Dracula was the very first classic I ever read, at the ripe age of 12, so it has a very special place in my heart. Reading it again at 20, I realise how beautifully written and absolutely horrifying it is – not in a vampire-y ‘I want to suck your blood’ way, rather, a womanly fear that I’m sure most people can relate to.
Let me start with a short summary of the novel. Similar to most of the contemporary interpretations of the novel like Nosferatu (2024) and Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992), the novel starts with one of our protagonists, Jonathan Harker, making his way to Count Dracula’s castle in Transylvania. On his way, he meets superstitious characters that warn against going and, as a man would, he ignores their heedes. In the meantime, in London, a group of intellectuals start to piece together the clues leading them to believe that a vampyre is in their midst. Jonathan’s wife, Mina, having been ‘kissed’ by Dracula and forever linked to the Devil himself, ultimately leads the group to his coffin and together they release his spirit.
This novel, written in the 1890s, often reveals ideas on Victorian topics such as the Morbid Muse, the Fallen Woman trope, Christianity vs Science and such. I’ll try to explain as best I can each of these and how they fall within the context of the novel.
The Morbid Muse is a theme within literature that expanded enormously throughout the Victorian era. The third wave of the plague and outbreaks of cholera had taken many lives and death was all over Europe. Many writers wrote of their beloveds and the beauty held in their death, viewing, mainly women, as objects of inspiration. In many texts, death and sexuality became synonymous, reflecting the Victorians’ obsession with the macabre.
“Artists and writers often romanticized the decay and beauty found in death, portraying tragic figures whose demise was as alluring as it was haunting” (Weston, 2024).
In the novel, the character Lucy, upon her death, is seen in a holy and illuminating light. One goes as far as to say, “Oh, it was the grim irony of it all – this so lovely lady garlanded with flowers, that looked so fair as life, till one by one we wondered if she were truly dead,” (p. 187). Now, it may just be me, but I wouldn’t want a bunch of men standing around my dead corpse, contemplating my beauty and, “the grim irony of it all” – which to me sounds like, “what a waste.”
The Fallen Woman trope ties well into the Christianity vs Science themes. The idea of a Fallen Woman in Victorian society, was the notion that, for whatever reason, a woman would be ‘unclean’ if she had not saved herself for her marriage night or had relations with other men afterwards. This idea of virginity and the keeping of ‘it’ before the eyes of God, was treated as incredibly sacred for a woman’s salvation. It is safe to say that Christianity, in this sense, was weaponised against women to maintain control over their bodies and actions and to keep this weirdly sexual relationship between women and God as objects for procreation. Because women couldn’t (and shouldn’t) possibly want anything more than to have children and serve their husbands.
This idea is very prominent throughout Dracula as one of the only two women who aren’t villainised in the novel, Mina, is ‘kissed’ by the vampire and made ‘unclean.’ After a very obviously metaphorical sexual assault, Mina, who has been physically forced to drink the Count’s blood, cries, “Unclean, unclean! I must touch him or kiss him no more [referring to her husband]. Oh, that it should be that it is I who am now his worst enemy, and whom he may have most cause to fear” (p.303).
Subsequently, upon trying to cross her with a communion wafer, Mina gets seared by the wafer on her forehead, leaving a notable scar. The group discusses the meaning of this and come to the conclusion that, “knowing that so far as symbols went, she with all her goodness and purity and faith, was outcast from God” (p.328). Regardless, Mina is still characterised as a woman of faith, even after the fact, as most of her journal entries finish with a statement on her devotion and a prayer for her husband’s safety.
All in all, I wasn’t expecting Dracula to be quite so sexually explicit the second time around. But I’m glad I re-read it when I did, for now I have a completely new perspective on this novel. I also must’ve been a very brave child, as I was definitely more scared of Count Dracula reading it this time. I don’t think I’ll ever see dust the same way.
If you’re interested in Gothic horror with a side of gender and sex stereotypes and intersectional racial themes, I’d highly recommend Dracula.
References:
Silas Weston (2024). Corpses of Desire: Necrophilia and Victorian Morality in the Nineteenth Century – Atmostfear Entertainment. [online] Atmostfear Entertainment. Available at: <https://www.atmostfear-entertainment.com/health/psychology/corpses-of-desire-necrophilia-and-victorian-morality-in-the-nineteenth-century/.>
Stoker, B. (1993). Dracula. Penguin Classics.
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