Women’s Roles And Feminist Critique In Dracula

The portrayal of women in Dracula

Gender involves the state of being male or female that often defines one’s sexual identity.

Women roles in the novel. ‘Dracula” comprise of key complicated themes. The most prominent one receiving various critics over the years is the core and derogatory portrayal of women. Various critics and immense feminist movement and women traditional roles are depicted. Various stereotypical issues regarding gender roles have been largely discussed (Azzarello, Robert, 165).

Women were only supposed to be the angles of the whole household. Their anticipation was far off from doing any specific work rather than keeping the house clean, entertainment of the children and visiting guests. They were also not supposed to offer their opening regarding the subject matter. This is clearly depicted by the roles of Mina and Lucy in the Dracula.

Stoker largely accepted this particular role of women and was reluctant to change the idea of women alternating their responsibilities (Shoemaker,56). They were beginning to make their own decisions and also starting to acquire jobs, power and represent authority positions in society. Dracula comprises of a very sexist novel and very conservative regarding these women beliefs. They view Lucy to have low inner strength making her a perfect character that fits the women angle stereotype efficiently (Chez, 67). Mina, however, represents a woman who has independent roles, are smart and entirely resource in their societal duties

Given to family, better than average and home-cherishing – this is the manner by which the normal Victorian ladies are typically portrayed. The lady is committed to and underpins her significant other continually, making progress toward similar goals, yielding herself day by day (Domínguez-Rué, 297). Emma Honesty, respect, immaculateness and purity are her temperance’s. In the Victorian time marriage was presumably the most noteworthy angle in a lady’s life. For some ladies, it was only a state of survival. Society disliked ladies making their very own living, or supporting themselves, they inevitably relied upon men’s salary: “Banished by law and custom from entering exchanges and callings by which they could bolster themselves, and confined in the ownership of property, ladies had just a single methods for business, that of marriage.”

In addition, ladies in the talk of the Victorian period must be virgins and free from musings of sexuality and love, to be in any event considered as a potential spouse. Be that as it may, this prerequisite of outright virtue was not substantial for men, who had the opportunity and could take an interest in pre-marriage sexual connections (Fleissner, 89). After marriage rights, property and in reality even the character of ladies was under the aggregate control of their spouses. Conjugal assault and beatings were lawful. Any cash or property brought into the marriage by the spouse had a place with husband, as did the kids. It’s not astonishing that numerous ladies thought about marriage as a sort of subjection.

As a general rule ladies assumed a vital role as wives, thinking about they dealt with the family unit, as well as assisted with their significant other’s work, and now and then were responsible for dealing with the accounts .Be that as it may, they were seen by men not more than like “excessively passionate and careless animals managed by their sexuality, or essentially the sex”. Motherhood additionally wasn’t generally regarded. “Moms were esteemed socially just in the event that they were ‘great’ moms, great as per unbending good benchmarks of respectability in conduct as well as in supposition (Bove &Tanuja, 72). Mina Hacker’s role in the novel is significantly more essential. She likewise ends up one of Dracula’s exploited people in a genuinely ghastly scene in which he compels her to benefit from an injury all alone chest.

Gender roles in Victorian society

Women’s activist feedback on Dracula has additionally appeared as noticing the portrayals of male sexuality in the novel and how they affect the job of ladies. Maybe most fascinating is grant on the Consider a sexual being who benefits from ladies yet appears to have a homo-social (a term authored by women’s activist researcher Eve Sedgwick) association with Jonathan Hacker.

These articles on sexuality in Dracula challenge readings of the connections and exhibit that the job of ladies in the novel is, at any rate, muddled (Messerschmidt & Stephen, 81).

According to the book the Dracula, important feminist roles examines and evaluates Mina as the new upcoming representation of a completely new model of feminist. Her skills that revolve around utilization writing shorthand and usage of a typewriter in the advanced technology makes her to have an integral or key role in the member as a hunter and also a very productive character in the state’s economic progress. According to various critics, women roles are not necessarily deemed to comprise of laboring class. However, they were only limited to the domestic triangle responsibilities thus cared only for the household chores. Lucy is seen to represent this kind.

Conversely, Mina’s roles and responsibilities as a worker in the existing Dracula challenges this vital role and shows that women were starting to play diverse roles and getting into their male counterparts spheres outside the household stuff (Pikula, 283). This perspective, however, acquires various criticism. The women experiences include anti-feminist, anti-capitalist various infections and sexual conventions. In addition, the novel also articulates on the important characters who are groundbreaking and intelligent. There are also independent and embrace more on the issue of life. The novel is vital for the support of women with different societies.

