Research Paper On Dracula

2017 Words5 Pages

Julie Weiner
Nov 25, 2014
Research Paper 1
First Reader: Ann Croxson In early folklore, the vampire was a creature of superstition, imagined as a walking corpse with terrible breath who fed off blood at night. It was a hideous creature that rose from its grave to haunt villages. Hundreds of years later, the image has changed greatly in Western literature and film, from a terrifying monster to a suave, charming individual who is dangerous but irresistible. Today, the vampire is a staple in literature and movies because the image is more attractive than terrifying. Older vampire novels published during a time when sex was taboo and unsafe presented the vampire as a sexual tempter and a monster. However, with the development of safe and affordable …show more content…

The pornography of the period portrayed often female deflorations and rape. (Marsh and Delgado). Dracula featured many attacks on vulnerable women, especially the two main female characters, Mina and Lucy. Blood was a metaphor for taking virginity, and Dracula taking Lucy and Mina’s blood was like taking their virginities (Marsh and Delgado). In Chapter 21 of Dracula, Mina was attacked by Dracula in the dead of the night. Dr. Seward says of Mina, "Her white nightdress was smeared with blood, and a thin stream trickled down [Dracula 's] bare breast, which was shown by his torn open dress” (Stoker 288). This scene symbolizes a rape: her pure white dress, representing her virginity, is tainted red with blood, and the damage to Dracula’s clothes is a sign of a struggle, meaning his attack was not consensual. Other subliminal sexual images include the stakes that stab Lucy in her vampire form as phallic, penetrative symbols (Bomarito), and the transfusion of blood as a sex act (Marsh and Delgado). Dracula featured many Victorian prudish themes, shunning women for practicing free love and loose sexuality (Nystrom 70). Mina and Lucy’s different paths in Dracula represent how resisting temptation and remaining pure will save one’s life, whereas giving into temptation could turn one into, literally, a sexual monster, respectively (Nystrom 70). Mina survived Dracula because she resisted his tempting, seductive nature and let the men destroy him. However, Lucy’s descent into vampirism turned her into a voluptuous beast who had to be destroyed because of how terrible she had become. Temptation killed

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