CHARACTERIZATIONS OF MINA MURRAY AND
LUCY WESTENRA AS THE REPRESENTATION
OF VICTORIAN WOMEN IN BRAM STOKER’S
DRACULA
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree ofSarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
JEFF REINHARD Student Number: O24214119
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
i
DRACULA
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree ofSarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
JEFF REINHARD Student Number: O24214119
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
iv
AMAZING GRACE
AMAZING GRACE HOW SWEET THE SOUND
THAT SAVE A WRETCH LIKE ME
I ONCE WAS LOST BUT NOW I’M FOUND
WAS BLIND BUT NOW I SEE
I WAS GRACE THAT TAUGHT MY HEART TO FEAR
AND GRACE MY FEAR RELIEVED
HOW PRECIOUS DID THAT GRACE APEAR
THE HOUR I FIRST BELIEVE
THROUGH MANY DANGERS TAIL AND SNARES
I HAVE ALREADY COME
THIS GRACE HAS BROUGHT ME SAVE THIS FAR
AND GRACE WILL LEAD ME HOME
v
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN
PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS
Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma :
Nama : JEFF REINHARD
Nomor Mahasiswa : 024214119
Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul :
CHARACTERIZATION OF MINA MURRAY AND LUCY WESTENRA AS THE REPRESENTATION OF VICTORIAN WOMEN IN BRAM STOKER’S
DRACULA
beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan, me-ngalihkan dalam bentuk media lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan data, mendistribusikan secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikannya di Internet atau media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta ijin dari saya maupun mem-berikan royalti kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis.
Demikian pernyataan ini yang saya buat dengan sebenarnya.
Dibuat di Yogyakarta
Pada tanggal : 3 September 2009
Yang menyatakan
vi
My deepest gratitude to Jesus Christ, the most compassionate for the unlimited love, strength and guidance that have been given to me so that I finally can finish this thesis. I do realize that this thesis could not be accomplished without the help of others. Therefore, I also thank Him for giving me chances to meet the wonderful people who are willing to accompany, help and support me in facing this step of life.
I thank God for giving me a very super duper Mother, Irma Maria Jacqueline, who always prays for me, gives me unlimited love me and support me when I was down. To my elder brother, Joe Roosevelt, I thank him for being an outstanding brother. To my cousin Yvone Valerijn Wattiheluw, I thank her for being a splendid big sister during my study in Yogyakarta.
In this opportunity, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my Advisor and Co-Advisor, Dewi Widyastuti, S.Pd., M.Hum. and Elisa Dwi Wardani, S.S., M.Hum who have provided their precious time for reading, encourage, patience, care and guiding me during my thesis writing process. May God always bestow His blessing on them.
vii
My special thanks to all my friends in group C - 2002 especially PRUE family: Dian Sastra, Nana Dalem, “Dora” Debora, Kartika Andeng2, Rudy “Alam”, Ferdi “Gendut”, Alfa Batam, Nico the Sailor Man, Gatot “Danang” Hendy, “Sreek” Harjanto, Yeremias Nardji, Fitra Sunny and Suryo Pramono DIY. I thank them for all the wonderful friendship and adventures that we had, it means a lot for me and also all my friends in “Panggung Boneka”, I thank them for all experiences that we share. For YPA, I thank her for our special moment even it’s only a moment.
Last but not least, I thank my fellow comrades who still struggle for the better future. God bless them all.
viii
A. Background of the Study ……….. 1
B. Problem Formulation ……….. 5
C. Definition of Terms ……… 6
CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW ………. 8
A. Review of Related Studies ………. 8
B. Review of Related Theories ………... 11
1. Theories on Character and Characterization ……….. 11
2. Theories on Representation ………..………. 14
3. Theories of Literature and Society ………. 15
C. Review of Victorian Women Historical Background ………….... 16
D. Theoretical Framework ……….. 19
CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ……….. 21
A. Object of the Study ……… 21
B. Approach of the Study ……… 22
C. Method of the Study ………... 23
CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS ………... 24
A. The Description of Mina Murray and Lucy Westenra …………... 24
1. The Description of Mina Murray ………. 24
2. The Description of Lucy Westenra ……….. 31
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CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ……….. 49
BIBLIOGRAPHY ………... 53
x
WOMEN IN BRAM STOKER’S DRACULA. Yogyakarta: Department of
English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2009.
Bram Stoker writesDraculain an epistolary style that makes it interesting to study. The novel represents women in the Victorian Age that become the goal of this thesis. In the Victorian Age, there are many issue of women related to their attitude in the Victorian society. Such condition is worth studying in order to see whether or not the characteristic of Mina Murray and Lucy Westenra in the novel is the representation of women in the Victorian Age.
This undergraduate thesis analyzes two main problems. The first one is revealing the characteristics of Mina and Lucy. The characteristics will then be analyzed further in order to reach the actual goal of the thesis which is to obtain the understanding on what really happen to women in Victorian Age through the characteristics of Mina and Lucy.
The analysis of the novel was conducted through library research using related books, articles and internet resources. In conducting the study, first the characteristic of Mina and Lucy which are going to be discussed were analyzed using theory on character and characterization. The final step was answering the second problem which will be analyzed by using theory of representation and the relation between literature and society to see is it true that those characteristics represent the Victorian women life.
In the novel, Mina is smart and beautiful young woman. She also has a warm personality, strong will to do her best, a hard worker, loves to cook, and she also has rebellious personality inside of her. Lucy is a very attractive young woman. She has a beautiful heart, cares and appreciates other people. She does not want to hurt somebody’s heart. She is honest and kind. Mina and Lucy characteristic are representing certain issue of women related to their attitude in the Victorian society such as firstly a woman working hard to study and learn many thing just to ensnare men and not to prepare themselves for work, secondly women getting married to get a status in the society, thirdly women should give a birth and become a mother because women who can not give birth at that time will be labeled inadequate or a failure by the society, fourth a woman has to wear a dress which covers her skin because their body belongs to their husband so they have to keep their body pure, fifth women should have a good manner and watch their language when they talks with other so they do not hurt somebody’s feelings, and sixth women supposed to have more deep sense on humanity then men. From the analysis performed, it is known that their characteristics in the novel Dracula
xi ABSTRAK
JEFF REINHARD. CHARACTERIZATIONS OF MINA MURRAY AND LUCY WESTENRA AS THE REPRESENTATION OF VICTORIAN WOMEN IN BRAM STOKER’S DRACULA. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra
Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2009.
