A Vampire in the Mirror: The Sexuality of Dracula

Author(s): John Allen Stevenson

Source: PMLA, Vol. 103, No. 2 (Mar., 1988), pp. 139-149
Published by: Modern Language Association
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A Vampirein theMirror:The Sexuality
ofDracula
N EAR THE END of Dracula, as theband
of vampirehunters is tracking
thecountto
hisCarpathianlair,Mina Harkerimplores
herhusbandto killherifherpartialtransformation
intoa vampireshould become complete.Her de-
mand for this "euthanasia" (the phrase is Dr.
Seward's[340]) is itselfextraordinary,
butequally
interesting
is thewayshe definesherpositionand
thedutyofthemenaroundher:"Think,dear,that
therehavebeentimeswhenbravemenhavekilled
theirwivesand womenkind, to keepthemfromfall-
ing into the hands of the enemy. . . . It is men's
dutytowardsthosewhomtheylove,in suchtimes
of soretrial!"(336). Whyis this"duty"incumbent
on "bravemen"?Whyare"wivesand womenkind"
a treasure better destroyedthan lost to the
"enemy"?In thecontextof BramStoker'snovel,it
is evidentthatthemercyimpliedbysucheuthana-
sia is notsalvationfromtheloathsomeembracesof
a lewdforeigner. It is too late forthat.Mina, after
all, has alreadybeentheobjectof Dracula's atten-
tion. The problemis one of loyalty:thedangeris
not thatshe willbe capturedbut thatshe willgo
willingly. She makesthisclear: "thistime,ifitever
come, may come quickly . . . and . . . you must
lose no timein usingyouropportunity. At such a
time,I myselfmightbe-nay! if the time ever
comes,shall be-leagued withyourenemyagainst
you" (337). Kill me, she says,beforeI can betray
you.
ThatDraculaconcernscompetition betweenmen
forwomencan hardlybe questioned-passageslike
these can be multipliedalmost indefinitely. But
whatis thenatureof thatcompetition?Certainly,
a numberof readershaveagreedon one interpre-
tation.As theywouldhaveit,thehorrorwe feelin
contemplating Dracula is that his actions,when
strippedof displacementand disguise,are fun-
damentally incestuousand thatStoker'snovelis fi-
nallya rathertransparent versionof the "primal
horde"theoryFreudadvanced-onlyaboutfifteen
yearsafterpublicationofthenovel-in Totemand
Taboo.' Accordingto this interpretation (as one
adherenthas it,"almosta donneeofDracula criti-
cism"[Twitchell,LivingDead 135]),thecount,un-
deniablylonginthetooth,attempts to hoardall the
availablewomen,leavingtheyoungergeneration,
139
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JOHN ALLEN STEVENSON
his "sons," no recoursebutto riseup and killthe
wicked"father,"thusfreeing thewomenforthem-
selves.The noveldoes concernhow one old man
("centuries-old,"he tellsus) struggleswithfour
youngmen(and anotherold, but good, man,Dr.
VanHelsing)forthebodiesand soulsoftwoyoung
women.Butto callthatstrife intrafamilial(Twitch-
ell, DreadfulPleasures 139) or to say thatall the
characters, includingDracula,arelinked"as mem-
bersof one family"(Richardson428) seemsto be
moreof a tributeto theauthoritypsychoanalysis
enjoysamongliterary criticsthanitis an illuminat-
ingdescriptionof Stoker'snarrative.
I wouldliketo rethinkthewaysexualcompeti-
tionworksinDracula fromtheperspective of that
frequent antagonistof psychoanalysis, anthropol-
ogy.Nowhereis thegulfbetweentheseuniversaliz-
ing disciplinesgreater,perhaps,than it is on the
subjectthatobsessesthemboth,incest.2A good
deal ofrecentanthropological workarguesthat,as
one prominent scholarputsit,"humanbeings[do]
notwantto commitincestall thatmuch"(Fox,Red
Lamp 7). My intention inthisessayis to applythis
anti-incestuous modelof humandesiretoDracula
intheplaceofthemorecustomary Freudianmodel.
As Mina's remarksabove indicate, the novel
insistently-indeed, obsessively-defines thevam-
pirenotas a monstrous fatherbutas a foreigner, as
someonewho threatens and terrifies preciselybe-
cause he is an outsider.In otherwords,it maybe
fruitfulto reconsiderStoker'scompellingand fre-
quentlyretoldstoryin termsof interracial sexual
competitionratherthan as intrafamilialstrife.
Dracula's pursuitof Lucyand Mina is motivated,
notbytheincestuousgreedat theheartof Freud's
scenario,butbyan omnivorousappetitefordiffer-
ence,fornovelty. His crimeis notthehoardingof
incestbuta sexualtheft, a sinwecan termexcessive
exogamy. Althoughtheold counthas womenofhis
own,he is exclusivelyinterested inthewomenwho
belongto someoneelse. This reconsideration can
yielda freshappreciationoftheappeal of Stoker's
storyand can suggestwaysin whichthenovelem-
bodiesa quitepowerfulimaginingofthenatureof
culturaland racialdifference.
Beforeexplaininghow Dracula represents this
kindof exogamousthreat,I wantto reviewbriefly
 140 A Vampirein the Mirror:The Sexualityof Dracula
somebasic anthropologicalideas about marriage nothingifitis notto turngood Englishwomen like
customs,particularly as theyrelateto theincestta- Lucyand Mina awayfromtheirownkindand cus-
boo.3While not, as was once imagined,an abso- toms.Mina's fear,we recall,is thatshe "shall be
luteuniversalof humanbehavior,thetaboo is very . . . leaguedwithyourenemyagainstyou."
