Bram Stoker's 'Dracula'. Feminist Theory and Sexuality

Seminar paper from the year 2014 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: B, Université Toulouse II - Le Mirail (English Department), course: English Studies: British Literature., language: English, abstract: Bram Stoker was an Irish author born in the nineteenth century. Dracula, Stoker drew from a rich heritage of vampire legends of the Middle Ages and added a historical realism to the story by incorporating the tale of Vlad and thus immortalizing the Dracula myth. Stoker's novel, published in 1897, was also making many commentaries about England and the world in a time of great social change. This paper, however, is focused on one type of critical theory: the feminist theory in literature. When I say feminist theory I mean a feminist literary analysis that arises from the viewpoint of feminism, feminist theory or feminist politics. The basic method of feminist literary criticism includes 'the identifying with female characters, which is a way to challenge the male-centered outlook of authors. It suggests that women in literature were historically presented as objects seen from a male perspective.' According to feminist theory, in a patriarchal society there are 'good girls', who are pure and useful to their husbands, and there are 'bad girls' who are sexually explicit in their nature and are considered to be not the 'marrying type'. In the fallowing commentary I would like to draw your attention to the feminine characters Lucy Westenra, Mina Harker, and the three brides of Dracula in Bram Stoker's Dracula. Through feminist theory I will first tackle with the idea that Stoker's novel is built on a patriarchal model and that women exist only to support male characters and to bring the attention to them. From there, I will move on to discuss the fact that women in literature are historically presented as objects seen from a male perspective, which implies that sexuality is not accepted in Victorian society. To do so I will follow Lucy's, Mina's, Jonathan's, Dr. Seward's and Van Helsing's diaries. To explore the subject further I will also discuss Francis Ford Coppola's adaptation of Bram Stokers novel.