Girl, Oppressed: Female Sexuality in the Film Adaptations of Dracula

In her essay “Suddenly Sexual Women in Dracula,” Phyllis Roth proposes the idea that every instance of a female character expressing herself sexually in Bram Stoker’s Dracula is struck down. Based on the novel itself and several of the film adaptations of the original text it is evident that here several facets of the “New Woman’s” persona began to emerge. What’s interesting about the portrayal of this New Woman though is the fact that she is only seen fully through the female vampires in the narrative.
For the most part all of the women we encounter in Dracula are split between the typical Victorian female figure of the 19th century and her evolved successor. The Victorian woman is categorized a pure, clean, chase, mothering and of course never asserted herself sexually. The New Woman however is independent, well educated, sexually liberated and on the same level as any man. The character Mina Murray in each account seems to be more or less in tandem with these two archetypes. In Francis Ford Coppola’s 1992 adaptation of Dracula for instance, Mina appears to be strong-minded and intelligent but at the same time her intellect goes toward helping her fiancé, Jonathan Harker, maintain his business. While this resonates clearly through Stoker’s novel and the other film adaptations, it is specifically clear here—especially during our first encounter with Mina; when discussing how much she misses Jonathan and wished they could have married before he departed, she dabbles slightly with the idea of stepping out of her Victorian role when she expresses desire to go and explore new and exotic countries. Shortly thereafter, this is stifled by a very subtle but still telling few words. “I wonder if we, I mean Jonathan and I, shall ever see them [strange countries] together.” For less than a second, the viewer sees Mina put herself on Jonathan’s level as a person with convictions in that one word, ‘we.’ This is quickly cast aside and she descends back down towards what people of the time would have believed to be her rightful place.
In Tod Browning’s 1931 adaptation of the novel, its seems as though most traces of the New Woman that we see in the text are mostly glossed over. While we still see the three vampire women that come to drink of Jonathan’s blood during the first few nights of his stay as hyper sexualized in comparison to the Mina and Lucy that we encounter, there are not very any other instances in the film that we see any of the female characters as strong or assertive. What this film seems to do primarily is perpetuate the ideals of the Victorian male figure. In this account, we see all the male figures as well educated and it seems as though they take it to be their personal mission to keep the women safe. Even Jonathan Harker, who when one on one with Dracula seems to be rather subdued tries to maintain alpha male status when talking to Mina. Further, there is much more emphasis placed on Van Helsing as a hero coming to Mina’s rescue as opposed to having her emerge as the heroine like she does in the novel.
The only instance in the Browning film that we see even of glimmer of the New Woman is during the falling action; Mina, having been confined to her room after being bitten by Count Dracula is found by her nurse in a fog wandering towards the terrace fully dressed. Jonathan comments that she is more beautiful than ever and looks like a ‘changed girl.’ It is clear in his demeanor that this change is a positive one and his body language indicates that he is more attracted to her before. For a few moments, she seems more confident and verbalizes that she feels more alive than ever. We see her as more liberated and when she leans in for what the camera deceives into thinking may be a kiss (when we obviously know that she’s got more cruel intentions) she is quickly met with horrid looks and dismay from Van Helsing and his men. This is totally logical—of course they want to prevent Jonathan’s transcendence into the vampire world. Looking into the scene a bit more closely though, it appears more as though that they are chastising her for asserting herself sexually. If this were an isolated incident, it could possibly easily be overlooked. However, in context this scene has a definite feel of male oppression over female sexuality and stifling to any inkling of the New Woman that may be present.
Lucy Westenra’s character is interpreted much differently in the Browning version than in the text or in the Coppola film. In the 1931 film, her character seems quite minimal in contrast with the other accounts. This seems to be directly correlated with the fact that the vamped Lucy embodies more traits of a progressive woman than its creators could absorb as truth. This seems so distinct and far removed from her portrayal in the Coppola film where she is hyper-sexualized as foreshadowed by the three vampire women that we encountered within the first few scenes. Even before she is turned into a vampire, Lucy is extremely sexualized; she makes several comments as to knowing what men want and is exceedingly flirtatious in comparison to Mina. Mina also notes that while she is slightly put off by how liberated Lucy is sexually, she is somewhat envious of her freedom.
While the portrayal of Lucy as a sexual being was still progressive, it also seemed like she does not fully embody the qualities of the New Woman. The only characteristic of the more evolved woman that Lucy really has is her being aware of herself as a sexual being. In the Browning film, she appears mostly uninterested in anything scholarly and she is not presented as having any real interests other than men. She is ditzy and seems to flutter from suitor to suitor. This issue seems to lie in the times that both the Browning and the Coppola films were created respectively and the stereotypes that surrounded women during both eras. During the early 20th century when the Browning version surfaced, it seemed as though the idea of the New Woman was brushed to the side and the men in the story take the reigns a bit more than the book leads us to believe. Surprisingly, as far as women have come since those days, the 1992 version of the film doesn’t deviate too far from those rigid gender roles. The message we as viewers seem to receive is clear cut: a woman who is in touch with her sexuality and one who is intelligent cannot be the same person.
With the exclusion of a few of her encounters with Dracula, Mina is seen as docile, sexually unaware and not wholly in command of her intellect as she only uses it to serve Jonathan. Lucy on the contrary is made out to seem like quite the floozy initially and then this hyper sexualized vampire goddess. Both films consequently also send the message about the male perspective on women overall. The girl who is more desired, Lucy, is only so because she seems sexually available in a subtle way. Once she becomes a vampire and is more assertive and challenges male dominance though, she is put to death and traded in for Mina who still embodies the ideal Victorian woman—submissive, chase, God-fearing, and so on and so forth.
It is very interesting how despite the fact that bits and pieces of the New Woman are scattered throughout Stoker’s novel and the Browning and Coppola adaptation of the story. While she is present in some form or character or another in each piece, neither film really ventures as far as to try to capture the essence of her that is portrayed in the novel. And the message that is transmitted through these pieces that a woman can’t be both intelligent and sexually charged is a saddening one.

