Written and set in the late nineteenth century, Bram Stoker’s epistolary novel Dracula is a pivotal book of horror literature. The role of a woman has been portrayed in various forms throughout literary history, Stoker presents the treatment of women through a strong, female sexual theme. Throughout the Victorian period, one of the predominant concerns was the role of women and their place in society. Stoker explores varying types of women in Dracula. The way the women characters are presented shows many similar views between the time the novel was written, and the Victorian era. Dracula includes various, often numerous or critical references to the ‘New Victorian Women’. The ‘New Women’ occurred in the nineteenth century were feminists assembled together and began campaigning for their equal rights. For example, access to higher education such as medicine which would have already been available for a men.
In Dracula, there are two main female characters Lucy Westenra and Mina Murray. Stoker depicts these women as overtly sexual objects, but are also seen as the embodiment of the ideal Victorian women. However, they are considered the opposite of one another. Lucy is viewed as an example of the ‘bad’ sexualised new women, due to her extreme sexual nature once transformed into a vampire, she loses her once sweet, innocent purity. Before Lucy’s transition into a blood thirsty vampire, Stoker portrays her as being treated as a young, respectable and virtuous women during the Victorian era. Her character is depicted as a beautiful, chaste female which makes her very significant and desirable to male companions, which is evident by the three men who all ask for her hand in marriage. Despite Lucy’s enticing features, she is still portrayed as a sweet, generous women ‘“Why can't they let a girl marry three men, or as many as want her, and save all this trouble? But this is heresy, and I must not say it.” (Stocker, 5, 11) Within this rhetorical question Lucy is demonstrating she is writing this letter to Mina through pain of being in the position of having to reject two worthy suitors, in order to put her own feelings first. From this we can gather Lucy is an unselfish, honest women of the Victorian era.
Although elegant and sublime, Stoker presents Lucy to be a submissive female therefore she is the slave in her relationship, and will only ever obey her dominant partner. This is evident when Lucy tries to seduce her fiancé calling in ‘soft voluptuous’ tones for Arthur to come closer and kiss her. As a women in the nineteenth century she knows she can do nothing more than to wait for her husband to make the first intimate move. However, after Dracula transforms Lucy into a hungry vampire, her sexuality becomes more blatant and so does her behaviour. This could be argued when Lucy demands Arthur to kiss her ‘Arthur! Oh, my love, I am so glad you have come! Kiss me!’ (Stocker, 12, 70) The repetitive use of the exclamatory sentences suggest how Lucy’s nature is demanding, her repressed sexuality has come to the surface. She is now ordering Arthur to kiss her, rather than Arthur asking her for a kiss which was how relationships in the nineteenth century functioned. Lucy is acting as though her only purpose in life is for the pleasure of men. The simple sentence ‘Kiss me!’ reinforces how her sweet purity has completely vanished. This type of revolting attitude with lack of good morals is what nineteenth century women and men would have been repulsed by, Lucy would have been considered as a whore for this behaviour in 1897.
Once converted into a vampire Lucy is portrayed by Stoker as a dangerous female, all of her innocence and beauty has turned into horror and disbelief. Steward’s diary entry describes Lucy’s transformation as ‘The sweetness was turned to… heartless, cruelty, and the purity to voluptuous wantonness’ (Stoker, 16, 231). The declarative mood within the sentence symbolises how Lucy has transformed from the sweet, sinless women she once was into a blood thirsty, sexual creature. The adjective ‘voluptuous’ suggests her aggressive sexual needs are now appearing to the surface, Stoker presents her as dangerous, sexual vampire. Towards the end of Dracula Stoker’s treatment of Lucy is the equivalent to non-existing, for Lucy has lost her beauty and charm everyone who previously loved her no longer cares, because she has turned into a dangerous, voluptuous predator. When Lucy dies, she dies because there is ultimately no place for such women in the new modern world. Her dependence on men is incompatible in an era where the working women’s education and professional skills, like Mina obtains, are required to successfully combat evil.
Mina however, is considered as the ‘good’ Victorian women, as she is educated with a career as a school mistress, who acquires numerous practical skills in order to assist her husband. She knows shorthand and typewriting, and all of her essential skills contribute to the usefulness of what is expected of the new women. Stoker presents Mina also like Lucy, as a highly respectable women, this is noted when Van Helsing applauses his thoughts about Mina’s worthy attitude;
She is one of God’s women, fashioned by his own hand to show us men and women that there is a heaven we can enter, and that’s its light can be here on earth. So true, so sweet so noble, so little an egoist. (Stoker, 14, 52)
Here Helsing describes Mina as what Victorians would consider, a perfect wife. The tripling of the nouns ‘God’ ‘heaven’ and ‘egoist’ reinforces how special Mina is, Helsing suggests that you will not find woman like her often. By comparing Mina to heaven emphasizes just how magnificent and divine she really is. Among the many qualities she possess she is loyal and faithful, Mina is the embodiment of the ideal Victorian woman. Mina serves as an example of the prevailing gender roles in the nineteenth century. This is evident when Mina continually helps and cares for her husband Jonathon ‘I must stop, for Jonathon is waking-I must attend to my husband!’ (Stocker, 9, 55) The aposiopesis and exclamatory sentence used highlights how she is lost for words, Mina has a moment of inability to continue to speak. This could be argued it is due to the fact she is worried for her husband needs, displaying she is a tender, maternal person who must nurture her husband.
