Masculinity & Femininity
English Lit: OCR A Level Dracula, topic 5.1.3
Masculinity and Femininity
As well as being a threat to the natural order of things, the vampire also challenges traditional ideas of gender roles - most notably through Stoker’s depiction of the female-vampires, including Lucy.
Female vampires - masculine
- Like their master, Dracula, the female-vampires are zoomorphic in their presentation, providing them with (stereotypically) masculine qualities.
- Their sharp white teeth could be viewed as phallically, penetrating human flesh, whilst Lucy’s “adamantine, heartless cruelty” is an attribute that, out of context, would likely be associated with male Gothic villains.
Femininity of vampires
- What makes the female-vampires perhaps even more dangerous than Dracula is that they also retain the facade of traditional femininity:
- Whilst Dracula’s breath is rancid, the fair-vampires' are “sweet in one sense, honey sweet”.
- When vampire-Lucy speaks, it is in a paradoxical “diabolically sweet” tone.
Aspects of Victorian masculinity
- The five male characters who comprise the band of heroes each represent a different aspect of the Victorian ideal of masculinity:
- Strength (Arthur).
- Intelligence (Van Helsing).
- Loyalty (Quincey).
- Dutiful (Jonathan).
- Honour (Seward).
Masculinity and Femininity
As well as being a threat to the natural order of things, the vampire also challenges traditional ideas of gender roles - most notably through Stoker’s depiction of the female-vampires, including Lucy.
Ray Cluley
- Literary critic Ray Cluley writes how Dracula can be interpreted as transcending the natural boundaries between male and female gender roles and how ”his ability to usurp the female role of creating life, his bite a kind of demonic procreation in creating more vampires, and with his consumption of blood as a triumph over fears of menstruation, it may be that Dracula is the ultimate patriarchal fantasy.”
Dracula - most masculine?
- Of all the male characters in the novel, perhaps Dracula is the most masculine - another affront to the masculine-superiority of the British Empire, hence the desire of the men to work at his destruction.
Rejuvenating masculinity
- Dracula is able to rejuvenate his own masculinity through feeding his bloodlust and counters the stereotype that with age comes fragility.
- Ironically, whilst he feeds and appears physically younger, his actions have an adverse effect on others. Seward notices the stark effect Dracula’s assault on Mina has on Jonathan: “Last night he was a frank happy-looking man with a strong youthful face, full of energy, and with dark brown hair. Today he is a drawn haggard old man.”
Test yourself on Masculinity & Femininity
Complete the quotations showing the femininity of the female vampires.
What effect does Dracula's feeding appear to have on the other characters?