Homosexuality In Dracula By Bram Stoker

Nowadays, Dracula by Bram Stokers is seen as a representation of a novel ahead of its time. Especially with its themes of sexuality, it pushed the boundaries of literature for the time. The topic of sexuality in modern times has become unbiased and represented in movies, media, and books. However, that was not always the case; during the Victorian age, women expressing their sexuality or showing public affection to their partners was greatly frowned upon in society and could be considered prostitution. Sexuality was believed to be a sinful action against God and better kept private, as it should only be done for reproductive purposes. In Bram Stoker's Dracula, he writes about such transgressions of sexuality and pushes the viewers by displaying

Something that would put you in jail or be hanged, which Bram Stoker wrote implicitly about in his novel. Stoker states, "How dare you touch him, any of you? How dare you cast eyes on him when I had forbidden it? I will tell you all! This man belongs to me! Beware how you meddle with him, or you will have to deal with me..." ( Stoker 43). Although there were no physical interactions between Dracula and Jonathan, it was clear that Dracula had some desire for Jonathan, but it was more of a violent desire. Jonathan also had some attraction toward Dracula. However, he soon realized how revolting he was, signifying how unusual it was to feel some attraction towards a man, making it controversial. In "A Wilde Desire Took Me: The Homoerotic History of Dracula" by Talia Schaffer, she states, "...figure of Dracula to define homosexuality as simultaneously monstrous, dirty, threatening, alluring, buried, corrupting, contagious and indestructible." (Schaffer 473). Monsters, like Dracula, are not only an antagonist but the vilest thing ever to be undead. Dracula is not afraid of showing off his sexual desires, whether with a woman or a man. He violates and contradicts the norm of a man having to be with a woman. Dracula breaks that barrier and becomes a threatening menace to the expectations perfect