ipl-logo

Lucy Vs Dracula Essay

1315 Words6 Pages

Introduction: Reinterpretations of literary classics profoundly amplify their timeless resonance, with appropriation emerging as an indispensable response to the ever-evolving zeitgeist, thus avoiding a transgressive nature. A study of gothic literature reveals how shifting norms concerning women's sexuality, the flanderization of character, and society's changing context are integrated into appropriation. As time progresses, gothic archetypes such as Bram Stoker’s "Dracula'' undergo metamorphosis to reflect contemporary values and concerns, thereby ensuring their enduring relevance. Angela Carter’s "The Lady of the House of Love'' and Joss Whedon’s "Buffy vs. Dracula'' epitomise this phenomenon, illustrating how reinterpretations can augment …show more content…

Bram Stoker's "Dracula" encapsulates Victorian fears of female sexual liberation or “thrilling yet repulsive voluptuousness" through the representation of Lucy Westenra and characters' pithy response to sexually alluring women. Lucy’s transformation from a “good, noble” woman to a sexually assertive vampire symbolises the threat of uncontrolled female sexuality and the feverish nature of women's liberation. This is perhaps epitomised in describing her evolution as “Sweetness to. wantonness,” utilising contrast to highlight the period's apprehensions regarding women's bodily autonomy. Furthermore, Jonathan’s response to vulgar, yet realistically harmless sexuality, exemplifies the way sexual women were perceived as evil as he expressed that one of the three vampire temptresses “licked her lips like an animal”. The simile depicts an unproportional response to female seduction, therefore situating the period's response to a women's freedom in sensuality. Progressively, Angela Carter's "The Lady of the House of Love" presents a sophisticated avantgarde, offering a nuanced exploration of a woman's desires amidst societal pressures regarding notions of chastity. The vampire countess expresses critique of patriarchal control over women's bodies while …show more content…

Bram Stoker's "Dracula" epitomises Victorian anxieties about the unknown, monstrous and those who are “strange”. Dracula himself, is described as having "peculiarly sharp white teeth" and a "red light in his eyes," encapsulating the era's xenophobia and dread of foreign influence, with the vampire's predatory nature symbolising a threat to societal purity and moral integrity. His metamorphosis from a human aristocrat to a “bloodthirsty” fiend further represents the ultimate fear of degeneration and moral decay, echoing Victorian apprehensions of societal disintegration. This fear is emblematic of broader Victorian concerns about the consequences of unchecked ambition and the “demoniac” potential within humanity. The notion that a well-mannered aristocrat could devolve into a monstrous entity mirrors the period’s dread of losing control over both personal and societal virtues, reflecting a profound unease with the stability and continuity of their cultural and moral framework. Conversely, Angela Carter's "The Lady of the House of Love" reinterprets this fear through a feminist lens, portraying the vampire countess as an “unnaturally beautiful” figure ensnared by her “abnormal” nature. The countess's reflection, “I longed for the past,” poignantly contrasts her imprisonment within her monstrous

Show More
Related
135 Words | 1 Pages

Another noteworthy example of the way Stoker’s lascivious thematic begins outside the immediate circle of ‘good’ characters and then worms its way within is Mina Harker’s decent into vampirism. After Dracula manages to get into Mina’s bedchamber her forces himself upon her, drinking of her blood and forcing her to drink of his. “I was bewildered and strangely enough, I did not want to hinder him” (305), Mina declares as she realizes that even while she had tried to fight against the Count’s urgings she found it difficult not to yield to his demands. This is an intense moment where a pure hearted, if not pious, character is defiled and forced to recognize their own very human, and lustful desires. It is the basis of these humanizing desires

Read More
394 Words | 2 Pages

In Dracula Lucy Westenra is a dynamic character. Lucy is portrayed as a dynamic character because of how she changes throughout the novel. Lucy was a young and innocent girl with morals. Although she had a faint desire to have a strong sexuality towards men, her weakness was abused by Count Dracula and changed her entirely. Lucy was transformed into a vampire which increased her sexuality in result her chastity and innocence were destroyed.

Read More
901 Words | 4 Pages

The essay I chose to compare Dracula with was “Kiss Me With Those Red Lips: Gender and Inversion in Bram Stoker’s Dracula” by Christopher Craft. The essay explains the sexuality in Dracula, desire, gender, and even homosexuality. Craft mentions his essay gives an account of Stoker’s “vampire metaphor” (Craft 108). He highlights certain and very valid points in the story of Dracula that breaks the Victorian gender role, writing, “a pivotal anxiety of late Victorian culture.” (Craft 108).

