Feminism in Dracula - Essay Example

Feminism in Dracula

Dracula is one of the top novels that was authored in the nineteenth century, which contains collection of letters, journals and other write-ups such as diaries. The entire story developed in the novels is a mystery as things that are narrated seem not to be possible in real life. The novel begins by concentrating on a journey made by Hacker to Count Dracula where everybody was afraid to visit. His visit meets a tense mood as people react in fear as they get to hear his destination. Harker arrives at a deserted destination where he is provided with comfortable accommodation suite, later finds he himself imprisoned in the castle. Three seductive female vampires are in place to keep him company and he discover that the people in the castle survive on human blood. Women are portrayed to be seductive a nature that raises feminism concerns. Three characters from the novel can be used to analyze the feminism portrayed in the composition. Lucy Westenra, Mina Harker as well as the three brides have been given different characters that exhibit different perspectives about feminism. From caring wives to seductive women and from weak ladies to strong ladies are some of the pictures brought out. This article will delve into the topic of feminism as portrayed in Bram Stocker’s novel, ‘The Dracula.’

The theory of feminism

According to Zerilli (296), the topic of feminism has been one of the most controversial topics for many years. Two genders exist, but pone seems to be at a lower level than the other is which implies that the extent of the vulnerability of the weaker gender is great. The female gender is considered weak while the male gender is considered strong. The notion of gender superiority and inferiority seems to apply in almost all aspect of community and cultural dimensions (Moore). The gender difference is evident when it comes to control of resources, access to resources and vulnerability in cases of social cultural or environmental challenges. For instance, in cases of poverty, women tend to be subjected to more harsh conditions than men are. Another sensitive topic in the area of feminism is the aspect of control. Men seem to have the power to control women and even force them into committing socially shunned behaviors.

Feminism is a term that emerged to stir up women’s mentality to advocate for their rights in across some fields that include socio-political and economic sectors (Mills and Mullany). The main goal of the feminism push is to create equity and equality between men and women. Feminism theory attempts to develop an understanding of the whole issue of inequalities between the two genders. The sources of inequality date back to history and have been inherent from one generation to another. It can be established that inequality in the past was coated by culturally biased laws, which gave women no chance to see the light of their rights. The female in the recent and modern generation have staged a psychological orientation that generates determination to equate them to men (Weed). This move implies that something has been wrong for many years and those areas of intervention are easily identified yet so challenging to intercept. The theory of feminism has been expanded to include two discourses, the theoretical and the philosophical. These two areas are used to generate an understanding of the nature of inequality in the society. Some of the specific areas that the feminism theory concentrates on are the roles of women as compared to men, social responsibilities, gender-based interests, politics, economics, and authority. Some authors in novels have used a creative way to express the position of women in the society, and this can be a good area to analyze the gap between the two genders in the society.

Feminism in the Dracula

In Bram’s novel, the female gender has been portrayed as that which faces challenges in coping with the new social trends in the society. Despite the fact that both men and women face challenges in coping with the new order, the Dracula concentrates on the plight of women in the Victorian society. The feminism brought out in the Dracula has attracted interest from various scholars as the novel leaves a divided opinion on the subject. Scholars have been unable to establish clearly if the novel advocates for the empowerment of the female gender or inciting subjection of women to exist pressure in the society. There have been occasions where the position of women in the novel has been vindicated and portrayed in a negative manner especially the case of the three sisters. Some women have been perceived as hypersexual and manipulative using their sexual charms. Promiscuity of women evident in the novel diminishes the position of a woman in the society, especially when attempting to draw a comparison or equity extrapolations to men. Women have also been perceived to be sexually weak and easy to fall into the trap of men who end up puppets the decisions women make. While other women like Mina may truly be working hard in a natural way, men view such acts as a female strategy to attract men. It would be important to break down the different perspectives of feminism brought out in the Dracula.

Mina

The Dracula has portrayed Mina as one of the women in the Victorian society considered strong in some ways. Her strength and determination is able to draw a lot of attention from men in the initial stages of the novel. However, men later misinterpret her intentions to appear as a hardworking lady, and this proves the overall position of the woman in the society. While hard work must be acknowledged and respected, men change the course of such respect and link it to the weaker part of a woman. Mina is used to representing the weakness of women to work so hard to appeal the men around them. While such events may be evident in the modern society, women use clothes to enhance attractiveness. According to Stocker (29), Mina is referred to as the new woman, which is meant to describe her behavior. When Lucy and her friend converse, they criticize, the social position of Mina and relate their character to what men deserve (Stocker 98). The views of three parties vary as far as feminism is concerned. Mina believes she is powerful while other women in the society believe that Mina lacks the sexual urge they posses. In many cases of feminism, women have been identified to be an enemy to other women and tend to side with men on sensitive feministic issues. That is the same case presented concerning Mina’s case.

The main intention of the novel was to portray a new woman in a completely different way but at the same time indicate how the society might view the concept of a new woman (Stocker 28). A new woman was meant to have a strong character of independence from men control. However, the later stages of the novel add another twist to the description of a new woman to include open expression of indulging in sexual activities (Stocker 99). The later stages of the novel also attribute the new woman as verbally aggressive and capable of using insulting words against other people. Mina is seen to have significantly drifted from the traditional norms, which describe how women should conduct themselves.