Sources:
"Suddenly Sexual Women in Dracula." Phyllis Roth (pg. 411, essay in the back of text)

"Dracula: Stoker's Response to the New Woman" Carol A. Senf (JSTOR)
http://www.jstor.org.libproxy.newschool.edu/stable/info/3827492?seq=2&type=cite

Wikipedia for information on: "The New Woman," "The Victorian Woman," and "Victorian Masculinity"

Our Fair Lady

Lauren Cullins


OUR FAIR LADY




In the modern western world the body represents either masculine superiority or feminine inferiority. In the novel Dracula, by Bram Stoker he shows the emergence of the new modern woman.

The Author uses vampirism as an example of “mixed” identity, showing the relationship between desire and gender, making it clear how it promotes anxiety in the Victorian culture. We see the workingwoman, Mira, and the sexualized, Lucy and the penetrated victims (Dracula s three wives).
In the Movie Nosferatu and the 1931 edition of Dracula the display of females as sexual beings isn’t as prominent as in the novel. We see words like voluptuous, Desire, penetrate, and repulsive used repeatedly to show the heightened sexual idolization of the vamped women in Stokers Dracula.
“ Her breathing grew stertorous, the mouth opened, and the pale gums, drawn back, made the teeth look longer and sharper than ever….. her eyes, were dull and hard at once and she spoke in a soft, voluptuous voice, such as I never heard from her lips”(p.181)

These women in the novel give a pleasurable, thrilling desire to the opposite sex. It is Dracula’s bite that turns them into irresistible beings. Not that they weren’t “sought after” by men prior to the bite, as Lucy had three suitors; its just that after they are penetrated by Dracula they give men a “wicked desire” placed them in a strange hypnotic state and covered them with a “deadly fear”.
Lucy in the story represents Virtue and innocence as does Mina and women in general during this era. However Dracula bites her for the first time her sexual aura is heightened, becoming extremely sexualized by the men in the novel.

“Why cant a girl marry three men, or as many as want her, and save all this trouble¨.

