Gender Inversion in Dracula

     In the twenty-first century, people should have already veered away from the traditional gender roles that were put in place hundreds of years ago, but they have not. Even though some people have come out and are confident in their sexual orientation, whatever it may be, society as a whole is still not very accepting of anyone who is not ‘normal’. We have created a heteronormative culture that people are now forced to live in. Monsters are created to embody the traits of humans and society that people do not necessarily want to see. In the novel, the character Dracula is “immobilized by the competing imperatives of ‘wicked desire’ and deadly fear’”; he has to choose between doing what he wants to do and what society has told him he should do (Stoker 444). In his society, Dracula was not only shamed for being a vampire, but he was also told that his sexual desires were wrong. Dracula longed for penetration more than anything else, but he was constrained by the society he lived in. Although Dracula came close to fulfilling his hopes of penetration multiple times, he never let himself fully indulge for fear of what the society he lived in would do to him. Not only was Dracula afraid of people knowing of his desire for penetration, but he was also terrified of what would happen to him if he let himself indulge in penetration. As much as we would like to think that our society has evolved since Dracula was written, it has not; this exact same thing still happens today. If people’s beliefs or desires are anything outside of what society considers normal, they are terrified to express them out of fear of what people will say or do. Even if people live seemingly completely normal lives, if they have sexual desires that are not widely accepted, like Dracula’s, they will get shamed, judged, and even punished. The heteronormative culture that was created before Dracula was written still runs through our society today, and there is little to nothing that any one person can do to change it. Dracula shows how when people’s “ungratified desire” for any one thing is not fulfilled, they channel their desire into something else (Stoker 446). For Dracula, his desire for penetration is fulfilled by his three vampiric daughters whose anatomy permits them to be penetrated. For people in today’s society, their desire, whether it be sexual or otherwise, is projected onto something else, such as a sport or hobby where they can relieve some of that desire. According to the nineteenth-century psychologist Sigmund Freud, in order for a person to protect their EGO, they use a defense mechanism called sublimation. This simply means that they divert their sexual or aggressive energy into acceptable behavior. For Dracula, he diverts his need for penetration to his daughters. At the time women were supposed to be available and want to have sex whenever their husband desired and therefore, it was perfectly normal for Dracula to live vicariously through the penetration of his daughters. People in today’s society are forced to go through this exact same process in order for them to repress their desires. As much as people want to think that today’s society is changing, it is not, and much like Dracula, people today have to find ways to repress their desires and divert them to something that society sees as acceptable.

Is Society a Monster or Grendel or Both?

Alina Shrestha

In the book, Grendel relates to Wealhtheow as he himself can’t find a place in the society. He is seen as a monster just because of his look. In the beginning of the book, it shows us how Grendel tried to communicate with the people of Danes but since the communication was not reciprocated well, he was seen as a monster. Grendel is also oppressed by the society as he doesn’t fit the normal criteria, so he doesn’t have a seat in the community. While the books show Grendel the monster that he is, it can be seen that the Danes and the society turned him into the monster. The hatred he received for his looks when he was a little boy turned him into a monster he was. 

Grendel showed emotion of anger, rage, pity. He had human characteristics like long slender body, arms, legs, all the feature that a human has. Apart from his scary look, and inability to communicate, all his actions and behavior are like humans. He is similar to Beowulf and other people in Danes in a sense that they all kill their enemies. They destroy and kill whatever comes their way and disrupts them. So, it can be seen that the society that the Danes live in is a monster as well because they kill innocents for their benefit and oppress women and use them as peace-weavers. In chapter 2 Grendel says “I understood that the world was nothing: a mechanical chaos of casual, brute enmity on which we stupidly impose our hopes and fears” he realizes that the world is like a bull, destructive. This marks the human’s influence on Grendel and his turning point from innocent to a murderer. The societies influence and hatred turned Grendel into a monster. 

