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Representation Of Women In Literature
Quiz over Dracula by Bram Stoker
Quiz over Dracula by Bram Stoker
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More handpicked essays just for you.
Representation Of Women In Literature
Quiz over Dracula by Bram Stoker
Quiz over Dracula by Bram Stoker
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
In chapter 16, Mina confronts one of the men in the group and demands to be included in tracking down Count Dracula. Asserting this dominance over several men shows how she is not afraid to stand up for herself. In chapter 21, Mina offers to use herself as bait to lure Count Dracula into a trap, knowing that it is a dangerous and risky task. She knows she can use herself as an advantage over Count Dracula and is courageous enough to put herself in a situation that could end with her becoming a Dracula or becoming “un-dead”. Later, in chapter 24, Count Dracula makes several attempts to control Mina’s mind and use her against the protagonist group, but she was able to combat his influence and retain her own free will, which ultimately proves her mental strength.
Dracula learns that the group are plotting against him and feeds Mina his own blood to control her. In the final fight, humanity wins over the creature as they can kill him and Mina’s mind from his “spell.” The premise
The loyalty Mina presents to each character in the novel is uplifting. Due to the nature of their relationships, Mina’s loyalty is mostly shown to Jonathan and Lucy. When Jonathan Harker, Mina’s fiancée at the time, was being held prisoner at Castle Dracula, Mina remains a loyal fiancée to him, in hopes of his return. Upon discovering Jonathan had escaped Castle Dracula and was seeking shelter at a convent, Mina rushes to his side to support him through his mental
Also, when traveling to Transylvania, Van Helsing creates defenses for Mina Harker by forming a “Holy circle” consisting of the men in the novel, which he believes will “[ward] away Dracula’s [followers]” (Gray). Van Helsing is also described to rely heavily on Christian ritual when he places the “piece of Sacred Wafer” upon Mina Harker’s forehead, a method believed to protect her from Dracula’s attacks (Stoker
Mina is intellectually equal to the opposite sex, but physically and emotionally submissive. Mina is devoted to her husband Jonathan, she is the ideal woman Victorian woman. Once Mina has been bitten, her transformation slowly spreads, the thoughts that have been repressed for so long have surfaced. Dracula is represented as having an unquenchable thirst for blood and even power. Using his male dominance and superiority over women to fulfill his every desire, having little regard for the well-being of others.
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.
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.
Later, the men reluctantly allow her to be more involved with the pursuit of the Count because of her telepathic connection to him, but are reluctant to do so because they fear for her health. Because this novel was written during the Victorian era, there was a dramatic gender inequality between men and women, so for Mina to partake at all in their killing of the Count was unusual. Mina is capable and willing to help the men, but is only able to do so as an assistant by typing their diary entries. The gender roles of this time period play a role in who ultimately defeats Dracula, the group of men with Mina only as an onlooker. Although the male characters praise Mina for her help, she is not portrayed as a hero
Feminist Reading: Dracula between Beauvoir’s and Roth’s Ideas In her article, “Suddenly Sexual Women in Bram Stoker’s Dracula” Phyllis Roth argues that Dracula is a misogynistic novel which is obvious in the system of power in which men are dominant and active figures whereas women are just followers and obedient to their system. She draws on Simon de Beauvoir’s idea that “ambivalence as an intrinsic quality of Eternal Feminine”, in order to show that women are victims to men powers. In her chapter, “Myth and Reality”, Beauvoir discusses the way that anybody in the society, specially men, doesn’t do their job in taking a step towards the oppressed women, but to act just like what the system of myth impose them to act.
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
Within Dracula, Van Helsing discovers new material about vampires by witnessing them in the flesh. During one of these instances, Van Helsing says to Mina, “‘Will you not come over to the fire?’ for I wished to make a test of what she could. She rose obedient, but when she have made a step she stopped” (Stoker 325). Van Helsing is testing Mina through an experiment with a ring of holy wafer around her.
Word Count: 1188 5. Describe the appearances Dracula makes throughout the novel. What does Stoker achieve by keeping his title character in the shadows for so much of the novel? In Bram Stoker’s 1897
Dracula’s castle was just the beginning of what was to come. Jonathan 's meeting of the three female vampires it was a catalyst for what he believed was right and wrong. With the 3 women being polar opposites of what was expected from a 19th-century Victorian woman compared to the pure and proper Mina the 3 vampires are straight forward and dominant. Something that he had never experienced before and he can 't help that he is both attracted and repulsed by them. “ There was something about them that made me uneasy, some longing and at the same time some deadly fear.
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.
Go quick, dearest, the time is getting close.’” (Stoker, 265). Van Helsing believes that the count is scared since the group is coming in closed to his location. Van Helsing wants to hypnotize Mina to trace Dracula’s movements. Stated by Mark Perry in “Fear of the Unknown: How Can I Overcome It?”, “In some cases, the fear of the unknown would be based on specific factors that are beyond our control.