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Open Sexuality In Dracula

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It is not just women in Victorian society who suffered due to complicated sexuality; Johnathan Harker was a victim of the open sexuality displayed by the vampire women. In his journal he writes “The girl went on her knee and bent over me, simply gloating. There was a deliberate voluptuousness which was both thrilling and repulsive, and as she arched her neck, she actually licked her lips like an animal.” When he says “Bent over me” it makes the girl seem of a higher status than him. In these times, women were always thought to be inferior to men, which transgresses the boundaries of Victorian societal norms. The fact that Johnathan must close his eyes demonstrates his inability, and evident struggle, to cope with open sexuality as it wasn 't …show more content…

Count Dracula is cunning, charming and above all a demon; he is the definition of the succubus. As Johnathan J Samson says, “Vampires are not meant to exist as heroes. Go back a few hundred years and men believed truly that the vampire was a real immortal, cursed to quench his undying thirst with a living mortal’s blood.” This could mean that people in this era were afraid of Dracula as Victorians didn’t like the idea that there could be anything that posed a threat to humans. “With his left hand he held both Mrs. Harker 's hands, keeping them away with her arms at full tension; his right hand gripped her by the back of the neck, forcing her face down on his bosom. “The use of the word "forcing" makes the reader consider it to be rape and the posture of both Mina and Dracula portray the power he has over women. This is also demonstrated when he restrains her using only his left hand. The novel reflects to the amount of power men had over women in the Victorian period, for example a woman couldn’t own property and couldn’t work in this era. Which forced the woman to stay with the man however he behaved. Similarly in ‘The Bloody Chamber’ the Marquis is described as “big, strong and catlike, but also gentle and romantic.” This could this could refer to the concept of 'Toxic Masculinity ', which is the idea that men can 't show emotion in fear of being mocked and emasculated by society. The female in ‘The Bloody Chamber’ is unable to leave due to the Marquis’ home being remote and her financial dependency on him ‘The Bloody Chamber’ is based on the legend of Bluebeard and Carter keeps this plot, having the Marquis kill his wives and store their corpses in a secret chamber. Like Bluebeard, the Marquis tempts each new wife to explore the forbidden chamber and then kills her once she has discovered his secret. This is indicative of Sadism, a term derived from the Marquis de Sade to describe gaining pleasure in giving pain. The Marquis is considered a sadist because of

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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).

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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.

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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.

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