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“Oh My God, My God, Pity Me! He Placed His Reeking Lips

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“Oh my God, my God, pity me! He placed his reeking lips upon my throat!” Mina Harker shouted into the night thinking someone would hear. Mina Harker is the perfect example of an innocent woman. She follows the rules and is modest through every aspect of her life. Dracula tests her innocence to try and gain more power. Bram Stoker’s story Dracula expresses the theme of giving in to temptation and losing one 's innocence through the characterization of Mina’s innocence being stripped away by Dracula’s temptations.
In the 17th century, or rather the Victorian era, Mina Harker’s actions were a common expectation for English women. Women within this time period did not take part in acting mischievously or immaturely. They were expected to be…show more content…
Van Helsing thinks highly of her and sees her as a creature of God. This hints that Dracula, being a devil, is drawn to her for her innocence and her power to withstand temptations. Dracula wants all the power he can get and by dominating Mina’s strength to be God like, he will prove himself all powerful above God.
The idea of being innocent plays a critical role in how the characters act. To be innocent is to not be responsible for or directly take part in an event yet suffering its consequences. Mina falls into situations where her innocence faces challenges and she becomes apart of the consequences. An example of this is when Count Dracula bites Lucy and the result of this is that she tries to warn Mina about him but she passes away before she gets the chance. We see this when Lucy repeats, “his red eyes” (Stoker 9). It is a clear warning that Lucy is experiencing something that she wants to inform others of. Another example is when Lucy becomes a vampire after death and she is not the same person she once was. She takes on traits from Dracula such as manipulating a situation. We see this when Lucy says, “Come to me Arthur. Leave these others and come to me. My arms are hungry for you. Come, and we can rest together. Come, my husband, come!” (16) This quote demonstrates a possibly future for Mina if she chooses to take the same road as Lucy and give into temptation. Sigrid Anderson Cordell is an author who wrote “Sex, Terror, and Bram Stoker’s Dracula:
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