Comparing Vampire And The Vampire Diaries - 1660 Words

Vampires are very present in today’s society. Many novels and shows, like Twilight and The Vampire Diaries, show that vampires are still integral to our culture. However, the birth of such a cultural phenomenon would not have happened without Dracula. Without Bram Stoker’s novel, there would be no stereotypical vampires that capture the culture’s conscious. Aside from telling a story on vampires, Dracula also explores ideals about the women of the time in which it was written, which is the Victorian Era. Throughout the Victorian period, one of the predominant concerns was the role of women and the place they fill in their society. Dracula is one of many Victorian novels that explore the varying roles women filled. Two of the characters†¦show more content†¦In one correspondence between her friend and Mina, Lucy discusses what it means to be a woman by calling it a cult. This cult reflects the expectation of women to serve as domestic homemakers and not v enture outside the idea of marriage. The identity of women is something that is not meant to be seen as an individual but in terms of their utility to the sustenance of man. This point can be proven by not only some of Lucy’s thoughts in the text but in many of her descriptions by other characters in the text as well. This lack of individuality in support of patriarchy is reflected in everything that Lucy does. The order of her day, where she will live, and even the smallest details of how she will speak. There is one instance in a conversation with her friend Mina that Lucy notes how she will only speak in a manner that her husband will like. Women in this age where expected to be this way, always dutiful and deferential to men, whether it be their husbands, fathers or brothers. This inferiority to men is important to note because it helps play into Stoker’s (among other Victorian writers and Victorian people’s views in general) character development of the wom en. In Dracula, Stoker illustrates some women as overtly sexual beings and other women as pure, chaste creatures. These depictions are represented through the different female characters. The characterization of the women who show the varying representations are reflections of the ideal