The Role Of Men And Women In Stoker's Dracula

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Throughout history, men and woman have been forced into conforming into stereotypical societal roles. In particular, the patriarchal Victorians valued the bravery of men and frowned upon all forms of free thinking of women. Stoker 's Dracula takes into account such stereotypes by not only promoting them but also ironically subverting them. Stoker then takes these stereotypes associated with either gender and blurs them to create each character, showing that there are no true gender based roles. Instead, Stoker creates the notion that men and women are of the same value in society, and it is the influence of societal and situational factors that creates perceived bravery or docility. The protagonist of the story, Jonathan Harker, a young
Firstly when Harker arrives, it is Dracula who serves him dinner, rather the brides of Dracula. In Victorian society, women were supposed to take care of the household, which included cleaning and cooking. Stoker, however blurs these gender roles by making Dracula the caretaker of the house. This blur continues, when Dracula see’s his brides attempting to drink the blood of Harker. He comes to the rescue of Harker, telling the brides “This man belongs to me! Beware how you meddle with him, or you’ll have to deal with me!” and Harker ““Yes, I too can love;”(Stoker 37). Dracula acts motherly in a sense to Harker, protecting him from the evils of the women. Consequently, Dracula feeds his brides a child, and rather than showing him gratitude, laugh in his face. In each of this situations, Dracula is shown to be a caregiver and household dweller, characteristics that where only given to woman during the Victorian age. He subverts such stereotypes in order to disprove them, showing that Victorian ideals of men and women were
By blurring the roles of men and women, Stoker destroys all sexist beliefs held at the time, proving that women and men are equal and it is just the perception of that makes them seem unequal. The character of Mina Harker, shows the best of both men and women, creating her own role in society. She shows that it is in fact, left up to the individual, to determine what type of role he or she wants to play in society, rather than let society pick the role he or she

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