Victorian Women And Feminism In Bram Stoker's Dracula

In the late 1800’s an independent and fierce woman was not a common occurrence and usually frowned upon, but in this strict time period one author creates his main character to be not only Victorian woman but also a “modern” woman. Dracula was written in 1897 by Bram Stoker, allowing it to become a treasured Gothic story. Due to this fact, there are many instances where Victorian virtues are implied in the story. These virtues are especially influenced on not the characters development but their fate as well.. One major example of this Mina Harker, who is not only an ideal Victorian woman but also a modern one. This leading lady exhibits many Victorian and “modern” characteristics. In Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Mina Harker portrays the ideal Victorian woman while still creating an image of the “modern woman” with her many skillful characteristics.

Shakespeare and Bram Stoker write suppression and madness into their female characters who represent the condition of women during their time. Ophelia from Hamlet and Lucy from Dracula are a symbol for all women from both the Renaissance and Victorian era and their actions portray the suppression of the patriarchal system. Throughout the whole play, Ophelia and Lucy walk down the same path as both of them get oppressed by their families and go through an extreme character development while expressing their desires.

Expressing one's sexuality is often considered a taboo, especially if it concerns women’s sexuality. A woman expressing her sexuality is often looked down upon because of the notion that women must be innocent and demure. These notions were meant to repress women’s sexual gratification and constrict women into feminine roles as mothers or as wives. These stereotyped feminine roles caused women to be viewed as less of a threat to male masculinity. However, in the Victorian Era, new ideas on what it meant to be a woman challenged these feminine roles and the patriarchal order. The “new woman” wanted to be equivalent to men, financially independent, and sexually liberated. The new woman threatens the patriarchal order because equality of the sexes challenges power dynamics and gender roles. In Bram Stoker’s novel, Dracula, he challenges the social constraints that limit individual and sexual desires through vampires who are capable of revealing the characters’ repressed desires. With the use of vampires as figurative representation of the new woman, the novel reveals the fear of female sexuality through the erotic acts presented by the women and the men who must confront them.

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 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.

Do women have the same potential to be successful as men do? This is a highly controversial topic that has been addressed for hundreds of years and even continues to be a common issue discussed in today’s society. In Bram Stoker’s Dracula, there are gender roles that are set for both males and females. The story begins with a lawyer named Jonathan Harker, who is trying to finalize selling a house to Count Dracula. Plans start to fail when Jonathan realizes that Dracula is a vampire. When the plans concerning Dracula’s estate are finalized and Jonathan escapes out of Dracula’s grasp, Dracula then begins to create trouble in London. There, he starts to intervene into Mina’s life, Jonathan’s soon-to-be wife. Dracula attacks Lucy, Mina’s best friend,

Sticking true to the Vicortain setting of his novel, Bram Stoker ensures that gender and gendered behavior is well defined throughout his novel Dracula. He explicitly genders the characterizations of his characters; however, most of them do not portray characteristics exclusively associated with their gender. In order to highlight such complexities, Stoker must acknowledge prevailing thoughts on gendered behavior. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, masculinity is associated with “strength...vigor…[and] power” ("masculine, adj. and n."). Contrastingly, the feminine is seen as “delica[te]” ("feminine, adj. and n.") and emotional. One of the strongest characterististics of either masculine or feminine behavior is that it is “often contrasted with a corresponding object deemed to be” ("feminine, adj. and n.") of the opposite gender. It is this strong contrast that Stoker’s portrayal of characters with a mixture of a traits a bold choice. Stoker’s portrayal of Dracula as the epitome of traditional masculinity casts negative light on the masculine archetype; when this villain is

In Dracula, Stoker portrays male characters believing that women are not as capable or intelligent as men through multiple occasions. For instance, when Mina first arrived at Dr. Seward was conversing with Van Helsing shortly after, Van Helsing responded by saying, "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.” Van Helsing is implying that a man’s brain is greater than a woman’s brain. He is also saying that all men are smart by referencing a gifted mind as a “man’s brain” not by plainly stating she has an intelligent brain. Additionally, Van Helsing creates another stereotype by his implication that all women have cordial personality. Another example of Stoker improperly displaying the strength and equality of women is when Van Helsing mentioned about the vitality of men’s blood during the period where Lucy was feeling sick from Dracula attacking

