Who Says the Victorians Never Talked About Sex?

The presence of female sexuality is a very interesting topic to use as an author

because it often catches people’s attention and incites them to read the book. This was

especially true in the Victorian era where women and men were very curious about what

female sexuality had to offer since the subject was very taboo. It is very apparent that one

of the major themes in Dracula, a very well-known novel written in 1897 by Bram

Stoker, is indeed female sexuality.

Back in the 1800’s, women had two choices regarding their paths. They had to be

either very proper and a model of purity, or married with children. If women weren’t

either of these, they were expendable and weren’t well respected in society. However, in

Dracula we are introduced to a special character named Lucy. When analyzing Lucy’s

character we see that she is very flirtatious with men, especially after her transformation

into a vampire. Lucy’s sexuality cuts loose after this happens. Her thirst for sex and blood

are irresistible, and this is when she commences feeding off humans, more precisely

children. “With a careless motion, she flung to the ground […] the child that up to now

she had clutched strenuously to her breast, growling over it as a dog growls over a bone.

The child gave a sharp cry, and lay there moaning.” (Chapter 16, page 235). Stoker also

presents to us the Weird Sisters, three she vampires. They are very sexual and like to

seduce men, as well as feed on children. Their resemblance to Lucy is striking. They have

the power to make men vulnerable and lose their self-control. "[...] The girl went on her

knees, bent over me, simply gloating. There was a deliberate voluptuousness which was

both thrilling and repulsive, and as she arched her neck she actually licked her lips like
an animal [...] Lower and lower went her head as the lips went below the range of my

mouth and chin and seemed about to fasten on my throat [...]". (Chapter 3, page 46) The

preceding is an example of the sexual behavior the Weird Sisters displayed to Jonathan

Harker. The woman take over the imperious role men were supposed to have during the

Victorian era which made them a threat to male superiority. By reading this novel, it is

obvious that both Lucy and the Weird Sisters show very open sexual behavior which

doesn’t conform to either of the paths women were supposed to follow in the 1800’s.

Stoker also created Mina, the perfect female virtue. As Van Helsing says, “She is

one of God’s women, fashioned by His own hand to show us men and other women that

there is a heaven where we can enter, and that its lights can be here on earth. So true, so

sweet, so noble, so little an egoist […]”. (Chapter 14, page 209). Mina is almost the

opposite of Lucy. Unlike Lucy, Mina is capable of resisting sexual temptations. She is a

more conservative and non-sexual woman; she is extremely feminine. However, after her

encounter with the evil Dracula she becomes a lot more sexualized. “[…] the instant we

saw we all recognized the Count, […] With his left hand he held both Mrs. Harker's

hands, keeping them away with her arms at full tension. […] Her white night-dress was

smeared with blood, and a thin stream trickled down the man's bare chest which was

shown by his torn-open dress.” (Chapter 22, page 313-314).

From this point on, she became herself a threat to the Victorian men, although Mina

remains on the good side after all. In summary, Mina started off as a perfect female

embodiment of virtue, but after her encounters with the Count, became more sexualized.
 Some people might argue that in this novel, there is actually no presence of sex

and that the vampires were just looking for blood to feed off. Nevertheless, I don’t agree.

In the era the novel was written, it was impossible to publish a book with open sexual

behavior; therefore, Stoker brilliantly used the vampire’s actions in place of explicit

sexual behavior. This makes a lot of sense because otherwise his book could never have

been published and become the classic it is today. Nowadays, we are allowed to talk and

write about sexuality very openly, so we are able to discuss the fact that blood seeking

behavior is really a cover for sex.

In conclusion, it is very obvious to me that female sexuality is one of the major

themes in the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker. First, the very sexually open and flirtatious

Lucy, as well as the Weird Sisters, clearly shows us that there is a lot of sexual content.

Second, Mina starts off by being pure and virtuous, but ends up being sexualized by

Dracula. It is also very clear to me that Stoker used the vampire’s lust for blood to cover

up the whole sexual theme. Perhaps Stoker’s way of introducing sexuality without

putting it down black on white is a more powerful way of dealing with this subject and

has contributed to becoming the classic that it is today. I think all of the authors that write

about sex today should read Stoker’s novel and learn a lesson from it.