Essay: Explore the Feminist Themes and Power Dynamics of “Dracula” in Liz Lochhead’s Adaptation

“Dracula” is a chilling, disturbing, and frighteningly relevant play written by Liz Lochhead and adapted from the legendary Victorian horror novel of the same name by Bram Stoker. Lochhead takes an original approach by placing a greater focus on the female characters of Lucy and Mina Westerman. By doing this, Lochhead explores complex, feminist themes pertaining to the power dynamics of Victorian society, the ways in which females were conditioned to behave, and the sexual hypocrisy of the time. One scene in the play in particular which influences the course of future events is Act 2, Scene 4, in which Van Helsing prepares Lucy for the night to come and gives her items to protect her from Dracula.
To begin to understand how this scene is important in influencing the course of future events, we must first look at how the character of Lucy is presented in the early stages of the play. The play opens with Lucy out in the garden of her family home with her older sister, Mina. From the beginning, Lochhead suggests that the female characters will be afforded a higher priority than they are traditionally given by developing the relationship of the two women. Lucy asks her sister to help her squeeze into her “stays”. The actions of the characters in the opening scene are very symbolic here, representing how women are quite literally being moulded by patriarchal society into developing a figure that represents men’s ideals. Importantly, a “stay”, or corset, highlights stereotypical features traditionally desired by heterosexual males, i.e. thin waists and accentuated breasts. Interestingly, and perhaps most importantly, the fact that it is Mina who helps her sister into the corset and Lucy asks her to do this (declaring she shall have the “thinnest thinnest waist” – is symbolic of the manner in which female characters have been conditioned to behave by Victorian society, to be under both the physical and psychological control of men. Lochhead does this to foreshadow the way Lucy will be treated by Van Helsing. Therefore, Lochhead begins to set up the conditions that enable Act 2, Scene 4 to be so influential on future events in the play.
Another way in which Lochhead prepares us for the scene is through exploring how women are controlled and patronised by men. It becomes very clear that Lochhead is creating a parallel between the female characters in the domestic scenes and the goings on in the asylum of Bedlam. Lochhead does this to explore the way that Victorians treated overtly sexual behaviour or other excessive displays of emotion (hysteria) as signs of female mental illness. This is made most evident in the composite scene – a moment in the play where narrative strands (the domestic lives of upper class women, the experiences of the lunatics in Bedlam, and Jonathan’s stay in Castle Dracula) come together in a clearly symbolic manner. As the lunatic Renfield is forced into his straitjacket, Mina is wrapped in her wedding dress by Florrie and Lucy. An obvious parallel is being drawn as both characters have others putting them into their respective items of clothing, representing how they are being repressed. In addition, by having the actions take place simultaneously on stage, Lochhead is making it very evident that she is attempting to establish a link between Renfield and Mina in how they are both disregarded by the male characters of the play. Lochhead also elaborates upon this comparison in how she portrays the oppressors of women and lunatics. When the doctor Seward is interrupted maltreating his patient Renfield, stage directions describe the scene: “SEWARD desists. RENFIELD, a sobbing heap on the floor. SEWARD looking at his hands. The horror”. Here we see the doctor/colonizer confronts his own savagery and the text cues Joseph Conrad’s ‘Heart of Darkness’. By framing the Seward/Renfield relationship in particular in terms of famous literary relationships of masculine colonial arrogance confronted and destroyed, Lochhead’s play emphasizes Seward’s ruling-class, male arrogance and how it mirrors Lucy’s eventual demise at the ultimate hands of male superiority. Indeed, Renfield is described as a “sobbing heap on the floor”, echoing the way in which the women are treated like children throwing tantrums. Hence, Lochhead fully establishes the circumstances that Lucy finds herself in during Act 2, Scene 4, which play an instrumental role in influencing future events in the play.