Her sexual appetite not satisfied by one but possibly three or more men.
Bram Stoker uses Van Helsing, the doctor, philosopher, and metaphysician in the novel as a tool to maintain Victorian Gender codes. He is key, job also entailing the maintance of social structure.
Van Helsing tries to maintain gender categories by diagnosing Lucy and attempting to reverse her transformation from human to vampire. This is very important to Van Helsing and Jonathan. The likelihood of losing his or her social status is quickly pushed to the forefront of the mind.
To see Lucy and Mira “change” because of the coming of Dracula was Van Helsing´s main concern. He did all that was in his power to reverse Lucy´s transformation and to make sure the same didn’t happen to Mira. “Edward Westermark, was thinking about when he coined the memorable phrase “social adultery”. Here, then, is the real horror of Dracula, for he is the ultimate social adulterer, whose purpose is nothing if it is not to turn good English women like Mina and Lucy away from their own kind and customs”( http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp.)
One direction that both the movies and the novel shared was the common female prey; All vampires are Female other than count. He never seduces, or penetrates another male. Only by biting a woman does Dracula Penetrate a male.
“Your girls that you all love are mine already, and through them you and others shall yet be mine.”
In both movies we see sexuality and gender differently. Both films limit the focus on sexuality. In the movie nosferatu, Dracula’s three wives don’t appear at all. The only women Dracula seems to be intrigued by is Mina. The feeling so strong that while Dracula is preying on Jonathan its almost as if Mina can feel it and is being put under the same hypnosis from afar.
She actually wakes from her sleep and cries out Jonathans name as if to warn him or try and wake him from his trance.

While Jonathan is trapped in Dracula’s Castle he describes a dream or nightmare in a journal entry. He speaks of being filled with “a wicked burning desire” after being in the presence of Dracula’s three wives. This takes you into the male imagination.
“The fair girl bent over me till I could feel the movement of her breath upon me.. The girl went on her knees and bent over me simply gloating. There was a deliberate voluptuousness which was both thrilling and repulsive, and as she arched her neck she actually licked her lips like an animal.” (p48)

He, Jonathan, goes on to describes Dracula’s three women that appear to him in his dream as repulsive. Although the scene itself seems as if it would have been quite pleasurable had the removal of blood not been their main objective.
During the 1890’s if a woman was viewed as a sexual idol they could not be respected among the “higher” social classes, the class in which Jonathan, Lucy, Van Helsing, and Mira belonged to. “
Stoker simply wanted to show and represent the “ new woman of the Victorian Age” by creating Mina, the new workingwoman. Admiring her grace and class while still being sexualized. Showing both “conflicting sides” of this New aged Woman.

Vamped woman

here is the vamped woman...

she seems to have a golden halo of light around her head.
its clear that she just finished drinking the blood of something/ someone, but who or what it was we dont know.
All that we know is what we see, her pale complexion, and purple lips.
her eyes closed, resting as she should be when the sun rises..


LC

Dr. Abraham Van Helsing

  Dr. Abraham Van Helsing is commonly know as an M.D. , a Ph.D., and a D.Litt. (and in some versions) and attorney. He is a lonely, unmarried yet kind, fatherly, and knowledgeable. Although he is known as a wise man of medicine and folklore, his role and ways of practice in Bram Stoker’s “Dracula”, F.w. Murnau’s  “Nosferatu”, and Tod Browning’s “Dracula” differ.

He is depicted as a man of science, a stern believer in the supernatural, distinguished, and educated in other worldly knowledge. Van Helsing’s approach to destroying Dracula and healing all those affected by him through these three versions in the aspect of science verse religion.

