This becomes apparent to us through the episode with the three female vampires. Harker is amazed at these creatures as he has never seen women so unrestrained before and he is deeply stunned. He seems helpless to do anything to fight against them and we find out that he does not want to fight them off as he finds them very attractive. He describes himself as having “a wicked burning desire” this implies that sex was regarded as evil and wrong.
He knows that it is wrong and yet he waits with “delightful anticipation” of what is to come. In the Victorian society such feelings would not have been discussed, however Bram Stroker makes no attempt to cover up the intentions of the three vampires. Instead he chooses to place emphasis on the sexual element with vivid descriptions of the women and their seductiveness. He describes their lips as being “voluptuous” and their appearance very pleasing.
Count Dracula is very much the master of the house, who as in Victorian society, was expected to provide for the women he has total control over them and they dare not disobey him for fear of the consequences. In this episode he provides them with a baby so that they will leave Harker alone. At the end of the episode we read that the three vampires disappeared into thin air. In my opinion Stoker was comparing this to the role of Victorian women, who in the home were expected to fade into the background.
For indeed the concept of the ideal women was a much sought after creature “innocent but sensual passive but alert and always obedient to men”. The power of women is continually being undermined in Dracula. They are continually perceived as of weak, and even Mina one of the stronger women in the novel falls under the spell of Dracula. Mina is forced to suck blood from his bosom. This reflects the manifestation of male dominance and female servitude is evoked through the imagery.
Stoker’s Dracula is an ambiguous figure, a source of both erotic anxiety and corrupt desire. He is the symbol of a relatively uncomplicated evil, which resided in secret wants and unconscious desire. This can be compared to the way the Victorians viewed themselves, they saw their feelings as wrong so they chose not to expose them: yet all these taboo subjects are highlighted in Bram Stokers novel. It is not known whether or not he intended to do this or if it was simply an unconscious telegraphing of his inner thoughts at the time.
