Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Gender Roles

The association between a woman and a small band of men led by Professor Abraham Van Helsing who oppose Count Dracula is the subject of Bram Stoker's Dracula tale. In order to transform people into "foul things of the night like him, without heart or conscience, preying on the bodies and souls of those (they) love best," Count Dracula travels from Transylvania to England. In the short tale, the author uses an epistolary style. Dracula is one of the best-known letters from the eighteenth century that still reflects the social conditions of today. Literary the term epistolary stories represent novels written from various sources documents such as newspaper clippings, letters, and journals (McNally 18). Bram Stoker achieves the effects of using the epistolary style in conveying the characters inner states through different story setups and broad descriptions that develop the conscious self and the context (Cranny-Francis 64). The paper analyzes the gender roles as depicted in the short story by Bram Stoker.

Critical analysis of the novel reveals the themes of sexuality and the buried symbols held within the text. Due to feminism and sexual ideas presented in the book, the stories focus the attention on men who fall victims of the forbidden female pleasures and fantasy. From the setting of Dracula, Victoria Era, the novel encompasses all social prejudices and beliefs regarding gender roles of women and men. Men were known to be given enough freedom and lifted up to authority while women were suppressed socially. Bram Stoker uses the two women; Lucy Westenra and Mina Harker and Professor Van Helsing to express the ideal women should be and should not be in the ideal society. The dissenting opinion gives threat to the patriarchal Victorian society to end in ruins.

Lucy and Mina are very significant in the novel since they are the only female narrators and characters the author uses to portray the roles of women in the Victorian Era. Stoker juxtaposes the two women to illustrate and compare the categories of women that existed during Victorian Era. The novel presents the intelligent, submissive, innocent, ideal women and the rebellious and dangerous women who take risks to break through the constraints of the society. Even though they understand that men have the dominant share in the Victorian community than women, they still hold divergent views about the position in which the women should take. “My dear Mina, Why are men so noble when we women are so little worthy of them?” (Stoker 96).

The author uses Mina to explain his opinion about what an exemplary woman during Victorian Era. For example, Professor Van Helsing describes Mina in the story as, “One of God’s women, fashioned by His hand to show us, men and other women, that there is a heaven where we can enter, and that its light can be here on earth. So true, so sweet, so noble, so little an egoistic!” (Stoker 306). Mina Murray takes the position of central characters since we come across many diaries entries than anyone else. Mina is brave and courageous as she goes into dangerous places during the night to save friend Lucy. Again, she is consistent and persistent in her doings as she refuses to give up on the hard mission of killing Dracula (Cranny-Francis 1998). Ultimately, Mina exhibits herself as a hardworking and determined woman since she types all the journals and the diaries from different people for the public to find them in one place. Finally, shows her loyalty and intelligence to her husband. Bram Stoker uses speech in the novel to stress on Mina’s dedication to education and hardworking. She even assists her husband Jonathon in his studies by taking some shorthand commitments after practicing fulltime to “be useful to Jonathan” (Stoker 86). From her monologue, “a brave man’s hand can speak for itself” (Stoker 386) tells us that she is worried about men and their independence from women.

On the second category of Victorian women, Stoker uses Lucy to shows the readers what women should not be in the society. Throughout the novel, Lucy is not committed to one man either emotionally or physically. The author describes her as beautiful, voluptuous woman who receives three proposals from suitors simultaneously. In fact, she complains to Mina asking why the society cannot allow a girl to marry three or as many as she may want and prevent all the drama (Stoker 96). Despite the fact that she can do such if permitted, she realizes that she has uttered words from hearsay. The latter implies that even though the ideas and thoughts may be verbally immoral, forbidden and promiscuous in the Victorian culture, it does not prevent her from crossing the lines with social conventions to chase for personal satisfaction.

Furthermore, Lucy is a person who is driven by flirtatious, sexual openness and tempting nature. She uses her physical beauty to attract the interest of suitors whom she enjoys company with that otherwise she would have missed from the society. As such, Lucy tries to equalize herself to the male gender in the Victorian culture that is considered dominant. Besides, the vampires take advantage of Lucy to capture men who pursue beautiful women. There is a complex idea of sexual erotica and the understanding of sexual beings. It is clear that the novel does not condemn the threat of homoerotic desire. Instead, they only displace and diffuse it across the world. As witnessed in the transfusion of blood, the male counterparts just come into contacts with one another through women (McNally 34). Therefore, the Dracula uses her tactics to mutate women into hyper-sexuality beings to harvest the men he wants. The truth is that it is the first beast but applies women to offshoot female vampires that in turn fulfills his desires and will. “My Jackals (will) do my bidding when I want to feed,” he claims (Stoker 360).

Conclusion

To conclude, the author uses the characters, Mina and Lucy to convey his opinions about the sexual roles of men and women in the Victorian society. The construction of the ancient societies has considered women inferior to the men in the assignment of duties and responsibilities with exception to rising of children. The difference was seen in the submissiveness of women and the protective qualities of women. Stoker further explains the two different kinds of women people have in the community. Mina exhibits the qualities of an ideal Victorian woman, who is ambitious, beneficial and survivor of difficult times in life. On the other hand, Lucy illustrates the immoral women who sell their bodies to gain material things and recognition in the society. The script concludes that women who use their sexuality to access financial break through and powers ends up ruined.

Work Cited

Cranny-Francis, Anne. "Sexual Politics and Political Repression in Bram Stoker’s Dracula." Nineteenth-Century Suspense. Palgrave Macmillan, London, 1988. 64-79.

McNally, Raymond T. Dracula was a woman: in search of the blood countess of Transylvania. McGraw-Hill Companies, 1983.

Stoker, Bram. Dracula's Guest-Bram Stoker. World Best Original Classic, 1966.