Chapter 10 & 11 are really focused on the decline of Lucy untill her eventual death at the end of Chapter 11. We see Van Helsing taking command of the situation in chapter 10, he talks in parabels to Dr. Seward and his vague riddles, "...knowledge is stronger than memory" leave us with a christ like impression of the good Dr Van Helsing. This is perhaps a device used by Stoker to highlight the Godly capacities of his hero. He deliberately describes Dracula as the anti-Christ and equally he needs a 'Christ like' good character to be able to defeat the evil one. Furthermore, one could suggest that the name of Dr Van Helsing- Abraham- is linked to the character having a patriarchal religious role. Van Helsing is the character that all others turn to in their time of need, specifically Lucy in chapters 10 and 11, showing that he is a father like figure in the novel. Abraham was the founding father of all 3 major monotheistic relgions (Christianity, Judaism and Islam) and as such it is a fitting name for Van Helsing as it may symbolise Stoker's intentions for the character. On the other hand, Stoker could just be being very vain by giving the novel's hero his own name.
Blood, again is the focus in these chapters. There is the blood transfusions that Dr Seward and Van Helsing give to Lucy. Given the religious focus in 'Dracula' one could compare the giving of blood in the trasfusions to the Eucharist, drinking the blood of Christ through the medium of wine. I believe the point of the Eucharist is to remind us that Christ died for us and our salvation and to save us from our sins, the transfusion given to Lucy is indeed saving her (albeit temporarily) from her fate as a bride of Dracula. Furthermore, just as Christ gave his blood Dracula takes blood and this can be seen as another method of highlighting that the character of Dracula is the evil anti-Christ. There is also the scene in which Renfield starts licking Seward's blood off of the floor in his cell after he has attacked the Dr. He proclaims, "The blood is the life! The blood is the life!" Renfield is almost Vampiric in this chapter and this adds a new, more evil dimension to his madness.
Finally we have the newspaper interview with a zoo keeper following the escape of a wolf, "Bersicker". This is rather strange as Mr. Bilder describes seeing a figure who is obviously Drac, "a tall, thin chap, with a 'ook nose and a pointed beard" talking to Bersicker and presumably lets him out. YET, Drac can change shape himself so why he would need to release Bersicker is confusing. It could be that in order to change shape he has to do something to the animal/human/thing to become it. Weird anyhow- perhaps Mr F can explain this to me. :)
Thursday 15 December 2011
Thursday 8 December 2011
Chapter 8 Women & Marriage
Sooo, I realise I should have done this like last week but luckily Mr Francis didn't decide to pick on my blog then so it's all good.
It seems ages since we read chapter 8 and just flicking back over my notes and the other blog posts there's quite a lot to talk about.
Firstly there is the whole Mina is a 'Madonna' thing. She is portrayed as being a virtuous lady by acknowledging her obligations (even to her diary), ".... I have made my diary a duty" and aslo through the mothering care that she gives to Lucy after she has gone sleepwalking up to the abbey. This can be seen through the way she dresses her in a motherly fashion, " I fastened her shall at her throat" as well as through the description that she gives to Lucy's passiveness once Mina wakes her, "I told her to come at once with me home she rose without a word, with the obediance of a child". Furthermore, Mina looks after her friend by trying to protect her reputation from the scandal that would emerge if it were to be discovered that she had gone outside in her nightdress. Mina's concern about her own feet being on show, "I daubed my feet with mud" also show her strict ideas about Victorian virtue. So Mina's motherlike qualities and virtues make her the archetypal Madonna of the story. Sterotypical or what? I personally think that Stoker has made Mina's character too one dimensional so that I think any real woman either Victorian or modern would have difficulty relating to her character. What really infuriates me about Stoker's portrayal of Mina is the way he uses her to bad mouth feminist 'new women' in Dracula. Mina is in essensce a piece of propaganda used by Stoker to show to the world his own views about women and how they should act and be seen to act. I honestly don't think he writes her very well because she is merely a tool and not a developed character in her own right.
