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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Since its original publication, Dracula<\/u> has been changed and so have vampires in general. In class, we discussed a lot about sexual repression in the novel, particularly surrounding Lucy. In the 1992 adaptation of Dracula<\/u>, \u201cBram Stoker\u2019s Dracula\u201d with Gary Oldman, there is light shed on the sexual repression. In this post I will be focusing on the movie poster (at the bottom of the post) as the setup of it is a lens itself. In the poster, the main spotlight is Dracula holding Mina with her head tilted back and eyes closed. On the poster she is seen in a dress that is very low on her shoulders and shows a lot of skin. This showing of skin shows her freedom from sexual repression as she is now open about her clothing and under her it says, \u201clove never dies.\u201d In this regard, the poster shows this idea that Dracula grants Mina sexual freedom. Viewing the novel from the lens of the movie poster, it can be interpreted that Dracula was in fact freeing the women and giving them their desires instead of holding them back or \u201ckilling\u201d them. Using the catchphrase \u201clove never dies,\u201d vampires themselves (the undead) can be interpreted as love. In the novel, Lucy states \u201cbeing proposed to is all very nice and all that sort of thing, but it isn\u2019t at all a happy thing when you have to see a poor fellow, whom you know loves you honestly, going away and looking all broken hearted\u201d (Stoker 65). In this scene, Lucy is writing to Mina about how she turned away from two of her suitors and had to reject them. However, when Dracula bites her, she fully gives in and tilts her head back for his bite. In this way, she desires Dracula and while the men may see this as a \u201cmagic power\u201d he must seduce them, to Lucy she does not have to see a poor fellow go away sad because she wants this fellow. Also, her use of the word \u201cnice\u201d when talking about being proposed to is a very soft word, seeing Dracula as a lover instead of an evil monster, this word has a deeper meaning. While these human men are \u201cnice\u201d and \u201cok,\u201d Dracula is passionate and especially according to this movie poster based on choice of actor, he is a \u201cheartthrob.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another quote by Lucy furthers this idea that Dracula is a representation of love, especially one that grants sexual freedom. \u201cI suppose that we women are such cowards that we think a man will save us from fears, and we marry him\u201d (Stoker 66). This quote can be read as the fear of their own sexuality. In Victorian times, women were seen as pure and not sexual beings. Lucy, however, is very sexual as she says previously that if she could marry multiple men, she would do that. Even later in the novel, she has the blood of four men in her (which means she belongs to all of them). Instead of putting blood in her like the men do, Dracula takes it out of her, therefore claiming her and having her inside him. By being the one with her blood in him, he takes the role of the bride and grants Lucy her sexual freedom instead of her belonging to him. He also does the same to Mina and if we read Dracula through this lens of erotic and sexual freedom like the movie poster hints at, he is sort of a hero in our standards. Instead of taking away their freedom and trying to keep them pure, he lets them suck his blood and sucks theirs as well. Instead of forcing a blood transfusion on them, he gives them a choice and Mina and Lucy decide to love him and find their freedom in this way. Not only this, but he does not appear in mirrors, he does not have to face himself and have \u201cmorals,\u201d instead he can choose to act and not necessarily have remorse. Dracula viewed through the lens of the 1992 poster is less scary and more so alluring and attractive unlike older depictions where he is hideous and purely evil. When looking at the poster, you feel drawn to Dracula and Mina\u2019s life does not seem completely unpleasant.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Since its original publication, Dracula has been changed and so have vampires in general. In class, we discussed a lot about sexual repression in the novel, particularly surrounding Lucy. In the 1992 adaptation of Dracula, \u201cBram Stoker\u2019s Dracula\u201d with Gary Oldman, there is light shed on the sexual repression. In this post I will be … Continue reading Dracula: heartthrob or monster?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5129,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[125361],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1029","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2023-blog-post"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/britishlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1029","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/britishlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/britishlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/britishlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5129"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/britishlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1029"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/britishlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1029\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/britishlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1029"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/britishlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1029"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/britishlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1029"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}