Discuss the representation of the ‘masculine’ and the ‘feminine’ in Dracula. Bram Stoker was born in Ireland in 1847. He attended Trinity College in Dublin to study mathematics before starting his long career as actor Sir Henry Irving's assistant in the 1870s. In addition, Stoker started a second career as a writer, publishing his first book, The Primrose Path, in 1875. His most well-known work, Dracula, was published in 1897, but he passed away before the fictional vampire would become widely known. (Bram Stoker, 2023). He lived in the Victorian Era, which is an extremely important fact to take into consideration for the understanding of this essay. This epoch “spans the 63 years of Queen Victoria´s reign over Great Britain and Ireland from 1837 until her death in 1901.” (English Heritage, n.d.). In such period of time, the society had constructed certain conventions that influenced people´s behaviour. The role of the man and the woman was delimited by these conventions. Moreover, the area in which each gender used to fulfil its role was denominated by theorists as “sphere”; there was the “public sphere” and the “private sphere”. Marie Bland develops this concept in her essay entitled Gender and Gender Identity in Victorian Fiction “The idea of ‘separate spheres’ implied that men and women in Victorian England – and in the Victorian Age in general – had different work places, skill sets and characteristics in comparison to one another. Each gender therefore had its own sphere: women “dominated” the private, emotional domestic sphere, whereas men were dominant in the public sphere.” Another concept that I regard highly important is called “the concept of doubleness” (Bland, M. p.5). This concept states that it is possible “to find doubles in identity: female characters with a hidden male identity and male characters with a hidden female identity.” (p.5) In this essay, I will analyze the portrayal of typical Victorian conventions of masculinity and femininity in Dracula. I will use relevant interpretations of the story to understand the representation of these characteristics within the characters. I also will mention how the author plays around with the standards of the epoch by using the concept of doubleness. Regarding Dracula´s characters, it is complex to fully identify the Victorian conventions. From my point of view the masculine and feminine aspects are somehow blurry in certain characters; that is when the concept of doubleness helps us to understand its full significance. Natalie Diane Cottrill states in her thesis the Monstrosity of Gender Inversion in Bram stoker’s Dracula (2020) that “Many characters take on multiple roles at once, and some exist in the space between gender identity altogether” (p.8). In chapter 18 Mina is depicted by Van Helsing as “that wonderful Madam Mina! She has man's brain, a brain that a man should have were he much gifted, and a woman's heart” (Stoker, B. p.175). This description portrays exactly what Cottrill is commenting; the characteristics of both genders contained in one character. Another example of this concept is portrayed in chapter 25; this occurs after Mina´s encounter with Dracula. She realizes that her “soul is at stake” (p.245) and mentions that “when you shall be convinced that I am so changed that it is better that I died that may live. When I am thus dead in the flesh, then you will, without a moment´s delay, drive a stake through me and cut off my head.” (p.246). The heroic stance that Mina adopts through this tough moment is not at all aligned with the female Victorian conventions in where a woman, facing a similar situation, would typically respond with despair and fear. The same happens with Jonathan who adopts the “submissive role” as Cottrill mentions (p.14). In chapter 3, Jonathan realizes he is trapped in Count Dracula´s castle “When I found that I was a prisoner a sort of wild feeling came over me…I am, I know, either being deceived, like a baby, by my own fears, or else I am in desperate straits.” (Stoker, B. p.23). The description of his feelings clearly portrays an inability to react when confronted with a challenging situation. This behaviour was not in line with the societal expectations for men during that era, given the prevailing belief in men’s dominance in the public sphere, as discussed in Bland's previous work. Another example of this frightening feeling and submissive posture that Jonathan experiences is presented in the encounter with the Count´s imprisoned vampires. In this opportunity, Jonathan confronted a mixed sensation between fear and excitation “I lay quiet, looking out under my eyelashes in agony of delightful anticipation…I was afraid to raise my eyelids, but looked out and saw perfectly under the lashes…I could feel the soft, shivering touch of the lips touching and pausing there. I closed my eyes in a languorous ecstasy and waited—waited with beating heart” (p.30-31). It is notably obvious that Harker does not want to interfere in the situation, he just remains motionless and waits for things to happen. Another character that portrays blurry gender characteristics is Count Dracula. When he encounters Mina in her room, he cuts himself, creating an open wound. Subsequently, he forces Mina to draw the blood from this wound by sucking on it. The narrative conveys this scene by commenting that “the attitude of the two had a terrible resemblance to a child forcing a kitten´s nose into a saucer of milk to compel it to drink.” (210). This situation can be interpreted in several ways. Cottrill (2020) provides a magnificent multiple interpretation for this scene. She explains that Dracula is in midst of the binary concept of gender because he adopts three roles at the same moment: the phallic conqueror, the nursing mother and the menstruating maid (p.20). This interpretation presents Dracula as a sexual figure who obliges Mina to engage in oral acts of intimacy; as a mother who embraces his child by giving her “milk” (as the kitten´s comparison explains); and as a bleeding woman that through her “vagina” (open wound) provides blood. Although I do not agree with some of the readings, I consider that they are extremely interesting and creative ones. The most important fact, whether you agree or not with the interpretations, is that without doubt Dracula´s gender characteristics are not firmly distinguishable. His gender characteristics have no place in a binary sexual classification; his doubleness is highly visible through the exemplifications provided. In conclusion Bram Stoker provides characters that present blurry characteristics regarding the social standards of the epoch. He plays with Mina´s behaviour, highlighting her heroic willingness and her cunning strategies; He emphasizes the trans generic role of Dracula through his sexual encounters and the reaction of his victims; and he sets Jonathan in a cowardice position, lacking masculinity aspects for a man of the Victorian period. Bibliography Biography. (2023, March 7). Bram Stoker. https://www.biography.com/authors-writers/bram-stoker English Heritage. (n.d.). Victorians. https://www.englishheritage.org.uk/learn/story-ofengland/victorian/#:~:text=The%20Victorian%20era%20spans%2 0the,its%20empire%20across%20the%20globe. Bland, M. (2019). Gender and Gender Identity in Victorian Fiction How Mary Elizabeth Braddon’s “Lady Audley’s Secret” Challenges Victorian Social Constructs and Beliefs Regarding Gender. Ghent University. Cottrill, N. D. (2020). “Life Swarms with Innocent Monsters”: the Monstrosity of Gender Inversion in Bram stoker’s Dracula. Montclair State University. Stoker, B. (1897). Dracula. New York Grosset and Dunlap Publishers