Homosexuality In Dracula

There are many more sexual differences from novel to film in Dracula. For instance, in Stoker’s novel, Lucy Westenra is portrayed as innocent, demure, and even a bit prudish. In Coppola’s film, Lucy is shown as the total opposite. She is hyper-sexualized and perverted. This could be due to the time period, in which Coppola wanted to have a hyper-sexualized female character since sex sells. Another reason could be that Coppola could have thought that transforming Lucy into almost a different character could introduce something new and make for a better storyline. Still, the differences between novel to film Lucy are ominous. It is almost to the point of insulting to women by having Lucy appear so different from her character in the novel.

Literature is representative of the time in which it is produced. Literature can reflect societal views, attitudes, and fears.Vampire literature, in particular, often represents the fears of a society.In the Victorian Era, a time of intense sexual repression, it was common for vampire stories to reflect the fear of sexuality that was rampant in society.

Are there still connections between Bram Stokers famous novel Dracula and modern day society? In Dracula, Stoker expands on many themes that indeed exist today. Not only does he touch on the most obvious theme, sex. He expands on gender division and good versus evil. Some say since times have changed the themes I introduced have changed as well, leaving connections between then and now irrelevant. However, I feel that although times have changed they still have roots from the time of the novel to now. In this essay I will expand on the themes of this novel while connecting them to modern day society, the critical texts I have chosen and will mention later on in the essay are a good representation of the commonalities between the chill, dark Victorian days in which the era that Dracula was written in and modern day.

Because the Victorian Era was an age so heavily influenced by religion, it is hardly surprising, that Bram Stoker’s Dracula contains many religious references. The Victorian Era was a time period from 1837 to 1901, during which Queen Victoria reigned in the United Kingdom. During this time, women were expected to be quiet, proper, and pure. All people were expected to attend church, and sexuality was incredibly censored. Religion played an influencing role in Victorian art including visual and literary. Likewise, the fear of being sinful, or not following the Bible was still a fear from the under educated members of society. The prominent branches of Christianity in this era, Protestants and Catholics, dominated the popular culture of western societies. Given the religious context of the Victorian Era, Vampires in Bram Stoker’s Dracula represent sin and have inherently sinful behavior, whereas the humans represents goodness and religion, no matter which kind of religion.

In Dracula, Stoker portrays the typical women: The new woman, the femme fatale and the damsel in distress, all common concepts in gothic literature. There are three predominant female roles within Dracula: Mina Murray, Lucy Westenra and the three vampire brides, all of which possess different attributes and play different roles within the novel. It is apparent that the feminine portrayal within this novel, especially the sexual nature, is an un-doubtable strong, reoccurring theme.

Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” is a story about a Vampire named Count Dracula and his journey to satisfy his lust for blood. The story is told through a series of individuals’ journal entries and a letters sent back and forth between characters. Bram Stoker shows the roll in which a certain gender plays in the Victorian era through the works of Dracula. This discussion not only consists of the roll a certain gender takes, but will be discussing how a certain gender fits into the culture of that time period as well as how males and females interact among each other. The Victorian era was extremely conservative when it came to the female, however there are signs of the changing into the New Woman inside of Dracula. Essentially the woman was to be assistance to a man and stay pure inside of their ways.

Of course, throughout the novel we see that vampirism most equates with sexuality.  Without overdoing a Freudian analysis of the story, there are enough sexual references to satisfy the least Victorian in nature among us.  However, the Victorian repression theme plays a role in the sexuality of the novel because though good women and men were able to control their sexual appetites in Victorian society, we see them unable to resist giving into their desires in Dracula.  As Carrol Fry writes "Mina says:  'Strangely enough, I did not want to hinder him'.  But perhaps the most suggestive passage in the novel occurs when Jonathan Harker describes his experienced while in a trance induced by Dracula's wives.  As the fair bride approaches him, he finds in her a 'deliberate voluptuousness which was both thrilling and repulsive,' and he feels 'a wicked, burning desire that they would kiss me with those red lips'" (Carter  38).

In Bram Stokers Dracula, the Count Dracula represents a homosexual figure, which in Victorian times was seen as an inversion of the “typical” male figure. Diana Kindron states the Victorian idea of a homosexual was one of a male body being fused with a female soul. This is just what Count Dracula represents in Bram Stoker’s novel, Dracula.