The societies treatment and value toward the women is not equal to men. It can be viewed that the society was the monster towards women taking their basis rights and freedom. Women in early Anglo-Saxon culture were viewed as possessions, they had no say towards their lifestyle or culture. The women were used as peace-weavers between family, they were traded for peace without their consent. The women’s sole purpose was to provide for their family for others. The role of the women was to get married off to other tribes, kingdom to promote peace and happiness to the community. Women’s job was to serve the ruler and its people. In Beowulf and Grendel Hildeburh, Freawaru and Wealhtheow display limited role, they seem to be irrelevant and their only role served as peace-weavers. Wealhtheow is a peace-weaver between the Scyldingsand Helming. She’s Hrothgar’s wife and queen of the Danes. She represents love, altruism and is an ideal woman who brings peace and harmony to the community. The only female character that had some type of power was Grendel’s mom, but she was isolated from the rest of the world and could neither speak or communicate. 

The society can also be seen as a monster because they divide the community between race and gender, majorities and minorities creating sexism and racism. While Grendel attacks and kills people openly, the society attacks behinds people’s back mocking and ridiculing them about their placement in society. Therefore, it can be argued that the society turned Grendel into a monster along with dragon’s influence. Women however, were victims of society since they are used as peace-weavers and didn’t have much rights and freedom. It can be seen that for Wealhtheow and other women in Grendel and Beowulf, the Scyldings and Helming society are the monsters, as the women are being oppressed and used into peace-weaving marriages and the females are seen as irrelevant to the society. While for the people of Danes, Grendel is a monster because he disrupts and kills them. 

Monsters or Misogynists?

Monsters or Misogynists?  

by Syeda S. Raza 

Men in the Anglo Saxon society were misogynists thus, it won't be wrong to call them monsters. These men considered women as possessions and peace-weavers “ A queen should weave peace, not punish the innocent’ (1941).  Women without their will were married to these demonic men in an attempt to bring peace between the two kingdoms. In particular, Hrothgar’s act of marrying his daughter Freawaru to Ingeld for peace pledge was no less of a monstrous act. Women were treated by these monsters as slaves and were required to act upon their wishes “Haereth’s daughter moved about with the mead-jug in her hand, taking care of the company, filling the cups that the warriors held out” (1980), this illustrated that power remained in the hands of the men and that women were inferior in all respect. Moreover, women as peace weavers were expected to bear children to carry bloodlines forward. Where their sons would carry the legacy of their fathers by engaging in similar acts. These monsters were disgusted by women and their bodies were sexualized. In the reading Grendel by John Gardener, Wealtheow to Grendel was like the Shaper but her having human characteristics made him want to kill her. He was disgusted by Wealtheow’s body but felt superior to her. Grendel was undoubtedly a monster who was obscene to even to his own mother“ And my mother’s fat foul bulk rolling over, restless again” (9) and again “She smells of wild pig and fish” (29). This strongly suggested that no matter how old a man was, women in the Anglo Saxon society were maltreated.    

Even today human-like monsters are seen in books and movies. One example of this is seen in Khaled Hosseini's novel: A Thousand Splendid Suns. The novel explains the story of two generations of characters that are brought together by tragic sweeps of war, where their personal life was intertwined in a series of drastic events. In contrast to the idea of peace weaving marriage, in Hosseini's novel men engage in second marriage with high hopes of having a son.  The ideologies remain similar in Thousand Splendid Sons, Beowulf, and Grendel where men represent monsters that objectify women as mere slaves. These women are constantly a subject to violence by their husbands and father. In Hosseini's novel, men having the privilege to engage in a second marriage is brutal in its extremity and this portrays an act of infidelity towards the wives. Women in both societies are married to men that are quite older than their age without their will. Women thus, feel inferior to these monsters and live their lives in an abusive and oppressive relationship. This is due to their desire and attempts to maintain peace between them and the husband; analogous to what is illustrated in Beowulf and Grendel.

Therefore, monsters today and monsters in the past share homologous traits, the difference lies in their approach. Even today, women are abused and their bodies are objectified; however, the world still remains a place where monsters like such hold dominance.