I wanna start by saying that I enjoyed this book. It was really interesting, it was thrilling, and creepy as all get out. But going from Pride and Prejudice to Dracula really made the disappointing quality of the female characters in this novel glaringly obvious. So, who are the female characters in this novel? Lucy, Lucy's mother, Mina, and the three vampire brides. First, Lucy's mother is just a bafoon, and largely one of reasons that Lucy ends up dead. Then, let's look at the remaining five characters. The main purpose they serve in this universe was to be figuratively raped by the Count. Yes, I said rape. What the Count does to them is an unwanted, penetrative act that leaves these woman forever changed. There has always been a sexual tone to vampire stories, so the scenes between Mina and Count Dracula have a very "rape-y" feeling to them. Additionally, after the scene with Mina, Dracula, and Jonathan, when Mina is burned by the Communion wafer, she claims that she is "unclean." This idea is one that is often shared by many initial sexual assault victims because of the trauma that has been forced upon them.
Then, lets think about the differences between the male vampires (the only one we have in the novel is Dracula) and the female vampires (Lucy, the brides, and sort of Mina). Dracula is sentient. He is aware of his surroundings and he is smart. He plans things out meticulously enough to transport 50 boxes of dirt to 4 different locations for safe keeping. Meanwhile, the female vampires are animalistic. They don't seem to be able to control themselves. Lucy especially does not attempt to hide herself when she is hunting and is see by so many that she earns a nickname for herself. I've always been a big fan of the movie Van Helsing and I really love the Vampire Brides in that movie, but now because of this book, I worry that I'm never going to look at them the same way again because they are just not strong characters.
To really emphasize how poor a character Lucy's mother was, I felt I should mention I actually COMPLETELY FORGOT that she was even a character in this book until you mentioned it. She was just that unmemorable.
ReplyDeleteAnd I agree with you that the handling of vampires in this book is EXTREMELY rapey, and it's been bothering me for a little while. I mean, not just because rape is evil and disgusting, but also because like- the entire idea of vampires became romanticized after this. Maybe not after this specific book, but it's undeniable that vampires- through media like the film adaptation we're meant to watch, and Twilight- became seen as something mysterious and romantic, which is REALLY FUCKED UP when you consider the extremely rapey subtext in Dracula.
I didn't pick up on the rape-y aspect in my first read, mainly because I was in the process of writing a paper for another class, but now that I've read it a second time I'm picking up on those aspects and after watching the movie, it makes me very uncomfortable. The female characters are so awful. It really makes them out to be these fragile, sexually blinded creatures with no free will. I really disliked how the movie took away from Mina's character as well. It's a real shame. In the book she appears like a go-getter and she puts the entirety of the evidence together, and in the movie we never see that. Her one huge character moment and its removed.
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