Read More
500 Words | 2 Pages

Lucy’s transition to a vamped state is significantly reminiscent of nineteenth-century discourse concerned with ‘deviant’ sexual behaviour, and this passage specifically emphasises the temptation and lustfulness of her vampirised form, which drastically contrasts her innocent persona. Stoker uses a light and dark motif to contrast between Lucy before and after her vampiric transformation. Prior to her descent into an ‘undead’ state, Stoker employs language such as ‘sunny’, ‘soft’ and ‘angelic’. The collocation of this language not only reinforce Lucy’s innocence and purity, but dramatically contrast her ‘spasm of rage’ in her vampirism. In her descent to vampirism, Lucy has not only lost her human form – but her innocence and ‘child’ like attributes.

Read More
825 Words | 4 Pages

Lucy Westenra is the best friend of Mina Harker and thus the second female main character of the novel. Stoker describes with Lucy a representative of the New Women movement, as the time was seen by the British population. She is single and lives with her mother, who is suffering from heart disease. Her family, that was once very prosperous, consist only of herself and her aging mother. She is Dracula’s first victim /vampire child in England.

Read More
696 Words | 3 Pages

The major theme in the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker is the threat of female sexual expression. During this time period, female sexual behavior was frowned upon. Women were said to have to be either a virgin or a wife and mother. Social standards were very strict during this time, making it unheard of for women to show sexual expressions. In is era, the main concern was the role women had in society.

Read More
1160 Words | 5 Pages

The 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

Read More
1350 Words | 6 Pages

At first glance, the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker appears to be a typical gothic horror novel set in the late 1890s that gives readers an exciting look into the fight between good and evil. Upon closer inspection, it becomes apparent that Dracula is a statement piece about gender roles and expectations for men and women during the Victorian age. Looking at the personalities, actions, and character development of each of the characters in Dracula bring to light startling revelations about Victorian society and how Stoker viewed the roles of men and women during this time period. To really understand Dracula, it is important to note that this novel was written during a time “of political and social upheaval, with anxieties not just about the

Read More
3478 Words | 14 Pages

Trinity Lam ENG 1302 Professor Loubser May 3, 2023 Dracula and the Anxieties of Victorian Culture Bram Stoker’s novel, Dracula, explores Victorian anxieties prevalent during the era that the book was written in. In contrast to Western uniformity, the cultural norms in England at the time were outmoded and constrictive; old and conservative values were highly respected and frequently connected with modesty and purity. With the Protestant ideals of Victorian society largely influencing the narrative, Stoker's work tackles the tension between yielding to one's desires and fighting them. Feminist Criticism is a School of Literary Criticism that refers to the masculine language used to subsume the role of women and construct a representation of

Read More
1991 Words | 8 Pages

Dracula can be seen through a feminist and patriarchal lens, analyzing Lucy Westenra, Mina Harker, and the three brides of Dracula and how

Read More
332 Words | 2 Pages

The topic I have chosen for my essay is how Dracula is meant to remind society of the importance of religion, specifically Christianity, in Stoker’s time. I intend to do this through analyzing symbols in Dracula, drawing connections between these symbols and Christianity, and analyzing the implications Stoker attempts to make. I chose this topic because vampires and their sacrilegious implications, such as burning when touching a cross, have always been of interest to me, hence why I chose to study Dracula in the first place. My thesis is: Stoker uses Count Dracula as symbol to represent what society may become if they abandon religious beliefs.

Read More
667 Words | 3 Pages

In 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.

Read More
548 Words | 3 Pages

Lucy’s transformation from the traditional Victorian woman to a impure Victorian woman began as soon as she became Dracula’s first victim. Her once innocent beauty became more dark and sexual, changing her purity into evil. Her transformation can be seen by the passage, “The sweetness was turned to adamantine, heartless cruelty, and the purity to voluptuous wantonness” (Stoker, 324). The idea of a “new woman” was a

Read More
1329 Words | 6 Pages

During 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.

Read More
1655 Words | 7 Pages

International laws are, by definition “A body of rules established by custom or treaty and recognized by nations as binding in their relations with one another” (www.oxforddictionaries.com). International law is a very significant topic because it affects everyone globally. In this research report, I would like to explore the advantages and disadvantages of international laws and consider if they should be enforced in all countries. The modern system we use today was developed in the 17th century in Europe and is still used worldwide (Stratton, 2009). After the Second World War, international unity became very popular (Neff).

Read More

More about Lucy Vs Dracula Essay

Open Document