Dracula Character Analysis Mina

Chapter 4 - “I am alone in the castle with those awful women. Faugh! Mina is a woman, and there is nought in common. They are devils of the Pit!”

Stoker incorporates different allusions to various parts of the religious supernatural throughout Dracula to continue his propagation of the Christian faith. During Mina's retelling of her encounter with Dracula she pleads, "Look down on a poor soul in worse than mortal peril; and in mercy pity those to whom she is dear!"(252). The word "mercy" in his dialog draws attention to the fact that Mina fears she may be coming to a bitter end. Mina turns away from logical thought and prays helplessly to the heavens for any sort of assistance it may provide to her. Throughout the story, Mina uses a typewriter to collect each of the characters personal documentation in hopes of catching Dracula. This use of new technology is symbolically shunned by making

The behaviors and characteristics of Mina Harker, along with the transformation she undergoes when coming into contact with the Count, play a crucial role in helping Stoker break down separate spheres. Her connection to the Count is what lifts her outside of her domestic sphere. The men depend on Mina to be able to hunt down the Count. Without her help, they would not be successful. In a sense, this helps Stoker give women a more dominant role in the novel. While separate spheres hold women to be domestic figures confined to housework and completely submissive, Stoker pushes this ideology away by making the men submissive instead. For example, Jonathan Harker writes in his journal about Mina saying, “She was so good and brave that we all felt that our hearts were strengthened to work and endure for her, and we began to discuss what we were to do” (Stoker 250). Through

Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” is a story about a Vampire named Count Dracula and his journey to satisfy his lust for blood. The story is told through a series of individuals’ journal entries and a letters sent back and forth between characters. Bram Stoker shows the roll in which a certain gender plays in the Victorian era through the works of Dracula. This discussion not only consists of the roll a certain gender takes, but will be discussing how a certain gender fits into the culture of that time period as well as how males and females interact among each other. The Victorian era was extremely conservative when it came to the female, however there are signs of the changing into the New Woman inside of Dracula. Essentially the woman was to be assistance to a man and stay pure inside of their ways.

Whereas Lucy portrays the ?New Woman? with her sexual tendencies and flirtatiousness, Mina represents the ?New Woman? through her intelligence. She is an assistant schoolmistress, knows how to write in shorthand, and shows interest in learning how to use the phonograph, one of the new technologies of the time. She says, ?I shall try to do what I see lady journalists do: interviewing and writing descriptions and trying to remember conversations?with a little practice, one can remember all that goes on or that one hears said during one day? (Stoker 76). Mina is trying to learn a trade, and reverse the male ideology that only men can have jobs. Furthermore, like Lucy, Mina is also loyal to one man, Jonathan Harker. Mina wants to marry Jonathan and settle down. She writes to Lucy, "When we are married I shall be able to be useful to Jonathan, and if I can stenograph well enough I can take down what he wants to say in this way and write it out for him on the typewriter" (Stoker 75). In this example,

Women’s inferior nature within Dracula in reminiscent of Foster’s chapter, “It’s All Political”, which highlights the depth provided by inserting political aspects into novels, such as gender customs. Mina breaks the socially accepted version of a woman, whom is uneducated and stays in the background, by contributing intellectual ideas to Professor Van Helsing’s discussion; Van Helsing praises, “Ah, that wonderful Madam Mina! She has a man’s brain—a brain that a man should have were he much gifted—and a woman’s heart” (Stoker 236). The men are awestruck at the concept that a woman is able to bring forth opinions worthy of a “man’s brain”. This boasts the putative wisdom of men over their unrefined female

These women have strong sexual powers, to which they use to their advantage in dangering men with their reasoning. Nearing the end of Dracula the three brides are brought back into focus. When even Van Helsing, the strong doctor and picturesque example of what a Victorian male was expected to be, hesitates because “She was so fair to look on, so radiantly beautiful, so exquisitely voluptuous, that the very instinct of man in me, which calls some of my sex to love and to protect one of hers, made my head whirl with new emotion.” This heightens the danger over the women’s control and influence over men as even the knowledgeable and powerful

The defined social categories that the characters wish to achieve can only be possessed by recognizing their opposing forces. Anne McWhir concludes that the road to purification for Mina requires a blood sacrifice, sanity cannot exist without recognizing madness, and the danger of and dependence on foreigners (Dracula and Van

