Feminism and Gender in Bram Stoker's Dracula
This paper examines the female characters of Bram Stoker's Dracula — Mina Harker and Lucy Westenra — as literary representations of shifting gender roles during the Victorian era. Set against the backdrop of the women's suffrage movement and Victorian social norms, the paper argues that Mina embodies an emerging progressive womanhood through her financial independence, career ambitions, and intellectual strength, while Lucy represents a more limited form of liberation rooted primarily in sexuality. Drawing on Foucault's theory of sexual identity and secondary scholarship on the novel, the analysis demonstrates how Stoker uses his two female leads to chart the early stages of feminist development in English literature.
- The Victorian Era and the Suffrage Movement: Historical context of Victorian gender norms and suffrage
- Mina Harker: Between Tradition and Progressivism: Mina balances Victorian duty and independent ambition
- Mina's Journalism and the New Woman: Mina's journal reflects desire for self-expression
- Lucy Westenra: Sexuality Without Strength: Lucy's sexuality and lack of feminist qualities
- Mina Versus Lucy: Intelligence and Survival: Contrasting responses to Dracula's vampire attack
- Conclusion: Mina Harker as a Proto-Feminist Figure: Mina as transitional figure toward modern feminism
✍️ How to write this paper — guide, tools & examples ▾
What makes this paper effective
- The paper grounds its literary analysis in historical context, connecting the novel's female characters directly to the Victorian suffrage movement and prevailing gender norms of the late 19th century.
- It constructs a clear comparative framework, using Mina and Lucy as contrasting case studies to define what constitutes genuine feminist progress versus superficial sexual liberation.
- Textual evidence drawn directly from the novel — including quoted passages from Mina's journal — supports analytical claims rather than relying on assertion alone.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates comparative character analysis as a method for exploring thematic argument. By systematically pairing Mina and Lucy across categories such as career ambition, sexuality, intelligence, and response to the vampire, the writer builds a cumulative case for Mina's proto-feminist status. This technique shows how sustained comparison across multiple dimensions produces a more persuasive argument than a single-point contrast.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with historical context on Victorian gender norms and the suffrage movement, then introduces the two characters and the central thesis. Subsequent sections develop Mina's progressive qualities before shifting to Lucy's limitations. A direct head-to-head comparison follows, focusing on the vampire encounter as a test of character. The conclusion synthesizes the argument and frames Mina as a transitional feminist figure bridging Victorian tradition and modern independence.
The Victorian Era and the Suffrage Movement
During the nineteenth century, the women's suffrage movement was gaining momentum. Emerging from an era heavily influenced by Victorian ideals and beliefs, it had become a pressing question of whether women should be allowed to vote, work, and live as they wished. At this point in history, women were considered significantly inferior to their male counterparts and were not recognized as full citizens of the United States under its constitution. They were acknowledged as people but fell into a special non-voting category, and it was not until the 1890s that the first state — Wyoming — granted women the right to vote. In England, Queen Victoria was in power and promoted ideals of blissful motherhood and marriage as the ultimate goal for women.
In the midst of the suffrage movement, Bram Stoker wrote his immortal novel Dracula. His two leading female characters, Mina Harker and Lucy Westenra, though different in personality, both represent a new kind of woman in English literature. Mina, while well educated and independent, showcases many of the mother-like attributes championed by the Victorian era. Her character lacks overt sexuality and is most often sought out in times of despair. Lucy, on the other hand, demonstrates the power a woman's sexuality can have and captures the hearts of numerous men. Her physical attractiveness marks the early stages of women's sexual liberation, while Mina's ability to be self-sufficient — both economically and spiritually — points toward a more independent woman capable of surviving in modern times without the assistance of a man, and of becoming a model for future feminists in literature and in the wider world.
Works Cited
Prescott, Charles E. "Vampiric Affinities: Mina Harker and the Paradox of Femininity in Bram Stoker's Dracula." Journals of Cambridge.
Foucault, M. The History of Sexuality. London: Penguin Books, 1976.
Roder, Meike. Mina Harker — A New Woman? GRIN Verlag.
Create your account
Always verify citation format against your institution’s current style guide requirements.