common,and variousbenefits-geneticdiversity, Whatsortof enemy, foreigner, strangeris Count
familypeace, social stability, theexistenceof soci- Dracula?I haveclaimedthatinterracial sexualcom-
etyitself-havebeen ascribed to it. More relevant petitionis fundamental to theenergiesthatmoti-
to Dracula than the origin of the taboo,however, is vate this novel, but in what way are vampires
theso-calledruleof exogamy that is one result.Sex another"race"? As a rigorousscientific concept,
and marriage, ofcourse,arenotthesamething,but raceenjoyslittlecredencetoday,despitethemany
sincesex typicallya partof themaritalrelation,
is attempts-particularly as partof the nineteenth-
thetaboo's injunctionagainstsexwithinthefam- centuryzeal forclassification-to elevateit to a
ilymeansthatpeople must"marryout." Anthro- scienceinvolving physicalcriterialikejaws, cheek-
pology has devoted considerable energy to bones,cranialcapacities,and so on. It is,however,
discovering theremarkable and oftenarbitrary rules a convenient metaphorto describetheundeniable
humanityhas established to govern just which humantendency to separate"us" from"them."An
womenare "inside" thefamilyand henceforbid- idea like race helps us grapple with human
den and whichare "outside" and therefore avail- otherness-thefactthatwedo notall look alikeor
able. But the word exogamy is also somewhat believealike or act alike. Dracula is, above all,
misleading, becausemostculturesplace significant strangeto those he encounters-strangein his
limitations on how farout a matemaybe sought. habits,strangein his appearance,strangein his
As RobinFox says,"Of course,[exogamy]had to physiology.At one point,Van Helsingcalls him
havesomeboundaries.. . . Groupsspeakingthe "theother"(297), and thecompetition forwomen
samelanguageand beingalikein otherwaysmight inthenovelreflects a conflictbetweengroupsthat
well exchangewivesamong themselves-butthe definethemselves as foreign to each other.My use
connubiumstoppedat theboundariesof thelan- of theterminterracial, then,is a wayto speak of
guage,territory, or colour,or whatever marked'us' whathappenswhenanytwogroupssetthemselves
offfrom'them"' (Kinship78). The exchangeof at odds on thebasis of whattheysee as differences
womenthatis theessenceofexogamyhas itslimits. intheirfundamental identity, be that"racial,"eth-
Ifmostcultures haveforbidden marriagewithinthe nic,tribal,religious,national,or whatever.4
family, they have also wanted to maintainthein- The problemof interracialcompetitionwould
tegrity of the group.Groupis, admittedly, a vague haveprobablyhad an especialresonancein 1897,
term,an inherently culturalconstruct encompass- the yearDracula appeared. For severaldecades,
ingall mannerof classifications: tribe,caste,class, Great Britain had been engaged in an un-
race,religion,nation,and so on. But itsvagueness precedentedprogramof colonial expansion:four
does notdiminish theimportance ofthedistinction and one quartermillionsquaremileswereaddedto
Fox speaks of, thatboundarybetween"us" and the empirein the last thirtyyearsof the century
"them," howeverartificiallythat line mightbe alone(Seaman332).Britishimperialism, ofcourse,
drawn.And accordingto theselights,marriage,or was notnew,norwas suspicionof foreigners a nov-
evena sexualrelation,thatcrossesthatboundary elty in a countrywhere,as one eighteenth-century
ceasesto be a social actthatsimultaneously denies witput it, "Beforetheylearnthereis a God to be
incestand affirmsthegroup and becomes instead worshipped, theylearnthereare Frenchmen to be
a threat,what I earliercalled excessiveexogamy. detested"(qtd.inPorter21). Yetthelatenineteenth
Thiswas theproblemworrying theDeuteronomist centurysaw theriseof thatgreatvulgarizationof
when he cautioned the Jewsthat intermarriage evolution(and powerful racistrationalization), so-
would"turnawaythysons . . . thattheymayserve cial Darwinism,and heardDisraelisay,"Allis race;
othergods" (7.3),and thiswasthekindofexogamy thereis no othertruth"(qtd.inFaber59). Dracula's
thegreatpioneerof theanthropology of marriage, insistence on theterror and necessity ofracialstrug-
EdwardWestermarck, wasthinking aboutwhenhe in
gle an imperialist context(thecount,afterall,has
coinedthememorablephrase"social adultery"(2: invadedEnglandand plansto takeitover)mustre-
51).Here,then,is therealhorrorof Dracula,forhe flectthathistoricalframe.My emphasisin thises-
is the ultimatesocial adulterer, whose purposeis say,however, is on Stoker'snovelas a representation

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 JohnAllen Stevenson 141
of fearsthatare moreuniversalthana specificfo- gown(103,288),a signature thatDraculaleavesbe-
cus on the Victorianbackgroundwould allow. hind afterone of his visits (and a traditional
Westermarck's commentabout exogamyas social emblemof defloration).Evenmorestriking is the
adulteryis indeedcontemporary withDracula (his scarleft when Van Helsing, in a futile attempt at in-
HistoryofHuman Marriagewas firstpublishedin oculation,presses the host into Mina's forehead to
1891),buttheanthropologist was expressing noth- protectMina against renewed attack. Harker calls
ingnoton the mind of theDeuteronomist millen- it the "red scar on mypoor darling'swhitefore-
nia before.And thedifficulty facingthemenwho head" (321). The scar,a concentration of redand
fightthe vampire is not unlikethatexpressedby whitethatcloselyresembles themarkon Dracula's
Roderigoto Brabantio,in lines firstspokenat a ownforehead(cf.esp.312),thusbecomesa kindof
much earlier time in Britishimperial history: caste mark,a signof membership in a homoge-
Desdemona,he says,has made "a grossrevolt, / Ty- neous group-and a groupthatis foreignto the
ingherduty,beauty,wit,and fortunes/ In an ex- mento whomMina supposedlybelongs.
travagant and wheelingstranger . . . " (1.1.131-33). The scarsharedbyDraculaand Mina,one ofthe
Letus look morespecifically,then,at thisstranger, richestdetailsin thenovel,has a significance even
Count Dracula. beyonditsfunction as a caste mark. After all, the
First,appearances.Dracula is describedrepeat- woundsarenotself-inflicted but given by members
edly,alwaysin thesame way,withthesame pecu- ofthegroupofvampirehunters (Dracula'sbyHar-
liarfeaturesemphasized.TakeMina's firstsightof ker,Mina'sbyVan Helsing),so thattheyrepresent
him: an attemptbythenonvampires to "markoff"the
vampires-muchas God puts a markon Cain, the
I knewhimat once fromthedescriptionof theothers. originaltypeof an alien breed. But thecastemark
The waxenface;thehighaquilinenose,on whichthelight is also a kindof venerealscar, not only because it
fellina thin,whiteline;thepartedredlips,withthesharp resultsfromthecount'sseduction of Mina butalso
whiteteethshowingbetween;and theredeyesthatI had because the echo of Hamlet's accusationagainst
seemedto see inthesunseton thewindowsof St. Mary's Gertrudeis fartoo strongto be accidental:"Such
Churchat Whitby.I knew,too,theredscar on his fore- an act / Thatblursthegraceand blushofmodesty,
head whereJonathanhad struckhim. (292-93) / Calls virtuehypocrite, takesofftherose/ From
thefairforeheadof an innocentlove,/ And setsa
Dracula is remarkable lookingforhisnose,forthe blisterthere. . . " (3.4.41-45).5The scaris thusa
colorof hislipsand eyesand skin,fortheshapeof signof defilement (seeingit,Mina criesout, "Un-
histeeth,forthemarkon his forehead;elsewhere, clean!Unclean!" [302]),of sexualpossessionbythe
we learn also that he has a strangesmell (257). outsider.Finally,itis curiousto thinkof a scaron
Color,in fact,whichis commonlyusedinattempts Dracula at all. He is remarkably protean,able to
is a keyelementin Stoker's
at racialclassification, changehisform(he leavestheshipwreck at Whitby
creation of Dracula's foreignness.Here, and as a dog) or eveninvolvehimself inrisingmist.Why
throughout the novel,theemphasisis on redness shouldhe allowthisdisfigurement to remain?John
and whiteness.In a briefdescription, each coloris Freccero, discussingthescarDantedescribeson the
mentionedthreetimes(I count"waxen"as white), purgatorialformof Manfred,insiststhata mark
and thecombinationofthetwocolorsis one ofthe likethison a supernatural beingmustbe seen,not
count'smostdistinguishing That it
racialfeatures. as literaland physical,but as a text,as something
is racial,and notpersonal,becomesclearwhenwe meantespeciallyto be read.In thatsense,thescars
notehowStokerconsistently usesa combination of on the vampiresservea dense semioticfunction,
redand whiteto indicateeitherincipientor com- markingDracula and Mina (potentially, anyway)
pletedvampirism.The womenHarkerencounters as simultaneouslyuntouchable, defiled, and
at Castle Dracula, whileone is blond and twoare damned-above all, different.
