The Role Of Sex In The Works Of Bram Stoker
Today’s society is focused on a variety of things such as entertainment, politics, and dank memes. Above all, however, today’s society has an insatiable infatuation with sex. Each generation can pretend that they were much less distracted by it than the following generation, but that is simply not the case. Every generation is obsessed with sex. The reason for this is not because sex is something that every person wants, but because it is treated as something that is not normally human. It is treated as something to be afraid of and to reject, lest you become a monster by its interference. At the same time, however, humans are instinctively drawn to it. Such a phenomenon began some time in the Victorian Era as can be seen in many novels of
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In Stoker’s own words, “[Harker] felt in [his] heart a wicked, burning desire that [Dracula’s brides] would [kiss] [him] with those red lips. It is not good to note this down, lest some day it should meet Mina’s eyes and cause her pain, but it is the truth” (Stoker 34). This would not have existed or persisted, for that matter, if not for Stoker’s own sexual experiences. In a survey of Stoker’s life and works, the authors quote the words from Stoker’s granddaughter, “[Stoker’s wife] was cursed with her great beauty and the need to maintain it. In my knowledge now, she was very anti-sex. After having my father in her early twenties, I think she was quite put off. I think it's highly probable that she refused to have sex with Bram after my father was born” (Farson and Dematteis). Further, the authors state that “it can be conjectured that [his wife's] lack of interest in sex after the birth of their son drove Stoker to patronize prostitutes” (Farson and Dematteis). Such an experience would have had an extraordinary effect on Stoker and his psyche. Mirroring Harker, Stoker was in a position in which he, as a human being, needed and wanted sex. To draw another similarity, they both wished to remain faithful to their wives despite their instinctual temptations. If not for Dracula’s intervention, his lustful brides would have surely taken of Harker’s blood.
In Stoker’s own words, “[Harker] felt in [his] heart a wicked, burning desire that [Dracula’s brides] would [kiss] [him] with those red lips. It is not good to note this down, lest some day it should meet Mina’s eyes and cause her pain, but it is the truth” (Stoker 34). This would not have existed or persisted, for that matter, if not for Stoker’s own sexual experiences. In a survey of Stoker’s life and works, the authors quote the words from Stoker’s granddaughter, “[Stoker’s wife] was cursed with her great beauty and the need to maintain it. In my knowledge now, she was very anti-sex. After having my father in her early twenties, I think she was quite put off. I think it's highly probable that she refused to have sex with Bram after my father was born” (Farson and Dematteis). Further, the authors state that “it can be conjectured that [his wife's] lack of interest in sex after the birth of their son drove Stoker to patronize prostitutes” (Farson and Dematteis). Such an experience would have had an extraordinary effect on Stoker and his psyche. Mirroring Harker, Stoker was in a position in which he, as a human being, needed and wanted sex. To draw another similarity, they both wished to remain faithful to their wives despite their instinctual temptations. If not for Dracula’s intervention, his lustful brides would have surely taken of Harker’s blood.