New Woman A Failed Mother - 1205 Words

Dracula functions as a way to invert sexual identity of the novel through the use of vivid imagery. Through this Bram Stoker not only breaks the walls of gender barriers, but also perverts the image of an archetype mother to create a fear from the New Woman. He exposes failed motherhood through; three female vampires who sexually consume their child, Lucy who feeds off her children, and Count Dracula who taints the image of a mother perpetually to signify the dangers that a â€Å"New Woman† can bring to the society. Through three female vampires, Stoker draws out on the dangers of â€Å"New Women† by portraying them as perverted image of a mother. Instead of showing these women as traditional mother who are protective and nourishing to their†¦show more content†¦Since Lucy becomes a vampire, she inverts motherhood by breaking the norms by consuming the children. It was terribly weak, and looked quite emaciated. It too, when partially resorted, had the common story to tell of being lured away by the â€Å"bloofer lady† With a careless motion, she flung to the ground, callous as a devil, the child that up to now she had clutched strenuously to her breast, growling over it as a dog growls over a bone. This except begins with a child looking â€Å"terribly weak† and â€Å"emaciated.† This usage of language demonstrates that Lucy fails to nourish her children, instead she feeds off them. Traditional mothers keep their child healthy, but she makes her child weak so that she herself can be strong. Through this inversion, Stoker enforces the idea that a New Woman is not going to be taking care of her children to create fear of a New Woman. Furthermore, in this passage, we are explicitly exposed to Lucy struggle as a mother. For instance she is compare to a dog because female dogs are very protective of their child. Lucy at first also held her children â€Å"strenuously to her breast† to elicit her protectiveness and warmth. However since she is a vampire, the animalistic side of her succeeds. Due to this she is not only â€Å"careless† and violent with her child, but also â€Å"callous as a devil.† This comparison to a devil straightforwardly portra ys that Lucy is an inversion motherhood who canShow MoreRelatedEdnas Suicide in Kate Chopins The Awakening Essay968 Words   |  4 PagesEdnas Suicide in Kate Chopins The Awakening At the end of Kate Chopins novel „The Awakening the protagonist Edna commits suicide. The remaining question for the reader is: Does Ednas suicide show that she succeeded or failed in her struggle for independence? Ednas new life in independency seems to be going well especially after Robert had returned from Mexico. The lover, who she met during her vacation at Grand Isle, told her that he loves her and he wants to marry her. 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