Lochhead allows these elements to culminate in the events of Act 2, Scene 4, in which all the aforementioned themes of male dominated society and female repression come to a head. Lochhead sets out to highlight the dangers of denying knowledge from women and treating them like children. In a dialogue with Van Helsing Lucy tells him: “Arthur thinks I am just a silly little girl, it’s all in my head, I make things up.” Again, her resentment at being ignored and patronised is all too clear. However, Van Helsing’s reaction is unfortunate: “Miss Lucy, young lady, you and I, we know there are more things in heaven and earth than there are dreamed of in his psychology…But now, miss, I want to give you another present to dangle from that so-pretty black velvet band. Will you wear it for me?” Lochhead again makes a literary reference, creating a playful pun on the famous line from Shakespeare when Hamlet says: “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” Although Van Helsing acknowledges that Lucy has learned something about Dracula that separates her from the others, his tone and attitude towards her remains incredibly patronising. Just by using the line from Shakespeare, there is an element of superiority in his words, as if he cannot help showing off his own cleverness and knowledge of literature. In addition, he continues to talk to her as if she is a child, despite her gaining knowledge that is potentially useful, seen through words like “so-pretty”. It is this approach that ultimately leads to disaster. Lucy does not totally understand what is happening to her until it is far too late and, if Van Helsing had treated her more like an adult and rational creature, she might have been better prepared to resist Dracula’s advances. When he drapes garlic round her neck, he says “And here are pretty flowers, yes? Sweets for the sweet.” His tone remains patronising and it is almost like a father tucking his daughter into bed for the night. He continually makes references to her beauty and talks to her like a child, which symbolises the two main attitudes men held in the way that they spoke to women during the period: “protecting” them from any unpleasant realities in the world and holding the attitude that females are clearly more ornamental than practical. Consequently, Lochhead ensures it is no accident that the male protectors fail in their duty to protect Lucy, primarily due to the way that they dismiss and patronise her, and this has an influence on the way that future events are shaped in the play.
Lochhead reveals the influence that Act 2, Scene 4 has had on the events of the play in the way that it shapes Mina’s behaviour and attitudes. In Act 2: Scene 12, as Dracula tries to persuade Mina to let him into her bedchamber, she is forceful and strong in her resistance: “You cannot come in, I do not invite you.” This reflects her determination to protect her innocence and conform to the idealised role of a virtuous wife, but her strength of character that is demonstrated in the way that she fights Dracula also leads to her reacting in a different way to Lucy after she has been seduced. She refuses to allow the men to play the role of protector and she insists on being given access to knowledge and playing an active part in destroying the vampire, contrary to the way in which Lucy acted and was treated as a passive ‘damsel in distress’. In the final confrontation, all that Mina has learned reaches an apex as she asserts herself and becomes a symbol of how powerful women can be if given access to knowledge and allowed to take responsibility for themselves and their own protection. Act 2, Scene 17 starts with Mina roaring, “Stand aside, you men!”Although the reaction of the male characters provides comic relief: “the amazed-looking Jonathan and Seward.” This new assertive Mina is clearly a radical change from the submissive previous incarnation. Importantly, she takes the initiative in luring Dracula to his doom and plays a pivotal role in defeating him rather than becoming a passive victim like Lucy. As a result, the audience learn along with Mina that denying women knowledge and treating women like children is not only an annoyance – it is dangerous as well. From this point onwards Mina takes control, asserts herself, and refuses to be sidelined in the battle against Dracula.
In conclusion, by the dénouement of Dracula, Liz Lochhead has masterfully reworked Stoker’s source material to breathe a new, feminist energy into the text. By doing this, Lochhead explores ideas relating to how women were denied knowledge and infantilised by men in power, and has these ideas culminate in the events of Act 2, Scene 4, where Van Helsing unwittingly seals Lucy’s fate and influences the events of the play. This ultimately contributes to our overall understanding of Lochhead’s desired message for “Dracula” and indeed enhances our appreciation for the play as a whole.