Bram Stoker's Treatment Of Women In Dracula

For decades leading up to the 21st century minorities have been persecuted and looked down upon. These thoughts and beliefs may be in the past, however, many of these are preserved in the literature of the time. One story written in the late 19th century which is still widely read and studied by scholars today and includes the discrimination of women at the time is Dracula. Bram Stoker’s tale includes the two main characters Lucy Westenra and Mina Harker who are widely different in personality. While Mina is portrayed showing her strength, Lucy’s life is a tale being portrayed as weak, emotionally and physically. Bram Stoker’s Dracula shows the stereotypical view of the weakness of women in the 1890s through the beliefs and actions of Lucy …show more content…
When Lucy was bitten by Dracula and on the verge of dying and becoming a vampire, Van Helsing had the idea of using man’s blood in place of hers to cure her. When convincing Arthur to help his future wife, Van Helsing says, “‘A brave man's blood is the best thing on this earth when a woman is in trouble. You're a man, and no mistake’” (Stoker 151). According to Bram Stoker, there is nothing that can help a woman more than a man’s blood. Van Helsing makes it apparent to reiterate to Arthur that he is a man. A man should be able to save a woman in trouble. According to Stoker, a woman cannot save herself and again is too weak and in need of help from a man. This again shows the stereotypical view of women that men are much stronger and women are constantly the victim. A closer look at the novel again shows dominance of men and subordination of women. In Carol Senf’s piece about Bram Stoker’s view of women she said, “Any discussion of gender in Dracula should begin with the startling realization that, of the vampires in the novel, five are female while only one, Dracula, is male. Because the novel's "villains," or vampires, are disproportionately female while the novel's heroes are disproportionately male, the attention of many readers quickly turns to questions of gender” (Senf, Carol, “Dracula: Stoker’s response to the New Women”). The fact that 80 percent of women in the novel are villains and and most of the heroes in Dracula are male, immediately makes the reader question the treatment of gender in the novel. This portrayal shows that women are more villainous and are incapable of being anything but evil. Not only does this put down women, but it also glorifies men, displaying many of them as strong courageous