by Naomi Foster

Human sexuality has always been a touchy subject. Even in the present day, it’s seen as a taboo but it has slowly gained traction in recent years as discussions and thoughts of sexual liberation take off and spawn. Groups like the LGBTQ+ community and the New-Wave Feminists have pushed this idea of human sexuality to the forefront of their campaigns, insisting that it is not something to hide but to embrace. Even with this shameless promotion comes backlash from older generations, specifically men. In our society, a man’s sexual behavior is meant to be interpreted as a necessary force while a woman’s sexuality is inherently sinister. This point is more than driven home in Bram Stoker’s Dracula. The novel highlights aspects of human sexuality that were not discussed during the time this book was first published. Through his writing, Stoker critiqued, stressed, and discussed several different aspects of human sexuality. And in doing so he drew attention to a major issue. Throughout the novel metaphorical sex acts are performed by the men in the novel in name of “purity” but the second a woman hints at sexual desire she is chastised. When the men in the novel perform sex acts it is under careful instruction, while the women’s expression of sexuality stems from natural desire. Through the use of diction, symbolism, and metaphor, Stoker establishes the principle that sexual desire is only tolerable when it is controlled by men.

A woman who is comfortable with her sexuality is labeled a predator. With her insatiable appetite for intimacy, the sexually-awakened woman is something to fear. We are first

1

introduced to the sinister, sexual other early on in the novel. At this point, Johnathan Harker is still being held captive by Count Dracula. One evening, Harker wanders out of the confines of his room and into “a wing of the castle further to the right than the rooms [he] knew and a story down (Stoker 40)”. Having brought his diary with him, Harker settles down to write at the little oak table “where in old times possibly some fair lady sat to pen”(Stoker 41). Slowly, Harker begins to nod off, completely ignoring the Count’s warning not to fall asleep in any other room besides his own. It is only when he regains consciousness that realizes that he is not alone. Instead, he is in the presence of “three young women, ladies by their dress and manner”(Stoker 42). As the trio moves closer, they whisper to one another. Harker makes note of their appearance, stating “All three had brilliant white teeth that shone like pearls against the ruby of their voluptuous lips”, and yet their beauty was not enough to deceive Johnathan. For “ There was something about them that made [him] uneasy, some longing and at the same time some deadly fear. [he] felt in [his] heart a wicked, burning desire that they would kiss [him] with those red lips(Stoker 42-43). As the women get closer, Harker lowers his eyelids and becomes a passive tenant in his own body. He watched from underneath his lashes as the fair girl “went on her knees, and bent over [him], simply gloating…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 [his] mouth and chin…Then she paused, and…[he] could feel the hot breath on [his] neck. Then the skin of [his] throat began to tingle as one’s flesh does when the hand that is to tickle it approaches nearer, nearer. [He] could feel the soft, shivering touch of the lips on the super-sensitive skin…[He] closed [his] eyes in languorous ecstasy and waited, waited with beating heart”(Stoker 42). He lay there limp and frail as these women arch and lick, simply waiting for things to be done to him. On the one hand, he’s thrilled. He longs for their touch and

2

part of him wants to submit to women, but he is hesitant. He is being emasculated by these dominant, sexually charged women, which is what scares him the most. “The male desire for passivity is characterized by horror because Johnathan’s precious status as an imperialist male is undermined by the vampire woman’s allure” (Shipman 16). A man of such status ought not to be tempted by a woman of these sorts, loose in morals, masculine in nature, and yet he is. The lustful description suggests that Harker is drawn to these women on a much deeper level than he would like, which is a source of anxiety for him. This entire encounter “never strays from the anxious male perspective that perceives any active female sexuality as monstrous (Shane 10). There is constant anxiety throughout this novel when it comes to gender and sexuality. Typically men are initiators of sexual and romantic gestures, so when the women start to take charge, the men feel as though they are being stripped of their manhood. When they cannot control the situation, especially sexually, they resort to rash, violent acts, doing anything to reassert their dominance, This is best observed in the case of Lucy Westerna.

