian era. In the Victorian society, women that were pure and chaste were favoured. Women that were neither pure nor chaste were looked down upon and regarded as “whores” and did not partake in societal events. Much like the ideas of Victorians, in “Dracula” the sexual and unchaste women are depicted as evil; the pure and chaste women are depicted as strong, heroic, and steadfast in relationships, a valid example is …show more content…
The first and foremost differentiating factor between Lucy and Mina is the somewhat sexual manner in which Lucy is portrayed. There is a blatant emphasis on Lucy’s beauty that is not visible with Mina; this may well be considered a foreshadowing of the fully transformed and evident sexualisation of Lucy later on. Of course alas she does fall to Dracula’s fangs and indeed does become an overtly sexual vampire. As a result, Lucy ends up being described by the quote, “The sweetness was turned to heartless cruelty and the purity to voluptuous
Science has proven that anatomically, women’s physical strength is generally less in comparison to men’s enhanced muscularity. This anatomic disadvantage that women suffer has led to negative stereotypes of gender. Women are considered weaker, or less intelligent than men based on an impression that women are minuscule in comparison to men. In the novel Dracula, Bram Stoker sheds light on gender inequality, establishing that not all women are inferior to men, in fact, they should be seen as equals. Notably, Stoker reveals society’s ambivalence to women’s fortitude by providing an abundance of Victorian gender stereotypes and their inaccuracies throughout the novel. In addition, Stoker downplays female cliché’s, disclosing that women
Bram Stoker’s “Dracula,” came to print in 1897, at the height of Nineteenth century Victorian life in Europe, a progressively modern era that saw much medical and technological advancement. This era brought with it the contentious idea of an empowered woman, the “New Woman,” a woman who aspires to be educated as well as sexually and economically independent. Stoker gives a contrasting view of this notion in “Dracula.” While the main characters, Lucy and Mina, are clearly opposite in personality, they are both portrayed as unequal, defenseless objects that are to be protected and desired. However, one woman’s fate is determined by her weakness, while the other is determined by her strength.
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...
Humphrey, Robert. "Ideals of the Victorian Woman as Depicted in ‘Dracula’." The Artifice. N.p., 11 Mar. 2014. Web. 6 May 2014. .
Victorian Women were highly held back in their full potential. Their main role in the household was to “be happy - a sunbeam in the house, making others happy” (Hardy, E.J. 1887). On top of this, Women in the Victorian era were not allowed to display their sexuality or “tempt” men in public; they were meant to be submissive and meek (Causey S., 2008). The Victorian era lasted from 1837 til 1901, with women being punished everyday for crimes that are nowadays just part of living for a woman. Bram Stoker was born during this era and wrote his most famous novel, Dracula (Miller, E. unknown). One of the main discourses in this novel is that of Women and their Morality of the time.
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,
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.
Bram Stoker’s Dracula illustrated fears about sexual women in contrast to the woman who respected and abided by society’s sexual norms. Joseph Sheridan LeFanu’s “Carmilla” represented not only the fear of feminine sexuality, but also the fear of sexuality between women. John William Polidori’s “The Vampyre” showed society’s fear of sexuality in terms of the seductive man who could “ruin” a young girl.These texts are representative of vampire stories in the Victorian Era, and will be the focus here.
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).
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.
...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.
His main victims, Lucy and Mina, are the best examples of how he expresses these desires. Lucy Westenra is the first victim and the first point of emphasis for Dracula's desire to create in the novel. Once Dracula arrives in Whitby a mysteriousness comes about Lucy. She is sleep walking and seems like she has someplace to go or someone to get to. Mina observes this unusual sleepwalking “Strangely enough, Lucy did not wake; but she got up twice and dressed herself” (Stoker 74). The notion of sleepwalking describes the fact that Dracula is somehow trying to draw Lucy to give in and execute his creative desires. Eventually, Lucy escapes from her room, not seen by Mina and is later found in the middle of a graveyard. This is where Dracula executes his desires and makes Lucy his victim: “There was undoubtedly something, long and black, bending over the half-reclining white figure….I could see a white face and red, gleaming eyes” (79). This mysterious figure is Dracula and his making of vampire Lucy was marked with two hole punctures in her neck. These punctures are made from a bite. This action of biting someone's neck is both aggressive and sexual. A pleasure spot on a human beings body is the neck, it is sensitive to the touch of fingers/lips. It is an arousal technique and it just so happens that this is the common method for Dracula to create his vampires. This is a direct evidence to the unleashing of Dracula`s sexual repressions. Dracula’s desire to create and releasing of sexual repressions is also evident when he victimizes Mina. After Lucy’s death, Dracula goes after Mina and the first major event evident to this is when he makes her drink his blood through his chest. “Her white nightdress was smeared with blood, and a thin stream trickled down the man’s bare breast which was shown by his torn open dress” (242). The notion of blood and Mina being victimized by having to suck
When Van Helsing figured out what was happening to Lucy he told Dr. Seward and after Lucy passed away the men went to where she was buried and it had been weeks and her body. The sight they saw was “more radiant and beautiful than ever; and I could not believe that she was dead. The lips were red maybe redder than before” (Stoker 171). This line should that Lucy turned into a vampire because Dracula had been sucking her blood. Jonathan Harker was also a victim of Dracula’s games but he fought through his mental trauma with the help of his Wife, Mina. The rein of Dracula’s evil ways came to an end and although Lucy lost her future, all of her friends were finally safe from
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.
There are a few characters in Dracula that embody society’s views of the time towards the uprising of women for better rights. On the other hand there are also characters that portray the Victorian ideals that men are stronger than women and how it should stay that way. As author Bram Dijkstra mentions in his response essay, “Stokers work demonstrates how thoroughly the war waged by the nineteenth century male culture against the dignity and self -respect of women had been fought”.(Dijkstra , p.460).