Sexual Fantasy in Dracula Films any ideas

[cartsay]

Hello everyone

IS BRAM STOKERS DRACULA BASED ON A SEXUAL fANTASY???????????????????

HELP

I need a bit of help an trying to find out why, were and what kind of sexual fantasy are in dracula films.

i want to find out why women are dominated in all horror films connected to dracula films.

if this is possiable for anyone to give some pointers or even a bit od advice to start me of in the right direction would be nice

P.S im a A level student studying film and this is to help me with my project THANKS

[Dark_Twinkle]

Women were most likely dominated in 'Dracula' films because of the time period that Dracula was created, which was in the 17th Century (I state this because Bram Stoker started his Dracula around about 1890 - so I'm making an educated guess here)

So during this era, women were docile, fragile and very easy to manipulate. Dracula was also portrayed as handsome (I'm not sure in Bram Stoker's version) but there was a reason why he was called 'Prince' of Darkness - not the boogie man or monster of darkness. Being called a prince represented handsome, wealth and power.

Therefore Dracula in a way used his dark looks to seduce women, they were easy prey and much easier and preferable to get closer to than men. It was easy to pretend in giving them a love-bite on the neck to a woman than a man.

Oh, and since Dracula depends on blood for life and survival, it makes sense there would be sexual fantasies on both the Dracula and Women's part. The tension, suspense, horror and sexual arousal are a powerful combination of emotions to display in films for the audience. There's the fear that the woman will die as she gets closer to Dracula through the seduction process - it makes a good hit in films because I suppose fear and sexual desire are some of the intense emotions we feel.

And films would generally want to engage with the audience meaning it has to make the audience feel. That's why Dracula includes such sexual fantasies - also some women like the thrill of danger.

What kinds of sexual fantasies? Well, I'm not sure about that, i would think sensual and heated. Easier to get the women to be Dracula's prey.

I'm not sure about your Questions to where , sorry , but I'm studying the book Dracula by Bram Stoker, not films though. But i thought i might help out with the part of why women were always being dominated.

Good Luck.

Dark_Twinkle

Ps- I am an A-level Student too studying English

[FacialFracture]

First of all, pretty much any time you see a woman bleeding at the hands of a man, a bit of "lost virginity" symbolism gets thrown into the mix. Most authors and directors working in the Horror genre immediately recognize this and exploit it. More often than not, it is a virgin (or virginal-seeming) female who proves to be both the main focus of the monster/villain and the sole survivor, heroine, or, occasionally, the martyr. This is played out time and time again--in fact, so-called "impure", or promiscuous women are usually "punished" in horror stories and films. Why is this the case? The best answer I can offer is that most horror stories have their roots in cautionary tales, where "good" and "bad" traits were exaggerated, and scenarios were blown out of proportion in order to scare young people away from doing "bad" things.

Specifically with reference Dracula, I think it is a cautionary tale; moreover, to me, it is a book founded on xenophobia. Count Dracula is an aristocratic Romanian, living somewhere thoroughly "unmodern," where superstition runs wild; this contrasts with Jonathan Harker's "civilized" nature (Harker, who could be said to represent the straight-laced values of Victorian England). Dracula's decadence, carnal indulgence, and cultural strangeness are all exaggerated to a (literally) monstrous degree, and he is portrayed as a vampire. He exerts his power largely in making somewhat violent sado-sexual overtures to young women, who are hypnotized by his allure--an allure that the male characters (excepting Renfield) don't perceive. So, I've always viewed it as blood = bloodlines = heritage...So, remain vigilant, men of England, and don't allow your young ladies to be seduced by the romance of decadent Continental Europe. Of course, Van Helsing (also Continental-European) is a safe figure, because he is beyond the age of being a viable candidate for sex/marriage/breeding, and he represents reason and science--two things not known to seduce the ladies.

This is much longer than I meant for it to be, but I have to add...There's sexual fantasy/victimization of the male in Francis Ford Copolla's Dracula film: When Harker is staying in Drac/Vlad's castle, he is tempted by a bed full of sexy naked vampire women.

[Dark_Twinkle]

The part where Harker is tempted by the three vampire women - how does sexuality overall play a part in gothic genre?

[FacialFracture]

Okay, your question is a bit broad, and I'm not an expert, but...

Sexuality within the Gothic genre almost always comes in the form of temptation, rather than sex itself. Within Gothic texts, sex is a symbol for knowledge--usually not "good" knowledge. You know how in the Bible, Eve was tempted by the snake with that apple (the apple that grew from what is often called "the Tree of Knowledge")? A lot of Gothic literature dwells on that snake and the woman tempted by it--basically, something phallic/masculinely sexual wants a lady to do a bad thing, and if she does, she's punished for it.

What I said in my previous post about these stories being "cautionary tales' pretty much sums up the part I think sexuality plays in Goth-lit. It's about temptation, and offering one thing in exchange for something more important (like a soul, or the ability to walk in daylight).

So, sexuality in the Gothic genre provides the reader/viewer with a sort of litmus test: Virgins are good, promiscuous women are bad; men who aren't seduced by promiscuous women are good, men who show examples of sadistic sexuality are very bad...etc, etc. For example, the fact that Harker doesn't actually have sex with the Vampire-Sluts, makes him "good" and "trustworthy," because he overcame temptation. Meanwhile, the Vampire-Sluts foreshadow the fates of any women who allow themselves to be seduced by the power of a male vampire.

I hope that helps, it's all I've got.

[Dark_Twinkle]

That made a lot of sense actually. That's all I wanted, thank you very much.

[cartsay]

thank you for your edvice it has really help cartsay xxx

[VampireLitqueen]

i know what you mean the reasons why film adaptions choose to focus on that is, there is a sensuality to the image of sucking someones blood. and the reason for biting the neck is because it was thought that it was the most sensual part of the body. vampires also have the power of seduction. the hidden and the dark.