Bram Stoker's novel Dracula, written in 1897 during the Victorian era, describes and delves into the historical context of what society was like in the past. His remarkable piece places a strong emphasis on sexuality by contrasting it with the conventional and stereotypical views on sexuality that were once embellished during his lifetime. Painting an elaborate picture of the conservative society in which Stoker grew up, I argue that through his main female characters he seeks to embody and challenge the Victorian notion of sexuality by incorporating female characters with strong sexual desires. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Stoker explicitly links vampirism and sexuality from the first chapters of the novel, when the three vampire beauties visit Harker in Dracula's castle. Because the prejudices of his time prevented him from writing openly about sexual intercourse, Stoker suggests explicit sexual acts through the predatory habits of his vampires. The means by which Dracula feeds himself, for example, echo the mechanics of sex: he waits to be invited into his victim's bedroom, then pierces her body in a way that makes her bleed. In the mind of the typical Victorian male, this act has the same effect as a real sexual encounter: it transforms the woman from a repository of purity and innocence into an uncontrollably lascivious creature who inspires an “evil and burning desire” in men. We witness such a transformation in Lucy Westenra, who becomes a dangerous figure of sexual predation bent on destroying men with her unbridled lust. Because of her immoral mission, the men realize that Lucy must be destroyed. In this sense, Stoker's novel betrays a deep fear of women going beyond the sexual boundaries that Victorian society prescribed for them. If women are not hopelessly innocent virgins, like Lucy before Dracula possessed her, or married, like Mina, they are whores who threaten to demolish men's reason and, by extension, their power. The fact that such temptresses are destroyed without exception in Dracula is testimony to the level of anxiety Victorian men felt about female sexuality. In Dracula, Bram Stoker writes characters who deal with sexuality: sexual repression is at the center of this theme. Both men and women are sexually repressed, as evidenced by Jonathan Harker's thoughts and actions during his imprisonment in Dracula's castle. His sexual repression is best described in the following quote: 'I was afraid to lift my eyelids, but I looked out and saw perfectly under the eyelashes. The girl knelt down and leaned over me, simply gloating. There was a deliberate voluptuousness that was both thrilling and repulsive, and as she arched her neck, she actually licked her lips like an animal... I closed my eyes in languid ecstasy and waited... I waited with my heart beating .' Jonathan Harker is about to be bitten by Count Dracula's three daughters. Vampire women are voluptuous and highly sexualized; they are free to act on their sexual desires, which is the exact opposite of men and women in Victorian society. The fact that Jonathan has to close his eyes demonstrates his inability to handle open sexuality. At the same time, he feels the desire to be kidnapped by the vampire boil over when he says he closed his eyes and waited in a state of dreamy ecstasy. He wants the woman to take advantage of him, but is ashamed of this, as he struggles to see her sexual expressiveness as both desirable and repugnant.Women are defined on a continuum in Dracula. Mina is pure and chaste throughout the novel and embodies the ideal Victorian woman. Van Helsing says, "She is one of God's women, fashioned by His own hands to show us men and other women that there is a heaven... so true, so sweet, so noble, so unselfish - and this, let me tell you." you, is very in this age, so skeptical and selfish.'Mina embodies the ideal woman in all respects. She is prudent, intelligent, thoughtful, understands her place in society. Stoker develops Mina as an ideal so that he can present what is considered unacceptable behavior for women through the character development of Dracula's daughters, the "weird sisters". The three women serve as Mina's opposites: impure, radical and evil. I am everything a Victorian woman should not be in society. The women are called "monsters" by Jonathan. Women seduce men, which the novel clearly argues against. A woman should be courted by men appropriately and should not seek a relationship independently. There was something about them that made me uncomfortable, a desire and at the same time a mortal fear. I felt in my heart a wicked, burning desire to be kissed with those red lips. It is not good to write it down, lest one day you meet Mina's eyes and cause her pain; but it's the truth. (3.29) Jonathan's repressed sexual desire comes to the surface when he sees the sexy vampires at Castle Dracula. He is attracted and disgusted at the same time, and is ashamed to admit that in a certain sense he would like to be kissed.[…] we recognized Lucy Westenra's features. Lucy Westenra, how much she has changed. Sweetness turned into adamantine, heartless cruelty, and purity into voluptuous lust. (4.17pm) Jack Seward can't believe how much "Lucy Westenra" has changed: he keeps repeating her full name, pointing out that it's now just an empty label. "Lucy Westenra" is no longer herself; this hypersexual demon is not the girl he fell in love with. This female vampire might be sexy, but she's sexy in a very strange way. The Thing in the coffin writhed; and a horrible, blood-curdling scream came out of her open red lips. The body trembled and quivered and twisted in wild contortions; the sharp white teeth clamped together until the lips were cut and the mouth was smeared with crimson foam. But Arthur never wavered […] as his fearless arm rose and fell, driving the mercy stake deeper and deeper. (4.45pm) Whether or not you want to read the stake as a phallic symbol, this scene is quite sexual. the desire for delay that seemed to paralyze my faculties and clog my very soul. (27.30) Even the great Van Helsing felt the sexy power of the "weird sisters". Naturally he passes over him and targets all three. I was afraid to lift my eyelids, but I looked out and saw perfectly under the eyelashes. The girl knelt down and leaned over me, simply gloating. There was a deliberate voluptuousness that was both thrilling and repulsive, and as she arched her neck, she truly licked her lips like an animal. . . . His head lowered lower and lower as his lips descended below my mouth and chin and seemed about to fix on my throat. . . . I closed my eyes in languid ecstasy and waited, waited with my beating heart. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom article from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay Things go from bad to worse rather quickly during Harker's stay with the count. In this passage of Chapter III, three beautiful vampires visit the Englishman and come dangerously close to draining his blood.