From Damsel in Distress to Heroic Heroine
Buffy the Vampire Slayer at first seems like irrelevant when focusing on the image of Dracula, but Dracula in fact does make it on the set starring Sarah Michelle Gellar (2000). At the beginning of the episode, Buffy, who has been slaying vampires for three years at this point in the show, is actually intimidated and almost charmed by Dracula, allowing him to bite her in the privacy of her bedroom. Dracula takes control of her friend Xander, who acts as a Renfield-like character. These images very much parallel the original images featured in a Dracula movie: woman who can't resist Dracula, a servant forced into a very willing position, Dracula's intrigue in specifically a woman, etc.
Of course, Dracula asks Buffy to drink his blood, not to turn her (because she is not near death), but for almost a sexual thrill, and Buffy in doing so is released from his power. To the right you can see her slaying Dracula. |
In Nosferatu (1922), Dracula (1931), and the Dracula movies following these soon after, women were mostly seen as useless characters, placed only to be protected or slaughtered prey. Take for example Nosferatu. The only main female character, Ellen, has a very simple character role: she misses her husband who has left on business; Count Orlock (doing business with husband Hutton) finds her attractive; Orlock travels to London to have Ellen as a victim; Hutton escapes and returns home; Ellen falls ill from Orlock's power; and, of course, Orlock drinks her blood and kills her while Hutton is planning to destroy him (1922). The clip to the left shows a close parody on the way women like Ellen were portrayed in the hit vampire show, Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
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Both clips from Buffy the Vampire Slayer show the two extremes shown in Dracula movies, the former being the oldest image and the latter being the newest one. In Stoker's Dracula, the character of Lucy acts as an unfortunate victim and very expendable, while Mina is treated under heavy protection most of the time so as to not fall the same place Lucy has. As women's rights pushed and found its way in society, so did the female characters in Dracula, first in asserting themselves as vampires, then as humans fighting against the vampires. This is parallel to womenkind's fight first for basic equal rights with man, then with the fight to hold superior positions (Peacher 67).
These illustrations perfectly show the evolution of women in Dracula. In the first image, we have dear Ellen from Nosferatu (1922), with her lover Hutton. She is portrayed as weak, helpless, and has absolutely no say in this particular scene when Hutton says he has to leave right away for business and be gone a very long time. Next to her is an unnamed woman from Dracula (1958), a vampiress who attracts John Harker to her portraying a weak, helpless woman (much like Ellen), then turns him into a vampire. To the far right is Mary Heller (Dracula 2000, 2000). Mary's story is particularly interesting: Her father, Abraham Van Helsing, was accidentally turned vampire by a spear covered in Dracula's blood when Dracula is first imprisoned. He attemps to lead a normal life, and has a child with a woman. When she finds out his secret, she leaves with her young daughter Mary and escapes to the United States. At Dracula's revival, he seeks out Mary, the only other being with vampire blood who was not "turned" by another vampire. Mary uses her own cunning abilities and resources to not only save herself but also save her father's apprentice and defeat Dracula, almost entirely on her own. Mary is the image of the modern woman.
Dracula et. al. reflect the evolution of women from the damsel in distress to the modern woman. In showing how the role of women in Dracula films changes from each movie to the next, the films also show how the role of woman is changing in society. Women are definitely more empowered than they were in the time of Bram Stoker, and the evolution of his iconic character and those around him show this.
Dracula et. al. reflect the evolution of women from the damsel in distress to the modern woman. In showing how the role of women in Dracula films changes from each movie to the next, the films also show how the role of woman is changing in society. Women are definitely more empowered than they were in the time of Bram Stoker, and the evolution of his iconic character and those around him show this.