The destruction of the Count in Dracula would not have been possible
without Mina Harker’s careful documentation of the journals and records that
followed his departure from London and yet she is constantly belittled for her
role as a Victorian woman while simultaneously forced to adhere to it. Despite
being “saved”, Mina’s role as a vessel of purity and virtue for Van Helsing,
Harker, etc. means she is no less a prisoner.
Throughout the novel Mina is used
as a vessel by both the “righteous” men and Dracula alike. While the Count’s
intentions are obvious more “devious” such as on page 347 he out right states
that she will “do (his) bidding,” but Van Helsing is guilty of the same
manipulation. He places an overabundance
of praise on her for such simple tasks like collecting data, as if she was a
small child or a dog, and is completely unlike his interactions with any male
character. Mina even notices this, saying “you praise me too much…you do not
know me,” (221). In fact Van Helsing does not seem to know Mina much at all,
preferring to lump “feminine ideals” onto her instead. On page 226 he goes to
great length to describe a apparently angelic she is saying “She is one of
God’s women, fashioned by His own hand to show us men and other women that
there is a heaven where we can enter…So true, so sweet, so noble, so little an
egoist.” Mina, though incredibly and capable (when allowed to be) is elevated
to an extremely holy state that, though flattering, is essentially dehumanizing
and decreases her ability to form her own identity. Van Helsing manipulates
Mina into a vessel in which he and other men can draw virtue from, basically an
object to be used, not a person. Both the Count and Van Helsing use Mina for
their own gain.
Despite the odds, Mina is not
without hope. After Lucy’s death and finally aware of the danger everyone is in
she shows a great deal of courage telling Seward that they must “rid the earth
of this terrible monster” and is eager to aid in the fight. She even shows
amazing foresight on the same page (261) saying that “We need have no secrets
amongst us; working together and with absolute trust, we can surely be stronger
than if some of us were in the dark,” and is proven correct when Van Helsing’s
decision to leave her out of the circle of trust leads to her disastrous
encounter with the Count.
This is still pretty all over the
place but I hope the basic direction that I’m going for still comes across. I’m
not very good at coming up with my own prompts, and I think that shows seeing
as this is the only blog post I’ve put up that hasn’t exceeded 1,000 words. In
my final paper I was hoping to also include an analysis on why the last entry
to Dracula isn’t written by Mina
despite the story’s extreme focus on her throughout the novel. Also, as you can
see, my second body paragraph is pretty short. If anyone can recall moments in
the novel wherein Mina shows a great deal of cleverness or independence I would
very grateful (it’s getting pretty late here and I’m literally running out of
juice). Other suggestions would also be very welcomed!
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ReplyDeleteI think it is arguable too that chivalry has a place in this too, in that when the men were not at poor Mina's side, she succombed to the Count. I did find it fascinating too how Mina become this eye back into the Counts world as well, where she describes hearing waves splashing and voices, under hypnosis (perhaps also a good example of being held prisoner). I do agree that Mina is symbolized as this delicate, angelic figure, and is elevated to an almost holy state. I think it makes her life, and the point where they all discuss the realities of having to kill her if/when she changes powerful as well (a personal hell / prison too maybe?).
ReplyDeleteHonestly, your comparison of Dracula and Van Helsing is brilliant. I didn't connect the dots when I was reading, but it's true! I think you can write a 5pg paper about that just as easily. Anyway, I can see where you want to with this. Mina is a prisoner in a lot of ways. She is probably more knowledgable then the men in the book, but no one really takes her seriously until the end (and by that point it's almost too late). I think a good thing to research will be the "New Women" movement that was going on at the time of the novel, because in many ways Stoker created Mina to be the opposite of that despite how educated she was.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I'm really flattered. In class I wrote New Women and "what happens to women after marriage" as well as "marital laws and inequalities" as research questions so now I feel like a have a better grasp on my paper's direction.
DeleteAnd I would definitely agree with your last sentence in that, in many ways, Stoker created Mina as a reaction to women's suffrage or at least partly.
I enjoyed reading your post and seeing that we had come across some of the same ideas. For example, when you stated that she was constantly belittled when she was clearly educated enough and also clever enough to take care of herself. I really dont see why Stoker made Mina out to be this little frilly woman who needed to be told what to do and how to do it when thats clearly not necessary. I know it comes with the territory, being a woman at that time and all but I sometimes like to think how things would have played out if Mina was left to make her own decisions all the time. Would she have been bit? Would it have taken them as long as it did to finally track down and kill Dracula?
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DeleteI think that Stoker took the direction that he did because it was the common belief at the time he wrote and published Dracula as you said. However, many people also make the case that Stoker was trying to show a new way of thinking that challenged the traditional ways that society felt about women. I think it would have been even harder to imagine at the time, a strong and independent women that not only can help herself but men as well. This could have caused a debate that stoker may not have wanted..... or maybe he did. I also think that a reason that she went to help was that she was also bitten by Dracula and wanted to help the others as well as herself.
DeleteThat's interesting question, how would Mina have fared if allowed more agency? I think she would have been better off, at least not bitten, if Van Helsing had trusted her. Maybe the Count would not have been able to escape London? I think that's something I might try and answer in my final paper.
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