Examples Of Sexism In Dracula

Stoker, Dracula, pages 147-204 Ch 13-17 Why is it that so many of the characters are so trusting of Van Helsing? Ever since he came into the picture, characters such as Dr. Seward, Lucy, Arthur, and Mina have allowed Van Helsing to do what ever he wants. This seems implausible, especially considering some of the things he asks, among them being spreading garlic around the room, allowing him to chop off Lucy’s head and cut out her heart, reading Lucy’s diaries, and digging up her coffin to mutilate her body. All of these things seem completely ridiculous, yet all the characters willingly relent to his wishes without much thought. This could be because Van Helsing has a kindly appearance(as detailed by Mina) and a genuine nature, but I suspect that it is most likely because he seems to be an expert in his field. He specializes in odd diseases, and his knowledge of the unknown comforts the other characters because they have no clue what is going on. In a way, they are letting him take control of the
Despite this quality, they still do not think that she should come along with them on their trip to seek out and kill Dracula. Instead, they leave her at home to sit in her room and wait to hear if any of her friends have been harmed or killed. They also ask that she acts as the secretary during their meeting, a job which she most likely brought on herself by volunteering to write up everyone’s journal entries beforehand. Mina does seem to think of herself in these same sexist ways, although she does her best to turn away from it. When Quincy accidentally shoots the window to try and kill the bat, Mina is the first to cry out, and she shames herself for being such a coward. Despite these leanings toward sexism, I feel that Stoker did a pretty good job at creating a strong female character given the time period that he wrote