dark,areall primarily redand white("Allthreehad Red and whiteare,of course,thecolorswe as-
brilliantwhiteteeththatshonelikepearlsagainst sociate withthetypically"English" complexion,
therubyof theirvoluptuouslips" [46]). More sig- and I wantto emphasizethatvampirecolorationis
nificant,Lucyand Mina takeon thiscolorationas something different; at thesametime,however, the
Dracula workshiswillon them.Thereis firstof all coincidence ofcolorationis meaningful. On theone
thereiterated imageof redblood on a whitenight- hand,a "rosy"Englishcomplexion is createdbythe

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142 A Vampirein the Mirror:The Sexualityof Dracula

perceptionof redthroughwhite-blood coursing manactivities thatsignalgroupidentity. Draculais

beneathpale skin.The vampireinvertsthisorder.
He or shedisplaysredon white,as withthescarsor
theeffectof rubylips againstwaxenskin.The re-
sultis ratherlikea mortician'smakeup-a parody
of whatwe expectand, as witha corpse,an effect foreignis monstrous,evenifit is onlya matterof
that finallysignalsdifference and not similarity. tablemanners.
That is,thevampirehas no rosyglowbutpresents
whatlooks likedead fleshstainedwithblood (or
drainedfleshindicatingthe food it requires)-a
grotesqueinversionof good health.On theother
hand,thevampireand hisEnglishcompetitors may
havemorein commonthantheywishto acknowl-
edge.As we explorevampiresexuality, we willen-
counter a series of traits that initiallyassert
themselvesas foreignor strangebut that are re-
vealedas inversions (as inthecolorationexample),
parodies, exaggerations,or even literalizations. foreignness;
Thus, the perceptionof othernesscan be an ac-
curateresponseto difference and,at thesametime,
an act that conceals or repressesdeeper con-
nections.
The alliesagainstthecountarenotdescribedin
comparabledetail,and theirdescriptions tendto be
moralratherthanphysical.Threeoftheirqualities
recur almost formulaically-good, brave, and
strong."Oh, thankGod forgood,bravemen!"says
Mina, and Van Helsinginsistslater,"You menare
braveand strong"(316,332). Good is also oftenat-
tachedto thewomenintheirunvampedcondition:
"therearegood womenleftstillto makelifehappy"
(190).The distinction betweenthemoralexcellence behavior.Whatis frightening
of theinsidersand thephysicalpeculiarityof the
foreigner underlines theoutsider'sinherent danger.
As Mina putsit, "[T]he worldseemsfullof good
men-even ifthereare monstersin it" (230). The
familiaris theimageof thegood,whileforeignness
mergeswithmonstrosity.
Butlooks areonlyone wayto constructour im-
ages of theforeign, and, as wemightexpect,Drac-
ula's habitsare as bizarreas his appearance.The
introductory sectionof thenovel-Harker's diary
accountof hisjourneyto Transylvania and of his
stayat CastleDracula-graduallyrevealsDracula's
distinctivecustoms,movingfromthemerely odd to
theunequivocally horrifying. So, welearnearlythat
Draculalacksservants, thathe is nocturnal,thathe
likesto eat alone,and thathe despisesmirrors, and
onlylaterdo we watchhimcrawldownwallshead
first,feedsmallchildren to hiswomen,and sleepin
hiscoffin.All Dracula'speculiarities, however,re-
flectfundamental differences inthemostbasic hu-
strangeto Harker-and to us-because of what
foodhe eatsand howhe obtainsand preparesit,be-
cause of whereand whenhe sleeps,because of his
burialcustoms.To Harkeras to so many,whatis
In thestructure ofgroupidentity, theregulation
of sexualityhas an especiallyprivilegedplace,and
Dracula is most fundamentally concernedwith
bothdistinguishing thedifferences betweentheway
vampire"monsters"and "good,bravemen"repro-
duce and identifying the threatthosedifferences
pose to Van Helsingand the othermen. Our in-
troductionto Dracula in the novel's firstsix
chapters-whatChristopher Craftcallsthe"admis-
sion" to monstrosity (108)-establishesthecount's
afterthat,thenovelprimarily showsus
Dracula'sattempts to reproduceand thestruggle of
theband of youngmenunderVan Helsingto stop
him.The talehorrifies becausethevampire'sman-
nerof reproduction appearsradicallydifferent and
because itrequiresthewomenwhoalreadybelong
to thesemen.
Althoughthevampirereproduces the
differently,
ironicthingaboutvampiresexualityis that,forall
itsovertpeculiarity, itis inmanywaysverylikehu-
man sexuality, but humansexualityin whichthe
psychologicalor metaphoricbecomesphysicalor
literal.It initiallylooks strangebut quite often
presents a distorted imageofhumantendencies and
aboutDracula,then,
is thathissexuality is simultaneously and
different
a parodicmirror.This seemingparadoxprobably
reflectsthe fullcomplexityof the wayone group
respondsto thesexualcustomsof another.
We note firstthe remarkableeconomyat the
heartofthevampire's survivalinstinct.
Likehuman
beings,Dracula has theneedforself-preservation,
whichassertsitselfinthedriveto preserve boththe
lifeoftheindividualand thelifeofthespecies.The
difference, of course,is thatthevampirecan satisfy
the two needs simultaneously-thesame action,
vamping,answersthe need fornourishment and
procreation.But thatequationof eatingand sex-
ual intercourse literalizedbythevampireis a con-
nectionwe all makemetaphorically and one that,
as Levi-Straussis fondof pointingout, a number
of primitivetribesacknowledgeby makingthe
same verbdo serviceforboth actions(Raw and
Cooked 269, Savage Mind 105). Dracula sayshe
needsnewwomenso thathe can "feed" (312),but

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 JohnAllen Stevenson
we knowthatis not all he means.
