Gender roles within dracula

Gender roles within dracula

  • Submitted By: sarahyhok
  • Date Submitted: 03/02/2016 2:43 AM
  • Category: English
  • Words: 753
  • Page: 4

http://www.shmoop.com/dracula/gender-quotes-1.html
Quote #1
I am alone in the castle with those awful women. Faugh! Mina is a woman, and there is nought in common. They are devils of the Pit! (4.67)
Here, Harker contrasts the three Brides of Dracula with Mina. We're invited to think of them as the complete opposite of Mina.
Quote #2
At least God's mercy is better than that of these monsters, and the precipice is steep and high. At its foot a man may sleep—as a man. (4.70)
It's interesting that Jonathan adds "—as a man" at the end, because at this point, he has no way of knowing that the vampires' kiss could turn him into a vampire. All he knows is that "those awful women" want to suck his blood and that Dracula, too, is some kind of monster. Maybe Harker thinks that being victimized by the three "weird sisters" would somehow make him less of a man.
Quote #3
I believe we should have shocked the "New Woman" with our appetites. (8.1)
Mina and Lucy go on a long walk, and are so hungry when they get back that they eat a huge amount, without worrying about being prim and proper.
Quote #4
Some of the "New Women" writers will some day start an idea that men and women should be allowed to see each other asleep before proposing or accepting. But I suppose the New Woman won't condescend in future to accept; she will do the proposing herself. And a nice job she will make of it, too! There's some consolation in that. (8.1)
Is Mina making fun of the "New Women"? It's not totally clear. Is she being sarcastic when she says, "And a nice job she will make of it, too"? Mina's not the type of woman who would ever propose to a man—she'd wait to be proposed to. But she's not usually that sarcastic, either. So maybe this is a place where Bram Stoker's own voice is coming in—perhaps he's using Mina as a mouthpiece to poke fun at progressive women.
Quote #5
A brave man's blood is the best thing on this earth when a woman is in trouble. You're a man, and no mistake....

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