The Dracula was seen as something that was evil because it had traits of a vampire. When the author eventually links the strong new woman to the deceptions of the vampires, Stoker indicates women will always be vulnerable regardless of the state of social class they establish in comparison to other women. Mina gets involved with the Dracula and begins the transformation to a vampire although the transformation is not complete. She resembles a real vampire as she continues to draw close links with the Dracula, which implies that her levels of independence, as well as power, are relative (Stocker 62). As much as Minas desire to serve her husband as a real woman is strong, her weakness as a woman is identified as a major setback. She never stops to relate to the aspect of sexuality and some traces of promiscuity.

The two-sided phase of Mina is evident when she struggles to fulfill the needs of her husband and at the same time live as a vampire. Here strength and weakness seem to be wrestling at the same time. She uses the influence of the Dracula to fulfill the needs of her husband as a Victorian woman without realizing her gradual transformation into a Vampire. Feminist would not like to draw comparisons between the hypothetical strong women with that character depicted by Mina. Feminist describe a strong woman like that who can stand the existing challenges in the society and remain strong against intimidation from the men. Strong women have the resilience to vulnerability due to socio-economic, political and cultural forces.

Lucy

The Dracula has been used to exhibit a real woman in Lucy who adheres to all cultural values of the Victorian people. However, the book also presents how her sexual reveals her weakness in the society as far as feminism is concerned. Just like in Mina’s case, Lucy is portrayed to have some weaknesses that a typical woman in the Victorian state faces. Her position I soften placed under scrutiny and criticism as compared to that of men. She is one of the ladies that falls for the charms of the Dracula and turns to be a vampire in the end. Even on her deathbed, she attempts to suck blood from her boyfriend before he is narrowly saved by a friend present in the same room.

Lucy is viewed as a woman whose sexual desire can only be satisfied when she turns into her evil home. Her vampire form is considered as an evil part of a woman that should be hidden from the public or from the people she loved. Lucy’s letters to Mina are very useful in analyzing her character and weakness as a woman (Stocker 63). In her letters, Lucy openly describes her encounters with men, which indicate her promiscuity. Lucy has been depicted to have many suitors, which diminish her respect as a woman seeking a reputation of ‘equity’ within the society. A woman who has many suitors presents her weakness before men, which makes her a weaker person in gender comparisons.

The author also depicts a woman as an attractive person who can be subjected to several love proposals from men. In such a situation, Lucy seems to find a great challenge in deciding which of the proposals makes her happy. She later accepted the proposal from Holmwood and the discussion from men; it is evident that women are seen sexual objects. According to Stocker (67), Lucy seems to be ready to make love with all her three suitors. This implies that her sexual position in the society is considered as a mere object and not a real person who deserves respect. It is also evident that men are the ones to make a step to propose to men and not vice-versa.

Lucy has been depicted as a lady with the material desire that can fulfill her current needs without necessarily sustaining her future needs. Her position vividly explains her encounter with the dragon that eventually turned her into a dragon. The dragon took advantage of her situation and drained a lot of blood from Lucy despite the numerous attempts to transfuse blood. Her beauty can attract all the three men to donate blood. The outcome was in line with the initial desire of Lucy to get involved with all the three men (Stocker 159). The transfusion can cause confusion in Lucy’s sexual desires, which explains her increased desire to the three men. In this context, women are seen as characters that are willing to pay back the offers men provide. It is also evident that women are more than willing to pay back by sexually satisfying men.

The three brides of Dracula

The three ladies have been presented to be some of the most dominant sexual objects in the novel (Stocker 46). According to the three brides, the word love does not exist, and their role is only to fulfill the sexual desires of the Dracula. Their presence confirms that women sexual position can be controlled by man even if the ladies stand to gain nothing from the relationship. The three brides depict how men take advantage of the women in the society and exploit them without minding their social welfare. It is also evident that women are capable of using their sexual charms to please men whenever they want. It is a position that the feminists would strongly object since women must be more than just sexual objects. Feminist advocate for women to have the same position as men and not as seen in the case where the Dracula manipulates the three brides.

Sensitive topics about feminism are evident when the character of the three brides who serve the Dracula. Apart from the ladies questionable sexual desires, their nature to feed on blood is also questionable. It is evident that all these manipulations are orchestrated by the Dracula. The women are completely obsessed and are ready to use their beauty to evoke sexual desires from any man. They present the contrast to the definition of a real Victorian lady.

Conclusion

The question of feminism is capable of evoking serious debates from various activists within the society. The Dracula has attempted to create a link between the concept of women disadvantaged position in the society and the cause. It is clearly established that in the three discussed cases, women are entirely responsible for their position in the society. In all the three cases, it is evident that women have an opportunity and freedom to make their own decision but choose to do the unreasonable as a means to please men. It has also been established that men take advantage of such weakness and exploit the women sexually. As far as feminism and the various activists’ campaign may fight for equity, it is advisable to encourage women to embrace their dignity and confidence as they face a wide number of social issues. Women have been depicted to be generally vulnerable the social forces that exist such as love, marriage, and sexual desires. As far as gender, roles change when Mina feels capable of proposing marriage to men, her lower position in the society remains unchanged due to her inability to withstand pressure. It is clear the any call for change by feminists needs to address the capability of women and not merely their position in the society. Women have been portrayed to have all it takes to make their own decisions and be independent without having to drift so much from the cultural norms.