Feminization Of Male Characters In Bram Stoker's Dracula And Mary Shelly's Frankenstein
Gothic Horror is distinguished as a masculine genre of the Gothic. Hence, it is portrayed to be much more gruesome and intense in comparison to the sublime, feminine category of the terror gothic. In Bram Stoker's novel, Dracula, Jonathan Harker is feminised in a way that he is depicted as a 'damsel in distress' due to the fact that he is held a prisoner in Dracula's castle and is not able to act upon his situation. Similarly, in Mary Shelly's Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein is perceived as a mother figure as he takes on a woman's role of giving birth by creating the monster. Thus, in both texts, male characters depict some form of 'feminine' characteristics. The separation of traditional male and female gender roles is therefore inverted as both Stoker and Shelly use male characters to represent the issues faced by women of the nineteenth century.
Women in the nineteenth century were perceived as 'naturally weak' and the attitudes of men towards women and the principles of society at the time manipulated women growing up to believe that being beautiful was all that mattered. The ideal Victorian woman was, as described in Helene E. Roberts's text, a woman that was like a 'milk- white lamb that bleats for man's protection.' Women of the Victorian era were taught from a young age to be naturally inferior to men, dating back to the Old Testament which stated: 'I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow, thou shalt bring forth children and thy desire shall be thy husband and he shall rule over thee.' This further helps ones understanding of how women were expected to be submissive in every way and that their roles in society were restricted to the duties of the household. The traditional way in which women of this period were portrayed and expected to be is inverted in both the novels Frankenstein and Dracula as the male characters present these feminine qualities.
In Bram Stoker's novel, Dracula, Jonathan Harker is given feminine characteristics as he is depicted as a 'damsel in distress' which is portrayed in the novel as Harker discovers 'doors everywhere all locked and bolted with no available exit,' he begins to become agitated as he claims that the 'castle is a veritable prison, and I am a prisoner!' Thus, Harker presents the feminine element of being overpowered by a masculine figure, in his case being overpowered by Count Dracula. In this period of time men were seen as the stronger sex who held all the power and were expected to rule over women in order to 'maintain their positions of power within the society as a whole and the 'little kingdoms' of their own households.' Gender inversion is therefore presented as Jonathan Harker unconsciously illustrates the submissive nature of a woman being helplessly dominated by the actions of the Dracula as he compares his helpless actions of finding an escape to what a 'rat does in a trap.' Harker's display of feminine characteristics is further interpreted to convey helplessness in situations the oppressed women in this period of time may have experienced.
Further, gender inversion in Stoker's novel Dracula was also used to invert the assertive characteristics of what a typical Victorian woman was portrayed to be by presenting the dominating characters of the three female vampires. Men at the time were also expected to hold power when it came to their sexuality and it was not a common characteristic of an ideal Victorian woman to be open about their sexuality. Thus, when Dracula's three vampire daughters are first to instigate interaction with Harker he portrays the unassertive and passive characteristics of a woman as he describes the 'longing and at the same time the deadly fear' he felt when being seduced by the three female vampires. Therefore, gender inversion is depicted as the vampiric women display assertive power instead of the male character who inverts this feminine passivity as he waits for the female vampires to first instigate interaction with him.
Helene E. Roberts helps in further interpreting how gender inversion occurs with the way in which the three female vampires are dressed. In her text 'The Role of Clothes in the Making of a Victorian Woman,' Roberts conveys how the way women dressed in the frivolous, pastel coloured, lace dresses depicted their feminine characteristics, that being 'delicacy, inactivity, and submissiveness.' The way women were expected to act contrasts with the actions of the three female vampires who presented themselves in Harker's eyes as 'ladies by their dress and manner', however, the stereotypical characteristics did not extend their clothing as they were later illustrated to be 'bitter' and 'repulsive'.
Similarly, in Mary Shelly's novel, Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein symbolises a mother figure and the ability of a woman to give birth due to the fact that he creates the life of the monster. Frankenstein's ability to create life inverts gender roles, however, Shelly reminds us that the importance of motherhood is not the creation of life but in the capacity to provide love and nurture. Frankenstein, after creating life turns his back on it when he is not pleased with the outcome of its appearance, feeling a sense of 'bitterness' and 'disappointment' towards the monster, rather than presenting the love of a mother. Thus, the creation of the monster inverts Victor Frankenstein's masculine, public world into a feminine private one with his ability to conceive. This further portrays the importance of a woman's role in society and the ability to give birth as well as provide nurture and love to their children, something which Frankenstein is unable to produce.
Furthermore, Victor Frankenstein falls into a state of hysteria with the discovery of his good friend Henry Clerval's dead body. Gender inversion is thus presented as hysteria was characterised as something only women experienced. This is conveyed in the novel as Frankenstein throws himself on Clerval's body and falls into a 'fever' and 'ravings', which were characteristics limited to feminine passions. In the nineteenth century, hysteria was perceived by doctors at the time as a disease that only women were patients when they could not accept a situation or event that has occurred in their lives. Therefore, the male character of Victor Frankenstein portrays a form of feminine characteristics and separates the stereotypical roles of males and females. Also, Mary Shelly's use of a male character to depict some feminine characteristics allows the interpretation and representation of issues that women in the nineteenth century experienced. Hysteria, as conveyed by Martha H. Verbrugge in her text Women and Medicine in Nineteenth Century America, was a way that women could release their emotional state by still being able to stick to their 'general norms of female behaviour.' Verbrugge further illustrates that the problems women faced in society outside of the household was also overpowered by men as she states that 'women were not merely female patients cared for by male physicians, but female victims controlled by male oppressors.'
In conclusion, women in the nineteenth century were expected to have passive and submissive characteristics while men held the power and dominance in the household and society in general. To this day these traditional gender roles still appear to some extent, although, during the time of gothic literature, society was greatly dominated by the actions of men. The concept of gender inversion is presented in both Bram Stoker's Dracula and Mary Shelly's Frankenstein by separating the traditional male and female gender roles and reversing them to convey a deeper meaning. Inverting gender roles in the novels was further used to interpret and represent the issues women faced in the nineteenth century period of time.
