Bram Stoker's Dracula: A Reflection and Rebuke of Victorian Society

Bram Stoker’s now legendary novel, Dracula, is not just any piece of cult-spawning fiction, but rather a time capsule containing the popular thoughts, ideas, and beliefs of the Victorian era that paints an elaborate picture of what society was like for Bram Stoker’s generation.

However, it is important to explore the views and atmosphere of the time period of Dracula's writing to better understand how the legendary “evil” that is Dracula came to be. A result of common Victorian-era fears and Stoker’s own personal views on sex and homosexuality, Dracula is a marvel stemming from many sources.

Dracula was written and published before the suffragette movement had “taken off” (Levin 14) during the early-mid 20th century, leaving the expectations and standards for women extremely limiting. Though society maintained strict social standards and expectations for both sexes, men were permitted many more freedoms and pleasures than their female counterparts. The patriarchal tendencies and views of the Victorian society further enforced male superiority and dominance over women (therefore automatically granting them the most freedoms), which in turn also provided countless excuses to justify male sexuality and carnal urges; especially those which women were expected to suppress and constantly refrain from expressing. It was unheard of for a female to be sexually assertive in any way, and such an idea would likely have been a very disturbing and frightening concept to a conservative society, seeing as it was deemed unnatural for and decent lady to behave in such a manner. The theory justifying the abnormality of a female sex drive is that “male sexual pleasure (is) necessary for reproduction and female pleasure (is) not, (therefore) sexual pleasure (is) the sole providence of men,” (Weiman and Dionisapoulas 34; Lyndon 202; Bohn 25).  The mentality ultimately supported the conclusion that the female sex drive has no purpose and, therefore, should not exist. If it was, in fact apparent, one can assume the women would be chastised for being ”unnatural”, and most “unnatural” occurrences of the Victorian era could only be explained by the workings of “evil” forces (chiefly Satanic powers). The three mistress vampires encountered in Dracula’s castle “represent all the qualities of how a woman should not be; voluptuous and sexually aggressive” (Pektas 1).

A main advocate of Stoker’s novel summarizes and epitome of the mixed feelings and emotions which would potentially have surfaced in a situation where the man is confronted by the woman:

“The fair girl went on her knees and bent over me, fairly gloating. There was a deliberate voluptuousness which was both thrilling and repulsive, and as she arched her neck, she actually licked her lips like an animal, till I could see in the moonlight the moisture shining on the scarlet lips and on the red tongue as it lapped the white, sharp, teeth” (Stoker 50).

This particular passage describes the mixed feelings men had towards forward women; temptation made the “unnatural” occurrence of female sexual advances desirable (as it was the “forbidden fruit”), yet from a God-believing gentleman’s standpoint, it was purely evil and almost animalistic. Alluding to the fact that, again, a man’s sexual attraction was not entirely his own fault or “responsibility” (per say), this passage also insinuates that women can only be seductively appealing when deliberately tempting a man to “take the forbidden fruit” himself; another reference to evil’s association with a woman’s sexuality. Even if a woman tempted a man and he took the bate, it would still be considered the woman’s fault for defying the set social expectations for proper ladies, as the men could not easily control what was natural to them.

Expectations and standards concerning ladylike behavior were very confining and limited the expression of many natural emotions and freedoms:

“A woman could not show her legs or even say ‘leg’. Even pianos had ‘limbs’, and those (wore) fluffy coverings so as not to be seen. (Neither) ‘leg’ nor ‘breast’ could be (spoken) in polite company” (Levin 103).

Rules such as the above stated show just how ridiculous and rigid Victorian’s standards for ladies could become. The importance of these “rules” can most likely be accredited to the fact that to their male counterparts, women were a reputation of purity, vulnerability, weakness, and naïve innocence. If a woman were ever to reverse the roles and become “sexually aggressive”(Pektas 1)  and assertive about her desires, her image of chaste fragility and submissive dependence upon men would be shattered, diluting the superior, dominant image of men, as well. One can assume that women who were, in fact, more sexually open and assertive were labeled as having “tainted” their innocence with the deadly sin of “lust”, and were surely on an unholy path to damnation. When Lucy Westerna becomes “tainted” with the evils of Dracula (thus becoming a “lusty” representation of the female figure), her overall mannerisms are described as having a “cold-bloodedness”(Stoker 240) to them, greatly contrasting with the previous descriptions of her loving and virtuous demeanor when she was chaste and conservative.

The concept of “evil” incorporated with aggressive sexual behaviours and sexual temptations very much plays into the evil and appalling behaviors of Dracula. The beliefs of Stoker’s generation magnified the already obscene tendencies of the character himself, adversely creating a shock-factor amongst the Victorian audience, making an epic contribution to the controversial views of sex and sexuality within the society.

Women’s rights in a heterosexual relationship were not nearly as prominent an issue as the ongoing conflicts over the concept of homosexuality, which Stoker was witness to on a first hand account. It was a very serious matter, especially in an age when anything out of the ordinary was considered to be “unnatural” and, again, to be “unnatural” meant to be against God’s will (what was “normal”), therefore making it evil and wrong. Homosexuality was, in fact, so serious a matter within society that it was even considered to be a crime, punishable by imprisonment if tried and found guilty of participating in homoerotic behaviors. Some whom were “(found) guilty” of “committing acts of gross indecency” (ibid 83; Pektas 7) could be “convicted to the maximum of two years in jail with hard labour (ibid 83; Pekats 7).