Eun-Ah Lee
Professor L. Tromly
ENGL 1200 A01
5 April 2013
The Effect of Supernatural Aspects on the Victorian Society Bram Stoker 's Dracula, presents an interesting perspective on death and illness in the Victorian period. This can be viewed as a creativity on Stoker 's part, or as a form of religious or social commentary on his changing era. There are several flaws presented throughout the novel as the plot unfolds, which are: characters in the novel dismiss the old traditional belief of the supernatural, the constant power struggle between the sexes and the Victorian views on sexuality. The supernatural or metaphysical aspects presented in Dracula reflect the tragic flaws of the patriarchal society during the Victorian Era. One
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This was the era of the confronting 'New Woman ', who strove to be emancipated both politically and sexually, a concept which much of the society at the time found highly seditious and unsettling. Not only is the idea of the 'New Woman ' despised by the society, but the concept of a patriarchal society changing towards modernity poses as a threat to the Victorian men. For example, Lucy is the first victim of Dracula in England who turns into a vampire and the men are shocked at the appearance of what she has changed into: "My own heart grew cold as ice, I could hear the gasp of Arthur as we recognized the features of Lucy Westenra. Lucy Westenra, but yet how changed"(196). Dr. Seward is the speaker of this quote and he is horrified by Lucy 's transformation because the former Lucy had characteristics of an ideal Victorian woman; which is to be frivolous and naïve. However, now she is a woman who is carnal and unspiritual, which is the perceived danger represented by the 'New Woman '. This posed a threat to the upper middle-class heterosexual Protestant male in the society because the 'New Woman ' is thought to be equal to men. In addition to the society moving towards modernism, due to the contagion of an ancient creature, the gender roles are constantly in flux. For instance, a wolf controlled by Dracula kills Lucy, Mina allowed Arthur Holmwood to
After decades of cheesy horror movies, the image of vampires has been misconstrued as sparkly, angsty teenage boys or handsome men that lure in girls for the fresh blood of a virgin. Many of these stereotypical vampires are influenced by the story of Dracula, held in the Victorian era. Yet, many of the stories published about vampires diverge from the message that Bram Stoker is trying to make. During the Victorian period, sexuality is repressed by society, as sexual behaviors from women are viewed as unacceptable. In the Gothic horror novel Dracula, Bram Stoker uses the traumatic experience of Jonathan Harker at Count Dracula’s castle and the invasion of vampires in Great Britain to create a social commentary on the sexual repression occurring in this era and its detrimental effect on the men.
After reading the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker, we learn many things about the style of writing he used to capture the reader’s attention. We also learned about the main ideas Stoker brought in his writing, like how evil is all around us and how when humans join together, they could overcome the evil. In addition, he also describes the protagonist of the story and the way it behaves throughout the whole story and how it gets involved with all the characters. Last but not least, Stoker shows the reader what he used as a symbol to defeat evil, which helped developed the outcome of the novel.
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.
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.
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 novel, Dracula, written during the late nineteenth century and commonly classified as a horror novel. Further analysis of it, however, has brought to light the buried many symbols and themes of sexuality that the novel holds within it. Due to its female sexual symbolism, the novel often draws the attention of most men, as exploring these female forbidden themes are more of a fantasy for them than reality. Also, Dracula was set in the Victorian culture and therefore it is shown to encompass all the beliefs and prejudices of the society, especially in regards to social gender roles of men and women. Women at the time were known to be suppressed and put down
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
Bram Stoker`s “Dracula” is one of his most prominent work, originally published in 1897. Forming part of the gothic literature; the novel focuses, through the character of Dracula, on the theme of Supernatural and Religion in an era largely dominated by Science and Rationality. This critical essay, will therefore demonstrate how Dracula, portrayed as the “other,” is essentially different from the rest and, how he subtly manage to incite people and challenge values and ideals of the British Society.
Dracula by Bram Stoker, is the original vampire book, the one that started it all. From it derived the now so beloved and famous teen-romance vampire genre, with novels like Twilight. However, Dracula is not remotely like the sparkle-in-the-sunlight, falling-in-love-with-mortals vampire any more than Harry Potter is like the Wicked Witch of the West. Dracula is a gothic horror novel set in Transylvania and England during the Victorian Era. The story is told in letters, diary entries, and newspaper clippings from the viewpoint of several characters, allowing for a wide variety of viewpoints that highlight happenings in Dracula as well as present the social issues pertained within. While it contains action, suspense, horror, and romance, it also displays the corruption within the everyday society. The way the women are presented, interacted with, and how Count Dracula affects them brings forth the issues within the Victorian society, especially the men’s treatment of women and the different social and gender roles, which Stoker uses to highlight the situational irony found within the novel.
