There are infinite ways to interpret Bram Stoker's 1899 novel, Dracula. The more you read it, the more intricacies and variations you find within its text. Looking at it from a specific point of view, in this case, through the lens of gender theory, changes the meaning of its classic story. Mina Murray and Lucy Westerna become less like characters and more like caricatures of two female stereotypes. Reading this novel through the lens of gender theory changes it from a passive to an active experience.
One definition of gender theory explains it as, "an approach to literature that explores how ideas about men and women, what is masculine and feminine, can be regarded as socially constructed by particular cultures" (LitGloss). Mina Murray, then, who is the perfect example of what women were thought to be, is an example of the socially constructed feminine ideal. Mina is plain looking, not ugly or beautiful enough to be noticed. Her goals in life are very simple as she describes them "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 87). Mina is selfless, she gives so much blood to Lucy that she weakens herself in the process. And it is Mina, whom Dracula ultimately wants to help populate his race.
Lucy Westerna is Mina's close friend and utter opposite. Their very names suggest a difference, Lucy's having the word "western" embedded within it. Lucy represents the physical ideal for the West. She is blonde and beautiful. Lucy is all sensuality and no sense. She is set to marry Arthur Holmwood, but lacks Mina's steadfast devotion. Lucy writes: "Oh why must a man like that," she is speaking of Qunicey Morris, "be made unhappy when there are lots of girls about who would worship the very ground he trod on? I know I would if I were free-only I don't want to be free," (92). Ul
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