Bram Stoker menulisDraculadalam bentuk “epistolary” yang membuatnya menarik untuk dipelajari. Novel ini menggambarkan wanita pada zaman Victoria yang menjadi tujuan utama dari skripsi ini. Banyak permasalahan tentang wanita yang berkaitan dengan sikap mereka di dalam masyarakat Victoria. Kondisi seperti ini sangat berguna untuk dipelajari untuk melihat apakah karakteristik dari Mina Murray dan Lucy Westenra menggambarkan wanita di zaman Victoria atau tidak.
Skripsi ini menganalisa dua masalah utama. Yang pertama ialah menunjukkan karakteristik Mina dan Lucy. Lalu karakteristiknya akan di analisa lebih lanjut untuk mencapai tujuan utama dari skripsi ini yakni mencapai pemahaman tentang apa yang terjadi pada wanita pada zaman Victoria melalui karakteristik Mina dan Lucy.
Analisa novel ini dilaksanakan dengan cara studi pustaka menggunakan buku, artikel serta sumber-sumber online yang berkaitan. Dalam proses analisa, mula-mula karakteristik dari Mina dan Lucy yang akan dipelajari telah dianalisa mengunakan teori karakter dan karakterisasi. Langkah terakhir ialah menjawab rumusan masalah kedua yang akan dianalisa menggunakan teori penggambaran dan hubungan antara sastra dan masyarakat untuk melihat apakah benar karakteristik mereka menggambarkan kehidupan wanita zaman Victoria.
1 A. Background of the Study
A literary work can be described as a story or text that gives knowledge and pleasure for those who read it. Readers are driven to understand ideas emerged in the works. When reading a fiction, readers can go deep into something beyond their imagination that could please them. John M. Ellis in his bookThe Theory of Literary Criticism: A Logical Analysiswrote:
The purpose of literary criticism is to make the text more enjoyable to the reader, to encourage and excite his appreciation of the text, to explicate it, and to point it out (Ellis, 1974: 54).
This shows us that a literary text contains two effects: pleasure and knowledge. John’s ideas lead us to the assumption that readers tend to explore their fantasy and knowledge in order to understand and also analyze a literary work.
Literature is the expression of live through the medium of language. It can be regarded as something essential since it contains real life, people, thought, and their feeling about life. Therefore, it is not wise to think that literature is only a matter of enjoyment and the function is to make life less tedious and hours pass more quickly. Literature is an expression of thought, feeling and attitudes toward life that will give lesson about people, values, vicarious, life and social relationship. Even Wellek and Warren in their book notes:
2
because pleasure is a highest kind of activity, i.e., not acquisitive contemplation. And the utility seriousness-the instinctiveness- of literature is a pleasurable seriousness, i.e., not seriousness of a duty which must be done or a lesson to be learned but an aesthetic seriousness, a seriousness of perception (1956: 31).
These days, literary works are not merely used as a device to satisfy the need of entertainment or to express ideas and imagination. In addition, they have also been used as a representation of the society, a means to identify the norms and values of the society.
We can identify the ideas revealed in the literary work from the important elements within. The roles of the characters are usually very significant in revealing the ideas inside the literary work. Understanding the characters inside a literary work means to look deeper the implied meaning that the author wants to reveal through the characters in the novel.
Wellek and Warren also said that “Literature is a social institution that uses social creation, i.e. language as its medium. It is the representation which in a large measure, a social reality” (1956: 94). From this idea, the writer tries to analyze the representation of women in the Victorian Age revealed in Bram Stoker’s Dracula to see the relation of a literary work created by using social creations to represent the social reality.
According to Barbara Belford in her bookBram Stoker: A Biography of the Man Who Wrote Dracula (1996) that was Emily Gerald’s essay entitled
Transylvania Superstitions (1885) who inspired Stoker in writing a story about Dracula. In her book, Belford says that Stoker’s spent almost seven years to study European folklore and the stories of vampires to help him understand the vampire character. The name of the novel main character was taken from the Romanian language “Dracul” which means the devil (Belford, 1996: 15).
In her book, Barbara Belford also says that when Stoker’s wrote Dracula
novel, he gave a Gothic touch in his work. He depicts characteristic elements of Gothic genre such as gloomy castles, sublime landscapes, and innocent maidens threatened by ineffable evil which develop the setting of the novel (Belford, 1996: 17).
Stoker tries to modernize Gothic genre tradition in his novel by moving the setting from the conventional of Dracula’s ruined castle into the modern England setting. He revealed the contradiction of two different worlds of the count’s ancient Transylvania and the protagonist’s modern London in the Victorian era that he lays bare many of the anxieties who characterized his age, the repercussions of scientific advancement, the consequences of abandoning traditional beliefs, and also the dangers of female sexuality. To this day, Dracula
remains a fascinating study of popular attitudes toward sex, religion, and science at the end of the nineteenth century.
4
and also fictional clippings from the Whitby and London newspaper. One of the greatest benefits of the diary narrative is that the readers are allowed to see and feel the emotional hearts and souls of the emotional characters. This is great because when a character is not feeling too great and is trying to hide something, the reader knows this, and therefore the reader knows everything that happen nothing is being hidden from the reader. That is why the writer is interested to read and understand the novel.
