Response 5 (10/13)

As many Gothic novels we have read this year, we can see how the original story of Dracula is different from our modern interpretations. We saw this previously with the story of Frankenstein, and now we see it with Dracula. In today’s media, vampires are sexulaized, and even though we see it in the original story it is not to that extent. In the story the male vampire Count Dracula is in a way demonized and is believed to look like a monster, while the female vampires are extremely sexulaized. They are described in an almost pornographic sense. While in modern media, both male and female vampires are sexualized. What I find interesting about the descriptions of the female vampires is how sinful their attractiveness is and how it is described. At the time Dracula was written, most of Europe was extremely conservative and would have frowned upon the sexualization of genders. People dressed and acted more modestly than they have in more recent years. The way the female vampires are described shows in a way their sinful nature to the reader. It’s as if to show fear in women who act as promiscuously as they did. I find it similar to how in ancient mythologies and modern religions  many females were blamed for the hardships of man. In Greek mythology Pandora was blamed for all the worlds troubles when she opened the box, and in Christianity Eve is blamed for eating the apple and thus creating original sin. And I’m Dracula the female vampires are blamed for seducing the English Foreigner and creating more trouble for him. In turn, this shows how the Gothic takes samples from ancient writing to relate more to the conservative nature of its day.