Gender roles play a very significant part in in the film Dracula, adapted from Bram Stroker’s famous novel. To develop a thorough understanding of story’s theme, it is important to properly analyze the role of each character. Greater focus will be placed on understanding the gender dynamics that dominate the roles of the characters.
The Film portrays a patriarchal Victorian era society which was dominated by white males. Most, if not all the characters in the movie were of Caucasian descent. Women at the time were viewed as subordinates of men. To most, they were nothing more than sexual objects. Jonathan Barker’s fiancée Nina Murray represents the ideal woman who fits her given role perfectly in Victorian Era society in the film. Not only does she embody purity and innocence, she is also a devout Christian. Murray is a school mistress who works well with children, another skill women were expected to have at the time. Unfortunately she is a victim of sexual harassment, like many others who lived during her time, including her close friend Lucy. This sexual victimization of women in the hands of men reveals the male dominance present in the society during that time.
Count Dracula is a human representation of this omnipresent male dominant attitude. Even though he victimized few men as well, such as Jonathan hacker and Reinfield, his more significant victims were Nina and Lucy. He rapes both of them in order to be considered more masculine, even though it would be at the expense of the vicitms. As a result of this assault, the women were viewed as less respectable and therefore lesser women.
The role of the dominant male and the submissive female is reversed later on in the movie. As the film progresses, Jonathan Hacker is victimized by three female vampires. In this scene a male is raped by females. This scene is surprising because it is a sudden reversal of the male dominance theme that is recurrent throughout the film. “I was afraid to raise my eyelids, but looked out and saw perfectly under the lashes. The girl went on her knees, and bent over me, simply 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. . . . Lower and lower went her head as the lips went below the range of my mouth and chin and seemed about to fasten on my throat. . . . I closed my eyes in a languorous ecstasy and waited—waited with beating heart.” (Harker) This was said by Harker, which very strongly portrays a reaction of a typical Victorian male. These undead women were unlike any of the other women in the film. While Mina and Lucy are models of virtue and purity, these women were seductive, aggressive and greedy. The position that the vampire assumes over Harker’s body suggests a sexual act, and this display of female sexual aggression both attracts and repulses Harker.
This also gives us a deeper insight to Jonathan Harkers evolution throughout the movie from being a victim of bloodthirsty vampires to gathering the courage to slay the monster Dracula. After being assaulted, Harker questioned his masculinity. This feeling of humiliation motivated him to slay Dracula. He also wishes to save Mina, adding to his already strong desire to eliminate Dracula. Henceforth, Harker constantly tries to regain his masculinity. All of the other male characters in the movie, including John Sewaard and Arthur Holmood also questioned their masculinity because they couldn’t protect Lucy from rape. The only characters that managed to save their own gender roles from questioning were Count Dracula and Ven Helsing.
Harker’s rape by three females marks a significant point in the reversal of gender roles in the film and forces the reader to question the traditional concept of a male and female. Another point worth noting was that although three females sexually assault a single man, he was still given a second attempt to regain his masculinity. A woman, however has lost her esteem in society permanently after one man soils her innocence, as shown by the sexual assaults Dracula commits against his female victims. The reversal of gender roles made transparent the double standards that society imposes upon men and women. According to a film, three women are needed to equal the power of one man.
Bibliography
• "Watch Dracula Online Free Putlocker | Putlocker - Watch Movies Online Free." Watch Dracula Online Free Putlocker | Putlocker - Watch Movies Online Free. N.p., n.d. Web. 29
• "JUMP CUTA REVIEW OF CONTEMPORARY MEDIA." Genre Films and the Status Quo by Judith Hess. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Oct. 2014.
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