When analyzing the novel, the writer is interested in the character of Mina Murray and her best friend Lucy Westenra because in the novel Stoker characterized them in a very interesting way. Both are beautiful young ladies but they came from different social classes and this condition influences their idea of life and how they live with their dreams about the perfect portrait of a wonderful marriage.
Women in the Victorian Age were considered as lower beings or second class citizens. The culture set the men to be superior. Many women in the world were victims of the patriarchal system. They were oppressed in many parts of life. Victorian women are prepared for a marriage which gave them status if they landed a prosperous husband from a higher class.
This undergraduate thesis is focusing the study on analyzing the characters condition and the relation of the woman characters in the novel with the characteristic of Victorian women that still keeping the ideas of purity and dignity of a women who would be her husband's friend and companion, the woman who would consider her husband’s happiness as identical as her own should make a place calls house becomes a true home and a cozy place to rest, not a mere passage place for vanity and ostentation to pass through, a tender mother, an industrious housekeeper, and also a judicious mistress.
The characters of Mina and Lucy are chosen by the writer because their characterizations are very appropriate to reveal the characteristics of women in the Victorian Age that become the objective of the study. This study is made to point out the characteristics of women in the Victorian Age that Stokers wants to reveal in his work by analyzing the characterization of the selected characters.
B. Problem Formulation
Referring to the background of the study, there are two questions formulated as follows
1. How are Mina Murray and Lucy Westenra characterized in the novel? 2. How do Mina Murray and Lucy Westenra representing women in the
6
C. Objectives of the Study
The study on this thesis aims to find out more about the Victorian women through guiding questions stated before. Therefore, there will be two objectives of the study. Firstly, this study is trying to figure out the depiction of Mina Murray and Lucy Westenra characteristics in the novel. Lastly, the writer using the information from the previous question which is very beneficial to reach the actual goal of the thesis by identify how Mina and Lucy represent the women in the Victorian Age.
D. Definition of Terms
In this part, some words will be defined to guide the readers in understanding this thesis. The writer will clarify the meaning of some significant terms that are used in this study to avoid misunderstanding on reading this thesis. The writer gets definition of the specific terms mostly from library works, which are considered well qualified.
1. Character
2. The Victorian Age
The Victorian Era of Great Britain is considered a period of dramatic change that brought England to its highest point of development as a world power. It is often defined as the years from 1837 to 1901, when Queen Victoria reigned, through many historians believe that the passage of the Reform act 1832 marks true inception of a new cultural era.
When Queen Victoria reigned, through many historians believe that the passage of the Reform act 1832 stimulated discussion of woman’s political rights marks true inception of a new cultural era Whereas in previous centuries generations had stayed in the same communities and remained close to the parental home, in the 19th century there was considerable mobility within the population. For the new members of industrialized middle classes, social identity was created around sets of values which marked them out as separate and different from the aristocracy above them and the working classes below them. Broadly speaking, middle-class identity was built on a platform of moral respectability and domesticity.
8 CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL REVIEW
A. Review of Related Studies
The original title for Dracula wasThe Dead Un-Deadand until a few weeks before publication, the manuscript was titled simply The Un-Dead. The name of the main character was Count Vampire, but while doing a research Stoker ran across an intriguing word in the Romanian language “Dracul” which means "The Devil".
Stoker's novel deals in general with the conflict between the world of the past full of folklore, myth, legend, and religious piety and the emerging modern world of technology, logical positivism, and secularism.
Leonardo Wolf in his book Introduction to the SignetClassic Edition, 1992 state that
What has become clearer and clearer, particularly in the fin de siècle years of the twentieth century, is that the novel's power has it source in the sexual implications of the blood exchange between the vampire and his victims” (Wolf, 1992: 57-58).
Wolf also wrote that Dracula has embedded in it a very disturbing psychosexual allegory whose meaning he is not sure that Stoker entirely understood about a demonic force at work in the world whose intent is to eroticize women (Wolf, 1992: 57-58).
Draculahas been the basis for countless films and plays. Three of the most famous areNosferatu(1922),Dracula(1931), andBram Stoker’s Dracula(1992).
were forced to change the setting and the names of characters for copyright reason. The vampire in Nosferatu is called Count Orlok rather than Count Dracula.Bram Stoker’s Dracula, while closer to the novel plot than most movies produce earlier, remains the Count as a tragic figure instead of a monster. It adds an opening sequence that focuses on the Count’s Romanian background, and inserts a new romantic subplot into the story (Wolf, 1992: 60-62).
Roger Ebert in his essay talking about the monstrous ego of the vampire or Count Dracula character in Francis Ford Capola’s motion picture entitled Bram Stoker’s Dracula. In his essay Ebert portray Dracula as a very egoistical person because he could live forever and change form into a huge bat and many rats, event into mist. This is shown by Count Dracula efforts to buy property in London. Ebert wanted to print out all the special things that Dracula could do which no common person could do, but still Dracula no satisfied with that <http://www.rogerebert.suntimes.com> (6 November 2008).
In short, Ebert wanted to show readers that Dracula was a character that was never satisfied with what he gained. This attitude made him want to gain everything for himself regardless at other persons importance and this made him becomes a very egoistical person <http://www.rogerebert.suntimes.com> (6 November 2008).
Norma Roman in her essayTeaching the Vampire Dracula in the Classroom
10
most fascinating aspects of the Dracula myth are the idea of immortality. “Dracula gave the students pause, prompting them to reassess their prior assumption about the vampire” Roman says. We can be sure that immortality is always being an attractive topic when we talk about Dracula. Roman also said that the journey into the dark and hidden reaches of the self is more difficult when the guide assumes the form, not of someone youthful and attractive however murderous but of a repulsive and unrepentant elder with bad breath <http://www.clasiclit.about.com> (6 November 2008).
