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Gender Roles In Dracula And The Story Of Luella Miller
Vampire stories, dating way before Dracula, have always been attractive to us. One of the more famous stories, Dracula, has continued to be popular for more than a century. Over time, this storyline has produced many movies and novels within vampire literature, and plainly, this specific literature has a “vampire-like” hold on us. Typically, a vampire’s charm is motivated by their sexual attractions that go beyond the accepted norm. However, in the tradition of vampire stories and the course material, vampires seem to choose one gender for their victims. For example, Dracula saves men for his female minions while he targets only women. However, when comparing Dracula to the story of Luella Miller, Luella miller does simply the opposite.
In the story of Luella Miller, a woman who appears charming and irresistible, is known to bring about the worst fate of people who surround her. In the short story, she is presented as an innocent and attractive female who longs for someone to take care of her. It is unknown what Luella could be, whether it is a vampire, werewolf, or some type of monster that is addicting and toxic. However, it is evident that she possesses special powers to reel people in until they reach death. Luella uses her magnetic charm (intentionally or unintentionally is unknown) to control and manipulate the surrounding villagers. This charm suggests that in women, without self and self-control looks not only harmless, but also attractive to the common eye. For example, in many parts of the story, she acts in a childish manner, unable to cook and clean, making villagers feel sympathy for her. People near her, (husband, aunt, sister) are drawn into helping her, and are not scared of the repercussions in doing so. Plainly many of the village bystanders realize what is happening and feel horror to see it go down. The people become addicted to her and lose their own self-control. However, as the story continues, the reader realizes that Luella is lacking self-control as well. When she has no one to take care of her, her only choice is to die.
Luella Miller plays a strong and powerful female lead in the short story, and when referring to the above paragraph, Luella Miller does not choose her victims based off gender. Rather, the victims choose her out of compassion and sympathy. She welcomes anyone that would act as her slave, completely disregarding the gender of the person. When examining Dracula and the story of Luella Miller, it is evident to me that they both share the similar theme of sexuality. Dracula, the classic horror film, is fluid gender roles. For example, the story of Dracula highlights on the ideal roles of men and women, how, men should be brave and strong, while women are supposed to be innocent and weak. Dracula questions the ideals of masculinity and femininity throughout the story. For example, Jonathan Harker is not the stereotypical man, however remains the only married man in the story. Van Helsing compliments Mina for her ‘man brain.” The story encompasses many beliefs of society and the gender roles of men and women. Both stories share the same emphasis on men and women in society, and how each is supposed to act. Each one depicts their main characters as resembling some type of “gender norm”, whether it be in agreement with the norm, or disagreement. Luella Miller is portrayed as an innocent woman who seeks help from anyone willing to give it. While, Dracula challenges those typical female characteristics by revealing another side of women that people may not expect.
References
- Chiho Nakagawa, Dreadful Yet Irresistible Luella Miller: Horror in the Absence of Self
