Notably, the gothic genre has some common features regardless of authorial differences and the nature of the artwork. For instance, The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter and Dracula by Bram Stoker were both set in the 20th and 19th centuries, respectively. As a result, The Bloody Chamber and Dracula are both from the gothic genre and thus share some similarities and differences in their themes, styles, and character traits. For example, both The Bloody Chamber and Dracula use characters with supernatural powers. Themes such as character transformation, female sexuality, sex and violence, and innocence are present in both texts but are expressed in ways that differ in certain respects.
Both Carter and Stoker use women characters to develop the theme of change and transformation in their texts. In The Bloody Chamber, Carter presents her female characters as changing from a human to an animal and advancing from prey to predator. The presentation of characters adopted by Carter portrays women positively, which shows how women have transformed from being passive and powerless to active and more powerful than the existing patriarchal world (Carter 34).
Similarly, Stoker portrays women transforming from their human nature to animals. For instance, Lucy changes into a wild beast undergoing some punishment. Notably, as Carter describes women in a progressive light, Stoker, on the other hand, portrays women negatively by depicting them as wild and highly sexual attributes, which are unpopular in a conservative society. Therefore, as Carter portrays the modern empowerment of women positively, Stoker views the same as a danger that should be controlled using traditional methods.
The theme of female sexuality is significantly developed by both Carter and Stoker in their respective novels using the interactions of female and male characters. In The Bloody Chamber, Carter appraises female sexuality throughout her novel by developing female characters to increasingly continue wielding more power and becoming autonomous in a patriarchal society. Carter avoids attributing both prey and predator roles to her female characters and only focuses on their progressive transformations from the former to the latter (Carter, 17). In contrast, Stoker portrays the sexuality of women as a problem to society.
According to the Dracula novel, women can either be virginal like Mina, who gains social recognition for heroically not submitting to Dracula’s menace. Alternatively, women can be sexually uncontrollable as depicted by Lucy’s character, who is punished by society for threatening to destroy the social order for their inability to control her sexual desires. Lucy’s character reveals feminine instability and weakness in women, which can be dangerous without patriarchal protection. Therefore, Stoker shows that a state of social normalcy is only achievable when women stick to their motherhood roles or conform to the demands of a patriarchal society.
Both Carter and Stoker’s work portrays the theme of sex and violence differently. In The Bloody Chamber, Carter presents several instances of sex and violence in the novel. For instance, the young pianist discovers that her husband had three wives before her whom he had tortured and killed after opening the torture room (Carter 30). In addition, the pianist is almost beheaded by her husband when he discovers that she has accessed the forbidden room.
Notably, Carter uses the sex and love theme to show that if women remain in their passive role, they risk extinction as men will only use them to satisfy their desires and kill them afterward. Although sexual violence is conspicuous in Stoker’s novel, instances depicting Mina being bitten by Dracula and Lucy’s death are described sexually. Additionally, Dracula‘s novel also shows women being forced into their passive role, which makes it easy for men to manipulate them sexually and destroy them.
Carter and Stoker present the theme of innocence in contrasting ways in their respective works. The Bloody Chamber portrays women’s weakness as innocence which is dangerous to their survival in a patriarchal society (Carter, 17). For instance, the pianist almost dies at the hands of the rich Marquis due to her innocence. The presentation of innocence as a danger to the survival of women in The Bloody Chamber novel inspires women to liberate themselves from the social bounds of passivity. In Stoker’s novel, innocence is praised as it is associated with purity and the acceptable conduct of women in a patriarchal society.
Therefore, in Dracula, innocence is vital for the survival of women. Mina gains recognition from society for remaining innocent and pure, while Lucy dies due to her liberal nature. Stoker’s novel reflects the danger of innocence when Mina is bitten by Dracula as men leave her out of their discussions. At this point, Stoker wants to show the readers that little knowledge can lead to the extinction of women.
In conclusion, both The Bloody Chamber and Dracula novels have some common features, but each writer presents them differently. For instance, both Carter and Stoker depict women transforming differently. Carter portrays women transforming positively from their passive roles to active roles. On the other hand, Dracula portrays the transformation of women negatively and is dangerous to society. Additionally, both writers have different views on female sexuality, as Carter depicts women as becoming more powerful and independent and Stoker sees female sexuality as a threat to the social order. Carter presents sex and violence by portraying men as violent and sexually abusive to women. In contrast, Stoker portrays men as protectors of the social order by controlling women’s sexuality. Finally, Carter believes innocence as dangerous to women’s survival, while Stoker views the same as a necessity.
Work Cited
Angela Carter. “The Bloody Chamber.” Toronto: Penguin, 1979, pp. 7–41.