Whilethephysiology of vampiresexualityliter-
alizesa connectionbetweensexand eatingthat,for
humanbeings,operatesmetaphorically, theexpres-
sion of thatsexualitygrotesquelyexaggerates the
typicalhumanpatternof incestavoidanceand ex-
ogamy.The vampire's"marriage"lawsarefirst sug-
gestedwhenHarkeris almostseducedbythethree
vampirewomenhe encountersat Castle Dracula.
Criticalopinionaboutthesewomendiffers consid-
erably,betraying howbadlyvampiresexualityhas
beenmisunderstood. The problemarisesinpartbe-
causethetextdoes notexplicitly definethewomen's
relationto Dracula-who arethey?BothCraftand
MauriceRichardsoncall themDracula's "daugh-
ters"(110,427); CarolFryetermsthem"wives"(21);
LeonardWolfthecount's"beautifulbrides"(249);
and C. F. Bentleysaysthat"theyare eitherDrac-
ula'sdaughters or hissisters"butinsiststhatan "in-
cestuous"relationexistedbetweentheminthepast
(29). The difficulty hereis a falseeither/or: these
womenmusteitherbe kinor be wives.Whatthese
readersignoreis thepossibility thatDracula'srela-
tion to these womenhas, quite simply,changed,
thattheyhave occupiedboth roles-not simulta-
neously, as inincest,butsequentially,becauseofthe
wayvampirereproduction works.
A speechDraculamakesto Mina lateinthenovel
clarifieshis relationto the womenat the castle:
"And you,theirbestbelovedone, are now to me,
fleshof myflesh;bloodof myblood; kinofmykin;
mybountifulwine-pressfora while;and shall be
lateron mycompanionand helper"(293). Accord-
ingto thecount'sdescription, he and Mina arelike
husbandand wife(he uses the"fleshof myflesh"
fromGenesis and the marriageceremony),but
throughtheveryfactof theirunion,theyare also
becoming"kin."Thus,becauseofthevampire's in-
cesttaboo, she can be his "wine-press"onlyfora
"while," and in time,when her transformation
from"good" Englishwomanto vampireis com-
plete,she will become a daughterly"companion
and helper."The vampirewomenat thecastlehave
undergonea similarchange.When one of them
reproaches Draculawiththeaccusation,"Youyour-
selfneverloved; you neverlove!" he can answer,
"Yes,I too can love;youyourselves can tellitfrom
thepast. Is it not so?" (47).
Dracula's relationto his womenchangesin this
waybecause of anothereconomyin vampiresexu-
ality.Not onlydo vampirescombinefeedingwith
reproduction, theycollapsethedistinction between
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143
sexualpartners and offspring. "Wives,"thatis,be-
come daughtersin an extraordinarily condensed
procedurein whichpenetration, intercourse,con-
ception,gestation,and parturition not
represent,
discretestages,but one undifferentiated action.6
Dracula re-createsin hisownimagethebeingthat
he is simultaneously ravishing. Butthetransforma-
tion,oncecomplete, is irreversible-Dracula makes
it clearthatonce Mina becomeshis daughter,his
"companionand helper,"shecan neveragainbe his
"wine-press."7 We confronthereone largeinade-
quacyof theTotemand Taboo reading.In thepri-
mal horde,as femaleoffspring mature,theyfall
underthesexualswayof theirfathers-daughters
becomewives.In Dracula,thisroletransformation
is reversedand is accompanied,moreover,by a
powerful incesttaboo thatseemsto precludeDrac-
ula's furthersexualinterest in hisonetimepartners.
In fact,unlikethegreedypatriarchof the horde,
Dracula encourageshiswomento seekothermen.
He tellsthefemalevampiresat hiscastlethat,when
Harker'susefulnessto himis over,theycan have
theirwaywiththeEnglishman:"Well,nowI prom-
iseyouthatwhenI am donewithhimyoushallkiss
himat yourwill" (47).
The inevitablequestionarises forvampiresas
wellas forhumanbeings:whyis therean incestta-
boo? The answer,however, is notthatincestavoid-
ancehas beeningrained inthevampire's conscience,
ifsucha thingshouldexist;instead,vampiresap-
pearincapableofcommitting thisparticularcrime,
sincetheyfacea physicalbarrierto incest,notjust
a psychological one-another dramaticinstanceof
vampireliteralization. Sucha barrieris an example
of themanyphysicalchangesthatmarkthetrans-
formationintoa vampire,as we learnon theday
thatLucydiesto herold identity as Englishwoman
and is rebornas one of Dracula'sownkind.(Vam-
pirevictims, itseems,alwaysdie inchildbirth.) Van
Helsingand Sewardexamineherneckand discover,
to theirhorror,that the puncturesin her throat
"had absolutelydisappeared"(167).Draculacould
not commitincestevenifhe wantedto; he has no
orificeto penetrate.
With the exaggerationof human tendencies
characteristicofvampiresexuality, thevampire's in-
cesttaboo createsitsownironruleofexogamy. Just
as thereis a physicalobstacleto vampireincest,so
thevampire'sneedto marryout is nota matterof
customor of a long-term evolutionary benefitbut
an immediateand urgentbiological necessity.
Westermarck approvingly quotes another
144 A Vampirein theMirror:The Sexualityof Dracula
nineteenth-century anthropologist,whospeaksof
"mankind's instinctivehankeringafter foreign
women"(2: 165).ForDracula,though,theneedfor
"foreignwomen"is no merehankering. Rather,be-
cause his sexualpartneris also his food,thevam-
pire must marryout or die.8 A world without
foreignwomenwould represent not onlysterility
but famine.
The vampireas a sexualbeingis thusstrangely
familiar-heavoidsincestand he seekssexualpart-
nersoutsidehis family.Butthatsexualityis also a
parody of human sexuality,a literalizationthat
makeshimseemveryodd: hecannotcommitincest,
he mustmarryout.And thatnecessity, inturn,cre-
ateshisprimary danger.Sinceall vampiresarekin,
theycannotsimultaneously seeklikeness(i.e.,marry
withintheconfinesof thegroup)and avoidincest,
as humanbeingsdo. Dracula thuscannotrespect
groupor racialboundarieswithregardto women;
hisparticularphysiology demandsinsteadthathe
take"foreignwomen"awayfromthementheyal-
readybelongto,a theftthatcontinueshisownkind.
