Author: Cousin IT

As mentioned in the article “Christina Rossetti: gender and power” by Simon Avery, Elizabeth Barrett Browning was an inspiration to Christina Rossetti. They were very different poets but both had common concern with the politics of gender and power in their poetry. Rossetti’s poem “No Thank You, John” appears different at first glance but is actually similar to Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s poem “A Man’s Requirements.”

Without close reading, “No Thank You John” is a poem of a woman denying a man’s love and “A Man’s Requirements” is a poem of a woman trying to please her man. They appear to be opposites. However, their implications of gender and power are closely related. “No Thank You John” depicts a female using her right to say no to a man. It asserts her independence and equality in a relationship. The last two lines of the poem read “Here’s friendship for you if you like; but love, No, thank you, John.” Rossetti is saying that a woman doesn’t have to love a man just because he loves her. She can choose who to be with and what she wants in a relationship.

The last two lines of “A Man’s Requirements” portray a similar message. The poem reads, “I will love thee-half a year- as a man is able.” Given the fact that the author of “A Man’s Requirements” is female, it is possible to interpret the poem as saying a woman can love just as much and as well as a man. Depending on who you interpret the speaker as (a male or female), the poem could also be depicting what a woman wants from her man. The “man’s” requirements could also be the women’s requirements from her man. By Browning giving requirements for a man to have her love, she too is asserting her independence and equal part in the relationship.

Though one poem denies love and the other seeks love, they both emphasize a woman’s power over her relationships. Women are equal counterparts to their significant male.

By the end of the 19^th century, Britain was in major decline of power. The poverty and mortality rates were uncontrollably high and the people were filled with “anxiety of cultural decay” (Anxiety of Reverse Colonization pg 623). Stoker uses his novel, Dracula to emphasize the fears of Victorian culture in the 19^th century. In particular, sexuality acts as a major fear of Victorian people and also acts as a major motif in the novel.

There is no coincidence in the fates of Lucy and Mina by the end of the novel. Lucy, who desires three husbands, has the blood of three men pulsing through her and gives in to Dracula’s temptation, dies a horribly painful death when her husband drives a stake through her heart. This scene of Arthur stabbing Lucy is like a punishment for not being a loyal, Victorian wife. Mina, on the other hand, escapes punishment. Throughout the novel she is a dutiful, motherly figure. She takes care of Jonathan when he is ill, comforts Van Helsing when he cries and remains true to her Victorian virtues even when tempted by Dracula. It is because of this that she survives. Therefore, it is quite apparent that Stoker despises the idea of a sexualized woman. To put it simply, to be voluptuous means death (Lucy), and to be traditional/ non-sexualized means life. This could also have implications connecting sex with disease.

As mentioned in “Dracula; Vampires, Perversity and Victorian Anxieties”, the use of vampires in a text suggest the fear of sexually transmitted diseases. With vampires comes tainted blood and with that comes disease and with disease comes death. The more promiscuous women are, the more likely diseases like syphilis will spread. The spread of sexually transmitted diseases suggest not only health troubles but moral as well. No man wants to be the husband of a cheater. It ruins their reputation and their health all at once.

During the Victorian period, which Dracula is set in, the role of women in society was a major issue. Women were held to certain standards and obligations. They were supposed to be innocent and pure virgins until marriage when they can bare children and take on a mother role. In Bram Stoker’s Dracula, the characters Mina Murray and Lucy Westenra depict the ideal Victorian woman and the worst. It is through these characters that the novel exposes Victorian fears of women gaining power in society. Mina is depicted as a pure and loyal woman. She misses and patiently waits for Jonathan when he is away and dutifully takes care of him when he returns. When Doctor Van Helsing meets Mina for the first time, he is overwhelmed with how wonderful she is, he says, “I come here full of respect for you, and you have given me hope- hope, not in what I am seeking of, but that there are good woman still left to make life happy- good women, whose lives and whose truths may make lesson for the children that are to be (pg 197- 198).” Mina is a symbol of hope because she is not seducible by Dracula and is loyal to her husband. Stoker does not sexualize her at all as he does Lucy. He links sexualized women with utter evil. We first learn that Lucy has three suitors who all love her dearly. Lucy writes to Mina, “ Why can’t they let a girl marry three men, or as many as want her, and save all this trouble?” (pg 67). The “they” Lucy is referring to is society. Early on in the novel she questions the Victorian ideals, wanting something different. Dracula is able to seduce Lucy and turn her into a sexualized vampire. Through this, Stoker shows the potential for good, Victorian women, to be corrupted into evil and sexual beings with unholy desires. Stoker also uses Lucy’s character to instill fear in woman to stray from the rigid Victorian beliefs. If they do not follow Victorian culture, they will be come evil and demon like beings. Van Helsing says, “When they become such (referring to Lucy as the ‘Un- Dead’), there comes with the change the curse of immorality; they cannot die, but most go on and on age after age adding new victims and multiplying the evils of the world” (pg 229). The “new victims” he speaks of, are the women who will follow down the disobeying path like Lucy did. Van Helsing insists on stopping Lucy, so she cannot corrupt any of the pure, loyal women left. The only way to bring her back to her back to her pure self is for her fiancé, Arthur, to drive a stake through her heart. Van Helsing makes it clear that Arthur must be the one to do this, as he is her fiancé. Arthur thrusting the stake through Lucy’s heart returns her as a virgin and monogamous wife. Arthur regains his power over his wife and cleans her blood of all other men including Quincy, Van Helsing and Seward. In doing so, he claims her once again, as his and only his fiancé; restoring her to the pure Victorian woman she was forced to be.

