In Bram Stoker’s Dracula, sexuality plays a key role in both the horror genre and the readers fascination. In the line, “There was something about them that made me uneasy, some longing and at the same time some deadly fear”, deadly fear and lust or longing are present at the same time. This combination of emotion itself is scandalous and may explain the intrigue of vampire in modern and Victorian times. The ways in which pain and lust are is also show to be simultaneous is when the bite is referenced as a kiss. Jonathan says “I felt in my heart a wicked, burning desire that they would kiss me with those red lips.” It is a compelling idea that what he desires may be what ends him. Jonathan waiting for this kiss is also described as “in an agony of delightful anticipation”. There is a clear binary here of lust (anticipation, longing, desire) and fear or pain (agony, fear, wicked).
There is heavy seductive body language like “on her knees”, “bent over me”, “arched her neck”, “licked her lips”, and “red tongue as it lapped the white sharp teeth”. The vampire body and ways are made to be alluring, as to lure people to their death. These phrase emphasize the sexuality of the woman in a way that could be read as not only scandalous in Victorian times, but also scandalous now, due the fact the sex can be deadly. The art of seduction is also the art of killing.
I felt that the seductive language of this scene added to “horror” aspect of the novel. Stoker uses seduction to provoke a wide variety of emotions. Besides the one mention in this post, there is a sense of guilt in Jonathan for desiring these women’s kisses. He has thinks of Mina and how upset she would be but he can’t control what is happening to him. The seduction causes him to lose control, which is terrifying. This is similar to the terror John has of being a prison in Dracula’s house. He’s trapped and it’s out of his control.
The emphasis of women’s sexuality being connected to danger has been made apparent in both Dracula and Lady Audley’s Secret. In both the novels “red lips” appear as a symbol of seduction and warning to both Jonathon and Robert. I am interesting to see later on if in Dracula if there will be a connection between these vampire women to Eve from the Garden of Eden, because the seductress, Lady Audley, wore a snake ring which I believe represented the snake from the story of Adam and Eve. While in Dracula I could see a small connection between the vampires red lips and the apple Eve presents to Adam that he cannot resist.
I agree that sexuality is a prevalent aspect of a vampire’s characteristics. Vampires must be sensual, attractive and lustful in order to draw people in. The idea of “craving” one another has to be acted upon between a human and the vampire. Lucy portrays a beautiful, engaging woman when she wakes up from her slumber (and is transforming into a vampire) when she asks her fiancee to kiss her. She is drawing him in, in order to get what she ways. I connect this stigma to Twilight, with all of the vampire characters being gorgeous and engaging. The idea of mystery also plays a role.
Yes, I agree that it is an obvious theme within the text. Those words you described couldn’t provide a better example of the language the author uses to describe the actions of the female vampires. However, it is also interesting to compare the themes of it and danger within the novel. Perhaps, we might dare to ask why such acts were considered dangerous during this time, or why the art of seduction is synonymous to killing. Again, I think this goes back to how such acts and gender were viewed in the Victorian Age. In my opinion, the author is playing on the fears of society. It is possible that the fear could be the threat of overtly independent women.