Lucy Westerna was loved by all of the men in her life when she fit the mold of the innocent, sexually-repressed woman, but once she began to show signs of overt sexuality she became a threat. In the beginning, Lucy is made out to be the perfect woman. She has a way about her that seems to extract these uncontrollable romantic and sexual feelings from the men she interacts with. In a letter to Mina Murray, she speaks about Dr. Seward saying, “ he told me how dear I was to him, though he had known me so little, and what his life would be with me to help and cheer him” (Stoker 62). In the brief time that Seward had known Lucy, he was already planning out a life with her. She was simply irresistible in that way, the type of woman you dream about having but can never quite obtain. Seward claims that if a woman’s heart is free a

3

man might have hope” (Stoker 62), meaning when the woman can be claimed and dominated, she is desirable. There’s something about Lucy being unavailable, that drew the men to her even more. Though she wasn’t necessarily shy or reserved there was a timidness to her. She never outright admitted her sexual desires towards these men, only privately did she confess to Mina that she would like to marry all three men, “or as many want her” at once(Stoker 64). At this point in the novel, Lucy is not a threat because the men can control her. By declaring their love for her and putting her in a position to reject or accept proposals the men leave themselves vulnerable. I would argue that this “vulnerability” does not come from a place of desperation or nervousness. These men are confident in their manhood, which is why they so boldly approach this woman and demand her love.

Moreover, the men cast their projections of the ideal woman onto Lucy, which is a form of control. It’s no secret that “Lucy is something of a coquette before her vampiric encounter”(Shane 4.) She has a way of luring men with her looks and with her words. In fact, Mina claims that a group of men that just met her that day “fell in love with her on the spot” (Stoker 71). When the men speak about Lucy, they refer to her as “pretty miss”, “little miss”, and “poor Lucy” (Stoker 137). They view her as this helpless damsel, naive to the world around her. This idea that Lucy doesn’t know what’s happening to her as she morphs into this sexual deviant, is much easier to digest than the idea that Lucy “contained latent monstrous potential [all along] that was only fully recognized after Dracula’s arrival’(Shane 4) Similar to how Lucy extracts feelings of lust and sexual desire out of the men, Dracula invokes something in Lucy. True, she is unconscious when she leaves her room and roams the streets at night. But she acting on her subconscious desires. There is a small part of Lucy that longs for touch and connection and

4

Dracula gives that to her. With every bite, Dracula penetrates Lucy leaving an opening for their next encounter. I would argue that the two holes in Lucy’s neck are symbolic of the female sex organ. It is a hole in the body that allows for penetration. Because Lucy is the one going outside to receive penetration it is unacceptable. This sexual desire is not being controlled directly by man. True, Dracula had some influence over Lucy, but she makes it clear when she’s conscious that she craves physical attention. This sort of behavior does not fit the true woman narrative that the men have tried to push onto her. Lucy going after what she wants and seeking sexual fulfillment, is seen as peculiar and a cry for help. The men see that she is getting out of control and take matters into their own hands.

In an attempt to “save” Lucy, the men began performing blood transfusions. While a blood transfusion itself is not a sexual act, how it was discussed and handled by each of the men suggests that this was a way of acting on their sexual desires toward Lucy. These men who had all lusted over her when she was in good health and consciousness, were now able to have their way with her unconscious body, inserting their fluids into her, in the name of purity. The alleged goal of this transfusion is to fill Lucy up with good British blood, pushing the evil substance out of her, so that she may return to a normal state of health. But as each procedure took place the men made comments, suggesting that this was about more than Lucy’s health but reclaiming their power as men through sex. At one point Arthur, Lucy’s fiance claims “he felt since then as if they two had been married, and that she was his wife in the sight of God”(Stoker 179). He compares a blood transfusion to consummating a marriage, taking this from a simple medical procedure to sexual intercourse. Van Helsing also suggests that these transfusions are sexual when he replies, “Then this so sweet maid is a polyandrist”(Stoker 181). By calling her a

5

polyandrist, he implies that Lucy has been had by many men. While this may be true, none of this is by her own hand. Lucy is unable to consent to any of this, as she is completely unconscious. If this is the consummation, which Arthur claims it to be, this would be a sexual assault. But because it is men initiating the sexual act and holding power over this poor, ailing woman, it is not viewed as morally wrong. The lust and sexual desire pushed onto Lucy by Van Helsing, Holmewood, Seward, and Morris, are viewed as acceptable because the men are in control. The second the men feel like they have lost control they “channel their sexual desire into a rage”(Shane 11).

