ipl-logo

Wilhemina In Bram Stoker's Dracula

442 Words2 Pages

Wilhemina (Mina) Harker (neé) Murray is a central character in Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula. Mina is initially mentioned in the first chapter of the novel when protagonist Jonathan Harker notes that he needs to ask for a chicken recipe to give to her, since the two will be married soon. Jonathan mentions Mina several other times in the opening chapters of the novel, during his time of imprisonment at Count Dracula’s castle. Mina assumes a narrator role in Chapter 5, beginning with a letter to Miss Lucy Westenra, which is the first time that readers learn more about Mina than simply her name and her relationship with Jonathan. In her letter to her dear friend Lucy, she reveals that she is an assistant schoolmistress and is learning to write in shorthand in order to keep notes for her future husband, Jonathan in his work. …show more content…

She is a gentle, caring person, while he is a vicious, bloodthirsty man/vampire. When she begins to exhibit vampiric symptoms herself, she uses her ailment in order to help the men (Jonathan Harker, Professor Van Helsing, Arthur Holmwood, Quincey Morris, and Dr. Seward) track and ultimately kill Count Dracula. When Dracula’s grip on her is the weakest, she understands that she can use information from hypnosis in order to calculate Dracula’s whereabouts. However, when Dracula’s power over her is the strongest, she does not possess her normal personality, and is ineffective in aiding in the hunt. Her motives for wanting so strongly to kill Dracula could be interpreted as both selfish and selfless. Obviously, she desired to kill Dracula in order to free herself from his power over her. However, given Mina’s generally selfless nature, she likely also desired to kill Dracula so he would not be able to prey upon anyone else. Dracula also indirectly murdered her dear friend, Lucy Westenra, which could be a likely source of a strong desire to kill

Show More
Related

Theme Of Deception In Bram Stoker's Dracula

778 Words | 4 Pages

Dracula’s deceitful traits carry over to his victims that become

Read More

Theme Of Corruption In Bram Stoker's Dracula

1161 Words | 5 Pages

Everybody knows the classic tale of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. It is most famous for its introduction of the character of Count Dracula into both deep-rooted and contemporary literature and media. One critic claimed,” Bram Stoker set the ground rules for what a vampire should be.” It follows the story of Jonathan Harker, an English solicitor who visits Count Dracula in his castle in Transylvania – soon realising that he is being kept as a prisoner. Dracula forms a liking to the character of Lucy which ultimately leads to her death.

Read More

Analysis Of Mina Murray Harker In Dracula By Bram Stoker

1008 Words | 5 Pages

Mina Murray Harker is a woman to inspire many. Bram Stoker, author of the classic gothic horror novel Dracula, intentionally creates the character of Mina Murray Harker to do just that - inspire women. Throughout Dracula, Mina goes through a multitude of ups and downs, like any character in a book. However, Mina is not like any other book character.

Read More

Good Vs. Evil In Dracula

889 Words | 4 Pages

Dracula traps Jonathan Harker in his castle, but he finally escapes without the Count killing him. Dracula then sucks Lucys blood and turns her into a vampire. At this point everyone is against the bloodsucker. Since Lucy died, well turned into a vampire. Lucys friends have to stab her in the heart and cut off her head.

Read More

Renfield In Bram Stoker's Dracula

1367 Words | 6 Pages

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

Read More

Summary Of Homosexuality In Bram Stoker's Dracula

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

Lucy Westenra In Dracula

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

Women In Dracula Essay

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

Desire In Bram Stoker's Dracula

1160 Words | 5 Pages

Bram Stoker’s Dracula, is a classic that has been enjoyed by readers for many years. It is one that involves fantasy, gore and even has the potential of scaring readers. It is a story that has been enjoyed and feared by readers for centuries. With that said, even though it is commonly known as a classic horror novel, it can also be seen as an erotica. Throughout the novel, Stoker incorporates sexual scenes, and scenes of desire that may or may not capture readers’ attention due to the presence of horror.

Read More

Gender Roles In Bram Stoker's Dracula

1350 Words | 6 Pages

The fact that there were some role reversals in the novel, especially among the female characters, made most characters all the more dynamic. All the same, the novel was very obviously influenced by gender roles and when Stoker was writing Dracula there was an obvious dividing line between male and female characters that he would not cross. Stoker’s preoccupation with female sexuality in Dracula “is attested to by the fact that [gender roles] actually come to dominate the story, with the vampire hunters mainly concerned not with Dracula himself but with his effect on their beloved companions” (Dixon) While Mina, who represented the ideal Victorian woman, acted as a support system and assistant to the heroic group of men. While things have changed significantly for men and women alike in the modern age, Dracula will likely remain in place as one of the most famous and telling critiques of Victorian gender

Read More

Science And The Supernatural In Bram Stoker's Dracula

823 Words | 4 Pages

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.

Read More

The Importance Of Dracula In Stoker's Dracula

1253 Words | 6 Pages

This can even allow the reader to possibly ‘fill in the blanks’ about the unknown character with her own fears, adding to the horror of the novel. Count Dracula’s first appearance takes place in his castle in the Carpathian Mountains of Transylvania when Jonathan Harker arrives to discuss a real estate transaction. When Harker arrives at the castle, he first hears Dracula approaching in an ominous manner before he actually sees the Count. “I heard a heavy step approaching behind the great door, and saw through the chinks the gleam of a coming light,” Stoker writes, “then there was the sound of rattling chains and the clanking of massive bolts drawn back. A key was turned with the loud grating noise of long disuse, and the great door swung back”.

Read More

Dracula Movie And Book Comparison

1495 Words | 6 Pages

So when Dracula went into his coffin the doctor, Jonathan, and Jonathan’s father found Dracula and killed him with a stake and then saved Mina. This was similar to the way that Dracula was killed in the

Read More

Theme Of Evil In Dracula

711 Words | 3 Pages

The presentation of Good vs. Evil is one of the main themes in the novel, Dracula. The portrayal of good and evil is seen in each character throughout the book. The characters considered “evil” in the novel are Dracula and his vampire brides. Dracula converts humans into vampires and has immense power over certain individuals. Everything he does demonstrates that there is no good in him at all.

Read More

Fear In Dracula

811 Words | 4 Pages

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.

Read More

More about Wilhemina In Bram Stoker's Dracula

Related Topics

Open Document