{"id":2651,"date":"2023-10-27T22:00:28","date_gmt":"2023-10-28T02:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/secretlives\/?p=2651"},"modified":"2023-10-28T15:24:55","modified_gmt":"2023-10-28T19:24:55","slug":"dangerous-women","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/secretlives\/2023\/10\/27\/dangerous-women\/","title":{"rendered":"What Makes A Dangerous Woman?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bram Stokers <\/span><\/span>Dracula <\/span><\/span><\/em>incorporates themes of danger and sexuality through the <\/span>text’s<\/span> characterization<\/span>s<\/span> of women and careful use of de<\/span>scriptive words. In the beginning chapters of the <\/span>novel,<\/span> we are introduced to three young women who seduce o<\/span>ur protagonist, Jonathan Harker. The women<\/span> are<\/span> intensely<\/span> sexual and predatory in their pursuit of Harker.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u201cThere was somethin<\/span>g about them that made me uneasy, some longing and at the same time some deadly fear\u201d (Stoker 13<\/span>).<\/span> I<\/span>t\u2019s<\/span> a strange contradictory description which perfectly encapsulates <\/span>Harker’s<\/span> reluctance to give into their glamor. \u201cThere was a deliberate voluptuousness which was both thrilling and repulsive\u201d (Stoker<\/span> 14)<\/span>. <\/span>The danger of these women is<\/span> conveyed through their wolfish sensual behavior that is both terrifying and enticing<\/span>. It not only heightens the stakes <\/span>but cultivates an interesting <\/span>dynamic between <\/span>Dracula and Harker since Drac<\/span>ula shares in their lustful history. <\/span>\u201cHow dare you touch him, any of you? How dare you cast eyes on him when I had <\/span>forbidden<\/span> it? Back, I tell you all! This man b<\/span>elongs to me! Beware how you meddle with him, or <\/span>y<\/span>ou\u2019ll<\/span> deal with me\u201d<\/span> (Stoker 15)<\/span>.<\/span> This moment confirms the hierarchy that exists between the women and Dracula while also displaying a growing possessiveness over <\/span>his prisoner Johnathan Harker. It is only after <\/span>w<\/span>itnessing<\/span> the terror of the women that we can truly recognize <\/span>Dracula’s<\/span> dominance. <\/span>It\u2019s<\/span> an important moment for understanding Dracula but it also creates a juxtaposition between these women and then Lucy and Mina who the reader can n<\/span>ow identify as protagonists<\/span>.<\/span> \u201cLucy always wakes prettily, and even at such a time, when her body must have been chilled with cold, and her m<\/span>ind somewhat appalled at waking unclad in a churchyard at night, she did not lose her grace\u201d (Stoker 79)<\/span>. <\/span>It\u2019s<\/span> impossible not to draw a<\/span> comparison drawn between Lucy and Dracula’s brides<\/span> when <\/span>looking at the descriptors of <\/span>the two of them. No matter<\/span> how horrid<\/span> the circumstance <\/span>Lucy is always lovely and docile<\/span> giving the reader and Harker motivation to <\/span>prevail against Dracula. <\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bram Stokers Dracula incorporates themes of danger and sexuality through the text’s characterizations of women and careful use of descriptive words. In the beginning chapters of the novel, we are introduced to three young women who seduce our protagonist, Jonathan Harker. The women are intensely sexual and predatory in their pursuit of Harker.\u00a0\u201cThere was something … Continue reading What Makes A Dangerous Woman?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5343,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[169399],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2651","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2023-blog-post"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/secretlives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2651","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/secretlives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/secretlives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/secretlives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5343"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/secretlives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2651"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/secretlives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2651\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/secretlives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2651"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/secretlives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2651"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/secretlives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2651"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}