Traditionally the vampire is seen as “metaphors for sexuality and power” . This comes from the idea that they are beings without sin and thus can be sexual without consequence, due to them being dead so not under Gods control. This idea of sexuality is expressed in Dracula, such as when he turns Lucy. Dracula was published in the Victorian era when women’s sexuality was not something that was talked about, due to the religious nature of the country and writers, so by Linda becoming this sinless being she is freeing her sexuality. Some critics have interpreted Van Helsing wanting to kill her, as Stoker saying that female sexuality should still be hidden and kept away, like a vampire.

The insecurity that the men [and the imperial army] faced in this time, created the fear of the East taking advantage of their women; for this is seen in many works of literature in that time period - like Bram Stroker’s Dracula through the relationship Dracula has with Lucy. The women secretly crave men that are exciting and exotic; and not approved by the bland Victorian society. This is a threat to the mainstream ‘proper’ British men – who aren’t as proper as they seem. As seen in Bram Stoker’s Dracula, the men view Dracula as a threat and blame him for any sign of promiscuity from women. In regards to sexuality in the Victorian Era, the majority of the population suppress their desires and fantasies in order to fit in with societal norms of British conduct.

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

It is for this reason that masculinity was often associated with uncontrollable primal desires. However, Stoker’s representation of female sexuality is a form of rebellion against this notion. It is therefore contrary to this belief. In his novel, Dracula, Stoker presents two types of women to illustrate this contrast. Lucy and the Brides of Dracula represent the notorious group of women. They are painted as not having control of their sexual desires. On the other hand, Mina represents a group of ideal women. However, when Dracula temporarily turns Mina into a vampire, she drinks the blood from Dracula’s

The novel Dracula, written by Bram Stoker, is a very dark and gothic story that has many themes. Although the most controversial theme throughout the story is Stokers opinion on women during the Victorian era. The novel was written in 1897, a time where chastity, and etiquette were expected to be demonstrated by every model citizen. However there was a huge controversial issue during that time about women. More specifically the social expectations of women. Women during the Victorian era women were expected to behave appropriately to social standards at all times, especially around men. Although there was a large majority that supported the idea of “The New Woman” , which was a term for a new type of women. One where the social expectations of women were completely disregarded as they felt they had constrictions with these social expectations and preferred to be shown as equals. This idea of “The New Woman” is shown in the story Dracula and the author, Bram Stoker, uses the characters and their unfortunate situations to express his opinion on this new concept: The New Woman.

In comparison to modern perversions of the vampire genre, Bram Stoker’s Dracula was slower in progression, yet deeper in meaning. In modern interpretations of the genre, such as Twilight, Vampire Diaries, and The Originals, which are all stories I enjoyed, the plot progresses quickly and vampires are portrayed as redeemable. Contrasting these stories, Dracula progresses sluggishly with Stoker giving “too much information” throughout the entire novel. Moreover, Count Dracula is seen as an irredeemable, soulless monster. Since I was accustomed to modern perversions of the genre, Dracula was extremely dull. At various points in the story, I expected stronger plot development or suspense but the story lacked both. The climax of the plot is reached when the story is nearly over, when the main characters decide to hunt down Count Dracula. Due to the late climax, I was constantly expecting the story to climax throughout my reading, yet it seemed like it would never come. Holistically, the story lacked cohesion as the vast imagery and explanations of the character’s internal thoughts contributed nothing to the plot.

Because the Victorian Era was an age so heavily influenced by religion, it is hardly surprising, that Bram Stoker’s Dracula is written with may religious references. The Victorian Era was a time period from 1837 to 1901, during which Queen Victoria reigned in the United Kingdom. During this time, women were expected to be quiet, proper, and pure. All people were expected to attend church, and sexuality was incredibly censored. Religion played an influencing role in Victorian art including visual and literary. Likewise, the fear of being sinful, or not following the Bible was still a fear from the undereducated members of society. The prominent branches of Christianity in this era were Protestants and Catholics. Protestants Given the religious context of the Victorian Era, Vampires in Bram Stoker’s Dracula represent sin and have inherently sinful behavior, whereas the humans represents goodness and religion, no matter which kind.