Female Dominance In Dracula

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While still rooted in sexuality, The female protagonists share a common trait of repressed unbridled sexuality and inner bestiality which according to the psychiatrist, Phyliss Roth, it is ‘She who threatens by becoming desirable’ a typical paradigm in gothic fiction would be that of the three vampire sisters who seduce Harker with a paradoxical image of ‘dreamy fear’ (44) epitomizing an amalgam of sensuality and a daunting fear. In a stark disparity between the female role of Laura and that of the three female vampires, Stoker depicts the role of the three female vampires to be derogatory yet ‘voluptuous’ written in a time of the feminist movement which the role of woman was shifted to ‘angels in the house’. Subsequently, Stoker challenges…show more content…
On the contrary, Christina Rossetti, encapsulates Laura’s vulnerability and feebleness in an attempt to resist the Goblins Cry ‘come buy our fruits’ following Lizzies act of redemption ‘come kiss me/ never mind my bruises’ exampling an attempt to challenge male patriarchy in a feminist sense. In addition, the explicit scene of the merchant men rapaciousness as ‘they squeezed their fruit against her mouth to make her eat’ awakes the complete contrast between men and woman, which woman are perceived as a sexual object to men. Additionally, our attention can be subverted from a poem of male patriarchy to an attempt to challenge the Goblins excessive and violent desires. In similarity to the principal of Darwinism which fundamentally places men further up the evolutionary ladder, the violent scene of Lizzies sacrifice ‘she would not open lip from lip’ endures a powerful martyr like figure, who is willing to challenge male patriarchy and dominance, in a compelling scene of standing up for her and her sisters female
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