It’s a book set in Victorian society, aimed at Victorian contemporary readers. There’s a limit to how far you can deviate from the social norm without alienating the readers it was written for.
And there’s a lot of pragmatism as well. If you’re going to perform a new and risky operation like a blood transfusion, it makes sense to start with the big strong male volunteers instead of hassling the staff to pitch in.
Yes, the women thought of being obedient and dutiful wives as was the social expectation of them. So are the men. We start out with Harker dutifully writing to his wife every day. It doesn’t mean the women don’t have agency. Lucy was considering several suitors and had every freedom to turn them away. Mina was putting in serious work managing her husband’s estate and supporting his work as a solicitor.
But at the end of the day, women were dependent on men in Victorian society. And men carried the responsibility for their household on their shoulders. In a good marriage, that meant teamwork like Mina and Jonathan. And like Lucy was hoping for. In a bad marriage… well that’s why women campaigned for equal rights.
While it’s unlikely that Bram Stoker was anything like an organized and self-professed feminist. He clearly thought women could be competent, intelligent, and contribute. But that doesn’t change the time period of his life and his novel.
It’s a book set in Victorian society, aimed at Victorian contemporary readers. There’s a limit to how far you can deviate from the social norm without alienating the readers it was written for.
And there’s a lot of pragmatism as well. If you’re going to perform a new and risky operation like a blood transfusion, it makes sense to start with the big strong male volunteers instead of hassling the staff to pitch in.
Yes, the women thought of being obedient and dutiful wives as was the social expectation of them. So are the men. We start out with Harker dutifully writing to his wife every day. It doesn’t mean the women don’t have agency. Lucy was considering several suitors and had every freedom to turn them away. Mina was putting in serious work managing her husband’s estate and supporting his work as a solicitor.
But at the end of the day, women were dependent on men in Victorian society. And men carried the responsibility for their household on their shoulders. In a good marriage, that meant teamwork like Mina and Jonathan. And like Lucy was hoping for. In a bad marriage… well that’s why women campaigned for equal rights.
While it’s unlikely that Bram Stoker was anything like an organized and self-professed feminist. He clearly thought women could be competent, intelligent, and contribute. But that doesn’t change the time period of his life and his novel.