Female sexuality in Bram Stoker’s Dracula, is a strong topic throughout the
book. It enhances the Victorian male imagination to believe that woman are a
certain way and should only act a certain way. In England, women’s sexual
behavior is dictated by society which sets high expectations for their actions.
In Dracula, Lucy and Mina are
threatened by Dracula himself.
Although they have their differences,
Lucy and Mina are woman that are true to their men, innocent, and have a strong
Christian faith known as “God’s women” much like Victorian women. They aren’t
like real people though. Victorian women were expected to be very faithful to
their husbands, be a good wife/mother, and are set on such a high standard to
act a certain way. In Chapter XVII Mina states that, “We women have
something of the mother in us that makes us rise above smaller matters when the
mother-spirit is invoked.” The women are innocent from their evil’s and walking
around being a “whore” is not acceptable in their society. After the
transformation, Lucy takes the mother instinct to a whole new level. She turns
on the children and attacks them by attacking them instead of nourishing them
and feeding them like a Victorian woman should do. Also, Stoker uses
interesting vocabulary to describe Lucy. She is described more of in terms by her
sexuality than of the proper ways.
Dracula transforms Lucy into a vampire
and the men are left to destroy her in order to keep her at an acceptable state.
After the transformation, Van Helsing and the other men keep a close eye on
Mina to make sure that she does not become a victim of Dracula. The
transformation of Lucy can be seen as the dark side of female sexuality. She
becomes openly sexual and struggles to find a balance of good and evil. This is
a reoccurring theme throughout the book because the men are struggling to find
a balance with Dracula and themselves with Lucy. Dracula is determined to turn
the women into the individuals that they are not meant to be. He wants to open
their sexual desires and influence them to become impure while Van Helsing and
his men want Lucy to remain true to herself. Ironically, the attack on Lucy turns her into
an openly sexual predator which supports Stoker’s way of showing female
sexuality.
Lucy’s final actions show resemblances with sexuality are
strong. Even though it was an act to restore Lucy and help her to become pure
again, when Holmwood pierces Lucy with the stake it can be seen as an act of
intercourse. Holmwood was doing his best to keep Dracula from consuming Lucy into
his sexual relationship. Also, the blood transfusion also
shows some kind of resemblance through sexuality and intercourse. They see the
transfusion of the blood similar to intercourse because they are making a
direct connection between the male and female.
Throughout Dracula we
are introduced to sexuality and female sexuality in different ways. Although
the women are supposed to act a certain way their behavior is tested throughout
the book through Dracula’s motives. Their behavior is dictated by society but
Dracula’s actions causes them to turn into improper Victorian women.
Tell me what you guys think. Any ideas that you may have would be greatly appreciated!
Good analysis, Shelby! Do you think Stoker was criticizing women who did not fit into the Victorian model of women by associating them with vampires? It seems like Stoker pits the "good" of Van Helsing and his group, who want Lucy to remain true to herself, against the "bad" of Dracula, who wants her to open her sexual desires and move away from what society demands her to be. I suppose I'm curious into what you believe Stoker's intentions are in illustrating this female sexuality. You really have some great points here, and I love the connection with Holmwood's piercing of Lucy and rape (an annotation I made in my book!), and relation of the transfusion of blood with intercourse. Nonetheless, how do these specific examples relate to Victorian ideals of women? And what do you think is more evil, female sexuality or the censorship of it?
ReplyDeleteThanks Rusty! You make some really good points here that I could definitely use and elaborate on in my paper. Honestly, I think that Stoker has a twisted, dirty mind and enjoys watching the women struggle with their sexuality and how to act. The way that he portrays this women throughout the book isn't very "nice." I feel like he gets pleasure from watching them struggle in their relationships with Dracula and Van Helsing. Am I totally crazy or am I onto something here?
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DeleteThis is a good argument and is a simple explanation to the way sexuality plays out in the novel. That being said, do you think Stoker maybe isn't as twisted as you say and only included these feminine struggles to entertain the reader? That's also a simple explanation.
DeleteI like the idea that Stoker is simply playing the devil's advocate by putting women down in this book, like his society does, kind of making a show of it. Do you know what I mean?
DeleteLike maybe Stoker realized just how messed up his society's viewpoint on women being so much lesser than men is why he put it into his book... If this is the case, it could explain why Stoker made Mina such a strong character in the book, to kind of put her as an equal with the men. I don't know if this train of thought will go anywhere, I just thought it might be an interesting take on how and why Stoker writes about his men and women in the way he does.
Shelby you have great ideas. You made a good arguement relating the stabbing of the heart to intercourse. However, I didn't quite know what you meant by "they aren't like real people though" in your second paragraph. You should do some more research on Victorian women and relate the women in the novel to them. Is women's sexuality their weakness or strong point? They are still being controlled by Dracula while at the same time seducing their victims. Since you mentioned Lucy and the brides feeding on children you could talk about the relationship between Dracula feeding on women, but turning them not killing them, and the women feeding on children, killing them. Like what we mentioned in class about it being a sick way of nursing. That could be a mini claim. Hope this helps!
ReplyDeleteBianca,
DeleteI know the question wasn't directed to me (Is women's sexuality their weakness or strong point), but I hope my answer makes helps. I think that it is their stong point. It is what gives them strength as vampires. I thnk that their gender might be their weakness, not their sexuality, because it is their gender that makes them inferior to Dracula in Stoker's eyes. Their sexuality is what they use to get what they want, not what makes Dracula have control over them. I hope this makes sense.
Maybe gender plays no significance in the vampire world, and sexuality is what binds them all together. Through sexuality, vampires can not only seduce others but also form a union. Since sexuality is not looked down upon by their private society, they are free to be as they please. This, when contrasted with Victorian views on sexuality, is especially blasphemous for women. If Dracula has control over them because of sexuality, their sexuality is what controls every other aspect of vampire life.
DeleteGood job, Shelby :) I like your post a lot. What stuck with me most significantly are your ideas on Lucy and her transformation to the "dark side of female sexuality". While she is definitely battling between good and evil, and trying to distinguish between Dracula and the good men, you can make a comparison to the ideas of female sexuality today. The battle between what is socially acceptable today is mirrored by the ideas on female attitude from the Victorian era. Lucy's struggle to choose sides is almost ironic when compared with women's present-day struggles with sexual double standards. Do you think that there are any other ways that women's roles and sexuality can be compared with today's expectations and standards?
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