The brutal assault and murder of Lucy Westerna was arguably the most sexually aggressive act in the entire novel. As a result of witnessing Lucy‘s “sweetness turned to adamantine, heartless, cruelty, and her purity to voluptuous wantonness “, Seward’s own heart grew cold as ice (Stoker 215). But where Lucy’s heartlessness is a sign of monstrosity,… Seward’s inward cruelty… is glossed as heroic, even god-like in transcendent force”(Shane 11). This double standard is seen throughout the novel. Where the woman is punished, the man is praised. The instant that Lucy showed the men that she was no longer the passive, sweet girl they made her out to be, she too was punished. The men crowded around Lucy’s coffin anticipating their attack. “Arthur took the stake and the hammer … and then struck with all his might. The thing in the coffin writhed, and a hideous, blood-curdling screech came from the opened red lips. The body shook and quivered and twisted in wild contortions. The sharp white teeth champed together till the lips were cut, and the mouth was smeared with a crimson foam. But Arthur never faltered. He looked like a figure of Thor as his untrembling arm rose and fell, driving deeper and deeper the mercy-bearing stake, whilst the blood from the pierced heart welled and spurted up

6

around it”(Stoker 219). This is yet another sexual assault on an unconscious Lucy. In her most vulnerable moment, those who claim to love her wreak havoc on her dying body. This was not an act of desperation to save her soul, but a blatant act of hatred toward the sexually awakened woman. These men couldn’t stand the fact that they were somewhat drawn to Lucy in her newly transformed state as a wanton sexual figure because it made them feel less masculine. To reclaim the masculinity that they “lost”, they force themselves onto her, penetrating her over and over until her body gives out and she dies. This was deemed acceptable because they believed that by asserting their dominance they were restoring the world to how it should be, with men being dominant and women being submissive.

The sexual woman is a threat to one’s masculinity. She is “morally and physically contagious, like the prostitute with whom she [is] associated” (Shane 11). The sexually awakened woman has autonomy over her own body. She acts on her natural desires without guilt or shame, which is something men take issue with. When the men in the novel feel these sexual urges brewing as a reaction to Lucy’s wanton, voluptuousness, they feel ashamed. In a way, they are forced to submit, while she dominates them sexually. In response, to the discomfort that the men feel, they commit heinous acts to rid themselves of that guilt and shame. These men believe that their actions are somehow justifiable because they are ridding themselves of sexual sin. By “killing/raping them, [Van Helsing] believes that he is freeing them of their unacceptable lifestyle”(Shipman 22). I would argue that this is merely a form of projection. On some level, the men know their lustful behavior is knot acceptable either, but instead of properly dealing with the emotions, they punish the women. Sexual desire is only tolerable when it is controlled by

7

men that is the only way to ensure that the patriarchal values are upheld and that the gender binaries remain intact.

8

Works Cited

Shane, Beth. “‘Your Girls That You All Love Are Mine Already’: Criminal Female Sexuality in Bram Stoker’s Dracula.” Gothic Studies, vol. 18, no. 1, 2016, pp. 16–33., https://doi.org/10.7227/gs.0002.

Shipman, Amanda. “Dracula’s Harem: Feminine Otherness and Reverse Colonization of the Male Body.” Journal of Dracula Studies, 1 Jan. 2022, pp. 7–27.

Stoker, Bram, and Andrew Elfenbein. Dracula. Longman, 2011.