I have been trying to figure out a
coherent way to talk about the women in Dracula. I have a wimpy thesis now, if
you have suggestions, I would appreciate the help!
What would Victorian women have thought
of Mina and Lucy?
How does Dracula view Lucy vs. Mina?
This is question that I am choosing to
focus on for my 5-page paper. I would like to tackle the wonderful world of
women. More specifically to how Lucy and Mina differ in not just Dracula’s
mind, but in the mind of the other men.
The story of Dracula is a complicated
one. Illusions of religion and sex can be inferred from the direction Bram
Stoker chooses to go. He draws his readers in though curiosity and fear.
Holding his captive audience, Stoker portrays women in numerous ways. Women to
Stoker are objects that can be changed, and adapted to suit any need for the
direction of the story. They way women are viewed in Dracula would bring
Victorian women to tears, or make their hearts sing with pride.
Lucy is a young naïve woman who has
befallen a sad fate. She is a hopeless romantic. Lucy is in love with 3 men,
all men have proposed to her (In the same day too). Torn between loves Lucy
visits a good friend Madam Mina. Mina is a character that would make the
Victorian society proud. Lucy however, would not. Lucy’s fate leads her to
become a vampire. The way that Stoker depicted a woman vampire is through his
illusion to sex. All women vampires are sexy. They have vivacious blood red
lips (Stoker 69). They are alluring in many ways. These sexy women vampires are
fearless in the sense that they do not need to behave a certain way to fit into
society. These women vampires prey on the innocent (Stoker 256). Lucy becomes a
sexy vampire before the end. She is laid to rest, but her beauty grows. Her
fiancé does not believe that his beloved is really laid to rest. Prior to
becoming a vampire Lucy’s friends and lovers all try desperately to save this
young life. Sadly to no avail. They dramatic change in Lucy, her behaviors and
domineer would be the Victorian society to tears. The last thing in the world
that is acceptable in the Victorian age is to be sexy.
The proper thing in Victorian Society
would be to think, act, and model Madam Mina. Mina is the perfect woman for the
Victorian’s to model. Even when Mina is slowly changing in to a vampire, she
still does it with the grace and elegance that a Victorian woman needs to lead
her life. Mina is perfect for many reasons. Stoker chooses to represent Mina as
perfect because this is the best way for him to communicate to the audience how
important a prim and proper woman is to any investigation. Mina is needed to
continue hunting Dracula because she is clever and she is able to think
differently then the men in the novel. This allows for Stoker to use the perfect
Mina as the heroine.
Of course Dracula sees Mina and Lucy so
differently. It is obvious to see the differences. Lucy is naïve and foolish,
Mina is cunning and resourceful. Lucy depends on her friends for help, Mina
take it upon herself to investigate to contribute to the men’s efforts. Lucy
becomes a sexy vampire that shames the Victorian society; Mina slowly changes,
but never reaches the point where she could bring shame to the Victorian
society.
Stoker, Bram,
and Tudor Humphries. Dracula. New York: DK Pub., 1997. Print.
{606}
Brianna,
ReplyDeleteI really love where the post is going. I think you hit a lot of the main points head on. If I were you I would pick about 3 main topics that Lucy and Mina differ from. and discuss how each point is either socially acceptable or unacceptable at that time. You could discuss how Mina was able to completely submit to every man in the novel (except Dracula obviously). And then you could discuss how Lucy was around men. Both women are so different. Do you think that Stoker made them so different intentionally? Maybe the author did this to show the readers that vampires had no mercy or remorse, no matter the victim. What do you think?
Brandi, I have been reworking my direction of the paper. I actually am looking more carefully at how Lucy and Mina are different, but also how the men in the book differ in terms of how they treat the women and how they talk to them. I think that you helped me solidify the direction I want to go in with your feedback. To answer you questions, I do believe that Stoker made the women vastly different because Stoker was making a point. I think that he was telling the readers that Mina is the perfect woman because of her strict moral code and because of her moral code, she survives the attacks. Where as Lucy was not so strict and her values did not correlate well with Victorian Women's way of life, and I think that she did not survive because of it. I think that vampires in Stokers novel show no remorse for victims in certain cases. Lucy never killed the children (Unless I missed that). Dracula protects Jonathan from the 3 women vampires, but Dracula also shows no remorse for killing Renfield. What do you think about the differences between Lucy and Mina?
