Throughout the Victorian era, men were perceived to be strong, confident, intelligent, successful, independent, and dominant, while women were viewed as weak, nurturing, dainty, and reliant. Before the nineteenth century, the Traditional Woman, one who accedes to their husband’s every request and is useful for nothing other than cooking and raising children, was valued and encouraged by society. However, during the nineteenth century, the feminist ideal, the New Woman, emerged and empowered women to push the limits of these stereotypes. Encouraging equality, the New Woman supported independence, strength, and intelligence for women. Additionally, the New Woman challenged traditional marriage and promoted sexual openness for all women, despite their social role. Throughout the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker, the roles that both the New Woman and the Traditional Woman play demonstrate tension between values during a time of immense change through different aspects of Mina, Lucy, and the Lady Vampires.
Mina Harker, intelligent and independent and a school teacher who is married to Jonathan Harker, embodies many qualities of the progressive New Woman. Rather than depending solely on her husband to make money and be knowledgeable, Mina is largely dedicated to her education and is willing to devote herself to working hard to further advance her intelligence. By having her own job and earning her own money, Mina demonstrates that she is independent and does not need anyone to take care of her. For example, when Jonathan was gone for months, trapped as a prisoner in Dracula’s castle, Mina was independent and fully capable to function on her own. Additionally, on an intellectual level, Mina is unquestionably equal, if not superior, to her male counterparts. Mina demonstrates her desire to become equally intelligent to her husband when she says, “I have been working very hard lately, because I want to keep up with Jonathan's studies” (Stoker 61). Mina is capable of supporting herself and her husband in ways beyond her domestic role, challenging the gender role stereotypes of the nineteenth century.
Throughout the novel, Mina utilizes her intelligence and “is also largely responsible for the capture and ultimate destruction of Dracula” (Senf 34) . When Mina teams up with Van Helsing and the group of men to kill Dracula, the men all wanted to blindside Mina about their plans, as they were worried that she would help Dracula unconsciously. However, once Mina was forced to drink the blood of Dracula, she was joined with him telepathically, so she could help the men find and kill Dracula. Without the help of Mina, the men would have never been able to hunt down Dracula to end of all the misery he caused for the characters throughout the novel. Additionally, when Mina encounters Dracula, she remembers everything in its entirety, demonstrating her strength and intelligence (Demetrakopulous). Stoker giving such a strong, independent female such a prominent and crucial role in the novel reflects his respect for women and the values of the New Woman.
However, although Mina embodies many aspects of the New Woman, she also embodies some aspects of the Traditional Woman. As a married woman, Mina conforms to traditional views that wives should “attend to [their] husband” and take on the caring mother role (Stoker 234). Mina essentially takes on a motherly role, as she cares for all the men in the novel and ultimately ends up saving the day by helping them find Dracula and end all the misery he caused. When Jonathan Harker was away at Dracula’s castle, Mina was immensely worried about him and his safety. This demonstrates her loyalty and love for Jonathan, demonstrating her wifely desire to protect him and care for him. This loyalty and devotedness to Jonathan also demonstrate how Mina exemplifies the “perfect” Traditional Woman, who adheres to and takes care of her husband’s needs unconditionally. Additionally, Mina is opposed to the sexual openness that is encouraged by the New Woman. For example, Mina resists “Dracula and his three "proto-sisters" as they call to her in the night. She never succumbs to hysteria.” (Demetrakopoulos 110). Mina is not at all absorbed in her sexual role and does not demonstrate sexual openness; rather, Mina represents purity and exhibits the ideal Traditional Woman. Mina’s role as both a New and a Traditional woman is contradicted when Senf wrote “by negating her sexuality, having her adopt a more traditional feminine role, and by showing her decision to abide by the group's will instead of making an individual decision, [Stoker] also reveals that [Mina] is not a New Woman.” (Senf 48). Having Mina represent both the New and Traditional Woman demonstrates how Victorian society struggled with the differences between the characteristics of the two types of women and how the New and Traditional Woman are connected.