Moreover,his physicallyinsistentneed to steal
threatensthe existenceof thegroupon whichhe
preys.As he tellsVanHelsingand hisallies,"Your
girlsthatyouall loveareminealready;and through
themyouand othersshallyetbe mine"(312).Drac-
ula is thusdoublyfrightening-he is theforeigner
whose verystrangenessrendershim monstrous,
and,moredangerous,he is an imperialist whosein-
vasionseeksa specifically sexualconquest;he is a
man who willtakeothermen'swomenawayand
makethemhis own.9
And Draculawillmake"foreign women"hisown
in a radicalway.He does notsimplykidnapor al-
ter cultural allegiances; his sexual union with
womenlikeLucyand Mina physically deracinates
themand re-creates themas membersof his own
kind.10This point will be clearerif we look at
Stoker'smanipulationofthenovel'scentralimage,
thatof blood. Blood meansmanythingsin Drac-
ula; it is food, it is semen,it is a ratherghastly
parodyof theEucharist,theblood of Christthat
guaranteeslifeeternal.But its meaningalso de-
pendson thewayhumanity has madeblood a cru-
cialmetaphorforwhatitthinksofas racialidentity.
Blood is theessencethatsomehowdetermines all
thoseotherfeatures-physicaland cultural-that
distinguish one racefromanother.Andthisconnec-
tionof blood and raceexplainsmostfullythatfas-
cinatingsequence wheneach of the good, brave
menin turngivesLucya transfusion. Ostensibly,
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theyarereplacingwhatthecounthas removed,so
that she will not perishfromloss of blood. But
Dracula'sactionis notfeeding, noris itonlya com-
binationof feedingand copulation.The menare
desperate to transfusetheirbloodintoLucybecause
theyunderstand thatsexualintercourse witha vam-
pirederacinates.Dracula'sthreatis notmiscegena-
tion, the mixingof blood; instead,he gives his
partnersa newracialidentity. And he can do this
because thesourceof theiroriginalidentity, their
blood,has beentakenaway.In onlyone moreofthe
remarkable thatgivethisnovelmythic
literalizations
power,theanswerto thekindof genocidethatthe
vampirethreatensis to reinfuseLucy with the
"right"blood, "young and strong. . . and so
pure" (131),as Van Helsingsays.
Such deracinationis one effectof theeconomy
we observedabove, that of the vampire'ssexual
partnersbecominghis offspring. But whatI have
beencallingtheracialelementneedsemphasishere;
notonlydo wivesbecomedaughters butbrideswho
wereoriginallyforeignto Dracula become pure
vampires.This is whattheDeuteronomist under-
stood: the problemwithmixedmarriagesis that
theyproducenewloyalties,notconfusedones. As
Mina says,"I . . . shallbe . . . leaguedwithyour
enemyagainstyou." And why?Because,withher
own blood removed,she willbe likeDracula, and
itis thatlossofwomen'sloyalty thatthegood,brave
men cannot abide. As Van Helsingexplainsit to
Mina: "He haveinfect youinsucha wise,that.
intime,death. . . shallmakeyouliketo him.This
mustnotbe! We havesworntogetherthatit must
not.Thus areweministers of God's ownwish:that
theworld. . . willnotbe givenoverto monsters
. " (325). The desperationthesemenfeelabout
thethreatfromDracula is suggested,perhaps,by
themultipletransfusions theygiveLucy.VanHels-
ingrecognizes thatthesetransfusions aresexualand
thattheyimplya kindofpromiscuity inLucy;as he
puts it in his distinctively incompetentEnglish:
"Ho, ho! thenthisso sweetmaid is a polyandrist,
and me,withmypoor wifedead to me,butaliveby
Church'slaw,thoughno wits,all gone-even I, who
am faithful husbandto thisnow-no-wife, am biga-
mist"(182). Lucy'spromiscuity-her "polyandry,"
as thepropriety of theDutchmanwouldhaveit-
is forgivable, becausefinallyherloyaltyto herown
kind is more vital than her absolute chastity.
Clearly,itis moreimportant thatthegroupmain-
tainitsholdoverherthanthatanyone manhas ex-
clusiverights.In thefaceof suchanxiety, too,there
 JohnA llen Stevenson
is alwaystheoptionwebeganwith,euthanasia,the
killingbybravemenof theirwomen,to keepthem
fromfallingintothehands of theenemy.
In thelightof all this,itis veryhardto see as "in-
cestuous"thecompetitionforwomenthatconsti-
tutestheprimaryactionof thenovel.Dracula does
touchon primalfearsand urges,buttheyare not
thehorroror allureof incest.Stoker'sperdurable
mythreflects theancientfearthat"they"willtake
away"our" women,and Draculais at hismosthor-
rifying not whenhe drinksblood or travelsin the
formof a bat butwhenhe,a manof palpable for-
eignness,can say,"Your girlsthatyou all loveare
mine."An old black ram,he says,is tuppingyour
whiteewe.Richardsonis rightto findthecounta
figure of "hugepotency"(427),butDracula'spower
is notthatofthefather, as Richardson suggests,but
thatof the"extravagant stranger," or,in VanHels-
ing'swords,"the other."But such powerraisesa
newset of questions.The menare anxiousabout
losingtheirwomen,butwhatof thewomenthem-
selves?How do theyrespondto Dracula'sfrightful
glamour? What is this novel's attitudetoward
women?
Stoker'sdescription ofthefirstwomenwesee in
Dracula,thevampirewomenat thecastle,strongly
emphasizestheirovertsexuality.The wordvolup-
tuousis repeated-theyhave"voluptuouslips"and
a "deliberatevoluptuousness"intheirapproachto
Harker(46). And he,inturn,is quicklyarousedby
theirseductiveappeal,as he feels"a wicked,burn-
ing desirethattheywould kiss me withthosered
lips"(46). Theyprojectthemselves as sexualizedbe-
ingsand havepowerto inspirea sexualresponsein
others.The patternis exactlyrepeatedwhenLucy's
transformation intoa vampireis complete.Shortly
afterVan Helsingand Sewardnotethedisappear-
ance of thewoundsin herneck,theyoungdoctor
reports thatshespeaksina "soft,voluptuousvoice,
suchas I had neverheardfromherlips" (167); and
whenthewhole band confrontstheundead Lucy
outsidehertomb,"we recognisedthe featuresof
Lucy Westenra. Lucy Westenra,but yet how
changed.The sweetness wasturnedto . . . cruelty,
and the purityto voluptuouswantonness"(217).
Withinthenextthreeparagraphs,we hearthatshe
has a "voluptuoussmile" and a "wantonsmile"
and thatshe speaks with"a languorous,voluptu-
ous grace."As is typicalwhenStokerdiscussesthe
characteristicsof a group,hisvocabularyshrinks,
and he resortsto formulas-good, brave,and, for
vampirefemales,voluptuous.And whentheposse
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145
of racialpurityhammersthestakethroughLucy's
heart,thatmerciful penetration whichundoesthe
undead, the transformation is a returnto her
formerstateof desexualization:the"foulThing"
withits "voluptuousmouth"and its "carnaland
unspiritual appearance"disappears,replacedwith
"Lucy as we had seenherin herlife,withherface
of unequalledsweetnessand purity"(220-22).
