The way in which Stoker distinguishes a duality present in Lucy is through the shifting perspectives told by multiple characters, the structure of the novel is heavily based on intertextuality in this light.
The male characters, specifically, project the idea of a duality in Lucy in order to comprehend how she so easily shifts states between being ‘the pure woman’ and ‘the fallen woman’ - terms first established in the Victorian era.
This projection is not only endorsed by the male figures of the book, but the character of Mina Harker as well confirms the notion, whom Stoker constructed to represent the ideal standard of women, retrospective of ideologies concerning gender during the Victorian period.
These journal entries reveal how
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“Stoker does not ascribe sexual traits to women without either turning them into the Un-Dead or fragmenting them into disembodied physical features. Sexuality, then, is not associated with real women but rather with debased aberrations of the category of woman.” (3).
“Of course, Dracula had to be prevented from assailing other vulnerable young Englishwomen, but it had to be done because Englishmen could not count on their countrywomen to be strong enough to deter the menace on their own. The men save England from an invading peril and protect her women from a hazard that—simply because they are female—they are too weak to resist. As a result, English values are codified: the men are manly protectors once more, and the women have returned to their role as the domestic angel.”
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Lucy's human identity is most vehemently denied in the symptomatic expression: "The Thing" (192). Eroticized and dehumanized, she is sacrificed to consolidate the male bonding. Only then can the former rivals in love transform their desire for Lucy into a firm, selfless friendship and into the love of ascetic hard work as a team, or as what Daly calls it, the "male, professional, homosocial order" (198). The description of Lucy's face after the staking as "of unequalled sweetness and purity" reassures the male "professionals" that the murder is not only necessary but merciful.” (9).
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Sins of the flesh: anorexia, eroticism and the female vampire in Bram Stoker's Dracula.
“Dracula’s diabolical kiss unleashes in Lucy an aggressive and overtly sexual voracity that represents a threat to the adoring males around her. The fact that the male characters regard Lucy in such different ways illustrates their fear at her capacity to transform and the terrifying power it entails.” (7).
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Women then are not only virginal victims in the novel, they serve to illustrate the contradictions and ironic tensions within the Victorian value system
Craft examines the usual roles of the Victorian men and women, passive women especially, requiring them to “suffer and be still”. The men of this time were higher up on the important ladder of that era. Craft believes the men are the “doers” or active ones in
The topic I have chosen for my essay is how Dracula is meant to remind society of the importance of religion, specifically Christianity, in Stoker’s time. I intend to do this through analyzing symbols in Dracula, drawing connections between these symbols and Christianity, and analyzing the implications Stoker attempts to make. I chose this topic because vampires and their sacrilegious implications, such as burning when touching a cross, have always been of interest to me, hence why I chose to study Dracula in the first place. My thesis is: Stoker uses Count Dracula as symbol to represent what society may become if they abandon religious beliefs.
At first glance, the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker appears to be a typical gothic horror novel set in the late 1890s that gives readers an exciting look into the fight between good and evil. Upon closer inspection, it becomes apparent that Dracula is a statement piece about gender roles and expectations for men and women during the Victorian age. Looking at the personalities, actions, and character development of each of the characters in Dracula bring to light startling revelations about Victorian society and how Stoker viewed the roles of men and women during this time period. To really understand Dracula, it is important to note that this novel was written during a time “of political and social upheaval, with anxieties not just about the
The horror genre of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, combined with mild eroticism is able to draw in readers due to the fact that Stoker is able to intricately weave suspenseful sexual scenes/scenes of desire throughout the novel—making it clear that
Feminist Reading: Dracula between Beauvoir’s and Roth’s Ideas In her article, “Suddenly Sexual Women in Bram Stoker’s Dracula” Phyllis Roth argues that Dracula is a misogynistic novel which is obvious in the system of power in which men are dominant and active figures whereas women are just followers and obedient to their system. She draws on Simon de Beauvoir’s idea that “ambivalence as an intrinsic quality of Eternal Feminine”, in order to show that women are victims to men powers. In her chapter, “Myth and Reality”, Beauvoir discusses the way that anybody in the society, specially men, doesn’t do their job in taking a step towards the oppressed women, but to act just like what the system of myth impose them to act.