The interesting mystery about Dracula has helped to keep the story alive; the novel has also created a great deal of critical molestation. No reader can come to the text without preconception that derived from the screen and other vampire literature. There have been many twentieth century novelists who have dealt with the vampire, but none so strikingly as Stoker. InThe Death of Dracula, Benjamin Leblanc writes, “Dracula’s death should not be considered a tragedy. After all, he died of ‘natural’ causes, and left a legacy to his descendants, one which is both dark and powerful. In a way, he will live forever through his descendants and in our memories” <http://classiclit.about.com/cs/productreviews/fr/aafpr_bram drac.htm> (6 November 2008).
Carol Margaret Davison in her book has brought together collection of essays by some of the world’s leading scholars. This book offers analysis of Stoker’s original work, but also celebrates the influence this famous monster has had upon our literature and culture. Davidson also said that Bram StokerDracula
was written. Whenever a vampire is mentioned, the monster Dracula invariably still comes to mind, even if that character has been dramatically altered by movies and other films, as Davidson writes,
The figure of Dracula pervades our culture’s conception of vampirism. Stoker, who choose not to imitate the plot structure and characterization of the model often deal with its influence by self-consciously subverting it <http://www.clasiclit.about.com> (6 November 2008).
In the analysis, the writer is going to analyze deeper about the relation of the women character with the characteristics of Victorian women at that time which have not been analyzed yet. The writer found that the novel is not just about the sexual repression that induce Lucy and Mina after they infects by Dracula’s blood but Stoker tried to wrote about the social condition of Victorian women in detail so the reader can experience by them self about the condition in the Victorian era.
The writer wants to reveal the characteristics of Victorian women through the characters of Mina Murray and Lucy Westenra. The purpose is to make the readers understand about the Victorian women as Stoker’s writes on his works.
B. Review of Related Theories 1. Character and Characterization
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The persons in a dramatic or narrative work, endowed with moral and dispositions qualities that are expressed in what they say, i.e. the dialogues, and what they do, i.e. the action (1985: 21).
Characterization is the way in which the author reveals or creates the characters in his/her work, making them ‘alive’ for the reader (Holman-Harmon, 1986: 81). In his book Holman and Harmon stated that there are three fundamental methods of characterization in fiction. First, the explicit presentation 10 by the author, second, the characters own presentation in action without any comment from the author, and last the representation from within a character of the impact of certain events towards the character’s inner self, also without any interference from the author (1986: 81).
In Understanding Unseen, M.J. Murphy provides nine ways of how an author may reveal the characters’ personalities and traits to the readers in literary work. Those are as follows
1. Personal Description
It is about the description of a person’s appearance and clothes from the author’s point of view. The person appearance can be description of face, skin, eyes, and so on.
2. Character as Seen by Another
3. Speech
The author can give us an insight into the other character of one of the person in the book through what that person says. Whenever a person speaks, whenever he is in a conversation with another, whenever he puts forward an opinion, he is giving us clues to his character. We can see one’s character is reading the speech or the dialogue from the text.
4. Past Life
By getting the reader learn something about a person’s past life; the author can give us a clue to events that have help to shape a person’s character.
5. Conversation of Others
The author can give us clues to a person’s character through the conversations of other people and things they say about him
6. Reactions
The author can give us a clue to a person’s character by letting us know how that person reacts to various situations and events. We can judge one’s character from the way he faces a particular problem.
7. Direct Comment
The author can describe one’s character direction. We know one’s character from the author’s description.
8. Thoughts
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9. Mannerisms
The author can describe one’s mannerism, habits, or idiosyncrasies that may also tell us something about his character (1972: 161-173). We can describe one’s character only by looking at his mannerisms, habits behaviour, and so on.
2. Representation
Representation is the production of meaning through language. In representation, constructions argue, we use signs, organized with other language can use sign to symbolize, stand for or reference objects, people and events in the so-called ‘real’ world. They can also refer to imaginary things and fantasy worlds or abstract ideas which are not in any obvious sense part of one-to-one correspondence between language and the real world. The world is not accurately or otherwise reflected in the mirror of language. Languages do not work like a mirror. Meaning is produce within language, in and through various representational produce by the practice, the ‘work’ of representation (Hall, 1997: 25-26).
3. The Relation between Literature and Society
The relation between literature, a novelists, and society is that literature mirrors or expresses life and therefore an artist is supposed to express real life in his work. However, it is not the whole of life that a writer expresses in his work. He must concern to the specific object such as social, economic, political, and religious condition in his era that ought to be “representative” of his time and society, since historical and social truths are symbols of artistic values in literature. A novel is supposed to be a representation of social problems. By doing so, literature can also be viewed as the essence, the abridgment, and summary of all history (Wellek and Warren, 1956: 95). It means that a literary work can be stated as historical record to certain time.
Moreover Stanton states that literature is the principle of a culture. It contains a record of values, thought, problem, and conflicts that are transmitted either through written and spoken words. With such acknowledgment, literature stands as the instrument to pass the experience from the generation to the next. The literature then functions as a representation of the situation (1963:1).
16
suitable actual relation that is used in this study is of the first explanation as listed above (1956: 96).
C. Review of Victorian Women Historical Background
In The Norton Anthology of English Literature entitled "The Woman Question" contains texts dealing with controversies as it was called, was no less prominent an issue for debate than evolution or industrialism. George H. Ford says that the greatest social difficult in the Victorian Age is the relationship between men and women. The principle difference between ourselves and our ancestors is that they took society as they found it while we are self-conscious and perplexes. This institution of marriage might almost seem just now to be open trial. It could be further extended, for all trial throughout the Victorian period are not only the institution of marriage but the family itself, and most particularly the traditional roles of women as wives, mothers, and daughters. Moreover, the rate of change the Victorians experienced, caused to a large degree by advances in manufacturing, created new opportunities and challenges to women. They became writers, teachers, and social reformers, and they claimed an expanded set of rights (Ford, 1979: 1650-1652).
a woman's body was considered to be the property of her husband. As a result, women were not to advertise their bodies to other men (Ellis, 1979: 1653-1654).
