MM Oct 4

We began today’s class with our sixth quiz. Next we were prompted to focus on pages 55-58 which consist of the letters between Mina and Lucy. It was noted that the majority of women in this time period still subscribed to the traditional roles they were intended to fulfill. Still, this time also introduced the concept of the “New Woman” mentioned in footnotes on pages 86-87. This woman had expanded her opportunities to areas of higher education in which women were previously excluded.

In relation to Dracula, we were asked where Mina and Lucy fit in. Additionally, we were asked to identify differences between the two that are shown by their letters. It was generally agreed that the two women had obvious differences. Mina is depicted through her writing as the more mature of the two and also appears to be more devoted to her fiance. Conversely, Mina seems to have a childlike naivety and a very flirtatious nature. Both women were raised to conform to the traditional womanly conventions of this time but are tending to stray away from it a bit. Another discussion of their upbringings led to the conclusion that they are both originally from similar socioeconomic statuses but Mina has slipped from that bracket. This highlights another difference between Lucy and  Mina: while Mina wants to be helpful to her fiance and betters herself to that end, Mina has chosen her wealthiest suitor.

These differences led to our next discussion regarding Lucy as Dracula’s target. We considered why Lucy was chosen rather than Mina and disputed differences and similarities between her encounter and Jonathan’s with the three women. It was agreed that Lucy was more sexually viable than Mina due to her flirtatious nature versus Mina’s devotion to Jonathan. It makes her more open to Dracula’s seduction. However, it was pointed out that we do not truly know Lucy’s desires as she was sleep-walking for the first encounter. This differs from Jonathan’s experience in that we know that he was filled with a mix of desire and fear. They also differ since Jonathan is aware that something isn’t quite right and is therefore deliberate in his defiance of Dracula’s rules. It was asked is Lucy more of a victim given her vulnerability? On the other hand, it was mentioned that there needs to be a willingness to be bitten or seduced, perhaps lending to the theory that Lucy’s flirtatiousness is her downfall. Lastly it was agreed that Dracula had deliberately chosen England as his notoriety in Transylvania had hindered his ability to find victims. In England, he would have a fresh start.

Notes for October 4, 2010 by Michelle H:

Class started with a brief reminder of what we discussed last meeting. Dr. Mathur demonstrated that each victim of Dracula willingly invites him into their lives. Jonathan, Lucy and Renfield are either warned or troubled by their sleep. Jonathan was warned by the Count not to fall asleep except in his room. Lucy has problems with sleepwalking. Renfield has disturbed moments of sleep. Each of the characters are categorized as suffering from madness. For example, Renfield is the representation of a mad person in an asylum, while Lucy and Jonathan both question whether or not they have lapsed into madness.

Next we started to discuss the significance of being bitten by a vampire. It was brought up that to be bitten means that there is a contamination of the blood. During the time at which this book was wrote, there was a fear of contracting syphilis, a sexually transmitted disease. There is a relation between contracting the vampire disease and sexually transmitted diseases. Also, being bitten on the neck is a very vulnerable spot. Similarly, once a person is bitten, there is a drastic change in the demeanor of a character. This can be contributed that the soul of a victim is inverted once this demonic disease takes over. For example, once Lucy becomes a vampire, she takes on the inverse role of motherhood once she starts targeting children. However, it does bring up the question, which we will discuss next class, whether corruption is internal or external.

We then discussed whether Lucy is losing blood or something else altogether and the significance of Dracula attacking her while she sleeps. It is evident that she is losing her life as well as her blood. Her sanity is faltering and she could almost be compared to Renfield as an equal. Dracula attacks Lucy in her sleep because it is the most vulnerable time for a guaranteed successful attack. In the story Macbeth, Lady Macbeth lapses into sleep and has horrible visions, just as Lucy does, and goes into an almost insane state of mind. Lucy questions her sanity after having these strange nightmares, too.

Then we were asked if Lucy knew what was happening to her and if there was a possibility that she could have been saved. It was brought up that Lucy was aware what was happening to her. Dracula may have offered her something that she could not get from her husband. He may have offered her eternal life as a vampire or the freedom to act as flirtatious as she wishes without people condemning her. The majority of the class concluded that there was no possible way that Lucy would have been saved. Van Helsing looked at Lucy as an experimentation. It does not say that Van Helsing ever successfully prevented vampirism.

Afterwards, we talked about the similarities between Lucy’s taking blood from Arthur, Dr. Seward, Van Helsing, and Quincey Morris, and Dracula’s taking blood from Lucy. In both cases blood is vital in order for both Lucy and Dracula to survive. Renfield expresses this when he attacks John Seward and licks his blood saying that “blood is the life”. Both Lucy is similar to Dracula in the sense that both receive the same blood. Lucy gets a blood transfusion from the four men which gets drained immediately by Dracula. On page 158 there is a section that describes Lucy as a polyandrist because she takes the blood of the four men which binds them closely together. This could exemplify her flirtatiousness. Just like Dracula’s three women who act very similar to Lucy. This could explain further why Dracula targeted Lucy. The blood was given to Lucy in order Arthur, Seward, Van Helsing and Quincy. Arthur, her husband is an aristocrat. John Seward is in charge of an asylum. Van Helsing, a foreigner, has many degrees. Finally, Quincey Morris, who is a foreign traveler from America.