Mina and Lucy: The Ideal and Inbetween - by Habib Oulahna

            Women in Victorian Society were expected to be obedient and subservient to their husbands, serving and pleasing him being their lifestyle when they marry. Mina and Lucy serve as the remainders of the ideals of Victorian women as well as vessels for Bram Stoker to reinforce the ideals of the Victorian era citizen.
            Lucy is shown to the audience as somewhat sexually open, by the standards of Victorian society, as she brags about receiving three proposals. One of the fears of Victorians was that if women were sexually open, they would become terrible mothers that wouldn't be able to serve their husband or raise their children properly, and this is fear is manifested when Lucy dies and returns as a vampire that consumes the blood of children. Lucy serves as the catalyst for the fears of Victorian society as Lucy becomes a monstrous beast that consumes children to satiate her hunger, all because she was more sexually open than any Victorian woman. Lucy is a representation of the way a woman can go from a pure woman to an impure one, she starts off as normal Victorian woman, although a bit to open of her sexual urges, and becomes the embodiment of what woman should never become. Lucy can be seen as a representation of Victorian fears of the new woman as Lucy is more independent and unwilling to be subservient with these two aspects of her character Stoker shows the ease of how a somewhat pure woman could easily be converted to a hyper sexualized demon, reinforcing the fears of Victorian society.
            Mina is the manifestation of the Angel in the House concept. Mina is the prefect ideal of the woman by Victorian standard such as serving her husband and not complaining or arguing with him. Throughout the story, the crew of light describes Mina as the perfect woman, they also prevent her from entering the investigation because it is to dangerous for one so pure and perfect as her to help hunt Dracula. Mina is also described as having a man brain as well. Mina is also not sexualized like Lucy, as she shows only devotion for Jonathan even when he remains missing, as she could have easily just moved on to another man. Mina can be seen as both the ideal Victorian woman with aspects of the new woman in her character, as she is shown as a capable and intelligent woman on her own but she also shows devotion and love for Jonathan, both when he is missing and when he returns to London.
            Bram Stoker has these two women as influential characters in the story, mainly for the male characters. Lucy is the beauty of Victorian woman should embody but also represents the approaching fear that the new woman would drive the society into a morality crisis, as mothers become unable to properly raise their children and wives become independent from their husbands. Mina is the ideal Victorian woman showing devotion to Jonathan no matter what, yet she also holds a small amount of new woman aspects being highly intelligent and in a way independent from Jonathan. These two woman serve as a time capsule to the Victorian era views and fears of woman.