Dracula: The Effect of Women’s Role Change

In society, the significance of social status and role is observable with both genders. This includes the acceptable behaviors and responsibilities for both men and women within one’s culture. It is a constant struggle to follow these established guidelines in order to preserve a good reputation and not possess a low social status. In Bram Stoker’s novel, Dracula, the different characters each represent a different stand in the transformation from “True Woman” to the “New Woman” that surfaced in the late nineteenth century. This new idea made women more independent, with their lives no longer revolving around their husbands, and most importantly created a big change in social expectations. The characters Lucy, Mina, and the three brides of Dracula play a part in revealing Stoker’s belief that social status is changed for the worse with this change in women’s roles.

The concepts of “New Woman” and “True Woman” are major parts of the novel. “True Woman” is a concept usually associated with Victorian England, but generally women who are religious, pure, submissive, and domestic (Brashears). Mina is the best portrayal of this idea. For example, her husband, Jonathan Harker’s interaction with her expresses the submissiveness as a “True Woman.” When Professor Van Helsing asks who is willing to join the mission to kill Dracula, Jonathan says, “I answer for Mina and myself” which puts Mina under the authority of her husband (Stoker 256). On the other hand, “New Woman,” was basically opposite, by being outside the home, working, involved in society and free (Brashears). Although for the most part, Mina follows the idea of the “True Woman,” she does not when she assists her husband to have (in reference to the letters and journals) “type ...

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...ue Woman,” by being the only woman who survives at the end of the novel. Although the other women have the strong power of seduction, Mina is still able to last until the end of the novel. Furthermore, through the actions as well as journal entries of the characters, the novel Dracula proposes that the change to “New Woman” directly influences one’s reputation negatively exaggerated by the deaths of the other more “New Woman” characterized women. This direct relationship between social status and the role of women is represented through the several woman characters. It is also seen that the one with the highest reputation is the one that remains the longest. This relationship is still present in modern society in the gender income gap. As the amount of money one has increases, his social status increases too but for women, their level of income is at times limited.