In the first fifteen chapters of Bram Stoker's Dracula¸ the author subtly examines and comments on the role of women in Victorian England through the actions and words of Mina and Lucy. In particular, evidence from the passage appearing on pages 164 to 167 of the Norton Critical Edition of Dracula suggests that through the character of Van Helsing, Stoker emphasizes the idea that a woman's purpose is to ensure her husband's happiness, and that a man's happiness should take priority over that of his wife. In this particular excerpt, Stoker reveals a lot about the character of Mina, but more importantly, his view of the role of women and their importance (or lack thereof) in the crucial events of the plot, namely the hunt to destroy Dracula . . As such, this passage is crucial to understanding how Mina, as a woman, still contributes to Van Helsing's attempt to kill Dracula, despite the fact that he sees her as a less valuable individual due to her gender. Stoker portrays Mina's success as a boon to her husband instead of being proof of Mina's intellectual abilities. Since Mina and Lucy are the main characters of Dracula, the Victorian ideal of the role of women becomes crucial to the plot of the entire novel, especially in the transition to pages 164-167. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay This step is integral to the development of the plot, because Van Helsing gathers much of the information he needs to kill Dracula, and all this evidence helps convince others to join his cause. As a result, the way he gets this essential information is through Mina, and he seems shocked, not only that these first-hand accounts of Dracula's horrors exist, but also at the source of the information. He says: “Ah, so you have a good memory for facts, for details? It's not always like this with young ladies. He is surprised that Mina, a woman, could have been intelligent enough to record these events and type them up. Furthermore, in Victorian society, there was a widespread belief that a woman should consider her husband's comfort and happiness more important than her own. This is clearly evident in this passage, especially on page 166. “Husband Jonathan would not like to see you so pale; and what he does not like where he loves is not for his good. So for him you have to eat and smile." Van Helsing orders Mina to smile because otherwise it might upset Jonathan, which contradicts a wife's duties towards her husband. On the other hand, Van Helsing's motivation for raising this issue could be that Jonathan's emotional state is rather fragile because he saw Dracula in England while he was still trying to recover from the ordeal he survived in Transylvania at the hands of the same man and monster. . Whatever Van Helsing's motivation, this quote is still an accurate representation of the far-reaching influence of Victorian society values. These two sentences are already condescending towards Mina, especially due to the use of the imperative "you have to eat and smile". Van Helsing orders Mina around, the way a parent would scold a child. It is no surprise that Stoker compares women to children several times in the first 15 chapters of Dracula, usually when referring to the ailing Lucy. This is a testament to the mindset of most men during the Victorian era, that they controlled their wives and had to protect them, similar to the way fathers comfort and protect their children. Throughout a Victorian woman's life, there was always a male presencedominant. The same goes for all of Dracula. Although the letters between Lucy and Mina seem to be an exception to this pattern, the subject of their correspondence most often concerns the various men in their lives. Stoker's aforementioned condescension towards Mina further contributes to the dynamic of patriarchal "control" in the novel. Van Helsing's command for Mina to smile also alludes to a woman's perceived tendency to be a follower rather than a leader. Lucy keeps a diary, but it wasn't of her own free will. Instead, he's simply copying Mina. This could imply that many women are unable to think for themselves and must follow the example of men or other more mature women. The latter was common in Victorian society, as women were usually under the guidance and control of their fathers, and then their husbands. Additionally, Stoker makes a statement about the way women think in the quote on page 164: “Sometimes she kept a diary… and was made in imitation of you.” The word “imitation” is important in part because of the negative connotations associated with appearing unoriginal, especially in today's society that celebrates individuality. This presents an interesting juxtaposition of how individuality was not celebrated in 1897, when Dracula was published. As such, a woman imitating another woman's actions would have been a good thing, because it subtly reiterated the idea that women lack the ability to think as individuals. This also reinforces the Victorian idea that women have a collective identity instead of being individual beings. They were often stereotyped, their rights ignored and their protests often silenced by force or resignation. At one point in chapter 8, Mina sympathizes with the "New Woman", but is far from becoming one herself, lest she be vilified by the vast majority of Victorian men and women who did not embrace such modern ideas. Through the way Van Helsing praises Mina, Stoker creates an image of her that personifies the ideals of the Victorian era. At the time of Dracula's publication, men often placed women on a pedestal, not for the words they spoke, but for the virtues they embodied. Mina Murray is, in many ways, the dream wife for a typically conservative man of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She is reserved, sweet and always attentive to her husband. Even when she has a success for which she is praised, her successes are seen as the work of her husband, since he is the man who married her, "...your husband will be blessed in you." It seems that Stoker must mention Mina's husband immediately after Van Helsing flatters her to remind her that her positive qualities are not her own, but indirectly belong to her husband, as she “belongs” to her husband. The words that Dracula's men use to describe Mina and Lucy are important because they reflect the role of women in Victorian society. On page 165, Stoker writes, “I, who have read thy so sweet letter to poor Lucy.” Stoker repeats the words "sweet" and "poor" countless times in chapters 1-15 to describe Lucy and sometimes Mina. The only time Stoker uses an adjective that actually describes a real, substantive character trait is when Van Helsing calls Mina smart: "Oh, you're such a smart woman!" (Stoker, 164). This passage provides the only example in the first fifteen chapters of a man actually acknowledging a woman's intellectual contribution, namely the diary, the letters, and her idea to transcribe Jonathan's diary. The specifics of Mina's contribution to Van Helsing's research are significant, because part of her contribution involves transcribing her husband's diary and. translating it from shorthand. The.