The place of women is always a difficult thing to talk about because of its overly sexist views towards how the females are meant be act like or be like. How there are supposed to get married, be a housewife, and please the man whenever he wants. Even though in the book Dracula the women arent housewives they still have a very similar place in the book. They are viewed as sexed up slaves, and mindless victims.
I have always thought that a wild animal never looks so well as when some obstacle of pronounced durability is between us. A personal experience has intensified rather then diminished that idea (Pg. 235). When looking into this quote deeper a sort of repressed form of sexuality is found. It seemed to hint that all women are just wild animals that arent as pleasing to men when they dont do as normal women do, like keeping the house clean, living just to please the man, and being a little boring housewifes. It is just another way of saying that when rebel and fight for themselves, men dont like it very much and feel attacked.
Its not just coincidence that Dracula feeds on the weak minded and feeble people, which also just happened to be females. Bram Stoker seemed to be using the thought that women are weak minded, sub human life forms. Men could control them very easily; much like Dracula did to Mina. I want to be what you are. See what you see-love what you love (Pg 257). This quote is after Dracula mind melds Mina into his own concubine. If he wanted to he could have chosen between many victims, but he chose to manipulate Minas mind because women are thought to have very weak minds.
I shall cut off her head and fill her mouth with garlic, and I shall drive a stake through her body (Pg. 319). This is when Van Helsing and his crew plan to kill Lucy. In this quote and whole sequence of this part of the book, it shows the power men have over women. Its a hidden message to women saying, if you dont follow the rules we set out for you, we have the power to man handle you. This little quote speaks volumes about womens places in Dracula. No bigger than the fly on the wall, no more important than the blade of grass in the lawn, and no stronger that the infants they were when they were born. So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs and closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.
The man said, "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called 'woman' for she was taken out of man." For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. (Book of Genesis chap.2: vs. 21-24) Women are stupid, weak, baby making mammals in Bram Stokers Dracula.
In the year 1897 there was a lot of thinking done about women being mens personal play things. No thought was really put into because back then people just seemed to accept it and be okay with it. Thats the way it was and it was no different in Dracula
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