Lucy showed the ideal Victorian woman and the frowned upon one too. At some points, Lucy is a lot like Mina in the way that she loves one man. She has multiple men wanting to be with her and although she doesn’t mind being with all of them, she turns them down for the man she loves the most, Arthur Holmwood. Lucy’s best friend is Mina, which tells us where she gets the ideal traits from. Stoker also characterizes Lucy as sexual when Dracula turns her into a sexual vampire and she goes to the dark side.
When Lucy turns into a vampire, it is made a point to describe how she appears and behaves in opposition to the Lucy we were introduced to before her death. With Lucy as a vampire it gives her many virtues she didn’t possess when she was alive. In this novel she is portrayed as a predatory. The importance of being a virgin in the 19th century is perceived through Lucy’s transition into a ‘she-devil’ once Dracula takes away her purity. A person like Lucy, her sexuality is viewed as offensive, is apparent that the gender categories are challenging to gender categories more than
These vampires encompass one of the major sub-themes of the Novel - sex. This topic was considered rude to discuss in public and could only be propagated through the medium of writing. These vampires are portrayed as “air, as fair as can be, with great masses of golden hair and eyes like pale sapphires. (!!!) ”
During the Victorian period in which Dracula was written, morals and ethics were often strictly enforced. Some of the morals that were upheld had to do with personal duty, hard work, honesty, as well as sexual proprietary. It was very important during this period that one was proper in their sexual behaviors and conventional in whom they had sexual relations with. However, during this period, many authors sought to challenge the ‘norm’ with ideas of reform and change and Bram Stoker was no exception to this. In his novel, Dracula, Stoker provides a critique of this rigidity in his portrayal of Dracula and Dracula’s relationship with Jonathan Harker.
Gothic horror novel Dracula, the title character makes only several relatively short appearances, some of which are while in disguise. Throughout the novel, Stoker keeps Count Dracula in the shadows, both literally and figuratively. This essay will describe these appearances and analyze Stoker’s use of them to determine what effect they might have on the impression of the character and the novel overall. It will be claimed that by keeping his title character hidden for much of the novel, Stoker’s Dracula is made much more frightening to the reader. Human beings tend to fear the unknown, and by leaving Dracula to the imagination,
The presentation of Good vs. Evil is one of the main themes in the novel, Dracula. The portrayal of good and evil is seen in each character throughout the book. The characters considered “evil” in the novel are Dracula and his vampire brides. Dracula converts humans into vampires and has immense power over certain individuals. Everything he does demonstrates that there is no good in him at all.
However, this does not mean that the bride’s do not represent patriarchies. From the start of this novel, the three brides are trapped in Dracula’s castle. Jonathan Harker is confronted by the brides who mesmerize him into a daze of “anticipation” and “desire”. This is because, when hunting their prey, the bride’s seem to arise sexual intent to take their prey ‘off guard’. This much can be concluded when Jonathan writes “I felt in my heart a wicked, burning desire that they would kiss me with those red lips” (42).
The ways in which Van Helsing and Seward customarily address Lucy with pet names and terms of endearment, is the same as how an adult would treat a child that denies their maturity. In spite of the fact that these appear affectionate on the surface, it is a manipulative tactic exercised frequently by the band of men. Whether or not they are aware that they are doing such, revoking Lucy of her name strips her of her identity and, essentially, her authority over her personhood. Women in Victorian could only be two things; either you were a pure woman or you were a fallen woman. Lucy can only be one or the other, it was not common for women of the time to possess the traits of both types.
“Fear can challenge our sense of humanity and understanding of the world” This is a broad statement and in a book with over 300 pages, I will be focusing on certain parts in each of the books. Proving that fear can and really does challenge our sense of humanity and understanding in the world, from the start of the book where they tried to make up a rational solution to make this all seem like it wasn’t real, to actively fight against the evil they had so vehemently protested against existing. Bram stokers 19th-century fictitious Gothic novel 'Dracula ' is incredibly complex with many different characters from the meek and underestimated Mina, to the courageous and respected Van Helsing.
One would believe that this was weird and unordinary for Lucy to act like this without knowing what was wrong with her , but her lover Arthur didn’t think nothing of the way she was acting . When he walks into the room and kneels beside her , Lucy reacts in a lively and sexual way . She whispers , “Arthur ! Oh, my love , I am so glad you come!,”(Chapter 12 Page 192) while going into a sleep that changed her . Lucy awoke with strange changes that made her full of sex by saying, “ Arthur !