Dracula, by Bram Stoker, is a horrendous journey of a group of English men who will stop at nothing just to rid the world of an evil, Count Dracula. Stoker puts his characters through ghastly events, most if not all are tragic. Perhaps the most prominent theme Stoker conveys is the role of women in Victorian culture, through the events which he portrays derogatory portrayal of women. Stoker’s use of tone and symbolism come together effectively to help convey the theme of women sexuality.
During Stoker’s time in the 19th century, there was a large feminist movement and women’s traditional roles were starting to change. Women had restrictions placed on them; during the time women were not expected to do any worker other than being a wife and mother, and being keeper of the household. This novel shows two distinct roles of women in the Victorian society: the mother-wife and the whore. Toward the end of the 19th century, the time when Dracula was written, women were benefiting a little more. Basically, “women are such cowards that [we] think a man will save us from fears, and we marry him” (Stoker 67). Stoker felt strongly about this issue. His very pessimistic view of women is shown throughout this book in many forms. He used Dracula as a median to express his opinions towards the subject. One of which is through the characters of Lucy and Mina.
Mina, the schoolmistress who is brilliant, is used by Stoker to represent women with a “man’s brain” who is pure and innocent, while Lucy represents the women who is sexualized unlike Mina herself (241). Both Mina and Lucy wish to marry and become respectable wives and mothers. Luc
y writes to Mina, “You and I, Mina dear, who are engaged and are going to settle down soon soberly into old married women, can despise vanity” (65). Hence, Lucy writes what most women felt in Victorian times. Their only goal was to remain pure to one man, raise children, and be seen but rarely heard. Stoker, like many other males of his day accepted this role of women, and was not open to the idea of women sexual expression. An example of this was when Dracula threatens to turn the two women into their opposites. Dracula succeeds in transforming Lucy into a vampire where there is no other choice than to destroy her in order for her to be in a purer state. Stoker portrays Lucy like the three ‘weird sisters’ to symbolize what the Victorian women should not be. Thus, for this plane and simple reason the sexually aggressive women in the novel must be destroyed. But for Stoker, this was just the beginning of ridiculous circumstances and tragedies. Mina would soon try to be pulled to the dark side to further prove his point. Stoker’s use of tone and symbolism seamlessly mixes into the story which not only effectively shows the reader his point but also makes the book more engaging.Another example of Stokers sexist beliefs can be seen through the male characters. All of the male characters in the novel: Quincey, Van Helsing, Dr. Seward, and even Dracula, are all seen as very manly men. All of three characters fit squarely in the traditional male stereotype in place at the time. They all fill roles which women were not seen as competent to fulfill. These male characters are to further establish that it would be impossible for women to a job of the same magnitude, and to show that women are only able to be trusted with small, petty tasks. But, Stoker shows Mina as an intelligent lady, which Stoker believes is not what
a women should be. While Mina is giving her suggestions, Professor Van Helsing interrupts: “Ah, that wonderful Madam Mina! She has man’s brain-a brain that a man should have were he much gifted-and a woman’s heart” (241). Mina’s brilliance and research lead s Van Helsing’s men to Castle Dracula where they can kill him, she is still in the end a dutiful wife and mother and her successes are always in the service of men. Regardless, if women are smart, Stoker states throughout the novel that women are weak, need men, and are incompetent. He shows this where the men ask Mina to stay behind when they are to go kill Dracula.In the novel, the readers followed Stoker’s main female character, Mina through her journey of being a woman. The underlying message Stoker conveyed was the role of women during the 19th century, and the threat of their sexual expression. Through the use of tone and symbolism, Stoker keeps the reader interested and engaged. Ultimately, it was Stoker’s characters such as Mina that helped with the theme portrayed in Dracula. Stoker showed his view of women by showing the reality of women by use of tone and his characters.