Michel Foucault's "Panopticism"

937 Words2 Pages

Michel Foucault's "Panopticism" is based on the architectural concept of the panopticon. Foucault extended this concept to create a new sort of authority and disciplinary principle. His idea was that of the anonymous watchers hold in and has the power to influence the ones being watched. This concept is two fold – it is subject to the person being watched not being able to know when they are being watched and to the rules of society places on individuals on how they should act in a given situation. This idea can be applied to every day life, like how we set up testing rooms for students or when reading literary works such as Dracula by Bram Stoker. In Dracula, there are power differentials caused by a character or characters "seeing" what others do not and caused by societal constructions.
In Bram Stoker's Dracula , Mina is intrigued by the idea of the "New Woman". This "New Woman" is not subject to men and the rules of society in Victorian England. This notion of the "new woman" is that she is more independent and isn't subject to the man but is instead an equal. Mina says "... I suppose the 'New Woman' won't condescend in future to accept. She will do the proposing herself." By this, she envisions women will forego tradition and take over some of the roles previously done only by men.
During the late 1800's, when this novel takes place, the woman's Suffrage movement was gaining momentum in Europe. It is said that Mina read about these new ideas and seemed to wonder how events in her own life would be seen by the New Woman. Including whether they would think she may eat to heartily for a woman. Although she is interested in the concepts, she does not see herself as living this way. Any new skills she learns are for the b...

... middle of paper ...

...The "Panopticism" concept presented by Michel Foucault can be used to explain how a person will react to being watched or just by the thought that they might be watched at any given time. Although society dictates the generally accepted behavior for a time period, new ideas begin to have an impact on individuals eventually forcing the change of ideals by society. The character of Mina in Dracula is an example of the complex interrelationships caused by these concepts. Although Mina is introduced to ideas of women independence, she continues to behave as the current society dictates – which was to always support the men in her life and follow their instructions. She would behave in this manner at all times as she would never know when she was being observed. Ironically, by following along with these dictates, she leaves herself open to being attacked by Dracula.

Show More
Related

  • What Are The Stereotypes Of Women In Dracula

    1371 Words  | 3 Pages

    Even though women such as Lucy demonstrate stereotypical female weakness, characters such as Mina defy the conventional submissive female, as an independent woman, a role uncommon of novels in this era. In addition, Mina, in comparison to men, possesses substantially stronger emotional fortitude and controls her emotions, while the men who are supposed to be strong expose emotional weakness and frailty. Ultimately, however, no matter Mina’s intelligence or strengths, the men continually suppress Mina’s vast amount of wisdom in order to maintain their perceived dominance. Nonetheless, Stoker’s messages throughout the novel regarding women silently protest the sexist expectations of the overly limiting Victorian era. Should today’s modern feminists take Stoker’s peaceful approach and protest subtly hoping for long-term change? Or should feminists act with violent protests in hope for prompt change? Gender equality will not happen overnight, however, instead of rushing minuscule modifications with violent protest, society must patiently wait for productive and peaceful change, in order to prevent an even larger

    Read More

  • Mina In Bram Stoker's Dracula

    968 Words  | 2 Pages

    Mina is also vastly unlike the contemporary female Gothic tropes due to her financial independence. Although Mina could be described as the ideal Victorian lady, Stoker also managed to include qualities associated with the much feared and controversial New Woman in her. She and Lucy mock the independence of the New Woman and joke that the New Woman will try to introduce the inversion of gender roles that contemporary society feared;

    Read More

  • Surveillance in Foucault's Panopticism and Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron

    1798 Words  | 4 Pages

    Ever feel as though someone is watching you? You know that you are the only one in a room, but for some reason you get an eerie feeling that you are not alone? You might not see anyone, but the eyes of a stranger could be gazing down on you. In Foucault's "Panopticism," a new paradigm of discipline is introduced, surveillance. No one dares to break the law, or do anything erroneous for that matter, in fear that they are being watched. This idea of someone watching your every move compels you to obey. This is why the idea of Panopticism is such an efficient form of discipline. The Panopticon is the ideal example of Panopticism, which is a tool for surveillance that we are introduced to in “Panopticism.” Kurt Vonnegut's "Harrison Bergeron," has taken the idea of surveillance one step further. The government not only observes everyone, but has complete control over society. The citizens of the United States cannot even think for themselves without being interrupted by the government. They are prisoners in their own minds and bodies. The ideals of “Panopticism” have been implemented to the fullest on society in Vonnegut’s "Harrison Bergeron," through physical and mental handicaps.