The second BIG thing in chapter 8 is the whole Drac and Lucy 'rape' marriage going on. It has been suggested by members of the class that wedding imagery is used to describe the scene at the Abbey, where Mina disturbs Dracula drinking the blood of Lucy. Evidence includes, "something dark stood behind the seat where the white figure shone" and "something, long and black, bending over the half-reclining white figure". It is as if by taking her blood Dracula is marrying Lucy by taking something precious from her, perhaps the blood drinking is a symbol for the taking of virginity/ rape? This can be backed up by the imagery used by Stoker on page 102, "on the band of her nightdress was a drop of blood" to evoke an image of unclean bed sheets after the wedding night. All of this personally reminds me of the times that men who raped women were forced to marry them as punishment. Furthermore, I hate to go back to Freud but his symbolism could be used in regard to the 'penetration' of the fangs on the throat for... well it's pretty self explanatory really. What irritates me about the rape marriage is that Lucy is portrayed badly, almost 'whore' like. Mina frets about Lucy's reputation, like it was actually her fault for sleepwalking out of the house in her nightdress. Silly judgmental Victorians.
End Note: Finished the book now, overall I thought it was pretty good but the ending was just so quick!
It seems ages since we read chapter 8 and just flicking back over my notes and the other blog posts there's quite a lot to talk about.
Firstly there is the whole Mina is a 'Madonna' thing. She is portrayed as being a virtuous lady by acknowledging her obligations (even to her diary), ".... I have made my diary a duty" and aslo through the mothering care that she gives to Lucy after she has gone sleepwalking up to the abbey. This can be seen through the way she dresses her in a motherly fashion, " I fastened her shall at her throat" as well as through the description that she gives to Lucy's passiveness once Mina wakes her, "I told her to come at once with me home she rose without a word, with the obediance of a child". Furthermore, Mina looks after her friend by trying to protect her reputation from the scandal that would emerge if it were to be discovered that she had gone outside in her nightdress. Mina's concern about her own feet being on show, "I daubed my feet with mud" also show her strict ideas about Victorian virtue. So Mina's motherlike qualities and virtues make her the archetypal Madonna of the story. Sterotypical or what? I personally think that Stoker has made Mina's character too one dimensional so that I think any real woman either Victorian or modern would have difficulty relating to her character. What really infuriates me about Stoker's portrayal of Mina is the way he uses her to bad mouth feminist 'new women' in Dracula. Mina is in essensce a piece of propaganda used by Stoker to show to the world his own views about women and how they should act and be seen to act. I honestly don't think he writes her very well because she is merely a tool and not a developed character in her own right.
The second BIG thing in chapter 8 is the whole Drac and Lucy 'rape' marriage going on. It has been suggested by members of the class that wedding imagery is used to describe the scene at the Abbey, where Mina disturbs Dracula drinking the blood of Lucy. Evidence includes, "something dark stood behind the seat where the white figure shone" and "something, long and black, bending over the half-reclining white figure". It is as if by taking her blood Dracula is marrying Lucy by taking something precious from her, perhaps the blood drinking is a symbol for the taking of virginity/ rape? This can be backed up by the imagery used by Stoker on page 102, "on the band of her nightdress was a drop of blood" to evoke an image of unclean bed sheets after the wedding night. All of this personally reminds me of the times that men who raped women were forced to marry them as punishment. Furthermore, I hate to go back to Freud but his symbolism could be used in regard to the 'penetration' of the fangs on the throat for... well it's pretty self explanatory really. What irritates me about the rape marriage is that Lucy is portrayed badly, almost 'whore' like. Mina frets about Lucy's reputation, like it was actually her fault for sleepwalking out of the house in her nightdress. Silly judgmental Victorians.
End Note: Finished the book now, overall I thought it was pretty good but the ending was just so quick!
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