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Katie Sklaver
Mrs. Juergens
AP English Lit and Comp
25 !to"er 2#15
$ra!ula and %os&eratu' (emale Protagonists and )ender *oles
$i&&eren!es in the !hara!ter o& the &emale protagonists o& Nosferatuand o& Dracularesult
in a !hange in the theme o& gender roles. +n Nosferatu, unlike in Dracula, dominant -omen are
not a danger to so!iet, "ut are instead its savior. /his !hange in theme is "est o"served through a
!omparison o& Mina and Lu! in Dracula, and their %os&eraturian !ounterpart Ellen, although
some other !omparisons are help&ul in providing &urther eviden!e.
+n Dracula, dominant -omen are !onsidered a danger to 0ritish so!iet. /his is
demonstrated, in part, through the moti& o& sleep. +n Dracula, the &emale protagonists al-as
seem to "e at their most ideal -hen the are asleep or si!k or prone in some -a. hile Mina is
sleeping, the men de!ide to keep her ignorant o&3 their intent3 4Stoker 67, !laiming it is too
great a strain &or a -oman to "ear3 4Stoker 8687. hile the are sleeping, Mina and Lu! are
una"le to have an in&luen!e on the de!isions that a&&e!t their lives. +n Dracula, sleep is the most
e9treme &orm o& su"mission, and death is the most e9treme &orm o& sleep. hen Lu! a-akens
&rom this e9treme sleep, or "e!omes one o& the undead, she is dening her passive role in li&e.
/his re"ellion is seen as dangerous " the men, -ho are su"!ons!iousl threatened " it, and in
an e&&ort to repossess Lu! &rom this -i!ked sleep, the drive deeper and deeper the mer!:
"earing stake, -hilst the "lood &rom the pier!ed heart -elled and spurted up around it3 4Stoker
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8#;7, e&&e!tivel killing her, or putting her to sleep3, &or good, and &or!ing her "a!k into her
proper pla!e in the order o& things, -hi!h is the duti&ul and de&erential -oman.
+n Dracula, the danger o& dominant -omen is also demonstrated through the
!hara!teri -ith those red lips3 4Stoker
557. /he danger o& !ourse, is not in the kissing, "ut in the desire. Jonathan &eels it is -rong to
-ant the &air girl to advan!e and lean over3 him 4Stoker 557, he is a&ter all, a man. ?e &eels
should do the advan!ing, as is his right, and to -ant something di&&erent is "oth thrilling and
repulsive3 4Stoker 567, !onne!ted -ith some dream &ear3 4Stoker 557 o& losing the po-er
so!iet has a&&orded him. /hus, he is -illing, at an !ost, to keep his -i&e Mina &rom "e!oming
like these vampire -omen, &rom em"oding the threat the represent, a threat that, like Lu!, is
destroed " a man. +ndeed, the vampire ladies are killed " @an ?elsing, in a "out o& "ut!her
-ork3 4Stoker 5817. ?e endured the horrid s!ree!hing as the stake drove home, the plunging o&
the -rithing &orm, and lips o& "lood &oam3 4Stoker 5817. /he stake is a phalli! sm"ol, and as
@an ?elsing metaphori!all rapes the vampire "rides, he takes "a!k their se9ualit, their
dominan!e, and like -ith Lu!, returns them to their right&ul pla!e.
+n Nosferatu, there are no stakes. /here is also no Lu!. r, at least Lu!s !ounterpart
has a mu!h smaller role in the stor. She is mostl super&luous. +nstead, Ellen, Minas
!ounterpart, seems to take on the !hara!teristi!s o& Lu!. She is, at &irst glan!e, -eak, !ompletel
and utterl su"missive, and su"s!ri"ing to the traditional gender roles originall set &orth in
Dracula, o&& o& -hi!h Nosferatu-as "ased. She seems overl emotional, !ring over !ut
&lo-ers, asking her hus"and h did ou kill them =B>3 4Murnau Nosferatu7. hen one
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looks deeper ho-ever, Ellen is in !ontrol, Ellen has all the po-er. ne o& the pla!es this reversal
o& gender roles is most evident is -hen one !ompares Ellen to her hus"and ?utter.
?utter is a de!idedl &eminine man. hen !ompared to Ellen, he seems even more so.
Ellens &eatures are dark and harsh, similar to her !lothes.
+n !omparison, ?utters !lothes are ela"orate, vi"rantl patterned, and -ith an e9!ess o& &loun!e.
Phsi!all, Ellen !ould almost "e !onsidered manlier than ?utter. More than this, ?utter is, in
more than one s!ene, "ent over, sometimes to Ellen. /his de&erent position is !hara!teristi! o& a
su"missive, not o& the !on&ident and !ontrolling man he is supposed to "e.
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?utter "ending over
?utter is, also, !ompared to Ellen, !ompletel idioti!. ?e !onstantl has a -ide and vapid
grin on his &a!e and in the &irst shot o& him, he is staring at himsel& in the mirror, !ompletel
a"sor"ed in his o-n re&le!tion, and ignoring the o"viousl "us and thriving industrial -orld
outside his -indo-.
hen Ellen is introdu!ed, she is seen looking out o& a -indo-, alread demonstrating sharper
o"servational &a!ulties than her other hal&. She is also seen as surrounded " li&e, "oth a kitten
and &lo-ers, and her -indo- is open. /he &a!t that she en!ompassed " li&e, and that her -indo-
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is open to the -orld, letting in its sights and sounds, suggests that Ellen is more present in the
-orld than her hus"and, more involved and !on!erned -ith other people, unlike ?utter -ho is
-ho literall and &igurativel shut up inside his o-n head. /hese !hara!teristi!s are more
stereotpi!al o& -omen, shut up inside in their homes and taking !are o& !hildren, and Ellens
sharp o"servation and openness to the -orld is more !hara!teristi! o& men o& the time.
Ellen in her -indo-
Ellens role as po-er&ul -oman "e!omes more and more prevalent throughout the movie,
and !omes to a head, -hen she de&ies her promise to her hus"and not to tou!h the "ook3
4MurnauNosferatu7 that tells her o& her !apa"ilit to de&eat Nosferatu. /he re"ellion against her
hus"and onl !ontinues on &rom there, -ith Ellen taking !harge o& her o-n destin, and making
the !hoi!e to sa!ri&i!e hersel& to Nosferatu. nl Ellen !an make the de!ision to save her to-n,
?utter !annot make it &or her. Ellen dies at the end o& the movie, "ut she dies having taken
!ontrol o& her li&e, and -ith her ne-l dominant position not destroing so!iet, "ut saving it,
something unimagina"le " the standards o& the male protagonists in the original novel Dracula.
ord Count' 1,#8#
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orks Cited
Nosferatu. $ir. (riedri!h ilhelm Murnau. Per&. Ma9 S!hre!k, )ustav @on angenheim, )reta
S!hroeder. Prana (ilm, 1;22. Doutu"e @ideo.
Stoker, 0ram. Dracula. %e- Dork Cit' 0arnes and %o"le, 2##8. Print.