According Margaret Fuller and Mary Wolstonecraft, during the Victorian Era symbolized by the reign of British monarch Queen Victoria, difficulties escalated for women because of the vision of the "Ideal Women" shared by most in the society. Also, they were seen as pure and clean. Because of this view, their bodies were not seen as temples which should be adorned with makeup nor should it be used for such pleasurable things as sex. The role of women was to have children and tend to the house. They could not hold a job unless it was that of a teacher nor were they allowed to have their own checking accounts or savings accounts. In the end, they were to be treated as saints, but saints that had no legal rights (Fuller and Wollstonecraft, 1979: 1656-1661).
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and companion, but never his rival; one who would consider his interests as identical with her own, and not hold him as just so much fair game for spoil who would make his house his true home and place of rest, not a mere passage place for vanity and ostentation to pass through; a tender mother, an industrious housekeeper, a judicious mistress. More over, they also says that women supposed to posses more sensibility, and even humanity, then men, and their strong attachments and instantaneous emotions of compassion are given as proofs (Fuller and Wollstonecraft, 1979: 1656-1661).
In Victorian England by Clarice Swisher, entitled “Victorian Women Expected to Be Idle and Ignorant Women” Charles Petrie says that upper-class Victorian women, neither govern by rigid societal rules, neither work nor acquired education, unlike women in previous times. He also notes that Victorian woman prepared for a marriage which gave her status if she landed a prosperous husband from a higher class. When she married, she was completely subservient to her husband; is she found herself in a tolerable marriage, she had no recourse for divorce (Petrie, 1960: 178).
According to Lynn Abram in her essay Ideals of Womanhood in Victorian Britain Published: 2001-08-09, a lady should be quiet in her manners, natural and unassuming in her language, careful to wound no one's feelings, but giving generously and freely from the treasures of her pure mind to her friends. She should scorn no one openly but have a gentle pity for the unfortunate, the inferior, and the ignorant, at the same time carrying herself with an innocence and single heartedness that disarm ill nature and win respect and love from all. Such a lady is a model for her sex, the "bright particular star" on which men look with reference. The influence of such a woman is a power for good that cannot be overestimated.
Lynn also says that marriage signified a woman's maturity and respectability, but motherhood was confirmation that she had entered the world of womanly virtue and female fulfilment. For a woman not to become a mother meant she was liable to be labelled inadequate, a failure or in some way abnormal.
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/trail/victorian_britain/women_home/ideals_woma nhood_01.shtml> (6 May 2009).
D. Theoretical Framework
In analyzing this study the theory of character and characterization, theory of literature and society, and review of the Victorian Age, take important roles. These theories will support the analysis and help to answer the problems stated in problem formulation.
20
women character in Dracula which is Mina Murray and Lucy Westenra. According to this theory, in a literary work, a character can be presented in nine ways. They are through personal description, speeches, past life, from other characters, conversation, reactions, direct comment, thoughts, and mannerisms.
21 A. Object of the Study
The object of this study is a novel written by Bram Stoker entitledDracula. First publish by Archibald Constable and Company on May 18, 1897; the novel became Stoker’s successful work. The novel has 448 pages, and consists of several collections of diary entries, telegram, and letters from the characters, and also fictional clippings from the Withby and London newspaper.
22
B. Approach of the Study
A literary approach is needed in order to analyze a literary work so that a good analysis can be produced. In A handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature, Guerin (1979: 25-155) divides literary approaches into five approaches they are historical-biographical approach, the moral-philosophical approach, the formalist approach, the psychological approach, and the mythological approach. The approach used in this thesis is Socio-Historical approach. According to Rene Wellek and Austin Warren inTheory of Literature
Literature represents life … in large measure a social reality, even though the natural world and the inner or subjective world of the individual have also been objects of literary imitation (1956: 94). In other words, literature is a representation of real life and society even though the members of the society have become objects of imitation through the literary works.
In the book entitled, Reading and Writing about Literature, Mary Rohrberger and Samuel H. Woods, Jr. stated
The only way to locate the real work is in reference to the civilization that produces it and that literature is not created in vacuum and embodies ideas significant to the culture produce it (1971: 9).
This approach is used so that the valid data on historical events and culture relevant to the time set of the novel can be obtain. Furthermore, it is used in order to know the relation between Mina Murray and Lucy Westenra to the historical events and culture of the time.
C. Method of the Study
In this analysis, the writer took some steps that were done systematically,
considering the method that the writer used to collect data for the thesis was
library research. As the first step, the writer read the novel Dracula thoroughly.
The writer needs more than three times to read the main reference. Than, the
writer write down and highlights all the information that the writer consider as
being important to this study. The next step, the writer interprets the novel to find
the implied meaning.
This thesis focuses on obtaining the answer of two questions stated in
problems formulation. In this part, firstly the writer explained how Mina and Lucy
are depicted in the novel. In this case, the writer tried to pay attention to the whole
text focusing on the characters attitude and conditions that sign them to be the
facts. And then, the writer focuses the research to represent the characteristic of
24 CHAPTER IV
ANALYSIS
In this analysis chapter, the writer will reveal the representation of Victorian women which is in the process of transformation to the new women in the Victorian Age. The writer will discuss how Mina Murray that represent the middle class women and her best friend Lucy Westenra that represent the high class women in the Victorian Age. The writer chooses Mina and Lucy because their characteristics are suitable to describe the characteristics of women in the Victorian Age that becomes the goal of this thesis.
A. The Description of Mina Murray and Lucy Westenra
The first thing that the writer does in the analysis is revealing the depiction of Mina Murray and Lucy Westenra in Bram Stoker’s Dracula novel. Referring to the character and characterization theory by M.J. Murphy (1972: 161-167), the writer separates the depiction of Mina and Lucy to make the analysis deeper.
