Mina Quotes In Dracula
The beloved novel “Dracula” by Bram Stoker is an influential piece of gothic literature. Horror stories typically portray the Victorian woman to be a helpless victim and to be sexually objectified, but the story “Dracula” continuously uses the character Mina Murray Harker to challenges these gender norms. Mina is one of the several protagonists in the story, and it is important to note that she is the only female in the protagonist group. She is engaged to a man named Jonathan Harker who is also in that group. Initially, she embodies the ideal Victorian woman who is gentle, maternalistic, and loyal to her husband, but as the story progresses, her character develops to show independence and take on a more active role in defeating the antagonist, Count Dracula. Mina challenges traditional gender norms by unveiling her intelligence, bravery, and by refusing to be defined by her purity. …show more content…
In chapter 16, Mina confronts one of the men in the group and demands to be included in tracking down Count Dracula. Asserting this dominance over several men shows how she is not afraid to stand up for herself. In chapter 21, Mina offers to use herself as bait to lure Count Dracula into a trap, knowing that it is a dangerous and risky task. She knows she can use herself as an advantage over Count Dracula and is courageous enough to put herself in a situation that could end with her becoming a Dracula or becoming “un-dead”. Later, in chapter 24, Count Dracula makes several attempts to control Mina’s mind and use her against the protagonist group, but she was able to combat his influence and retain her own free will, which ultimately proves her mental strength. These scenes are significant because they show that Mina is not afraid to take on difficult tasks and she is just as, if not more, capable as the male characters when face to face with
Stoker's Treatment Of Women In Dracula
3106 Words | 13 PagesThroughout Bram Stoker’s broad body of works, he has continuously created strong female characters that are bound sometimes by Victorian social attitudes, but they are also able to subvert patriarchal standards with their actions and personalities. During the late Victorian era, the concept of the “New Woman” came into existence, and Stoker was able to utilize the concept in his novel, Dracula. With the emergence of what was known as the “New Woman,” women challenged the traditional expectation that they were supposed to be obedient housewives and mothers. Instead, they embraced their femininity without shame while maintaining a balance of masculinity, and they valued education and roles outside of the home. Dracula showcases multiple facets
Gender Roles In Bram Stoker's Dracula
1350 Words | 6 PagesThe fact that there were some role reversals in the novel, especially among the female characters, made most characters all the more dynamic. All the same, the novel was very obviously influenced by gender roles and when Stoker was writing Dracula there was an obvious dividing line between male and female characters that he would not cross. Stoker’s preoccupation with female sexuality in Dracula “is attested to by the fact that [gender roles] actually come to dominate the story, with the vampire hunters mainly concerned not with Dracula himself but with his effect on their beloved companions” (Dixon) While Mina, who represented the ideal Victorian woman, acted as a support system and assistant to the heroic group of men. While things have changed significantly for men and women alike in the modern age, Dracula will likely remain in place as one of the most famous and telling critiques of Victorian gender
Desire In Bram Stoker's Dracula
1160 Words | 5 PagesThe 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
Count With Shadess Of Red And Black In Bram Stoker's Dracula
730 Words | 3 PagesEven Mina Harker acknowledges that Dracula must have been a man once, when she observes that “that poor soul who has wrought all this misery, [Dracula], is the saddest case of all” (Stoker
Suddenly Sexual Women In Bram Stoker's Dracula Summary
1830 Words | 8 PagesFeminist 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.
Women In Dracula Essay
696 Words | 3 PagesIn the novel, women’s looks and behaviors are different of what was going on in the Victorian era. In the novel, Mina was the ideal Victorian woman. Mina was the wife and mother type of person, said to be marrying Jonathan. After all she had to deal with concerning Jonathan; she remained loyal and never gave up on him.
Morality And Morality In Dracula
1329 Words | 6 PagesDuring 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.
The Importance Of Dracula In Stoker's Dracula
1253 Words | 6 PagesGothic 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,
Expression Of The Brain In Dracula By Bram Stoker
1381 Words | 6 PagesThe threat of female expression is an important theme of Bram Stoker Dracula. Stoker first introduces this theme first with in the first chapter, "The sweetness was turned to adamantine, heartless cruelty, and the purity to voluptuous
Progressive Gender Roles In Stoker's Dracula
1115 Words | 5 PagesIn regards to gender, Stoker’s Dracula usefully depicts progressive gender roles in Victorian times as well as demonstrating society’s attitudes toward gender. For instance, societal angst about independence interfering with proper female behavior is shown through the various diaries the characters write in. The main character, Jonathan Harker, uses the confidence of his diary to contrast his wife Mina with the brides of Dracula, writing, “I am alone in the castle with those awful women. Faugh! Mina is a woman, and there is nought in common.
Sympathy For Characters In Bram Stoker's Dracula '
316 Words | 2 PagesAnnotation # 3 This quote relates to one of the key terms in the novel, which is sympathy. Throughout the book, many innocent characters experience traumatizing events. For example, when Jonathan Harker was nearly attacked by the women at the castle of Dracula, or Lucy being stalked by Dracula. These events can cause the audience to feel a sort of sympathy for the characters. Mina is trying to contend while being comforted by her dear friend, that sympathy cannot change what is happening however, it can lighten up one’s mood about a situation.
Sexual Anxieties In Bram Stoker's Dracula
650 Words | 3 PagesIndeed, the work condemns the expression of sexuality, particularly deviant sexuality, as in the case of Lucy, who is eventually destroyed and transformed into a voluptuous vampire. Dracula is the immoral foreigner; he contains and conveys a sexually transmittable disease, perhaps akin to syphilis in its internal and external transformation of the afflicted. In this novel, Stoker stands by the ideal woman, Mina, who resists temptation and becomes a submissive and dedicated wife and mother. Finally, Abraham Van Helsing and his group of men defend the patriarchal pillars of society and try to contain, at all costs, the sexually dominant behavior that attempts to contaminate society. The anxieties surrounding and permeated by the characters of the novel emulate a literary culture inspired by Gothic literature.
Female Sexuality In Bram Stoker's Dracula
667 Words | 3 PagesIn the novel Dracula, Bram Stoker highlights the theme of sexuality that challenge ideas of sex to both the female and male characters. The author objectifies the female characters in the novel to be over sexualized and portrays sex to empower women. Stoker may present the theme of female sexuality; however, he demonstrates gender inequality triumphs at the end leaving women in the shadows again. Women in the eighteenth century hardly had any type of power outside of overseeing the household and they probably contained much less power expressing any type of sexual emotions. Stoker’s novel gives readers a different perspective of the female sexuality as if almost empowering women and stating that they too can be sexual creatures like men.
Bram Stoker's Dracula Analysis
1737 Words | 7 PagesThe transition from Victorian Age to modern times is not only marked by a change in industry and trade, but also in values which is prominently featured in Dracula. The years at the end of the 19th century were atilt to the woman’s suffrage movement, and societies’ break with the classic Victorian morality, which consisted of sexual
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