Bram Stoker’s “Dracula”, a Novel written in 1897, heightens the importance of the character Van Helsing. He is described by Mina (in chapter 14) as “A man strongly built, with shoulders set back, an indication of power.” Jack Seward describes him as “A seemingly arbitrary man with an absolutely open mind and a truest heart that beats”.  “Dracula ardently professes to champion the cause of morality and Christian “reverence,” but all the while indoctrinating its readership in a system of nihilistic superstition rife with a sinister ideological overtones.” (.http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublication?journalCode=representations)

 

Stoker’s novel has the Victorian religious feeling by portrayal of vampirism as an infestation from a remote, superstitious foreign land. The beginning of the novel establishes Van Helsings religiousness when he keeps Arthur from kissing Lucy. He is not so much concerned with keeping his friends alive  as much as he is with keeping them in God’s favor. Van Helsing take the role as the religious and well as the intellectual leader from here on. As he gathers together a group to monitor Lucy as well as Dracula, Van Helsing explains that they must do their “duty”, and that it was not a personal war at hand but merely a Christian obligation.  His radical side is shown here, balancing out with the religious side. Another example of this radical behavior is what Van Helsing acknowledges the sacredness and power of the holy bread, yet uses it in a completely rational way. He uses the Host to seal Lucy’s tomb by mixing it together with clay.  Althought out of the norm, the men never believe hat Van Helsing is being sacrilegious. It actually convinces the men that there must be some validity in his actions.  This allows all of the characters to return to a more religious state. Van Helsing also uses religious icons such as holy water and the cross in defense against Dracula.

      There is a strong sense of religious importance through the characters as well. On page 336, Mina cries out to God “the Almighty shuns my polluted flesh!” believing that God is punishing her.  Van Helsing also uses scientific practices as well in the Novel by performing numerous blood transfusions.

“Christianity in Dracula is imagined above all as an agency for the pitiless eradication of deviancy.” (.http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublication?journalCode=representations)

Van Helsing through out the novel is very involved with all of the characters. His ability to use rational procedures along with religious practices gives him this understanding as this greater being.

 

F. W. Murnau’s 1922 film Nosferatu changed the importance of the character Van Helsing. Count Orlok (aka Count Dracula) was the stronger and main character in this version of Dracula.  “Galeen (one of the writes of Dracula the novel) set thie story in a fictional north German harbour town named Wisborg and changed the character names. He added the idea of the vampire bringing the plague to Wisborg via rats on the ship.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nosferatu#Deviations_from_the_novel)  “The story of Nosferatu is similar to that of Dracula and retains the core characters—Jonathan and Mina Harker, the Count, etc.—but omits many of the secondary players, such as Arthur and Quincey, and changes all of the character's names. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nosferatu#Deviations_from_the_novel)

What is interesting is that he left out the Van Helsing vampire hunter character. Without this character and all good that he would have done, the story was changed to a more religious and less scientific focus.

“In contrast to Dracula, Orlok does not create other vampires, but kills his victims, causing the townfolk to blame the plague, which ravages the city. Also, Orlok must sleep by day, as sunlight would kill him. The ending is also substantially different from that of Dracula. The count is ultimately destroyed at sunrise when the "Mina" character sacrifices herself to him.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nosferatu#Deviations_from_the_novel)

If Van Helsing were to exist in this film then Mina’s character would know less information about Dracula and there would be an educated set of helping hands to intervene with Nosferatu’s work.  It also completely changed the way in which Dracula and Mina were eliminated.

Tod Browning’s film “Dracula” (1931) included the character of Van Helsing, unlike F. W. Murnau’s Nosferatu. Comparable to Bram Stoker’s “Dracula”, Van Helsing’s characteristics are that of religious and scientific practices; a strong willed with a stern head on his shoulders and passion in his heart. Although religious instances occur in Murnau’s film, Van Helsing is shown more as a scientific man (as we were introduced to him in the operation room as he underwent a procedure). Professor Van Helsing analyzes Renfield's blood, discovering Renfield’s obsession. (This is the scene where a microscope was used to show cells. A very scientific shot in the film.) The scene where Van Helsing and Harker notice that Dracula does not have a reflection in the mirrored top of the cigarette case aided as an example of how scientific practices were used to prove even superstitious ideas. This led to Van Helsing deducing that Dracula is the vampire.

Van Helsing also differs due to heightened want for revenge on Dracula. This was very clear when Dracula tells him that Mina is now his after fusing his blood with hers, and Van Helsing swears revenge by sterilizing Carfax Abbey and finding the box where he sleeps; he will then thrust a stake through his heart.