However Stoker also did know the popularisation of the new woman was inevitable, hence the character of Mina is not a complete relic of the 'classical woman' but is in fact a combination of the new woman. For example her large appetite is demonstrated when she says that she "believed we should have shocked the 'New Woman' with [her] appetite(s)" or the fact that she learned to write in shorthand and type. However the key difference Stoker makes between Mina Harker and the 'New Woman' is that while the Mina may share some attributes of the 'New Woman', her motivations are very different, for while the 'New Woman' may do things for their own independence, Mina only does these things for Jonathan; When told Jonathan is ill, she immediately travels to Budapest, revealing her independence and self-sufficiency, while also further establishing her subservience towards Jonathan, which contrasts with her other 'New Woman' characteristics. Therefore she is basically exempt all of her traits which are perceived to be sinful or wrong in a Victorian society, due to the fact that her motivations are closer to what the classical woman was, meaning she deserved her

In everyday life, as in literature, there will always be an opposing force to evil. In the novel “Dracula,” by Bram Stoker, Professor Van Helsing acts as Dracula’s main antagonist. An antagonist is the character who acts against the main character, which increases the conflict of the story and intensifies the plot. Through the use of theme, characterization and specific events, the author shows readers how Dr. Van Helsing effectively fits the role of Dracula’s most threatening adversary.

Consider as well how the four men in the story risk their lives for that of Mina's. Bram Stoker reveals his attitude towards the nature of Victorian society by making the evil side in this novel very seductive. Even though the side of good is well aware of the harm the evil side can cause, the seductiveness of the evil side tempts our protagonists on many occasions. For example when Van Helsing has trouble bringing himself to stake the three women because of their physical beauty and when Jonathan Harker nearly allows himself to be bitten by one of the women because of how physically attracted he is to her. "I felt in my heart some wicked, burning desire that they would kiss me with those red lips."# Stoker comments on the nature of Victorian society by showing how unacceptable it was to give in to those primal desires. This relates to the struggle between good and evil between our heroes of Victorian society and the devilish vampires. Vampires are in control of those evil, primal desires in the story and good people like Jonathan Harker and Van Helsing must fight off these desires lest they lose their clean and pure Victorian existences.

Here, Van Helsing describes Mina as in possessions of such virtue that she is the epitome of what God intends women to be. He associates Mina

A prevalent theme throughout Dracula is that of a woman’s role in society. The main female protagonist, Mina, is a delicate balance between the strong and independent “New Woman” and the quiet, proper Victorian woman that was customary in English society prior to the 1900s. She embodies the kindness, sense of duty, and femininity of a Victorian woman, while tentatively embracing the strength, bravery, and intelligence of “New Women.” Despite this slight reform, Mina still desires to be seen a meek, righteous woman. In fact, all of the protagonists - including Mina - view both Mina and the role she plays in the novel as minimal. The only man that grasps the vitalness of Mina’s contributions is not even a man at all. The point in the novel when Dracula first speaks to Mina in her bedroom, with Jonathan lying unconscious nearby, reveals much more than the surface dialogue suggests. When historical context, close observation of word choice, and the characters’ personal views are taken into account, Stoker expresses that though this is the first time the audience is aware of any interaction between Count Dracula and Mina, Dracula displays a keen understanding and borderline respect for Mina’s mental capabilities that exceed that of any of her male companions in the novel.

There is a power struggle in Dracula over what gender is dominating the events and the characters in the novel. These first two critics believe that the women of the novel primarily control the plot and even take the role a man usually plays. Eric Kwan-Wai Yu says that women in the novel, such as Mina Harker are not given as much credit as they should be in regard to their influence on the plot and male characters in the novel. Mina makes significant contributions, if not more significant than the males in the novel, in the destruction of Dracula. In his criticism, "Productive Fear: Labor,

In the novel, Dracula, by Bram Stoker, we are introduced to two specific ladies that are essential to the essence of this gothic, horror novel. These two women are Mina Harker and Lucy Westenra. The purpose for these two women was for Stoke to clearly depict the two types of women: the innocent and the contaminated. In the beginning, the women were both examples of the stereotypical flawless women of this time period. However, as the novel seems to progress, major differences are bound to arise. Although both women, Lucy and Mina, share the same innocent characteristics, it’s more ascertain that with naïve and inability of self control, Lucy creates a boundary that shows the difference between these two ladies and ultimately causes her