Portrayal of Women in Bram Stokers Dracula
$2.95
literature
school essay
published 22/10/2007
review : Completed
level : General public
requested 4 times
Horror stories are known to be misogynistic in their portrayal of women; Bram Stokers Dracula is no exception. The novel offers a stereotypical, character archetype of the female in various forms: Mina Harker, Lucy Westenra, and the Succubi. The women are used to embody ideas and values of the woman living in the Victorian Age. Women had a strictly defined role within the era; there was no thought of equality; no thought that women could liberate themselves sexually. Dracula is sopping wet with overtones alluding to womens sexuality and sexuality in general. Stoker uses these characters as a critique against womens liberation; to stress that sexual liberation, for him, meant damnation. Mina Harker is the embodiment of Victorian virtue in which she is loyal, earnest and, above all, solely has an identity dependent upon her husband; Lucy Westenra, Minas good friend, embodies the desire of women who want to liberate themselves. As the novel shows, desires of such leads to death; the Succubi, Draculas servants, embody the abysmal end to which the road of sexual liberation leads. Mina Harker is beloved in Stokers eyes, but from a modern point of view, sets the forward drive of womens liberation into a sudden and screeching halt.
Table of Contents
- Mina is the Victorian Ideal for women.
- The quote emphasizes Mina's preoccupation. From the line, 'and if he is thinking of me!?
- In the Victorian marriage, the man is the head and the woman is the heart.
- Lucy is far more modern in thought than her friend Mina.
- Stoker expresses similar feelings toward the Succubi, or the trio of Un-Dead vampire sisters.
- The Succubi represent the end of the road for the liberated woman in Stoker's terms.
