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Harker's Description Of Dracula

Decent Essays

Bridging East and West:
When we first meet Dracula, he motions Harker into his castle, speaking “excellent English, but with a strange intonation” (Stoker 22). Dracula desires to become a part of English culture and society so thoroughly that he will be able to blend into society, a feat that Harker helps him accomplish. Dracula desires this because he wants to live in and infect Britain. This terrifying image strikes at the heart of an anxiety of Victorian Britain. Up until the late middle of the nineteenth century, Britain had ruled the waves and was the only dominant global power. As the nineteenth century came to a close, fears of the British Empire’s weaknesses were beginning to emerge, as German and Russian forces were growing in strength. …show more content…

One piece of evidence for this connection is in the scene where the brides of Dracula are seducing Harker. The Count intervenes, and the women commence taunting him saying, “You yourself have never loved; you never love!” (Stoker 46). The women want to “love” Harker, but loving for the vampires is wrapped up in lust and desire. There is a contrast in the characterization of male vampires and female vampires. In this scene, as well as others, Dracula is able to control himself and act with discipline. He does prey upon young beautiful women, but with calculated decision. The women vampires act differently. They seem to act more rashly, and not at all in the calculated way of Dracula. Also, instead of preying on adults, most of the women vampires chose children as their prey. This is true not only for the three women who are in the Transylvanian castle, but also for …show more content…

Jonathan remarks as he notes his despair over being locked in the Castle with the three women, “I am alone in the castle with these awful women. Faugh! Mina is a woman and there is nought in common. They are devils of the pit” (Stoker 61). Mina is also contrasted against Lucy. Lucy is more sexually awakened then Mina. This is seen in Lucy’s several proposals and her wonderings: “Why can’t they let a girl marry three men, or as many as want her, and save all this trouble? But this is heresy, and I must to say it” (Stoker 67). Lucy desires more sexually then Mina does, and later on, she pays dearly for it. Mina is regarded highly by all of the men, and as mentioned before, is portrayed in an asexual

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