Gothic essay - "How the female is presented as a victim in Dracula"
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Course
Unit 1
Institution
OCR
This is an essay for studying the gothic genre in A Level English Literature. This essay looks at how the female is presented as the victim in Dracula.
“In gothic writing, women are generally presented as
victims.” Consider how far you agree with this
statement by examining Dracula.
During the fin de siècle period of the Victorian era, women were growing from
being viewed as inferior, submissive and emotional to something for men to fear.
The prospect of women not only being nurturing mothers, but educated,
employed and financially independent beings caused great concern for men, in a
previously very male dominant society. This idea of the ‘New Woman’ became a
common theme in gothic literature in the late 19 th century, characterized by the
active resistance to traditional ideals. Bram Stoker’s 1897 work “Dracula” was no
different and the two main females, Mina Murray and Lucy Westenra, alongside
Dracula’s three female vampires, serve to demonstrate the emerging
phenomenon of the ‘New Woman’ in different ways. Dracula’s characters take on
the stereotypical female roles of the gothic, with Mina being the victimised damsel
in distress, the three vampires representing the femme fatalè and Lucy moving
between the two roles.
Stoker presents Mina Murray as a victim through portraying her as an idealistic
sexless and maternal Victorian woman. Being described as “one of God’s
women” symbolizes the innocence and sincerity that surrounds her character,
showing her to be vulnerable and thus an easy victim. She is clearly portrayed as
the victim of Count Dracula in chapter XXI when he holds both her hands away
“at full tension” and “forc(es) her face down on his bosom,” raping her as some
readers interpret the scene. A 21st century critic would implicitly view this as a
scene where Dracula is a merciless predator who Mina falls victim to. A
contemporaneous view however may have been that the fault of this event lay
with Mina, as at that time the blame always fell to the woman. In this case, Mina
would not be a poor victim. Her victimization is clear however through her
nightdress being “smeared with blood”, representing her loss of virginity through
the forced sexual actions of Dracula. Mina’s victim role is accentuated as the
reader feels great sympathy and sorrow for her due to Dracula’s invasion of her
and Jonathan’s marriage bed. From this point on, Mina is continuously presented
as the damsel in distress as the men always “intend to stay and protect Mina”.
This chivalrous behavior of the men is emphasized in the closing of the novel as
Quincey Morris is stabbed and states he was “only too happy to have been of
service….It was worth this to die!” This presents Mina as being heavily dependent
on the men, whom without she possibly may not be alive. That being said, Mina
does also portray elements of the ‘New Woman’ working independently as an
“assistant schoolmistress” and having the desire to develop her knowledge,
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