To go to the deeper analysis, the writer is using the second parts or Murphy’s theory which is a character as seen by another because the author uses other character’s eyes and opinions to describe Mina Murray and Lucy Westenra. 1. The Descriptions of Mina Murray
Mina is the main character because everything that happens in Bram Stoker
Draculaalways relates to Mina Murray.
Stoker characterizes Mina as a woman that looks so perfect. Mina is beautiful. Not only Mina has a beautiful face but there is something that makes her different from the other beautiful women who make Van Helsing a Dutch professor on philosophy and metaphysician and one of the most advanced scientists of his day, admires and praises Mina. Mina Murray is the ultimate Victorian woman embodying purity, innocence, and Christian faith. She is indeed the picture of the virtues of the age.
She is one of God’s women, fashioned by His own hand to show us men and other women that there is a heaven where we can enter, and that its light can be here on earth. So true, so sweet, so noble, so little an egoist – and that, let me tell you is much in this age, so skeptical and selfish (p. 226).
In the first sentence of the quotation Stoker tries to strengthen Mina’s characteristic in the novel to show how beautiful she is through Van Helsing’s statement by saying that “She is one of God’s women, fashion by His own hand” (p. 266). The quotation proves that Mina Murray is a picture of an ideal woman because she looks beautiful even in her simplicity and also her inner beauty that makes her complete.
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Not only beautiful, but Mina also has a very good and warm personality. She cares about other people and that is why many people know her because of her kindheartedness. The aura of kindness surrounded her and it explains why she can easily get close to everyone even a stranger.
Mina’s warm personality towards people around her makes Mr. Swales, an old man, who comes approaching her in the beach feel comfortable sitting next to her when she is sitting alone on the shore.
I have been quite touched by the change in the poor old man. When he sat down beside me, he said in a very gentle way:
‘I want to say something to you, miss.’ I could see he was not at ease, so I took his poor old wrinkled hand in mind and asked him to speak fully; so he said, leaving his hand in mine: (p. 93).
The quotation proves that at that time, Mina tries to be a good listener and tries to make the old men feel comfortable to say what was bothering his mind by holding his wrinkled hand. It is not easy to trust someone that we never know before but Mina is different because in many ways people can see the warm personality inside her. That is why Mr. Swales can easily feel comfortable sitting next to her and tell her about what he feels when he just realizes that his time is coming and he feels afraid of knowing that. “But, Lord love ye, Miss, I ain’t afraid of dyin’ not a bit:” (p. 93).
become a dutiful wife, do the household and take care of children when they get married.
Mina is a woman who has a very strong will so she will always find a way to do her best in doing anything. In the novel, she learns how to write in stenograph so she can easily write what Jonathan says to her because it will be hard for her to catch up what Jonathan says if she writes in complete words. Mina also learns to type so she can type the report that she already writes it in the shorthand.
When we are married I shall be useful for Jonathan, and if I can stenograph well enough I can take down what he wants to say in this way and write it out for him on the typewriter, at which I am also practicing very hard (p. 70).
From the quotation above, there is no doubt that Mina wants to be a good wife for her future husband, Jonathan. Mina thinks that if she can do stenograph, she can help Jonathan in doing his job. She just wants to look perfect to her future husband so hopefully Jonathan will feel happy because he will marry the right woman who is always there to help him in every single thing including typing his work.
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Mina is a very hard-worker. She never stops to improve her skills in writing stenograph. She believes that if she always practicing her writing skill, then she can master the stenograph
I have been working hard lately, because I want to keep up with Jonathan studies and I have been practicing shorthand very assiduously (p.70).
The quotation above shows that Mina is a very hard worker because just by working harder, she believes that she can keep up with Jonathan studies.
When Mina sees a lady journalist who is in the middle of interview to dig information from her source, Mina pays attention to what the lady journalist’s doing. She believes that if she can see the trick that a journalist uses to do in interviewing, she can advance her skill in stenograph because what the lady journalist does in interviewing her source is listening the detail and writing in stenograph while her source give the information that she needs to make a news report. So, Mina decided to practice what the lady journalist does.
I shall try to do what I see lady journalist do: interviewing and writing descriptions and trying to remember conversation (p. 70).
that, with a little practice, one can remember all that goes on or one hears said during a day.” (p. 70).
Mina Murray is definitely a smart woman. She never stops to learn everything that can be used to help her future husband Jonathan Harker. Not like the other women of her age, Mina learns to do what men do because she has a strong will in learning something new. With her excellent brain, she can easily learn stenograph and typing.
Ah, that wonderful Madam Mina! She has man’s brain – a brain that man should have been he much gifted – and woman’s heart. That good God fashioned her for a purpose, believe me, when He made that so good combination (p. 281).
In the quotation above, once again Van Helsing praises Mina for her smart brain. Mina has a man’s brain which means that Mina can think like men or even sometimes more than a man.
As a woman who comes from the middle class society, Mina uses to take care of her needs by herself because Mina was raised by her family to be an independent woman. As a woman who lived in the Victorian Age, she also has a dream about a wonderful marriage and being a good housewife because it is already become her nature as a Victorian woman. As a middle class woman who always doing everything by herself, Mina also used to cook her own food.
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I had for dinner, or rather supper, a chicken done up some way with red pepper, which was very good but thirsty (Mem., get recipe for Mina.) I asked the waiter, and he said it was called ‘paprika hendl,’ and that, as it was a national dish, I should be able to get it anywhere along the Carpathians (p. 9).
I had for breakfast more paprika, and a sort of porridge of maize flour which they said was ‘mama-liga,’ and an egg stuffed with forcemeat, a very excellent dish, which they call ‘impelata’ (Mem., get recipe for this also.) (p. 10).
The quotation above proves that Mina is a skillful cook because the recipe that Jonathan always gives to Mina every time he eats a tasty food from the fancy restaurant is an absolutely difficult recipe that needs special skills to cook it. Jonathan believes that her fiancée can cook the recipe that he brought because he knows that Mina likes to cook and all recipes that she cooks always scrumptious. The quotation above also proves that Jonathan not only loves her as a beautiful woman but also adores his fiancé as a complete woman.
