Gender Roles In Dracula

In Bram Stolker's novel, Dracula, the female characters such as Lucy Westerna, Mina Harker, and the three vampire brides are depicted in judgmental ways. The way the author portrayed the women questions what role the female characters play in the story, and what their actions and attitude suggest about gender norms and expectations. Each female within the novel displays a different aspect of femininity, they all had different roles which challenged the societal expectation of women's identity and behavior, especially during the late 19th century. The novel depiction of women highlights the way in which society sees gender roles were changing but it also deconstructed the proceeding struggles of women's empowerment and equality. This paper will

The term “Angel in the House” is the title of a poem that was written by Coventry Patmore. This poem refers to the role of women in Victorian society and how they are generous, nurturing, and devoted to their families and husbands. Mina is known to have many of these qualities, the first way she embodies the qualities of ``angel in the house” is by being devoted to her husband Jonathan Harker. Throughout the novel, she was always providing her husband with emotional and physical support. Mina, being so intelligent and resourceful, also compliments Mr. Harker, as she assists him to capture Dracula. In the Angel in the House, Patmore stated that “Man must be pleased; but him to please/ Is woman's pleasure; down the gulf/Of his condoled necessities/ She casts her best, she flings herself”(Patmore 37). In this quote, Patmore emphasizes the idea that a Victorian woman's main purpose is to always please her husband despite her own needs. This is seen in Dracula when Mr. Harker was hurt by Dracula and Mina stayed by his side throughout his healing process. Another key feature seen in Angel in the House is the emphasis on chastity and sexual purity. Mina is portrayed as being chaste because she was strong enough to resist the advances of Dracula and stay faithful to her husband. Her overall purity was highlighted when Stolker showed that she was the only

Over time things changed, when Lucy got bitten by Dracula, and the author started to focus more on her sexuality. Lucy was known as a sexualized figure especially when she started to sleepwalk and was constantly found with multiple suitors. After transforming into a vampire, Lucy would use her beauty to seduce and charm her male companions. Portraying Lucy this way in the novel challenges the expectation of the Victorian era and female sexuality. Women should remain pure and submissive to men and any deviation from this can be seen as a threat to societal norms. In the novel, while having a conversation with Mina Lucy clearly expresses the way she felt about women and marriage, she asked “Why can't they let a girl marry three men, or as many as want her, and save all this trouble?” (Stoker 91). This quote shows that Lucy was against the traditional Victorian norms and expectations surrounding sexuality and marriage. Lucy acknowledges that women are dominated by men, and she expresses her frustration with societal norms and the restriction they place on women marrying more than one man. Lucy questioning traditional norms and expectations around marriage and sexuality can be seen as a degenerate behavior, especially in the Victorian era. The fact that Lucy doesn't see eye to eye with the