ReplyDeleteBrianna, I think you have a great start. If you want to discuss "how Lucy and Mina differ in not just Dracula’s mind, but in the mind of the other men." you discuss how they are viewed through the eyes of the charcters and through Soker's viewpoint. For example, discuss the viewpoints of John, Van Helsing, Dracula, etc. towards Lucy and Mina and then address how Stoker intends on portaying them using textual support.
ReplyDeleteThat is what I am restructuring my paper to be about. I think that the view points of all the men in the novel towards to two women are so fascinating. I have done as you suggested and elaborated more on how Van Helsing regards both Mina and Lucy and how Dracula perceives them. I think that John's opinion is less than helpful since he never really talked to Lucy or about Lucy. He is important when considering Mina. I plan on also using the Dr. as well. He loved Lucy and he came to love Mina. I think that will help me write a better paper.
DeleteGreat post, Brianna! Even before I read Brandi's post, I was also going to recommend focusing on three specific points. There is obviously a lot of material on the perception of women in Dracula so be sure to cite your research on Victorian society and think about why Stoker (as a male author) chose to have these two main female characters and the significant roles they play in the book. Consider realizing your "so what?" of the paper and which points connect the most logically for you, and then work backwards to create your thesis using those points. You clearly have an understanding of Mina and Lucy from a Victorian society point of view, but be sure to state for your readers what assumptions you are making that might be obvious to you about the point of view from men or women in today's society.
ReplyDeleteSomething to consider is how each woman was bit by Dracula. Lucy kept suffering from nightmares and episodes of sleep walking where she would visit Dracula. When she was bit, it was less gruesome and less eventful. On the other hand when Mina was attacked it was violent, sexual, and very bloody. Why are these two events so different. Did Stoker want us to feel more sympathetic towards perfect dear Mina?
ReplyDeleteMichelle- you are a genius. I have been trying to figure out if this was significant or not. I was unsure if vampires bite regardless of the victim in the same fashion. Your point though shows clearly that they do not bite in the same manner. It makes me think that there is something more to Vampires than to just drink blood. I think that Stoker really did want us to pity and feel more for Mina than for Lucy.
DeleteMichelle, I don't think I ever noticed that particular difference until you pointed it out, but the difference could have a very large impact on the direction you are heading with your final paper Brianna. Something that stands out to me now after Mrs. Grover pointed it out today in class is the fact that there was a large suffrage movement happening during this time. In 1865 the movement of women's suffrage began to take shape, so by 1897 when Dracula was published much of the public had their opinions regarding the movement, most notably the men. It seems that Dracula might be able to represent the average male of the United Kingdom during this period. Where Mina is more proactive, independent, and tends to elevate herself Dracula like you said is very violent and bloody when he bites her. Just as I'm sure most of the average Victorian men weren't to fond of the Victorian women seeking more and equal rights. Compared to Lucy where Dracula is more tender with the bite and is generally more gentle with her throughout, most Victorian men may have been more indifferent towards the women around them that didn't actively seek the betterment of women. I think Van Helsing could be the optimist of the Victorian men where he is astonished with the amount of work Mina puts forth and her ability to accomplish certain things is encouraging to him. Compared to Lucy where Van Helsing very rarely gets involved with her other than to give her the blood transfusions. So I think it could be said that Dracula portrays the more "sexist" portion of Victorian men and Van Helsing represents the Victorian men that would like to see women stepping up to take on bigger responsibilities.
DeleteGreat post! You view on how women were seen by men during the Victorian seems accurate and a great research topic. The question that comes to mind is how women today view the female characters of Dracula. I'm curious about that because I wonder how the women of Bram Stoker's time period viewed the female characters of the novel. I would like to know if there are any reviews done by women when the book was published or women's opinions of the book. I know Mary Shelly wrote Frankenstein in 1818, so it would be interesting to read some reviews by Victorian women. Good luck on your final paper.
ReplyDeleteGreat post!! i had always compared the women in dracul (lucy and mina) as a whole to other women at the time, or to women today, but i had nver considered comparing the two to each other. it reall makes for an interesting paper in my opinion. how these two women are seen differently by dracula and the other charcters in the book is a facinating idea. great job. and best of luck on your five page paper.
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