Mina is shown to be content with her monogamous status in society and does not feel the need to use her feminine sensuality to prove anything. In fact, Mina's sexual desires, remain unknown throughout the novel. By presenting Mina in this way, Stoker provides a stark contrast between the sexuality of Lucy and Mina. Mina's perspective on the subject is left untold to illustrate that it shouldn't be a woman's concern to think about such things, and that all a Victorian woman's role entails is succumbing to a man's sexual needs and desires. However, she is never jealous or envious of her friend Lucy’s beauty or male attention, she rather admires her. Before Mina’s transition she makes a plague with the five men, that if she is turned into a vampire, her soul must be destroyed. This again demonstrates how Stoker reinforces Mina’s selfless nature, she would rather be killed then to be dammed and prey on other innocent victims. After Mina has been attacked by Dracula she becomes a tool for men, allowing the vampire hunters to utilize her for her telepathic connection to Dracula. However, unlike Lucy Mina never does become a full vampire and she survives Count Dracula’s attempt. It could be argued that Stoker allows Mina to survive because she was viewed as the ‘good’ Victorian women.
The other three female characters which appear vaguely throughout Dracula, are the vampires which live at Castle Dracula. Stoker represents the treatment of these three women as just living sexual objects and nothing else, they have no other purpose than just pleasing a male companion. The three mistress vampires presents the opposite qualities of how women in the nineteenth century should act, which was a respectable, faithful and loving wife not voluptuous and sexually aggressive. Each female would have been seen as a whore, someone of no consequence to society. When Jonathon is first introduced to these women vampires, he feared them more than Count Dracula, upon meeting the female vampires Harker remarks
‘All three had brilliant white teeth that shone like pearls against the ruby of their voluptuous lips. There was something about them that made me uneasy, some longing and at the same time some deadly fear. I felt in my heart a wicked, burning desire that they would kiss me with those red lips." (Stoker, 3, 57)
Stoker creates the image of beauty verses monstrosity, with the use of the simile ‘white teeth that shone like pearls’ the idea that these women appear beautiful and angelic from the outside is the opposite of what they truly are. However, it could be argued that Jonathon is still allured to these predators as they slowly start to seduce him, but the fear he obtains of them is still stronger. The adjective ‘deadly’ reinforces the true nature of these women, as Stoker presents the treatment of these females as monsters of perverse, horrifying and unnatural as they neglect to acknowledge of what traditional Victorian women expect. This is demonstrated when Stocker depicts the woman as the sexual aggressors, the mistress is kissing Jonathon and the reverse of roles are presented;
The fair girl went on her knees, and bent over me, fairly 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, till I could see in the moonlight the moisture shining on the scarlet lips and on the red tongue as it lapped the white sharp teeth. (Stocker, 3, 32)
Here Stoker describes the vampire’s kiss in very sexual terms, the repetition of the adjective ‘voluptuousness’ throughout Dracula reinforces the sexual nature of every woman’s needs in the novel. The metaphorical use of the colour red ‘scarlet lips and on the red tongue’ suggests the sexual desire these women encounter, the traditional power dynamic is reversed the woman now has the dominant role of the sexual aggressor, and Jonathon is the passive one. Stoker’s treatment of the female vampires demonstrates them using their sexuality as a weapon in this way, disarming their male prey.
Overall, it could be argued that Stoker’s treatment of women throughout Dracula is essentially presented through both a strong sexual theme, and the idea of the ‘New Women’. All of the female characters at some point are presented through their sexual nature. Lucy and Mina are both considered examples of the ‘good’ women at different points throughout the novel. However Stoker presents Lucy as a dark, evil and dangerous predator after her transition into a vampire, and loses all her beauty and innocence. As a result she is killed by her lover Arthur, who plunges a stake through her heart. Mina, is only ever depicted as the ideal Victorian wife, through her dedication to her husband’s work is kept informed about the dangers of Dracula. Despite being bitten and attacked by Dracula never transforms into a vampire, and is therefore ultimately saved therefore does not die. Stoker portrays the three bride vampires as just monsters of perverse, each female would be viewed as a whore, someone of no consequence to society.