Analysis Of Bram Stoker's Dracula

In an analysis of Bram Stoker’s Dracula and one of many film adaptions, Coppola’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula, it is very evident that the female characters within the movie and the book are remarkably different. Not only is the love interest between Mina (Ryder) Harker and Dracula (Oldman) an addition to the movie, but the extreme sexualization of all the female characters within the film adaption portray the women in a new light. Through the distinction in character portrayal between the movie and the book, the underlying contrast between the “New Woman” and the Victorian Woman become very identifiable.

Throughout the entire novel, it becomes very clear that Bram Stoker believes men’s wrong doings and out lashings are all due to the fact that
Lucy, who one would ultimately define as a “New Woman” is very sweet, yet Demetrakopoulous believes that her sweetness ultimately makes Lucy “not very bright, hysterically emotional, and easily had” when it comes to men, therefore making her ditzy and desirable personality a crime against society. As a “New Woman”, Lucy makes clear her desires and needs, and is unafraid to appeal to multiple men at once, as she did to Quincy, Andrew, and Dr. Seward. Due to the fact that Lucy represents the mere image of the “New Woman”, she was literally displayed as a vicious blood-sucking beast by Stoker himself. When Dracula turns Lucy into a vampire, her free expression of her sexuality offends and disgusts her husband. In fact, on the night where Andrew and the other men spot Lucy for the first time after her transformation, Andrew states “the sweetness was turned to adamantine, heartless cruelty, and the purity to voluptuous wantonness” (Dracula 417). Andrew’s total love for Lucy turned to rigid hatred after just one glance at his previous bride because she was not ashamed to express herself. Stoker, who clearly loathed the “New Woman”, made sure to demonstrate the “New Woman” in a negative lightning to try to avail to everyone that when women took control of their desires, they were bound to eventually overpower the
At one point in the movie, Mina is shown in a dark red dress that is more revealing than what would be considered modest. Not only are her clothes different, but her now subdued sexual desires for Dracula make her unfaithful to her husband. Copolla, by creating this romance between Dracula and Mina ultimately creates a side to the story that is completely unexpected. Having Mina as the reincarnation of Elisabeta (Ryder) creates a way for Dracula to escape what he has become. Through the power of love, Mina is able to kill Dracula and free him from his endless terror. Having the movie end with both Dracula and Mina (Elisabeta) at the alter creates the illusion that things have finally come full circle, and all can finally be