Dracula

Written assignment – Dracula

Throughout centuries the gender roles constantly change. In the story Dracula it puts forth the ideal woman in that era, which is the Victorian Era. As well in a text by Acton, that describes women’s versus men’s sexual desires.

Want of sexual feeling in the female a text by William Acton is his description of the Victorian woman. The Victorian woman is portrayed as someone who seldom has sexual desires. For instance when Acton writes, “I should say that the majority of women (happily for them) are not very much troubled with sexual feeling of any kind.” (p.55 ll. 3-4). This reveals that the Victorian woman is neutral, pure and proper because they do not have any kind of sexual desires. Which seems to be a good thing hence the parentheses with the comment “happily for them” as if it’s something that is impure and sinful. Not only does the Victorian woman not have the same desires as men, however, they actually want to satisfy their husbands. To give an illustration of the point, let us look at this paragraph: “She submits to her husband’s embraces, but principally to gratify him” (p.56 l. 13) and “Love of home, of children, and of domestic duties are the only passions they feel” (p.56 ll. 10-11). To put it another way, the Victorian woman is only there to please her husband, being the motherly figure and taking care of the home. On the other hand, there are the excerpts from Dracula, which is about this clerk, Jonathan Harker, who is told not to fall asleep outside of his given room. However, he disobeyed this warning and drifts away. This is when he meets these three seductive vampires. In comparison to the portrayal by Acton, this description of the Victorian woman is the opposite. For instance, these vampires are impure and hypersexual, which is a contrast from how a Victorian woman has traditional values and not sexualized. This is evident in the following passage: “All three had brilliant white teeth that shone like pearls against the ruby of their voluptuous lips. There was something about them that made me uneasy, some longing and at the same time some deadly fear.” (p. 51 ll. 7-10). In other words, they are described as quite flirtatious while still being somewhat cunning. In the passage, it’s clear that they are able to exert over men and they could tempt Jonathan into evil and the longing for them and their kisses, however, he knew it would cause Mina, his fiancée, a lot of pain. This also shows how they challenge the stability and structure with their sexual lust. Another example is in the quotation b where Lucy seems innocent and childlike before she turns into a vampire. This is seen when she sees Arthur while she is in her normal state and she says “Arthur! Oh, my love, I am so glad you have come!” (p.58 l.6). Here she seems