Somehow, Stoker also characterizes Mina Murray as a young woman who has a rebellious personality. Mina against the New Women idea that seems makes everything become complicated
I believe we should have shocked ‘New Women’ with our appetites. Men are more tolerant, bless them! (p. 110).
2. The Descriptions of Lucy Westenra
Bram Stoker characterizes Lucy Westenra in the novel as an attractive and energetic young woman. Lucy came from the high class society and it makes her have a very different point of view from her best friend Mina. As a young woman who comes from a rich family, it is her destinies to look perfect in front of other people even though she does not like it because dresses and new-fashion is something that makes Lucy bored and it is definitely not a good topic to discuss with her “I do not, as you know, take sufficient interest in dress to be able to describe the new fashions” (p. 72).
Although Lucy hates to wear dress, she has to be perfect even in her own house because it is already in her blood and she was raised to be like that. Mina always prays Lucy’s beauty because somehow even in her ordinary frock, it is no doubt that she looks so pretty.
Lucy was looking sweetly pretty in her white lawn frock; she has got a beautiful colour since she has been here. I noticed that the old men did not lose any time in coming up and sitting near her when we sat down. She is so sweet with old people; I think they all fell in love with her on the spot (p. 82).
From the quotation above, it seems that her beauty can brighten up the situation. Lucy’s beauty even hypnotizes the three old men, a friend of Mina, who has been talking with them. Lucy’s beauty can even make the old friends of Mina feel that they become young again.
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That’s my brave girl. It’s better worth being late for a chance of winning you than being in time for any other girl in the world (p. 76). The quotation above shows that how her physical appearance can make her have power on men. But Lucy never takes the advantage of it because she cares and appreciates what they feel to her. Having three proposals in one day makes her feel awful because she is afraid that she will hurt somebody heart because she can not marry them all.
Here am I, who will be twenty in September, and yet I never had a proposal, and to-day I have had three. Just fancy! THREE proposals in one day! Isn’t it awful! (p. 73).
The quotation above strengthens the idea that all the guys want her badly because only in one day she can have three proposals from three different men. Nineteen years old Lucy Westenra can choose any man to be her future husband or even playing with their heart. But luckily, she is not that kind of girl because she respects all the gentlemen who fall in love with her. Lucy realizes that nobody knows when and with whom that we will fall in love. That is why Lucy can not blame them if they fall in love with her.
Stoker also portrays Lucy Westenra as an honest girl. She realizes that she has to be honest to Dr. Seward and Quincey P. Morris because she does not want both of them to put their hope to be her future husband. She prefers to tell them the truth that she already found her soul mate. She thinks that this will be the best decision for her and for the two gentlemen to know the truth.
I told him out straight:-‘Yes, there is someone I love, though he has not told me yet that he even loves me.’ I was right to speak to him so frankly, for quite a light came into his face, and he put out both his hand and took mine – I think I put them into his – (p. 76).
The quotation shows that she is falling in love with someone. So, by telling the truth she hopes that Dr. Seward and Quincey P. Morris can understand her feeling because Lucy already decides what is best for her. Because of her honesty, now she has new charming friends who will always be there whenever she need them.
Lucy has a very kind personality because she becomes miserable when she thinks that she might hurt Dr. Seward and Quincey P. Morris heart by telling them the truth that she is in love with another man. She does not want to be a bad person (p. 76). If the society allows it, maybe Lucy will marry the three of them so she does not have to feel guilty because she will never hurt anybody’s heart.
Why can’t they let a girl marry three men, or as many as want her, and save all this trouble? (p. 76).
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B. The Representation of Women in the Victorian Age
In answering problem formulation number two, the writer will reveal certain issue and women attitude toward the society in the Victorian Age. Through Mina Murray and Lucy Westenra characteristics in Bram Stoker Dracula, the writer will reveal the issue about women and their attitude in the Victorian Age.
Most of the girls in the Victorian Age who were born above the level of poverty had the dream of a successful marriage. They were born raised and educated to become dutiful wives and nothing else. Victorian women prepared themselves not for working but for marriage. To be a good wife, a Victorian women has to learn many things including educating herself with certain kind of skill. So, hopefully when a Victorian man comes to propose her, she will be ready to be a good housewife. A wife who is not only capable to do the house hold and take care of children but also can assist their future husband in doing his work with her skill and knowledge. It makes her future husband can finish his job more quickly and he can take a rest after a day working.
As explained on the review of Victorian women, Charles Petrie says that a girl in the Victorian Age is training herself very hard like a race-horse to prepare herself enter the marriage market because she believes by having good education, they can ensnare Victorian men. The only reason that Victorian women want to educate themselves, is not for working but for marriage (Petrie, 1960: 180).
According to Petrie, education for women in the Victorian Age is very important because Victorian men want to get married with a woman who is not only beautiful but also have certain skill and education. Women in the Victorian Age always do their best in learning something that they believe will be very useful for their marriage life in the future. If they do not try to educate them selves, they will keep on dreaming of a beautiful marriage because of the increase of talented and educated women who enter the marriage market. So if they want to get married, they have to learn and practice harder. The only reason why all Victorian women do those kinds of things is to attract Victorian men.
