Wouldst thou like to die deliciously?

[bleodswean]

 
Let's talk about Egger's women. Let's discuss the female characters in Nosferatu and how Eggers portrays them, what they represent, and how we should view them in the vampire mythos, Stoker's Dracula, and the legacy of the Nosferatu films that came before.

Comments

[earthspirits]

Interesting topic for discussion!


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.

[earthspirits]

(continued)

Next up: Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror (1922) - Essentially a film adaption of Stoker's book, with certain changes made to characters, names, and the setting. Despite being a copy of Dracula (Mrs. Stoker sued the film makers for copyright violation and won), there are nevertheless significant changes that make Nosferatu stand on its own.

Orlok's backstory is different, with his origins as a sorcerer who sold his soul to the devil. He's all evil appetite, with a grotesque rat-like appearance (symbolizing his plague connection).

There are only two female characters in the film: Ellen Hutter and Ruth, Harding's sister.

Ellen (perhaps meant to be Nosferatu's version of Lucy) is quite different from Stoker's character. She possesses an autonomy and determination that Lucy lacks, discovering on her own how to destroy the villain, and chooses to willingly sacrifice herself to save her husband and the town. No victim, she becomes instead a savior, and a heroic figure in her own right.

That said, Ellen still adheres to early 20th Century standards of being a demure and virtuous female character.

[smokingboot]

Noferatu 24: I guess if I was to look at tarot depictions, Anna's the Empress while Ellen is the High Priestess. Anna has tamed her world and lives in the light of a loving god. She's got Friedrich enraptured, and from a 'rutting goat' as Thomas described him, has helped him become a doting father to their daughters. Anna can adapt to the world or gently make the world adapt to her and be happy. She's so kind and compassionate (prerequisites for traditional heroines, it seems; they must nurture and they must care.) Ellen... Ellen is something else. What is highlighted about her is her sensitivity to other 'lower' powers. Both of these women are connected to sex, Anna as a life-giving joyful force, Ellen as a vessel for hunger and satiety. Carnality and spirituality are locked together in each.

The 'new woman' is lost in all this. In the book, Mina is smart; she's the one who puts together clippings, news reports etc. In FFC's version, Mina is still crisply curious. Nosferatu 24 has nothing to do with woman as intellect. In the end, this is all about feelings, a reality in which the rational simply means nothing. The nearest we have to scientific involvement is Von Franz, a genius maverick. He's very kind and knowledgeable but given his moment in the burning crypt, it could be argued that he's a bit nuts himself. So it may not be a case of intellect free women, more that of intellect free people when faced with the unfathomable. But I don't know.

[bleodswean]

And what of Clara and Louise? Why are these daughters?

What of the nude young woman astride the white horse?

Why does Eggers choose to remove The Brides from his tale?