Two passages that struck me were:

1. “The light beat upon him where he stood, but long shadows trailed down the walls and hung like a black canopy above him (Chapter 6 pg 110).
2. “I guess it is ourselves and not the house that we have to blame!” said the baronet (Chapter 7 pg 115).

The first passage occurs when Sir Henry is seeing his new estate for the first time. He stared at the walls admirably but darkness hung over him. I interpreted this as the curse of his family was hanging over him. Almost as if he was doomed because his ancestors were doomed. The word “long” indicates many eras of tragedy in his family. The image I get is the headshots of the past heirs being covered with darkness to indict their ill fates. The simile saying the shadow “hung like a black canopy above him,” indicates that he hasn’t been succumbing to darkness yet, but it’s coming! It feels like the darkness is waiting above Sir Henry waiting for the right moment for the Hound of Baskerville to pounce. After reading the second passage, I changed my opinion. Sir Henry makes the claim that the problem is with him and not the house. This is important because maybe the “curse” that is haunting his family isn’t actually a curse at all. It seems to me that it might be the Baskerville men causing their own fate. Their own actions are causing them to die. I see the self-fulfilling prophecy in this novel. The family thinks they are cursed, so they unconsciously make bad things happen to themselves. Holmes doesn’t usually believe in supernatural events and it is noted that he is rarely wrong. Therefore I think Sir Henry’s statement above is foreshadowing that the Baskerville Curse does not exist. The servants said the Sir Charles was so stressed and focused on the fear of dying that his weak heart could have caused his death. If I were a detective on the case, I would be inclined to argue that Sir Charles had a heart attack and died because he was afraid of the darkness.

In the middle of Volume II, chapter II, Robert Audley asks little Georgey if he would like to go to school. Georgey responds, “Oh, yes, please, I should like it very much. I went to school at Miss Pevin’s once- day-school, you know – round the corner in the next street, but I caught the measles, and granpa wouldn’t let me play with the little boys in the street, because they’re rude boys; he said blackguard boys; but he said I mustn’t say blackguard boys, because its naughty.” Georgey repeats “because” many times as if reciting his grandpa’s words verbatim. This passage shows that Georgey has a great memory, is very perceptive and an even better listener. Georgey’s mental development becomes crucial again to the mystery of the “nice lady” later in this chapter. Georgey is able to remember specific details that are crucial to Robert’s investigation.

I was initially confused with the use of the word “blackguard boys.” After researching the term, I found it was an adjective used to describe homeless orphans, runaways, or scoundrels (Wikipedia). This is an interesting coincidence because technically Georgey is an orphan as well. He lives with his grandfather but has a deceased mother and a missing father. To me, it seems like Mr. Maldon is hiding Georgey because he knows too much about their secret. Keeping Georgey in school is risky because children can’t be expected to keep secrets. Mrs. Plowson tries to keep Georgey away from Robert and will not leave him in the room alone with him for long. When Georgey tries to talk to Robert, Mrs. Plowson signals to Georgey to stop as if she knows it’s a secret. It is obvious Georgey could be a huge help in the mystery of his mother’s death and his father’s disappearance which is probably why Mr. Maldon keeps him from the public.

In contrast, Mr. Maldon’s motive for keeping Georgey from school could be health related. We know that he had the measles, which is a serious disease and we also know that Georgey has been to many children’s funerals. This connects to the “age of doubt” section we discussed in class. Mr. Maldon appears to live in poverty with probably bad sanitation. We also know that Helen Talboys became very ill and allegedly died from her sickness. It made me wonder if she got sick because of caring for Georgey and that’s why she was crying all the time. Regardless, Mr. Maldon’s neighborhood appears to be full of sickness and misfortune.