Thereareseveralwaysto interpret thenovel'sat-
titudetowardthesexualitythesefemalevampires
project. The first-developedby a numberof
critics-is that Stoker is expressingwhat have
usuallybeenregardedas typicalVictorianattitudes
about femalesexuality. Accordingto thesereaders,
the violence against women in Dracula, most
vividlyrenderedin the stakingof Lucy,reflectsa
hostilitytowardfemalesexualityfeltbytheculture
at large. Women should not be "wanton" or
"voluptuous"; they should be "pure" and
"spiritual."So, PhyllisRothcontendsthat"much
of thenovel'sgreatappeal derivesfromitshostil-
ityto femalesexuality"("SuddenlySexual" 113),
Judith Weissman insiststhatDracula "is an extreme
versionof the stereotypically Victorianattitudes
towardsexualroles"(392),and Gail Griffin argues
that,among otherthings,Dracula represents"a
subliminalvoice in our heros,whispering that,at
heart,thesegirls. . . arepotentialvampires, that
theirangels are, in fact,whores"(463). Veryre-
cently,BramDijkstrahas renewedthecharge,call-
ing the book a "centraldocumentin the late
nineteenth-century waron woman" (341)."
Undoubtedly, Dracula exhibitshostility toward
femalesexuality.Womenwho are "pure" are not
onlygood,theyarerecognizable as members ofthe
group-afterthestaking, Lucyagainlookslike"we
had seenherinherlife."Bycontrast, "voluptuous"
womenaremonsters, loathsomecreaturesfitonly
fordestruction. Whatinterests me,however, is not
thepossibilitythatDracula is yetanothermisogy-
nisttextbutthewayinwhichthenovelincorporates
itsportrayalofwomenintoitsconsideration of for-
eignness.A carefullook at thewomenin Dracula
revealsthattheprimary fearis a fearof theforeign
and thatwomenbecometerrifying insofaras they
areassociatedwiththekindofstrangeness vampires
represent. Lucyand thosewomenat Castle Drac-
ula are,as VanHelsingputsit,"likehim,"members
ofthat"neworderofbeings"thatthecountwishes
to "father"(308). Twoissuesareimportant in this
regard.First,thereis thebisexuality of femalevam-
pires(and males,too),a consideration thatcompli-
146 A Vampirein the Mirror:The Sexualityof Dracula
catesanyattemptto generalizeabout theplace of
genderinthisnovel.Second,thewomenheredo not
transform themselves. The countis theindispens-
able catalystfortheiralterationintosexualbeings,
a catalyticrolethatexposesagain Dracula's deep
anxietiesabout excessiveexogamy.I wouldliketo
look brieflyat boththeseissuesbeforeconcluding.
A famous psychoanalyticcommenton vam-
pirismoccursin ErnestJones'sOn theNightmare:
The explanationof thesefantasiesis surelynothard.A
nightlyvisitfroma beautifulor frightful
being,who first
exhauststhesleeperwithpassionateembracesand then
withdraws fromhima vitalfluid;all thiscan pointonly
to a naturaland commonprocess,namelyto nocturnal
emissions.. . . In theunconsciousmindblood is com-
monlyan equivalentforsemen. (119)
Dracula does indeedmakeblood and semeninter-
changeablefluids,'2and thisequivalencemayoffer
anothercluewhythecombinationof redand white
is thevampire'sdistinctcoloration.But thestrik-
ing omissionfromJones'srathercondescending
commentis that,in Stoker'snovel,the"vitalfluid"
is beingwithdrawn fromwomen,thatthenightly
visitoris a man.Vampirism mayhavesomething to
do withnocturnalemissions,butsurelyitis impor-
tantthatinDraculawomenhaveall thewetdreams.
Clearly,in the vampireworld traditionalsexual
rolesareterriblyconfused.Draculapenetrates,but
he receivesthe"vitalfluid";afterLucybecomesa
vampire,she acts as a "penetrator"(and becomes
butshenowreceivesfluidfrom
sexuallyaggressive),
thosesheattacks.Nowhereis thisconfusiongreater
thanat themomentthebravebandinterrupts Drac-
ula's attackon Mina:
With. . . hisrighthand [he]grippedherbytheback of
theneck,forcingherfacedownon hisbosom.Herwhite
nightdresswas smearedwithblood, and a thinstream
trickleddowntheman'sbarebreastwhichwas shownby
historn-opendress.The attitudeof thetwohad a terri-
ble resemblanceto a childforcinga kitten'snose intoa
saucerof milkto compelit to drink. (288)
As manyhaveremarked, thereis a powerfulimage
of fellatiohere(and thereis also an exchangeof
fluids-a pointnotmadeclearinthedescription of
Dracula's attackon Lucy);but in thissceneDrac-
ula, in a breathtaking
transformation, is a mother
as well,engagedinan actthathas a "terribleresem-
blance" to breast-feeding.
What is goingon? Fel-
latio? Lactation? It seems that the vampireis
sexuallycapable of everything.
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LikeTiresias,thevampirehas lookedat sexfrom
both sides,and thatfactis significant forseveral
reasons.First,it makesit difficult to say,simply,
thatthenovelis hostileto femalesexuality, whenthe
nature of the "female" has itself been made
problematic; itis moreaccurateto saythatthepri-
maryfearis ofvampiresexuality, a phenomenonin
which"our" genderrolesinterpenetrate in a com-
plicatedway.Femalevampires arenotangelsturned
intowhoresbuthumanwomenwho havebecome
something verystrange, beingsinwhomtraditional
distinctions betweenmaleand femalehavebeenlost
and traditional rolesconfusingly mixed.Moreover,
we encounteragain herethe centralparadox of
Dracula's representation oftheforeign. Forthebi-
sexualityof the vampireis not onlymonstrously
strange,it is also a veryhumanimpulse-an im-
pulse that, once more, the vampirehas made
astonishingly literal.As we have seenthroughout
this essay,the sexualityof vampires-heretheir
bisexuality-isbothstrangeand familiar, bothan
overtpeculiarityto be seen and dreaded and a
reflection to be repressed.
If femalevampiresarepowerfully bisexual,they
are also creatureswho have been profoundly
changed.The pureand spiritualbecomevoluptu-
ous, thepassivebecomeaggressive, and so on. As
Van Helsingsays,"Madame Mina, our poor dear
Madame Mina, is changing" (328). The novel
makesitclearthatthesechangesdo notcomefrom
within-Draculabringsthemaboutas partofthat
complexprocessof deracinative reproduction dis-
cussedabove. In otherwords,theeroticenergyof
thefemalevampiresis somehowthecount'screa-
tion. And that,in turn,suggestsanotherwayin
whichhe is terrifying to the band of good, brave
men. What if theproblemis not thatwomenlike
Lucyand Mina havebecomesexualbutthattheir
sexualityhas beenreleasedin thewrongway,bya
foreigner, a foreigner who has achievedwhatthe
men fear theymay be unable to accomplish?'3
That is, the anxietyof Van Helsingand his band
maybe partlya fearof aggressiveor demanding
women,but it mayalso be a fearof superiorsex-
ual potencyin thecompetition. The boynextdoor
maybe no matchforan extravagant stranger.
