Some Slow Progress for Women?

In the poem, The Lady of Shallot by Alfred Tennyson, written in 1832, there is a curse that forces the title character to stay in her tower in Shallot and continue weaving for what seems to be all eternity. What is interesting about her situation is that it addresses the general idea that the best place for a Victorian woman to be is in the house doing chores. The reader can easily tell from all of the interesting and captivating people who pass by her tower, that the lady of Shallot is missing out on the many wonders and curiosities of life. However, when she tries to escape, which Tennyson seems to be encouraging her to do with all the wonders of life passing by her window, she is struck by the curse and ends up dying. While Tennyson approaches the subject of the new victorian woman, by showing the curse’s hold over lady Shallot, seems to admit that the public is not ready for it yet.

When we fast forward to 1897, the date when Dracula was written, we see Bram Stoker make similar use of curses and nosferatu to discuss the place of women in society. While obviously not enough, we see that 60 years later the tune has changed, as exemplified by Stoker’s character Mina. Mina is also affected by a curse—in this case vampirism—due to her not being proactive in the rest of the main characters’ search for Dracula, and essentially being trapped in her own tower. Once bitten however, Mina begins to take matters into her own hands in finding a fighting Dracula. Unlike the Lady of Shallot, however, Mina is allowed to live. From the time that Tennyson is writing to the time of Stoker, and with as many things equal as possible in the comparison of the Lady of Shallot and Mina, Mina fares much better than the lady. This appears to indicate that, even if slowly, views of women’s’ roles are steadily getting better and more equal.