Gothic Masculinity Discussion Paper

Gothic is a genre created to express hidden desires and socially unacceptable behaviours obsessed with the pleasures of the illicit; it violates social norms only to restore and reinforce them by the end of the narrative. Gothic literature, at its most foundational level, has remained more or less the same however; the genre has been reshaped throughout time due to contextual changes.

This paper focuses on the representation of male characters in the gothic genre with close reference to Bram Stoker’s original book Dracula and the 2007 movie production Van Helsing. I will examine the ways in which the structure of the gothic text captures some contemporary findings regarding the nature of male gender identity as well as why and how these were altered. After my research and in depth analysis of the works by Katarzyna Wieckowska and Lauren M.E. Goodlad on the subject of gothic masculinity I have come to understand that conventions of masculinity are being threatened by the fall of conventional gender roles which in turn gives rise to feminism.

Men throughout the ages have had a constant need to conform to the expectations of society therefore disregarding their individual needs for androgyny and putting on appearances. The gothic represents this mental war fought within the anxious male subject and manifests these ideas of androgyny in a negative light.

In Bram Stokers’ book, the character of Dracula is the physical manifestation of androgyny and his purpose rests on the fear of effeminacy on the one hand and of masculinity as inherently degenerating on the other. Dracula is feminised through various characteristics one of which is the slight homosexuality he has; as represented in the quote “leave him he is mine”. The feminized figure of the vampire invading London is an extended metaphor for the threat of emasculation. The feminized Count serves also as a model of masculinity for the emasculated Harker as seen through the quote “I am alone in the castle with those awful women. Faugh! They are devils of the Pit!” what can be seen from this quote is the fact that Harker lives in the castle as a prisoner, fearful of Draculas’ wives which represents the threat of emasculation that females pose. Situated in the passive, feminine role in the castle, Harker is trained into manhood by Dracula, who forces him into action, but who also makes visible the link between masculinity and pathology after harkers mental illness from escaping. The figure of the vampire not only uncovers masculinity as internally fissured and potentially pathological but questions the validity of any gender system. The vampire, whose mouth functions as the sexual organ, compounds the anatomical division into male and female, thus fully unmasking the non existence of a gender divide. On the other hand Ideas of repetition are still present in the movie Van Helsing, for example the fact that count Dracula is still heavily feminised through his fangs