The fearof excessiveexogamy, so mucha partof
theterrorthatDracula inspires,is thusbotha ra-
cial and a sexualproblem.As I suggestedearlier,
Draculais a sexualimperialist, one wholongsto be
"thefatheror furtherer of a neworderof beings"
(308). And he can begetthisraceonlyon thebod-
 JohnAllen Stevenson 147
ies of othermen'swomen,imperiling theracialin- in latenineteenth-century Britain,plumpwithim-
tegrity of theWest.The fearhe inspires,however, perialgain,butgivenperhapsto thebad dreamthat
is also personal,forhis is not merelyan imperial- Draculaembodies:whatif"they"shouldtryto col-
ismthattakeswomen,it is especiallyan imperial- onize us?'4 Dracula is interesting, however,as
ismof seduction-if he initiallyapproachesthese somethingmore than a representation of the
womenthroughviolence,in theend theyare con- xenophobicmind, in eitherits Victorianor its
verts,"leagued with your enemyagainst you." aboriginalavatar-fascinatingas thatrepresenta-
Draculathreatens to destroy boththe"good" men's tionis. Forxenophobiarequires,firstof all, a con-
race and theirmasculinity, to destroythemas a ceptof whatis foreign,and theremarkablething
groupand emasculatethemas individuals. No won- about Stoker'snovelis thewayit is able to under-
der theyare so desperateto stophim. mine that veryconceptionof the "foreign"on
Dracula emerges,then,as a remarkable medita- whichso much of its narrativeenergydepends.
tionon foreignness, in at leasttwoways.The sur- That is, Dracula both exemplifies what Hannah
faceof thetaleis a memorablemythof interracial Arendtterms"race-thinking" (158) and calls such
sexual competition,a strugglebetweenmenwho thinkingradicallyintoquestion.Again and again
wishto retaintheircontroloverwomendefinedas Stokerdepictsvampiresexuality as a curiously dou-
membersoftheirgroupand a powerful and attrac- bledphenomenon-alwaysovertly bizarre,butalso
tiveforeigner, who wishesto makethewomenhis somehowfamiliar. 15Such a paradoxpossiblyis in-
own.Thisbattle,finally, is betweentwokindsofde- herentin theenterprise bywhichforeignness, that
sire.The desireofthegood,bravemenis a forcethat ancientneedto separate"us" from"them,"is con-
mustbe calledconservative, foritis an urgeto pro- structedin the human imagination.As Dracula
tectpossessions,to insiston theintegrity of racial represents thatprocess,itis a simultaneousmove-
boundaries,to maintainunmixedtheblood oftheir ment,inwhichdifferences areperceived and reified,
group.Hence, we see theirxenophobicinsistence whilelikenessesare repressedand denied.The re-
that"the world"-meaning theirworldand their fusalof somerecognition maythusalwaysbe a part
women- "not be givenoverto monsters."Drac- of theperceptionof foreignness-even(or maybe
ula's desireis theantithesisof suchconservatism: especially)theextreme foreignness of monstrosity.
whatthecounthas oncepossessedis uselessto him Vampires, weall know,castno reflection. Virtu-
in his continuingstruggleforsurvival.His con- allythefirstfrightening odditythatHarkernotices
stantlyreneweddesirefordifference maybe "mon- at CastleDraculais that"therewasno reflection of
strous"in termsof themarriagepracticesof most [thecount]in themirror"(34). In thelightof this
cultures,butitis hardlythemonstrosity of incest. discussion,thatmissingimagepresentsa striking
The threatDracularepresents is notthedesireofthe metaphor. The vampire, "the other," "the
father to hoardhisownwomen;itis an urgentneed monster" -everything thatDracularepresents, and
to take,to violateboundaries,a desirethatmustin- represents so powerfully-depends on our refusal
corporateforeign blood fortheverysurvivalof his to see thewaysin whichhe is also a mirror. After
kind.Forthevampire, theblood he needs,bothfor all, it is Harkerwho can see nothingin theglass.
sexand forfood,alwaysbelongsto somebodyelse. Whenwe say thatthevampireis absentfromthe
Dracula thusuncoversforus thekindof mind mirror, perhapswhatwe are sayingis thatwe are
thatseesexcessiveexogamyas a particularly terrify- afraid to see a reflection-however uneasy and
ingthreat.Such thinking is commonin humanex- strange-of ourselves.
perience:we tendto divideourselvesintogroups
and to fretabout sexualcontactacrossgrouplines. University
of Colorado
At thesametime,suchfearsmusthavebeenacute Boulder

Notes
IThe firstcriticto insiston a parallelbetweenDracula and
Totemand Taboo was Maurice Richardson.In his wakehave
come JamesTwitchell'sThe LivingDead (134-35), Dreadful
Pleasures(99-104, 137),and ForbiddenPartners(69-70), and
PhyllisRoth's"SuddenlySexualWomen"(115)and BramStoker
(114).RichardAstlealso bringsup thetheorybutnotesthatthere
are two "fathers"in Stoker'snovel,Dracula and Van Helsing,
a "wish-fulfillment"situationthatenablesthe"sons" simulta-

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148 A Vampirein theMirror:The Sexualityof Dracula
neouslyto killand obeythe father(98-99).
2 Fora valuablediscussionof thedifferences betweenanthro-
pologyand psychoanalysis, see W. Arens(40-43 esp.). In The
Red Lamp ofIncest,RobinFox attemptsto reconcilerecentan-
thropological and biologicalworkon incestwithTotemand Ta-
boo. The resulthas beencontroversial, and inanyeventI am not
sureFreud would recognizehis theoriesin theirrehabilitated
form.The approachI use in thisessaydoes notimplythatI be-
lieveanthropology to be "right,"psychoanalysis "wrong.".I do
wantto substitute one model of humanbehaviorforanother
(and modelsarewhatI believebothapproachesare)and seewhat
happens.
3 The discussionthatfollowsis muchindebtedto Arensand
to thetwovolumesbyFox,all threeof whichprovidegood sum-
mariesof thevastanthropologicalliterature on thesesubjects.
Also, whileI am awarethatLevi-Strauss'stheorieshavebeen
muchdebatedin theanthropological community and thatthey
are not,perhaps,entirelyoriginal,I mustacknowledgethatI
could nothavearrivedat theideas developedinthisessaywith-
out hispowerfully expressednotionof theinterrelation between
an incesttaboo and theexchangeof womenamongalliedmen.
The existenceof an incesttaboo does notcontradicttheidea
thathumanshavean instinctive aversionto committing incest.