Have you ever wondered why women are the way they are today? Well, Dracula takes a very good look at how women were once treated and hints at what they will evolve into. Dracula takes place during the Victorian Era where women were considered less than men. Dracula was written back in 1897 and contains Religious references that aid the main characters to subdue the cruel vampire known as Dracula. During the Victorian Era women were stay at home wives and their only job was to have children and to tidy up the house. They were devoted to their husband and everything they did was to benefit their husband. Women were viewed as fragile creatures that should not be involved in anything dangerous. However, some of these women, such as the three vampire sisters, are very dangerous, capable of killing children so that they may live longer, which contradicts the thought that women are fragile and need protecting. In Bram Stoker’s Dracula the role of Victorian women in England have continuously evolved into what women are today.

In his Literary Theory: The Basics, H. Bertens classifies stereotypes of women in literature into a number of categories; dangerous seductress, self-sacrificing angel, dissatisfied shrew, and defenseless lamb, completely incapable of self-sufficiency, or self-control, and dependent on male intervention. Bertens concludes that the primary objective of these women – or “constructions” – is to serve a “not-so-hidden purpose: the continued cultural and social domination of males”. One such novel that came under feminist scrutiny for these particular reasons was Bram Stoker’s Dracula, although this perlustration didn’t occur until 70 years after Stoker originally penned his masterpiece. However, during the mid-1960s, the rise of the feminist

In the late 19th century, when Dracula by Bram Stoker is written, women were only perceived as conservative housewives, only tending to their family’s needs and being solely dependent of their husbands to provide for them. This novel portrays that completely in accordance to Mina Harker, but Lucy Westenra is the complete opposite. Lucy parades around in just her demeanor as a promiscuous and sexual person. While Mina only cares about learning new things in order to assist her soon-to-be husband Jonathan Harker. Lucy and Mina both become victims of vampirism in the novel. Mina is fortunate but Lucy is not. Overall, the assumption of women as the weaker specimen is greatly immense in the late 19th century. There are also many underlying

In Victorian England, the feminist movement began to rise at an almost exponential rate. Women started to have their voices heard and even had many of their causes argued for by some men. Among these men was a lecturer by the name of Bram Stoker. Stoker spent years lecturing on and arguing for feminist causes at the Philosophical Society. That is until the “New Woman” came about. The New Woman was considered to be a new breed of woman, one that was almost inhuman or mutated, hence the name. They believed in sexual freedom, the blurring of the distinction between the genders, and their right to choose their path of life even when it went against what a man wished. Stoker then claimed that these ideals were wrong and stated it very clearly

Although in modern times people are exposed to sexuality from a young age through advertisements, media, and pop culture, during the Victorian era in England, the only acceptable exploration of repressed sexual desire was through a book that upholds the Christian belief of sexuality’s corruptive effects on society. In Bram Stoker’s Dracula, a gothic, horror novel, Dracula, a vampire from Transylvania, preys on Mina Harker, a devoted Christian and intelligent woman, and Lucy Westenra, an innocent, young woman pursued by three suitors, by luring them and sucking their blood; the women and their suitors form a gang of vampire fighters who track and eventually kill Dracula defeating his devilry with the forces of

Though Dracula and the phantom of the opera are classified as traditional horror texts, they are tales that directly confront sex and sexuality which some educators are fearful to discuss within their classrooms in Victorian society. Bram Stoker intentionally created this novel to challenge the concept that sexuality should not be concealed or disguised. Likewise, Despite Erik's psychological condition, and perhaps his physical deformity, Christine was attracted to him because of his sexual presence. People who are physically incapacitated usually have a stunning sexual master. The thing that unites them all is a very typical, healthy sexuality. In Gaston Leroux's novel, Christine possibly suffered from manic depression after the death of her