Blog Post 6
Define: This journal article analyzes Mina Harker and her relationship with other prominent characters in Dracula. The article shows how Dracula works as a scapegoat narrative and examines how Mina represents an ideological paradox of monstrosity used in Gothic literature. Mina represents an ideological paradox where normality cannot exit without monstrosity because as long as something is considered wrong or unnatural, the opposite is justified. It also introduces the idea that Stoker is using Mina as a tool to push forward a new picture of normative femininity. The new normative of femininity is shown through Mina’s friendship with Lucy, Van Helsing’s “community cleaning” ideology, and Mina’s ultimate complicity in her relationships with the men in the novel.
Understand: This article is arguing that Mina Harker neither encompasses the “New Woman” nor the traditional ideal Victorian woman. Mina, although displaying skills in typing and writing in shorthand, does not fit into the New Woman model because even though she acts as a maternal figure to the men in the novel, she does not give in to sexual desire, like Lucy. She doesn’t fit into the traditional views of Victorian women either because like the paradox of monstrosity, no woman could ever measure up to the idealized stereotype. Because she does not fit into these categorizations, Mina must actively work to escape the seduction of Dracula as well as Van Helsing’s ritual of cleansing. As suggested by the end of the novel, once Mina successfully escapes both Dracula and Van Heling, normality can be reaffirmed in society.
Evaluate: This is a logical argument as Mina shows both traits of a “New Woman” and of the ideal Victorian woman, making it difficult to categorize her so. This article draws from external texts to support this such as Eliza Lynn Linton’s idea of the new woman as a “cow-woman”. Stating that the paradox of monstrosity is also a paradox of femininity is an interesting contribution. The article states that because Mina does not fit into these roles exactly, she “can be read as a monster” and “justifiably exterminated”. This is a valuable contribution as it critiques both ideals of the new woman and the ideal Victorian woman as being unattainable and extreme which will only lead to risk and destruction. It also brings up the idea that normality can only be justified in society as “normal” if there is external monstrosity threatening this normality. And, to restore normality in society, the monstrosity must be exterminated. This is an idea presented in many other works that examine Victorian gothic and monstrosity in literature such as Jeffrery Jerome Cohen’s “Monster Culture”.
Distinguish: This article’s argument is similar to my research because it analyzes how Mina does not fit into the ideology of the New Woman because she is ultimately complicit in the patriarchal normalities of her relationships. This article differs from mine because it also does not characterize Mina as the ideal Victorian woman and examines monstrosity’s role in femininity. This helps develop my argument for my research as it points out the complexity of people and how people rarely fall under one extreme category. It is not enough to say that Mina is the ideal Victorian Woman or that she is a New Woman. I will use this article to show how Stoker works to critique the idea of the New Woman and uses Dracula as a cautionary tale to women who stray from the patriarchal norms in society.
Create: This article has helped me understand the depth to which Mina can be analyzed. It has made me want to focus more on how Stoker is using Mina as a tool to condemn the idea of the New Women and less on how the New Woman affected modern day feminism. Women’s suffrage and the emerging ideas of the Victorian era are so complex and I choose to focus on them through analyzing Mina and her relationships.