    Read More

  • Dracula and the Threat of Female Sexual Expression by Bram Stoker

    1398 Words  | 3 Pages

    “Dracula, in one aspect, is a novel about the types of Victorian women and the representation of them in Victorian English society” (Humphrey). Through Mina, Lucy and the daughters of Dracula, Stoker symbolizes three different types of woman: the pure, the tempted and the impure. “Although Mina and Lucy possess similar qualities there is striking difference between the two” (Humphrey). Mina is the ideal 19th century Victorian woman; she is chaste, loyal and intelligent. On the other hand, Lucy’s ideal Victorian characteristics began to fade as she transformed from human to vampire and eventually those characteristics disappeared altogether. Lucy no longer embodied the Victorian woman and instead, “the swe...

    Read More

  • Mina Harker's Role In Dracula

    501 Words  | 2 Pages

    Mina's own threat to Victorian morality is transformed and exploited by Dracula. Van Helsing and Dr. John Seward feared her brain, her defining feature as the "New Woman," is corrupted by Dracula malevolent influence. Additionally, unlike the typical Victorian woman would, Mina Harker plays a key role in the hunt of Dracula, and is thus a threat to a different entity, the man. The man, in Victorian society, is the quintessential power whose control extends over women. Just as Dracula's wives are subservient to him, Victorian women, excepting Mina, are shadows of their husbands. But with "the brain of a man," Mina plays an essential role in the pursuit of the vampire and poses a threat to powerful men like Dracula.

    Read More

  • Our Secret by Susan Griffin

    1035 Words  | 3 Pages

    Perhaps no other event in modern history has left us so perplexed and dumbfounded than the atrocities committed by Nazi Germany, an entire population was simply robbed of their existence. In “Our Secret,” Susan Griffin tries to explain what could possibly lead an individual to execute such inhumane acts to a large group of people. She delves into Heinrich Himmler’s life and investigates all the events leading up to him joining the Nazi party. In“Panopticism,” Michel Foucault argues that modern society has been shaped by disciplinary mechanisms deriving from the plague as well as Jeremy Bentham’s Panopticon, a structure with a tower in the middle meant for surveillance. Susan Griffin tries to explain what happened in Germany through Himmler’s childhood while Foucault better explains these events by describing how society as a whole operates.

    Read More

  • The Role Of Women In Bram Stoker's Dracula

    1319 Words  | 3 Pages

    Dracula brought the changes occurring in society between men and women into the light: “...he blurs the line between man and woman by demonstrating female passion,”(Punter 28). During Dracula’s time, the role of women was to nurture the families and provide structure within the household, while men’s role included stabling the family financially. Women were thought to have a natural mothering attribute, “ I suppose there is something in a woman’s nature that makes a man break down before her and express his feelings on the tender or emotional side without feeling derogatory to his manhood” ( Stoker 327) , which Mina shows often throughout the novel. Part of what makes a woman a woman is the fact she can have the ability to care for everyone. However, Mina is also the model portraying woman’s ability to have brains, “ [Mina] has a man's brain—a brain that a man should have were he much gifted—and a woman's heart. The good God fashioned her for a purpose, believe me, when He made that so good combination,” (Stoker 355). The thought of a woman being capable of having such intelligent thoughts was rare, as it was expected to be the man’s job. As is being the purser in the relationship, but in the beginning of the novel we are shown Jonathan being pursed by the Dracula’s brides. Stoker sets this interaction up in a way that shows the brides not only possessing manly qualities, but Jonathan expressing womanly qualities, as well: “ I lay quiet, looking out from under my eyelashes in an agony of delightful anticipation. The fair girl advanced and bent over me till I could feel the movement of her breath upon me,” (Stoker 55). The brides’ attempt to woo Jonathan, equivalent to the normal actions a man would take when in a relationship with a woman. The reaction given by Jonathan showed feminine representations, allowing the complete gender reversal to

    Read More

  • Stoker's Portrayal of Women in "Dracula"

    1196 Words  | 3 Pages

    Similar to almost every piece of literature ever created, Dracula by Bram Stoker has been interpreted many different ways, being torn at from every angle possible. Just as one might find interest in interpreting novels differently, he or she might also find interest in the plot, prose, or theme, all of which ultimately lead to the novels overall tone. Throughout the novel, it becomes blatant that the novel contains an underlying theme of female incompetence and inferiority. Through a true feminist’s eyes, this analysis can clearly be understood by highlighting the actions of Mina and Lucy, the obvious inferior females in the book. Through Stoker’s complete and utter manipulation of Mina and Lucy, he practically forces the reader to analyze the co-existence of dominant males and inferior females in society and to simultaneously accept the fact that the actual text of Dracula is reinforcing the typical female stereotypes that have developed throughout the ages.

