Stereotypes In Dracula

Bram Stoker’s Dracula and F.W. Murnau’s Nosferatu both challenge and endorse the norms of the societies that produced them. (paragraph 3 topic). The norms of xenophobia were challenged by Dracula as Count Dracula, the foreigner, was illustrated as attractive and alluring while Nosferatu endorsed the norms by Count Orlok, the foreigner, portraying a negative jewish stereotype. Dracula both endorses and challenges the gender stereotypes as Mina was the depiction of a typical Victorian woman but she was pivotal in the resolution of the story. Nosferatu more so endorses than challenges the gender stereotypes, as Ellen was the only female character but she was the key to Count Orlok’s defeat.

Dracula endorses and challenges the norms of gender

She was faithful to her husband, Jonathan Harker, independent and completed her housewife duties. This adhered to the typical stereotypes. Mina was the perfect representation of what was expected from women in the 1820s. The standards of women were very prescriptive and subservient whereas the standards for men were much more free and independent. Jonathan Harker represented the typical male stereotype, readers pictured him as bold and ambitious. He was seen as the hero of the novel. This acted in accordance with the quintessential fiction novel trope. However, Mina was pivotal in the discovery of Dracula’s real identity as well as finding his location, leading to his defeat. This challenges the female stereotype as women were underestimated and depicted as no real help. While Dracula’s depiction of women was quite positive, Nosferatu was not as much. Ellen, being the only female character in the film, was characterised as weak, frail, and always in need of a man’s help. When her husband, Thomas, went away, she was distraught. She could not survive without him, she needed to be looked after. Conveying that women cannot live or function without men. Whereas men were shown as the compelling and more collected gender. This supports the

Each piece of media has a foreigner who is on a mission to destroy a place of home. Nosferatu endorses xenophobia while Dracula challenges it. Count Dracula is the main antagonist in Dracula. He represented the foreigner in the story, the unknown. In the time that Dracula was released, the 1890s, it was believed that what was different was bad. Dracula challenged this ideology by characterising Count Dracula as attractive and machiavellian. He was covertly evil, he manipulated and lured his victims in so they were trapped. This contradicted the beliefs about foreigners, Stoker illustrated the foreigner as smart and cunning. Dracula, as a character, challenges xenophobia as he was seen as more of a predator than a monster but he created them which led to him being more romanticised. Nosferatu only endorses xenophobia as Count Orlok was the epitome of a negative jewish stereotype. He was depicted as scary and monstrous. This characterisation was prejudice against the jewish, it adhered to the idea of the unknown being a substandard thing. Count Orlok was overtly evil, his immorality was physically displayed. Nosferatu played into the idea that foreigners or the unknown were subordinate and dangerous. Comparably, Dracula challenges xenophobia while Nosferatu endorses it. Though both include a foreigner who represents the antagonist of the story, the way they are illustrated is different. Dracula’s portrayal of