See Arens14.
4 PierreVan den Bergheprovidesa usefulsummaryof the
history and current statusofattempts at racialclassifications
(ch.
1). A dictionary (AmericanHeritage)definition of racesuggests
the rangeof essentiallymetaphoricmeaningsattachedto the
word.Those definitions include"a distinctgroup[definedby]
geneticallytransmittedphysical characteristics";"a group
united"on thebasis of history, geography, or nationality;and
"a genealogicalline."As a "race,"vampirespartakeofall these
meanings.
5 StokerwouldhaveknownHamlet intimately, havingbeen
associatedformanyyearswiththeactorHenryIrvingand hav-
inglongservedas managerof theLyceumTheatrein London.
In fact,a reviewStokerwroteof Irving'sperformance as Ham-
letfirstbroughtthetwotogether, and Stoker'smanagementof
theLyceumbeganwitha ninety-eight-night runof Hamlet.See
Daniel Farson 17,56.
Thereis a further biographicalconsideration hereifitis true,
as Farsonargues,thatStokerdiedof syphilis. Farsonclaimsthat
inviewofthetypicalprogression ofthediseaseStokermighthave
caughttheinfection at aboutthetimehewroteDracula(233-35).
6 For thisreason,thereis no such thingas birthcontrolfor
vampires, exceptcoitusinterruptus, whoseefficacy seemsuncer-
tain.The good mencertainly interruptDracula'slastattackon
Mina, but hersalvationfromrebirth as a vampireseemsmore
a function of Dracula'sdeaththantheresultoftheinterruption.
The impossibility of separatingsexualityfromreproduction in
Dracula inverts thepatternintheothergreatnineteenth-century
monsternovel,Frankenstein, whichinsistson thatseparation.
In a sense,thesenovelsanticipatethecontemporary debatebe-
tweenCatholicconservatives and technological interventionists
on theissueof reproduction. Dracula,withitscrucifixes, itsuse
of thehostas a kindof disinfectant, and especiallyitsliterali-
zationof certainCatholicpreoccupations aboutsex,emergesas
an oddlyCatholicnovel,withvampiresrepresenting a fantasy
of sexualorthodoxy. Neitherof thebiographiesI consultedhad
anything to sayon thesubjectofthenovelist's religion,butStoker
was Irish.
7Again, thereis a deliciouslygossipybiographicalsidelight
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here.Accordingto Farson,who is Stoker'sgreat-nephew, fam-
ilygossipmaintainsthatStoker'swifeceased to havesexualre-
lationswithherhusbandafterthebirthoftheirone childin 1879
(214). Of course,itis impossibleto knowhow farto trustsuch
evidence,but theparallelis worthnoting.
8 Herewe see an exaggerated and literalized versionof theso-
ciobiologicalargument thatoutbreeding is genetically usefulfor
humanity. See Arens22.
9 It is Dracula'sstatusas an invaderthatsetshimapartfrom
othersupernaturalbeings.Most of theterrorghostscreateis
boundup withthebeliefthatdead peoplehaunttheplacesthey
knewin life:housesare normallyhauntedbyformerresidents,
or at leastbysomeonewhohada significant relation totheplace.
Dracula, however, mustleave his old hometo do his dreadful
work.Thissupernatural imperialism suggestsagainthatthefear
Draculacreatesis linkedto hisstrangeness, to hisremoteorigins.
In a sense,Dracula is a demonicversionof Abraham,whoalso
mustleavehisold homeand go toanotherplacetobeginhisnew
race.
10A powerfulexpressionof thismentality dominatesJohn
Ford'sgreatwesternThe Searchers(1956). At one point,John
Wayneand an armydoctorarelookingovera groupof women,
all of themveryblond,recently rescuedfromlongcaptivity (the
chiefwhohasbeenholdingthemis named,interestingly, "Scar").
The womenarebehavingstrangely, and thedoctorremarks, "It's
hardto believethey'rewhite."Wayne'sreplyterselyrevealshis
character'sbeliefin sexualderacination:"They'renotwhite-
anymore.They'reComanche."
11Thereis, however, anotherschoolof thoughtthatfindsat
least glimmersof real sympathy forwomenin Dracula. Nina
Auerbachsees in Lucy and Mina a "self-transforming power
surging beneathapparentvictimization," observing that"weare
struckbythekindsofpowerthat[Stoker] grant(s]"to hiswomen
(34, 17).StephanieDemetrakapoulousinsiststhatthenovelex-
presseshiddendesiresinVictorianculture, particularly women's
desiretobe sexuallyalive,and Alan Johnsonsaysthatthecount
"symbolizes"thesewomen's"innerrebelliousness," whichthe
novel portraysas "justified" (21). Carol Senf suggeststhat
Stoker's"treatment of women. . . does notstemfromhisha-
tredof womeningeneralbut . . . fromhisambivalent reaction
to a topicalphenomenon-theNew Woman" (34).
12 It seemsinevitable that,at somepointsoon,thephenome-
non of AIDS and thevampiremythwillconverge.In fact,we
mayalreadybe seeinga "vampirization" of high-risk groupsfor
thedisease.One heterosexual wasquotedintheNew YorkTimes
Magazine as saying,"[Avoidingsexwithmembersof high-risk
groups]is,ina way,a tyranny, a partof theinexorablereturnto
conservatism. It's so antithetical
to intermingling. . . People
aresayingyoushouldsleeponlywithyourownkind"(Davis35).
13 Some important recenthistoricalworksuggeststhatthe
standardviewof Victorianattitudestowardfemalesexualityis
seriously flawed.BothPeterGayand CarlDeglerarguethatthere
was no monolithicsuppressionor denial of women'serotic
potentialintheeraand thata notoriousfigurelikeDr. William
Acton(who thought"normal" womenhad no sexualfeelings)
shouldnot be viewedas a spokespersonfortheage.
14 JeromeBuckley'scommentis interesting in thisregard:
"All throughtheninetiestherelaybehindthecultof empirea
half-hushed uneasiness,a senseof social decline,a foreboding
of death . . . " (228).
15 Such doublenesscalls to mindFreud'sanalysisof the"un-
canny,"inwhichtheheimlichand theunheimlich converge. For
 JohnAllen Stevenson
Freud,however,the "uncannyis thatclass of the frightening
whichleads back to whatis knownof old and long familiar"
(" 'Uncanny"'220). Myunderstanding of Draculaheredepends
on the poles of the strangeand familiarremainingsimulta-
neouslypresent.Freud's "leads back to" suggeststhepriority
Freudassignsto thefamilyromanceevenintherealmof thelit-
WorksCited
Arendt,Hannah. The Originsof Totalitarianism. Cleveland:
Meridian,1958.
Arens,W. TheOriginalSin: Incestand ItsMeaning.NewYork:
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149
on concealedpointsof similarity
In insisting
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