Representation Of Women In Dracula

Mina, in ‘Dracula’ is portrayed in numerous ways; but she embodies the ideal woman of the era in every respect. She is prudent, intelligent, caring and above all humble. However, she can be considered a liminal woman. Whilst she isn’t portrayed as weak, which is proven when she uses her telepathic connection with Dracula to outsmart him, at the end of the novel, neither is she quite the ‘New Woman’ yet as her loyalties lie with Johnathan and her baby, as a loving wife and mother. The men in Mina’s life have admiration for her devotion and empathy towards them; which is proven when she comforts Arthur and “felt this big, sorrowing man's head resting on me, as though it were that of the baby that someday may lie on my bosom, and I stroked his

Similarly, In ‘The Snow Child’, due to the clothing she wears, Carter creates an illusion that the Countess is a dominatrix and a femme fatale as “she wore high, black, shining boots with scarlet heels, and spurs.” The use of the colour scarlet represents danger, which could foreshadow how dangerous the Count is, it could also connote anger which could highlight how angry and frustrated she is at being treated unequally to her husband. Mary Kaiser writes, “The Countess is also a pornographic image in relation to the Count. She belongs to him because she has significance as Countess only in relation to him as Count.” The Countess’s reliance on her husband is demonstrated when she allows the Count to “thrust his virile member into the dead girl”. The use of the adjective “virile” emphasises that the Snow Child is only there to satisfy his masculine desires. Which shows that even when the Countess does not agree with what he does, she is not in a position to stop him due to the oppression of females. The Count himself represents the corruption of men and their inability to control their inner desires no matter how unacceptable they are. Cristina Bacchilega calls the 'Snow Child' "a masculine fantasy, a frozen image without a real life of her

This is demonstrated when she says “men like women, certainly their wives, to be quite fair as they are; and women, I am afraid are not always quite fair as they should be.” Here Lucy is expressing her desire to break free from the patriarchal society. Lucy isn’t like Mina when it comes to being motherly; and her lack of maternal instinct excludes her from being the ideal woman of the Victorian era. She clutches a child to her chest, but instead of feeding the child, which would be expected of a woman, she feeds on it. When she is interrupted by the men in the graveyard, she "flings the child to the ground, callous as a devil.” The use of the word “fling” suggests her complete disregard of human life and shows her to be doubly deviant, a sociology theory that by rebelling against the expressive role a woman is supposed to demonstrate, she will be harshly treated by society. The use simile in “callous as a devil” suggests that she’s been tempted to give into her desires just like Eve in the bible. As a consequence she’s portrayed as an unmanageable, immoral woman who preys upon innocent children. This could be an allusion to Jewish religion stories about Adam’s first wife, Lilith. Lilith was a woman who snatched children and devoured them so she could stay young and beautiful. She was created as Adam’s equal in the eyes of God, however, she refused to submit to him so God created Eve. This