Comparing Keats And Stoker

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The symbolism of Societies rules is another way Keats and Stoker presents the victimisation of women and the authority of men. Isabella engages in courtly love with Lorenzo, although there’s a role reversal where the noble woman falls in love with a man of lower status. This causes Isabella to be a victim of the society she lives in, since it was percieved as unacceptable for a woman of her status to be with a man of a lower status. Therefore, her brothers made of “cruel clay” can be seen as a personification of the Marxist society, as they have been moulded by the horrific values of their class. Keats uses the brothers to reinforce these ideals upon Isabella, by killing Lorenzo and leading her into madness. Keats uses the supernatural to portray…show more content…
Although Lucy has been given the killing mentality and strength of Dracula, society would have still identified her as weak, as women were perceived as inferior to men in both strength and knowledge in the Victorian era. Therefore, having four men come to slay “the thing” we detect the idea that the men believe they aren’t strong enough alone to defeat her. This could be Stoker using the men to symbolise society and Lucy as the new woman, to show how the new woman is unnatural and will be corruptive. The use of “the thing” describing Lucy also shows us that the men cannot understand the New Woman and do not know why woman would act outside of her domestic sphere. Furthermore, Madeline was to be married to a “high noble” by her brother’s command. This shows us that Madeline is seen as a commodity by the brothers as they wish to marry her to a man that has money, so that they can benefit from the riches. Similarly, Lucy is also seen as a commodity since they wished to restore Lucy back to her true form with her “pure, gentle” eyes, as they would rather see her dead and conforming to society’s rules, than to live and defy society. Therefore, both Isabella and Lucy have been tortured by more than one man, such as the society of men will oppress numerous women as long as they sustain this social standing in

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