Self Control In Dracula

One of the beliefs of the Victorian English society that the novel takes place in is that one must not act impulsively based on their own desires. Self-control is held in high-esteem, especially for the women. It is easier to forgive a man that gave in to the desires of the flesh than it is a woman, because she should have known better. She is supposed to be a picture of self-control, and the New Woman mentioned in the novel is unlike what a good English woman should be. The New Woman shows a lack of restraint by going for what she wants instead of waiting for it to come to her, and as Mina writes, “. . . I suppose the New Woman won’t condescend in future to accept; she will do the proposing herself” (Stoker 87). The New Woman is regarded …show more content…
They realize that she has been corrupted by the Count when Van Helsing touches the Wafer to her forehead and it burns her (Stoker 258-259). It is only the women who become corrupted in this way by Dracula because the act of drinking blood is a perversion of a sexual act, and they let him drink from them when he uses his vampiric seduction abilities. They give in to the desire that he elicits in them, instead of controlling themselves like the men do when they encounter the female vampires. Perhaps it is the fact that Dracula is a much older vampire and as such has better control over his abilities, but more likely it is to show that women are weaker willed when it comes to controlling their desires than men are. The two women attacked by Dracula are unable to resist him, and because they are unable to control themselves they become “unclean” and unholy (259). When she realizes what has become of her, Mina refuses to ever let Jonathan kiss or touch her again, because she is afraid that her uncleanliness makes her unworthy of him and makes her his worst enemy (248-249). She is not his worst enemy because she may turn into a vampire, but rather because she has let herself have a rather sexual act with another man; Jonathan shows that he does truly love his wife by dismissing her refusals and saying that he will not let anything come between them (249). Even though she did not restrain herself against Dracula the men do not blame her, and instead want to set her free from becoming fully like the vampires that they know do not control themselves at all when it comes to desire, whether sexual or otherwise. They set about immediately trying to find a way to cleanse her and make her a good woman again, rather than an