Examples Of Homosociality In Dracula

“’Homosocial’…describes social bonds between persons of the same sex..” (Sedgwick 2466). Although yielding a simple definition, homosociality plays a large role within Bram Stoker’s Dracula. One apparent example of this idea is the relationship between Seward, Holmwood, and Morris. Although many literary critics have commented on the implied homosexuality of these three men within this novel, it is through Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick’s interpretation of homosociality that another idea has emerged. What it means to be homosocial differs greatly between genders. While women may be emotional, compassionate, and altogether close to one another without society viewing them as homosexuals, the same cannot be said for men. Sedgwick discusses in her book that homosexuality is often associated with being like women, therefore less of a man. That is why I believe that these three not only exhibit how men can be homosocial without being homosexual, but also how society forces them to alter the ways in which …show more content…
This first instance of the three men connecting through Lucy is a form of camaraderie, but also their first act of “male-bonding” that the reader is shown. It is said in the novel that these men used to go hunting together, which is essentially the same thing they are doing now. They are all hunting the same game: Lucy. Rather than being malicious or angry towards each other, it is more of a game or challenge. Once Seward and Morris have “lost,” they simply go about their business. Seward even talks about how he shifts his attention to Renfield, saying, “…I knew that the only cure for this sort of thing was work…I picked out one who has afforded me a study of much interest” (Stoker 61). While this encounter does not immensely display their emotions towards each other, it does start the reader down that