At the end of the film Dracula is forced to sleep in his coffin, as sunrise has come, and is trapped.  “Van Helsing prepares a wooden stake while Harker searches for Mina. He finds her in a strange stasis, and when Dracula moans in pain when Van Helsing impales him, she returns to her old self. Harker leaves with Mina while Van Helsing stays. The sound of church bells is heard.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dracula_%281931_film%29#Reception)

 

The notation of church bells implies religious views as well as an idea that the Christian faith and all that is good overcame the devil and his work.

Bram Stoker’s “Dracula”, F.w. Murnau’s  “Nosferatu”, and Tod Browning’s “Dracula” all have interesting ideas of the importance of the role of Dr. Van Helsing.

 

SOURCES:

http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublication?journalCode=representations

·  ISSN: 07346018

·  OCLC: 45953560

·  LCCN: 2001-214647

·  JSTOR Coverage: 1983-2005 (Nos. 1-92)

 

·               It Takes Capital to Defeat Dracula: A New Rhetorical Essay

Richard M. Coe . College English, Vol. 48, No. 3 (Mar., 1986), pp. 231-242

Published by: National Council of Teachers of English

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dracula#Reaction

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dracula_%281992_film%29#Differences_between_film_and_novel

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nosferatu#Deviations_from_the_novel

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dracula_%281931_film%29#Reception

Critical Analysis: Poetry and Art -Johanna

For this assignment our group was instructed to create a visual and creative piece echoing certain elements found in Bram Stokers Dracula. Stephanie created two visual art pieces, one being an eerie interpretation of Count Dracula and the other being the oh so mysterious bag of our Van Helsing. Lauren crafted an intensely vivid and engaging poetry piece that feels very much inspired by Stokers writing style.

Stephanie's Dracula is honestly quite chilling. I feel that since charcoal as a medium by nature has a tendency to give whatever its depicting a sense of brash intensity, its use really sets the tone here. Since her Dracula doesn't necessarily take the form of what I would categorize as a human like any other, it is clear to the viewer that we are looking for something more here. Elements of the earlier version of the film are evident here as well; the shape and structure of the hand for instance definitely reflect a certain level of familiarity on the artists part with the Dracula that has been memed many times over. Further, I felt it to be very creative of Stephanie to choose his medical bag to draw attention to the shroud of mystery that surrounds Van Helsing. This drawing (and its eternal place in cyber land) as an interpretation of the text highlights the many different ways in which a primary narrative can inform so many different forms of art and move through the media to be retranslated.

Lauren's piece, I felt, really captured the essence of the text. We are briefly introduced to a world of doom and tension, warned of danger and ultimately informed that we would inevitably lust for this sanguine attacker. These elements to me are things that we as readers of Dracula pick up on almost immediately so it was interesting to read a literary piece from a different genre, time and place that is still able to capture those emotions in a different way.

Stephanie's drawing of Dracula and Lauren's poem interact on a certain level. My first instinct was to say that they felt opposing since the Dracula depicted here (sorry, Steph!!) is not what I would call lustful at all. However, I now get the sense that despite his creepiness, Dracula's vampireness puts him in a whole other class--"vamp-sexy."

Creative Writing-Lauren

Programed to rise after dusk sets,
he who controls the children of the night.
endless life after death, A ghost of history
his shadow luminescent in the dark, cold
his one goal to to strip you of your human essence
Beware... after the sun sets
his longing for you flesh may draw him near
no mercy, a sanguinarian; type... yours preferably
Fiery eyes
stops at nothing
You long for a kiss from the pale creature, A spell that your under
You lust to see him again, in your dreams or nightmares
an attraction stronger than any felt before
how do I end this bitch..

Lc

Visual -stephanie

Van Helsing's medical bag. I chose this object as the "vague" object because through out the novel this item was always seen as mysterious to a few of the characters. I thought it compared well with Van Helsings mysterious personality as well.
..a messed up Dracula. haha