“A blonde, fragile, and porcelain creature,” Lucy also embodies many aspects of the reliant Traditional Woman (Demetrakopulous 106). At the beginning of the novel, three men were in love with Lucy; her entire focus was centered around her gorgeous appearance and choosing which man was the most practical for her to marry. Unlike Mina, Lucy does not demonstrate a high level of intelligence or independence throughout the novel. Her qualities imply that she does not obtain the same strength or independence as Mina; rather, she embodies many of the stereotypical traits of a fragile, dependent, and simple-minded woman, making her an easy target for Dracula. When she encounters Dracula, she is powerless and does not remember what happened. Weak and unintelligent, Lucy demonstrates the Traditional values of men being more dominant than women and allowing men to control every aspect of a woman's life.
Lucy demonstrates many aspects of both the New Woman and the Traditional Woman. At first, Lucy seems to portray the exact opposite of the criteria for the New Woman. However, Lucy’s sexuality ultimately opposes the ideals of the Traditional Woman, as the ideal Victorian Woman was expected to be chaste and pure. Before she was bitten by Dracula, Lucy followed the innocent sexual values of the Traditional Woman. However, once she was bitten by Dracula, she becomes extremely voluptuous and loses all sense of purity and chastity. Lucy’s aggressive vampire sexuality is demonstrated when Stoker writes, “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 scarlett lips and on the red tongue as it lapped the white sharp teeth” (Stoker 82). Lucy’s sexuality as a vampire greatly contradict the values of the Victorian Traditional Woman. She tries to seduce her fiancé, desiring physicality and pleasure, as opposed to only having sex to reproduce, strictly when the man commanded. Having Lucy oppose these traditional ideals demonstrates of she embodies the sexual openness of the New Woman.
Similar to Lucy, the Lady Vampires also demonstrate many aspects of the New Woman. First, the Lady Vampires completely reject motherhood. By feeding off of young children, they greatly oppose the ideal actions of a mother. Additionally, during the Victorian era, if women enjoyed sex, they were seen as disgusting and lower class. However, Stoker challenges this idea through the lady vampires who are “ladies through their dress and manner” (Stoker 80). In the novel, the Lady Vampires are not only sexual, but they also try to seduce Harker; this demonstrates how the Lady Vampires embody the sexual ideals of the New Woman. By creating the Lady Vampires, Stoker disapproves the Traditional idea that women need to be caring and loving mothers who only have sex to reproduce.
In the 1992 film of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Mina is portrayed as a strong and independent woman who aligns with the ideals of the New Woman. At the beginning of the film, Mina talks about how when Jonathan Harker is away at Dracula’s castle, he does not want Mina to stay with Lucy, as he is worried that she will get used to her lavish and wealthy lifestyle and dread going back to her own lifestyle on their low salaries. However, Mina stays with Lucy anyways, as she explains that Lucy has been one of her closest friends since childhood and that she has never minded that she is only a school mistress. Mina blatantly going against her husband’s requests demonstrates her independence and how she does not need a man to tell her what she can and can not do.
Additionally, throughout the film, Mina is very sexual with Dracula. Unlike the novel where she is fully committed to Jonathan Harker, Mina has a love affair with Dracula and develops feelings for him. She acts on these feelings and is sexual with Dracula even though she is married to Jonathan Harker. Mina’s sexuality throughout the film aligns with the ideals of the New Woman and demonstrates sexual openness that Mina does not possess in the novel.
Finally, when Dracula dies in the film, it is because Mina stabs him and cuts off his head. Rather than the men being responsible for the death of Dracula, Mina is completely responsible for his death and shows that she is fully capable of killing him on her own. This demonstrates how Mina embodies the New Women because during the Victorian era, it would be unheard of for a woman to stab a man and cut off his head.
Throughout Dracula, both the novel and the film, the female characters all demonstrate how the ideals of the New and Traditional Woman oppose each other, but how women can obtain different aspects from each ideal. The strength and power of many of his female characters demonstrated his point of view on the tension that was caused during the time of change