Shelby Townsend

English 1106 050

Ivana Cikes
Dec 1, 2014
The Fear of Female Sexuality in Bram Stokers Dracula
In the Victorian Era womens sexual behavior was dictated by societal
expectations. They were either expected to be models of purity and innocence, or
a wife and mother. If they embraced their sexuality they would be considered a
whore and therefore an outcast unworthy of being a part of society. Stoker wrote
Dracula during the woman suffrage movement when the New Woman was
starting to emerge. A New Woman was a progressive woman who asserted their
independence from men and expressed sexual indulgence. This New Woman
and increasing female sexuality was seen as threatening. It was believed it would
undermine the foundations of a male dominated society by compromising mens
ability to reason and maintain control. For this reason, sexually aggressive
women were repressed, or as seen in the novel, destroyed. Stoker uses the central
female characters Mina, Lucy, and the Three Sisters, to show a powerful female
sexuality that directly confronts and threatens the Victorian males fear of female
sexuality.
Mina is the quintessential Victorian female. The one other females should
aspire to be, and that the men look to with admiration. However, even she has
moments where she threatens the males. Mina is concerned about being a dutiful
wife and while she flirts with the idea of the New Woman she claims she is only

obtaining these skills, such as short hand, to help better serve her husband. Once
bitten, Mina slowly changes from a Victorian woman into the New Woman
because of the vampirism that begins to spread throughout her body. As a
vampire, she exercises independence and an appetite for sexual satisfaction that
the New Woman represents. She is caught by Van Helsing in a compromising
position in her bedroom with Dracula, drinking his blood, claiming she did not
want to hinder him (412). She was aware of what was happening between her
and Dracula but she didnt want it to stop. She felt ecstasy through him sucking
her blood and her his. She is married but is engaging in sexual acts with another,
an atrocious sin for traditional Victorians. The fear of their precious Mina
becoming a hyper sexualized vampire rallies all the men together to save her. It is
her research and brilliance that leads the men to Dracula. Knowing she is
connected to Dracula, she gives her body over to the men so that they can track
him down. Van Helsing refers to her as having a brain that of a manand a
womans heart (241). In the end, the men leave her behind when they go slay
Dracula. She is a woman and therefore is supposed to be weak, needing men to
fight her battles. Mina is the only female that is cured of this infection. This is
because she is there to serve men and seems to be committed to stay in the
traditional Victorian womans role. She provides the reader with a clear indicator
of the ideal woman.
Lucy starts off as the ideal Victorian female but is quickly transformed into
a threatening sexually liberated vampire. She starts as the picture of beauty and
innocence and because of this she attracts three suitors. She makes a comment to

Mina saying, why cant they let a girl marry three men, or as many as want her,
and save all this trouble (59). Although She takes this statement back and claims
she loves her fianc Arthur Holmwood, this moment suggests her promiscuity
and her desire to break from the social confines. This desire is amplified once she
is turned into her vampire state [her] sweetness was turned to adamantine,
heartless cruelty, and the purity to voluptuous wantonness (365). This is seen
when Lucy does her best to lure her fianc Holmwood in order to turn him into a
vampire by exuding her sexual energy. Come to me Arthur. Leave these others
and come to me. My arms are hungry for you. Come, we can rest together. Come,
my husband, come! (337). Her words give promise of sexual gratification and
seem to work. He was described as being under a spell moving towards her. This
shows mens weakness in fighting off tempting sexual advances. This makes men
vulnerable, ready to give up their reason, control, and in this case their lives. It is
decided that she is too large a threat to men and their self-control and must be
destroyed. Stoker has four men, made up of her two other suitors, Van Helsing
and Holmwood mutilate her. Her fianc Holmwood is the one to stake her. This
represents their consecration of marriage, returning Lucy to her role of virtuous,
pure, monogamous lover. In the coffin lay no longer the foul thing that we has
so dreaded and grown to hate...[it was] Lucy as we had seen her in life, with her
face of unequalled sweetness and purity (345).
Stokers other female archetypes were the three weird sisters. These
women are free from the sexual constraints of normal society. They are examples
of what sexually liberated women are feared to be like. They are voluptuous,

overly sexual, insatiable fiends (42). Like Lucy in her vampire state, they use
voluptuousness and seduction as their weapon over men. This is shown in
interactions with Jonathan Harker and Van Helsing. Harkers interaction with
the sisters takes place in Draculas castle. When he first sees the sisters he looks
on them with some longing and at the same time some deadly fear (42).
However, their appearance attracts him more so than his fear of them. Harker
becomes submissive and is easily overpowered by their dominant sexuality. He
wants to satisfy his burning desire that they would kiss [him] with those red lips
(44). He becomes aware of his actions and briefly remembers Mina it is not good
to note this down, lest some day it should meet Minas eyes and cause her pain,
(57) but this is not enough to persuade him to escape the sisters. He just waited
in what he describes as languorous ecstasy for the sisters next move. Harkers
desire to experience a dominant sexual woman overtakes his desire to conform to
the Victorian culture and be faithful to Mina. This is a clear example of mans
reasoning being tainted by sexual liberated females.
Van Helsing is another victim in desiring the voluptuous, sexual vampire
sisters. He is the primary leader in destroying vampirism. However, the
appearance of the vampire women even makes him waiver in killing them. At
first he shows disgust for them when they tried to persuade Mina to join them
but his perception changes when he attempts to kill them in their sleep. She was
so fair to look on, so radiant, so beautiful, so exquisitely voluptuous, that the very
instance of man in me calls some of my sex to love and to protect on of hers,
made my head whirl with new emotions (394). Just like with Harker, they

awaken the instinct of man (394) in him. If it wasnt for his thoughts of Mina he
may have not been able to carry out the act of murdering them. This example
greatly heightens the fear of sexually liberated women. Even Van Helsing, the
knowledgeable and powerful doctor can succumb to their power.
The real fear in this Novel is not darkness or vampirism, but the loss of
female innocence, a trait that would be extremely valuable to men in the
Victorian era. Mens power over women kept women in their place, and men
feared any change to this social order. They feared they would loose their power
over women once the women discovered for themselves that they could harness
their own. Stoker wrote this novel as a cautionary tale to women. The novel
shows the repercussions of women who are sexually liberated women. While
Mina flirts with the idea of the New Woman in the end she conforms to the
traditional ways. Unfortunately for Lucy and the Three Sisters they became a
threat to the men when they chose to fulfill their sexual desires. Apparently it is
better to have a dead woman than a sexually curious one.