Lucy is entirely described as someone who is driven by sexual openness and flirtatious. She is tempting in nature and that’s why men have attention on her. The issue is how men get attracted to women within society (Senf, 123). This analogy proves how women tend to equalize themselves in those societies which believe that men are superior. On contrary, Mina tends to negate from what men commonly do. He chose to be monogamous and that’s why he does not need to use the feminine sensuality to prove. He remains dormant throughout the content and this proves that only women who are more concerned about sex. Therefore the author indicates the role women play in succumbing man’s sexual needs and desires.

Lucy’s character seems to be unique. The way she handles issues it includes the way women think and act in different situations. Lucy can’t leave out her sexual appetite in the public but she prefers it in private through sleepwalking (Senf, 323). Through sleepwalking Lucy is illustrated as unconscious and therefore she is able to express her thought and longings freely. The Dracula expresses Lucy as a vampire especially when she is in sexual desires. Lucy expresses how women impacts on feminism roles. Conversely, Mina is used as the character who is not sexual neediness like Lucy. She prefers being a maternal figure a fact that she believes would be more beneficial to those who need it. She allows characters such as Arthur to cry on her shoulders so as to ensure that they feel the comfort of a mother.

Feminist criticism of Dracula

Lucy on other hand portrays those women who careless .This is a negative virtue which tends to negate from the morals expected within the society. Lucy does not take much interest in qualities of women and that’s why she mistreats children in the novel. The child gave a sharp cry in the story and scrolled down moaning. This virtue indicates that her craving is more crucial than the maternal qualities of protecting and caring for children. The author shoes that she would rather feed on the child but fails to feed the child. This is the aspect of uncaring within society. The incidence has a lot of interpretations depending on different perspective.

Also, women have been illustrated as threats to society and people who gain power from the men in the society. Lucy is attacked and killed for a reason .The Victorian society wanted to see her destroyed because her beauty brought chaos all over. The writer uses the character of Lucy to acknowledge on the number of women’s in the society who usually uses their beauty to have power over the men (Westbrook & Kristen, 81).This type of women tends to last for short time. The author also goes on and warns this category of women saying that women of this type will be out-casted and socially demeaned. The punishment has been illustrated by the death of Lucy. Lastly, Mina’s character shows those socially behaved women in society. She uses all that she can to survive in a society full of men .The author describes her features as the woman who is trained like a man in a society.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the author uses both Mina and Lucy who marks a key strategy of realizing the roles of women in society (Swartz-Levine, 45). Victorian beliefs about the gender roles have been clearly discussed and that’s why women are today embracing on this key method. Most of the parts have tried to indicate the inferior of women and just pointing a few positive remarks such as the childbearing and upbringing in the society. 

References

Azzarello, Robert. “Unnatural Predators: Queer Theory Meets Environmental Studies in Bram Stoker’s Dracula.” Queering the Non/Human. Routledge, 2016. 165-186.

Bove, Riley, and Tanuja Chitnis. “The role of gender and sex hormones in determining the onset and outcome of multiple sclerosis.” Multiple Sclerosis Journal 20.5 (2014): 520-526.

Chez, Keridiana. “You Can’t Trust Wolves No More Nor Women”: Canines, Women, and Deceptive Docility in Bram Stoker’s” Dracula.” Victorian Review 38.1 (2012): 77-92.

Domínguez-Rué, Emma. “Sins of the flesh: anorexia, eroticism and the female vampire in Bram Stoker’s Dracula.” Journal of Gender Studies 19.3 (2010): 297-308.

Fleissner, Jennifer L. “Dictation Anxiety: The Stenographer’s Stake in Dracula.” Literary Secretaries/Secretarial Culture. Routledge, 2017. 63-90.

Messerschmidt, James W., and Stephen Tomsen. “Masculinities and crime.” Routledge Handbook of Critical Criminology. Routledge, 2018. 83-95..

Pikula, Tanya. “Bram Stoker’s Dracula and late-Victorian advertising tactics: earnest men, virtuous ladies, and porn.” English Literature in Transition, 1880-1920 55.3 (2012): 283-302.

Senf, Carol A. The Vampire in Nineteenth-Century English Literature. University of Wisconsin Press, 2013.

Shoemaker, Robert B. Gender in English Society 1650-1850: The Emergence of Separate Spheres?. Routledge, 2014.

Steinmeyer, Jim. Who Was Dracula?: Bram Stoker’s Trail of Blood. TarcherPerigee, 2013.

Swartz-Levine, Jennifer A. “Staking salvation: The Reclamation of the monstrous female in Dracula.” The Midwest Quarterly 57.4 (2016): 345.

Westbrook, Laurel, and Kristen Schilt. “Doing gender, determining gender: Transgender people, gender panics, and the maintenance of the sex/gender/sexuality system.” Gender & Society 28.1 (2014): 32-57.