and themes such as sexuality and gender. These topics and the way they are addressed in the book were very controversial when published on May 26, 1897 and were seen as scandalous by its readers. Through this book, Bram Stoker made the idea of vampires become a relevant part of popular culture as it is today and allowed them to be interpreted as figures symbolizing sex and the transference of disease. During Stoker 's era, women were looked down upon and were accused of being immoral for having sex outside of marriage and contracting any sexual diseases. These “women who lose their virtue(virginity) become ‘fallen women,’ outcasts doomed to death or secluded repentance”(Fry). Though these acts generally involve male participation, it is mainly the woman who must deal with the consequences, while the man is able to be free of judgement and continue his life. “The patriarchal tendencies and views of the Victorian society further enforced male superiority and dominance over women”(Podonsky). This being said, the question is, how did some of this prejudice against women translate into the writing of Stoker 's work Dracula and what did Stoker think of his society 's description of an “ideal” woman? The answer to this question is that the thoughts held by the majority about women made their way into the book Dracula in a very satirical manner and the hopeful mind of Abraham Stoker refused to believe that
Once infected by Dracula, Lucy becomes sexually overt and aggressive; and is portrayed as a monster and a social outcast. She transforms into the Bloofar Lady ' and feeds on children making her the maternal antithesis as well as a child molester (Jones, p. 87). In order to rectify Lucy 's condition she is sexually overpowered by her fiancee Holmwood; he penetrates her to death with a stake through the chest, a staking which is overtly sexual in interpretation, as "the thing in the coffin writhed; and a hideous, blood-curdling screech came from the opened red lips. The body shook and quivered and twisted in wild contortions; the sharp white teeth champed together till the lips were cut, and the mouth was smeared with a crimson foam.........He looked like a figure of Thor as his untrembling arm rose and fell, driving deeper and deeper" (Stoker p. 241). This sexual innuendo restores the Victorian balance of sexual penetration from the female domain back its accepted station within the male domain. Showalter interprets the killing as a gang rape, done with "impressive phallic instrument" (p. 181). "Those serial transfusions which, while they pretend to serve and protect good women, ' actually enable the otherwise inconceivable interfusion of the blood that is semen
Lucy is not seen to be the ideal Victorian wife, “why can’t they let a girl marry three men or as many that want her”, due to her low morals and her naivety towards the way a women was expected to act it allowed Dracula to exploit her. Stoker presents Lucy in a way that would be shocking and unacceptable for a Victorian reader. Stoker insinuates that Lucy is fatherless because Stoker only refers to her father once in the book and it is in the past tense, “Lucy’s father, had the same habit he would get up in the night and dress himself”, even if Lucy’s father is alive it is clear that he has had minimal involvement and impact on Lucy’s life. Stoker could be suggesting that Lucy’s lack of a patriarch has meant that she has a desire and craving for one leading her to finding one where ever she could find it. When Dracula is removing blood from Lucy she is described as “half-reclining” Stokers use of this word suggests that Dracula is not forcing her or even restraining her, it implies that she is accepting what is taking place. Stoker goes as far as to imply that Lucy is enjoy the experience, “Her lips were parted… heavy gasps”, this is very sexually suggestive of a post climatic moment. It could be argued that at this moment she is conforming to the hierarchy of society by being submissive due to her possible positive “father complex” (created by Sigmund Feud and Carl Jung), so is therefore acting how a Victorian should by
Bram Stoker's Dracula is a highly controversial novel written in the Victorian Era. The Victorian era was a time when gender played a very restrictive role in society. Men and women were expected to follow certain behavior and to stay within the conventions of the time. In Dracula, the reader encounters "the new woman", a woman who does not stay within the bounds of Victorian gender tradition. The reader also gains insight into the dominate role that men play in the novel and how the patriarchy impacts society. There are two opinions among critics, one being that the men primarily dictate the events and characterization in the novel, or the second argument being that women actually fulfill this role
This passage characterizes Mina’s obedience to her spouse Johnathan, and introduces her as the modest woman. Lucy Westenra represents the sexual woman. In her second letter to Mina, she tells of the three marriage proposals that have come to her in one day, and the results of each. She has turned down two men, and accepted the last, but feels badly about having to turn down two of her suitors. She proclaims, “Why can’t they let a girl marry three men, or as many as want her, and save all this trouble?” (61). From this passage, it can be assumed that Lucy desires sexual relationship with all three men, as that is the result of marriage. Here lies the main difference between the two women. In the end Mina benefits from her domesticity and life of service to men. Lucy, on the other hand, is deviate from social norms, and in turn suffers the consequences for her own sexual aptitude. Dracula’s deadly bite does not harm Mina due to her morals dictating that she continues to live as a human. Dracula soon disappears from the scene, and Mina enjoys her marriage and bears a child. However, Lucy is not as lucky. She is described as a sexual monster after her death. It is believed her sexuality that sealed her fate. It is clear that this is a statement about not only the roles of women in society, but also about the fears of society. The good Victorian woman, represses her sexual desires and will lead a respectable life.
Bram Stoker’s ingenious piece of work on writing Dracula has set the expectation for gothic novels all over the world and time to come. The mindset of writing Dracula through the Victorian Era really sets the tone for the reader by creating a spine-tingling sensation right through the novel. With this in mind, Stoker wouldn’t have been able to succeed his masterpiece without the effective uses of symbolism, imagery, foreshadowing, and its overall theme.