Let's start off with Bram Stoker's novel, as it's the prime source for all the adaptions that followed.
***SPOILERS*** ahead!
Stoker's main female characters are Mina, Lucy, and Lucy's mother, Mrs. Westernra. There's also the secondary characters of Dracula's three vampire brides.
Others mentioned are a few background women, mostly servants employed by the Westernras, and a nameless young woman who Dracula spies in the London streets, where he's scoping out new victims. These background characters are just plot devices, and as such, are never fleshed out.
Mina is depicted as the intellectual "new woman" (as feminists were called back in the day), who's devoted to her husband Jonathan and to her best friend Lucy. She's brave, empathetic, and determined, ready to join forces with Van Helsing to defeat Dracula.
Lucy is the sweet and lovely flirt that everyone adores, always kind and caring in her interactions with others. She becomes Dracula's victim by no fault of her own.
Mrs. Westernra is given several scenes, but serves mostly as a source of worry for Lucy and the others, due to her poor health. She's also something of a plot device, as her naive, but well-meaning, "meddling" interferes with Van Helsing's protective devices for her daughter, thus causing more harm than good.
That brings us to Dracula's brides. They serve as antagonists to Jonathan, and are depicted as beautiful sensual monsters. Given no names, they are nevertheless "lovingly" described with regards to physical appearance and wanton behavior, providing wicked titillation for Stoker's Victorian readers.
They're also in stark contrast to Lucy. Though attacked and defiled by Dracula, Lucy maintains her sweet innocence. Even after she becomes undead, she is still depicted with compassion by Stoker. While she does prey on children, none of them die from her attacks. Van Helsing even tells Dr. Seward that since Lucy was made a vampire while she was in a trance, she's essentially still an innocent, at least in her "sleep" mode. When "awake", however, she acts like the brides, evil and wanton (completely unlike her pre-vampire self), although there's speculation from the men that it's an evil that's in the shape of Lucy's body, and that somewhere inside, her innocent soul is trapped (and of course, must be freed by them).
Not surprisingly, Stoker's novel makes ample use of the classic "good girl / bad girl" trope, vividly contrasting the characters of Mina and Lucy with Dracula's brides. Even though Lucy eventually becomes a vampire, and displays behavior like the brides, she's still depicted as being a cut above the other three.
The virtues of Victorian era womanhood are thereby "upheld", despite all of the blood, titillation, and horror that ensues.
No wonder Victorian readers loved Stoker's book. They got to (secretly) revel in all sorts of racy fin-de-siècle subtext, while enjoying a happy (and moral ending) for the heroes.
no subject
Let's start off with Bram Stoker's novel, as it's the prime source for all the adaptions that followed.
***SPOILERS*** ahead!
Stoker's main female characters are Mina, Lucy, and Lucy's mother, Mrs. Westernra. There's also the secondary characters of Dracula's three vampire brides.
Others mentioned are a few background women, mostly servants employed by the Westernras, and a nameless young woman who Dracula spies in the London streets, where he's scoping out new victims. These background characters are just plot devices, and as such, are never fleshed out.
Mina is depicted as the intellectual "new woman" (as feminists were called back in the day), who's devoted to her husband Jonathan and to her best friend Lucy. She's brave, empathetic, and determined, ready to join forces with Van Helsing to defeat Dracula.
Lucy is the sweet and lovely flirt that everyone adores, always kind and caring in her interactions with others. She becomes Dracula's victim by no fault of her own.
Mrs. Westernra is given several scenes, but serves mostly as a source of worry for Lucy and the others, due to her poor health. She's also something of a plot device, as her naive, but well-meaning, "meddling" interferes with Van Helsing's protective devices for her daughter, thus causing more harm than good.
That brings us to Dracula's brides. They serve as antagonists to Jonathan, and are depicted as beautiful sensual monsters. Given no names, they are nevertheless "lovingly" described with regards to physical appearance and wanton behavior, providing wicked titillation for Stoker's Victorian readers.
They're also in stark contrast to Lucy. Though attacked and defiled by Dracula, Lucy maintains her sweet innocence. Even after she becomes undead, she is still depicted with compassion by Stoker. While she does prey on children, none of them die from her attacks. Van Helsing even tells Dr. Seward that since Lucy was made a vampire while she was in a trance, she's essentially still an innocent, at least in her "sleep" mode. When "awake", however, she acts like the brides, evil and wanton (completely unlike her pre-vampire self), although there's speculation from the men that it's an evil that's in the shape of Lucy's body, and that somewhere inside, her innocent soul is trapped (and of course, must be freed by them).
Not surprisingly, Stoker's novel makes ample use of the classic "good girl / bad girl" trope, vividly contrasting the characters of Mina and Lucy with Dracula's brides. Even though Lucy eventually becomes a vampire, and displays behavior like the brides, she's still depicted as being a cut above the other three.
The virtues of Victorian era womanhood are thereby "upheld", despite all of the blood, titillation, and horror that ensues.
No wonder Victorian readers loved Stoker's book. They got to (secretly) revel in all sorts of racy fin-de-siècle subtext, while enjoying a happy (and moral ending) for the heroes.