Bram Stoker Gender
Geoffrey A. Thomas
May 3, 2011
ENG 203
Final Essay
There has been a social gender order. For example, religiously speaking man has come before woman (Adam and Eve). As time progressed, the rights and opportunities of men and women began to separate. While men were granted the ability to vote and express their sexual freedoms, women received the short end of the stick. This misfortune was very evident during the Victorian Age. Evident so much that I can be identified in the literature of that time. Written in the late 19th century, Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Charles Perrault’s “Little Red Riding Hood” both explore the controversy of the times by juxtaposing ideal narrow gender roles that were accepted during the Victorian Age. Also, through …show more content…
Stoker used the vampire as a metaphor and analogy for the Victorian view of sex. “In Dracula, sex with the Count transformed women into seductive sirens and horrific baby killers – the opposite of the Victorian ideal of chaste and nurturing womanhood.” Women of this time period were expected to be pure. In Dracula this ideal woman is represented in both Mina and Lucy. Both are very feminine. Van Helsing describes Mina as “one of God’s women, fashioned by his own hand.” This statement alone assures the implication of the purity of …show more content…
In Dracula’s transforming of women, a battle then begins between accepted behavior and women’s sexuality. In Dracula fear is not of darkness and the nature of the vampire; however, the loss of female innocence. By turning women into vampires, Dracula releases their full sexuality. Once a woman has accepted this sexuality she then has power and control. This power is exhibited in the rape of Harker by the three Weird Sisters. Harker’s “burning desire [for] those red lips” sends him to a place where Mina had never been before sexually. The roles of men and women are switched as the male is then forced into a ‘submissive’ state. This submission has grave implications as it conflicts with the Victorian belief that mean should be able to reason and maintain control. Another example of heightened female sexuality is when analyzing Lucy transformation. Once bitten by Dracula, Lucy becomes a “voluptuous wantonness” calling out to Arthur as her “arms [hunger for
May 3, 2011
ENG 203
Final Essay
There has been a social gender order. For example, religiously speaking man has come before woman (Adam and Eve). As time progressed, the rights and opportunities of men and women began to separate. While men were granted the ability to vote and express their sexual freedoms, women received the short end of the stick. This misfortune was very evident during the Victorian Age. Evident so much that I can be identified in the literature of that time. Written in the late 19th century, Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Charles Perrault’s “Little Red Riding Hood” both explore the controversy of the times by juxtaposing ideal narrow gender roles that were accepted during the Victorian Age. Also, through …show more content…
Stoker used the vampire as a metaphor and analogy for the Victorian view of sex. “In Dracula, sex with the Count transformed women into seductive sirens and horrific baby killers – the opposite of the Victorian ideal of chaste and nurturing womanhood.” Women of this time period were expected to be pure. In Dracula this ideal woman is represented in both Mina and Lucy. Both are very feminine. Van Helsing describes Mina as “one of God’s women, fashioned by his own hand.” This statement alone assures the implication of the purity of …show more content…
In Dracula’s transforming of women, a battle then begins between accepted behavior and women’s sexuality. In Dracula fear is not of darkness and the nature of the vampire; however, the loss of female innocence. By turning women into vampires, Dracula releases their full sexuality. Once a woman has accepted this sexuality she then has power and control. This power is exhibited in the rape of Harker by the three Weird Sisters. Harker’s “burning desire [for] those red lips” sends him to a place where Mina had never been before sexually. The roles of men and women are switched as the male is then forced into a ‘submissive’ state. This submission has grave implications as it conflicts with the Victorian belief that mean should be able to reason and maintain control. Another example of heightened female sexuality is when analyzing Lucy transformation. Once bitten by Dracula, Lucy becomes a “voluptuous wantonness” calling out to Arthur as her “arms [hunger for