The reign of Queen Victoria lasted approximately 64 years, and this so-called Victorian Era has a specific reputation for placing unreasonable societal expectations on the citizens which inhabited it. The novel Dracula by Bram Stoker explores the effects of social propriety in this time when characters are faced with something of a beast or monster. Dracula is someone who defies all aspects of the word “human” in the eyes of other main characters, and this allows him to act without regard for any restrictions set by then cultural beliefs. The Count through this becomes a character without any shred of remorse, influencing anything he can come in contact with and manipulating those who are easily controlled. This makes him a difficult character for proper and well-mannered characters in the novel to understand, much less manage when he begins to threaten their lives.
In the novel, other themes are also included. Hypocrisy is something common is all literature, and prevalent in the attitudes and ideals of Victorian culture. The five main males characters of the novel, Jonathan Harker, Arthur Holmwood, Quincey Morris, John Seward, and Abraham Van Helsing, are all guilty of hypocrisy in matters concerning Mina Harker, especially when they begin their search for Count Dracula.
Something considered typical of the era was that men existed in a more public sphere of life, while women were expected to remain more private and outside of plain view. This was an extension of the idea that though women could be educated and intelligent, they were still inferior to men. One particular scene in the novel portrays a meetings between all of the main characters regarding how they should handle Dracula. All the men discuss while Mina acts as a secretary and takes notes for the group. Later, when the group adjourns, the five men decide to try to hide the details of their affairs from Mina, in order to “protect” her from the grueling work. Previously, Van Helsing had called Mina a “clever woman” (156), among many other things to indicate he things very highly of her. Many of the other men consider her a key member of their group, “our star and our hope” (207). Despite this, they all desire to keep her far away from the action, considering it men’s work, and not even inform her of what they are doing. This is done somewhat obliquely, while in other instances they state much more directly that were she a man, her intelligence would be more noted. She, they claim, is far too precious to be involved with such things, despite their high regard for her and her judgement.
Periodically in the book, women are considered as more emotional than men, and not as enduring. They are essentially less valuable to society, something that the characters occasionally note about Mina due to her gender. She is smart and quick-witted, but she is not a man. This is very clearly hypocritical of them, demonstrating an inherent superiority complex among the men, but it also reflects the sentiments of the time. Most men acted similarly in this culture, and understood women to be part of private and secluded sector of life. There was widespread thought that women were mentally and emotionally weaker to their male counterparts, but the idea of women expressing themselves concerned men. Women were often expected to repress their desires and act in a demure fashion, while men were not always held to the same standards.
Dracula very accurately depicts the mainstream culture and social minutiae of the Victorian Era, including the different standings of men and women in that society. The people of the time were often staunchly committed to the common beliefs shared throughout that culture, and clearly demonstrate their hypocritical views in their actions.This hypocrisy is prevalent in the different treatment of the main characters in the novel, namely through how they act with one another.