    Read More

  • Summary Of Feminism In Dracula

    657 Words  | 2 Pages

    Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula, is a highly controversial work of fiction that is still being read for the first time today. Dracula touches many different categories including; sci-fi horror to 1800’s English romance literature. This is the main reason why the novel Dracula can be analyzed in many different ways using many different literary theories. The theory which stuck out most to me while reading this novel was the Feminist Theory. The Feminist Theory cannot be used to analyze Dracula as a whole novel, but it can be used in order to analyze the different female characters throughout the book. Therefore, Bram Stoker’s Dracula can be analyzed through the feminist theory by focusing on the characters Mina Harker, Lucy Westenra, and the three brides of Dracula.

    Read More

  • The Dragon in Brain Stoker´s Dracula

    960 Words  | 2 Pages

    Mina also takes part in a gender role transformation in this novel. Mina, who is a typewriter henceforth is economically stable, helps the men plan and take part of the male circle of vampire hunters. Mina is admired for her thoughts it is said that she “has man’s brain”, a brain that a man “should have” if he were much “gifted”, and a “woman’s heart.” Her masculinity is accepted because of the fact that she still follows Victorian rules such as, marrying and following her husband’s orders. Mina is still bound to her culture and follows it all through. This combination of brains and obedience is believed to be a good combination by “the good God.”

    Read More

  • Comparing Sexuality and Power in Dracula and Buffy the Vampire Slayer

    1644 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...sitive depiction of their sexual relationship. For Mina, however, renunciation of Dracula's evil must include the renunciation of her own physical needs and desires. The roles played by social mores and conceptions of gender and sexuality are, in the end, more than incidental. Indeed, the difference between Victorian England and 1990s America causes the subtle -- but significant -- valuation of the connections between good and evil and women and sexuality in two in many ways similar texts.

    Read More

  • The Madwoman In The Attic: The Woman Writer, By Susan Stoker

    735 Words  | 2 Pages

    A so-called New Woman started to emerge and with her the idea that women could become independent and inhibit a space outside the home (Buzwell). This emergence of the New Women heralded a new age for ambitious women. As Lynn Abrams in an article for the BBC states: "The aim of first-wave feminists was to gain better education and employment opportunities for middle-class women, better working conditions and wages for working-class women, and eventually the vote - so that women might have some influence over their fate" (9). This New Woman can also be seen in Mina who works as a schoolteacher (Stoker 55), typewrites (Stoker 55), uses a stenograph (Stoker 55) and assists the men in their work (Stoker 208). However, the operative word here is assist. Although Mina exhibits many traits a New Women would have, she is still confined by Victorian norms. She is the men's assistant and more often than not excluded and not included in their vampire hunt. Mina symbolises an interim state between the Victorian angel and the feminist New Woman – not completely independent but not entirely domestic

    Read More

  • Dracula by Bram Stoker

    971 Words  | 2 Pages

    As the saying goes, “Women can do everything Men can do.” In the Gothic Novel Dracula by Bram Stoker, there is a constant theme of sexuality, from both male and females in society. In the Victorian era, the roles of male and females have caused a lot of tension. After reading Dracula, some would argue the roles men and women hold in society. As mentioned in Dr. Seward’s Dairy from Val Halsing., “Ah, that wonderful Madam Mina! She has man’s brain—a brain that a man should have were he much gifted—and a woman’s heart. The good God fashioned her for a purpose, believe me, when He made that so good combination” (Stoker and Hindle, 2003 250). A women’s mind is not the always the first thing on a males mind. Some would overlook what a woman really has to offer.

    Read More

  • The Role Of Mina In Dracula

    1687 Words  | 4 Pages

    Dracula features behind the lines, the chaos of this gender confusion and one of the main characters, Mina, is a vivid illustration of this. Beyond all, she is the orthodox woman, “Mina indeed acts and is treated as both the saint and the mother…….She is all good, all pure, all true.” (Roth, 31). Since the beginning, Mina has strived to portray herself as the perfect wife and the best potential mother by displaying her motherly instincts sporadically throughout the novel. She is impatient to get married and serve her husband, Jonathan when she writes, “When we are married I shall be able to be useful to Jonathan, and…..write….on...the typewriter.” (Stoker, 62). Without hesitation, she marries Jonathan in Hungary despite his illness and nurses

    Read More

  • Michel Foucault’s Essay, Panopticism”,Panopticon and the Society

    945 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...e concept of panopticon is enough in our society to insure discipline when he says, “A real subjection is born mechanically from a fictitious relation. So it is not necessary to use force to constrain the convict to good behavior, the madman to calm, the worker to work, the schoolboy to application, the patient to the observation of the regulations. Bentham was surprised that panoptic institutions could be so light: there were no more bars, no more chains, no more heavy locks” (Foucault 289). Only thing that our society needs today to make it a better place is panopticon. This is exactly what Foucault is saying when he says, “panoptic institutions could be so light”. People in our society are just like the prisoners inside the panopticon. We think that some is watching from the tower and we behave properly similar to the traffic rules example that I talked about.

    Read More

More about Michel Foucault's "Panopticism"

Open Document