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As has been explained previously, Mina says that she has been working very hard lately because she wants to keep up with her fiancé, Jonathan’s studies. She has been working hard in practicing the shorthand. She also learns a few tricks from a journalist that she meets. The reason is when they get married she wants to be a useful wife for Jonathan. If Mina can write stenograph well enough, she can write down what Jonathan wants to say using stenograph and then type it with the typewriter that she has also been practicing very hard (p. 70)
The paragraph above shows that as a woman who lives in the Victorian Age, Mina Murray proves that she really wants to learn shorthand and typing so she can be useful for her future husband Jonathan. Mina is forcing herself to the limit and she never feels tired or bored. She knows what she is doing and she knows the cost that she must pay to bring her dreams into reality. She is dreaming of having a perfect marriage with Jonathan and making him thinking and grateful of how lucky he is for marrying Mina. All the hard work that Mina Murray does, she does just for Jonathan. Mina does not have any other reason to do all the hard work because it is a must for women in the Victorian Age to do things like Mina if they want to ensnare Victorian men who is searching for their soul mate.
life, which is marriage, they have to prepare everything. Victorian women will have their status in the society after getting married. Whether they stay in their social class or change their status into the higher social class depend on their future husband status. Sometimes Victorian women have to become super women, who are able to do everything that can please their husbands when they are married. They are obliged in helping their husbands in doing their job and being women who knows about everything that is related to the household. This is because a woman’s prime duty is to bear a large family and maintain an excellent atmosphere by making their home the coziest place on earth where a man need not bother himself about family matters. If they can do such kind of things, there is no doubt that she can be a woman who can attract men to come and propose her.
Charles Petrie, in the review of the Victorian women in the previous chapter, says that all the women in the Victorian Age are preparing themselves to get married which will raise their status in the society. If they are lucky, they can get married with prosperous men from a higher social class (Petrie, 1960: 178)
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into the social class that they enter after they get married. For example, when a woman from the middle class society marries a man who comes from the high class society then the woman will automatically become a woman from the high class. If that happens, it will change her life indeed because there are certain rules that she must know and do for the rest of her life.
As a best friend of Mina, Lucy will do everything for her best friend’s happiness. As has been previously explained, Mina Murray comes from the middle class and Lucy Westenra comes from the high class. Lucy knows that her best friend Mina has already engaged with Jonathan although, as a best friend, Lucy has a dream inside her heart that she wants Mina to have the same degree in the society as she is. Lucy hopes that by being a woman from high class, Mina’s life can be much better. That is why when Lucy and her mother were introduced to Dr. Seward by Mr. Holmwood, she really wanted to introduce Dr. Seward to Mina.
We met some time ago a man that would just do for you, if you were not already engaged to Jonathan. He is an excellent parti, being hansom; well of, and of good birth. He is a doctor and really clever. Just fancy! He is only nine-and-twenty, and he has an immense lunatic asylum all under his own care. Mr. Holmwood introduced him to me, and he call here to see us, and often comes now (p. 71).
That is why Lucy does not introduce Mina to Dr. Seward because all she wants is to make Mina happy, and Mina’s happiness is with her fiancé Jonathan. When Mina Murray married Jonathan Harker, she automatically gets her status from the society. Now, Mina is a wife of Jonathan who came from the middle class. As a wife, Mina starts playing her role by making their house the coziest place in the world; a place where Jonathan can feel the warm atmosphere of the house and take a nice sleep “I am busy, I need not to tell you, arranging things and house keeping” (p. 186).
As has been explained previously, for a woman who lives in the Victorian Age, a marriage is the way to get a status in the society. Being a wife and serving the husband is the goal of women in the Victorian Age because a woman who remained single would attract social disapproval and pity. When a woman is getting married, she will be her husband's friend and companion. She has to make her house become a true home and place for rest, not a mere passage place for vanity and ostentation to pass through. She also becomes a tender mother, an industrious housekeeper and a judicious mistress.
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important because it will make her feel complete as a woman since giving birth is the nature of all women.
As has been described in the review of the Victorian women, Lynn Abram says that Marriage signifies that a woman has already been mature and has respectability. Yet motherhood is a confirmation that a woman has entered the new world which is womanly virtue and it is also a fulfillment as a female. For a woman who can not become a mother, means that she is liable to be labeled inadequate and a failure, or in some way abnormal <http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/trail/victorian_britain/women_home/ideals_woma nhood_01.shtml> (6 may 2009).
Lynn, clearly states that marriage is a transformation of a girl into a woman. It also means that a marriage is one big step for a woman in the Victorian Age to play her role as a Victorian woman who dreams about a perfect marriage. However, becoming a mother is another big step to fulfill the nature of a woman which is giving birth. There are many things that a woman has to prepare when she becomes a mother. Women have to make sure that they are ready to love and care for their children because raising children is not an easy job to do.
also against the nature of a woman. While nowadays, there are certain women in England who does not want to have a baby maybe because according to them baby is another form of disaster.
That's why I had a vasectomy. It would be morally wrong for me to add to climate change and the destruction of Earth. Sarah and I don't need children to feel complete. What makes us happy is knowing that we are doing our bit to save our precious planet <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-495495/Meet-women-wont-babies--theyre-eco-friendly.html> (10 August 2009)
As a woman who lives in the Victorian Age, Mina Murray has already got her status in the society when she gets married to Jonathan. She has made her dreams come true, a dream of a wonderful marriage that all Victorian women dream. Now, as a woman who already has a husband, besides serving her husband and doing the household, it is the time for Mina to give more happiness to Jonathan by having children from their marriage. Having children is also to fulfill her nature as a woman.
It is an added joy to Mina and to me that our boy’s birthday is the same day that on which Quincey Morris died. I know the secret belief that some of our brave friend’s spirit has passed into him. His bundle of names links all our little band of men together; but we call him Quincey (p. 449).
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role as a caring mother. “This boy will someday know what a brave and gallant woman his mother is. Already he knows her sweetness and loving care” (p. 449).
In the Victorian Age, dresses are produced in large quantities. All dresses are hand made. That is why dresses were very expensive and only the wealthy could afford a large wardrobe. A wealthy woman’s day was governed by the Victorian etiquette rules that encumbered her with up to six wardrobe changes a day and the needs varied over three seasons a year. Fashion is covering wealthy women in an open carriage which enables them to display their clothes and elevated position in the society.
Fashions are also dripped with lace and beading as the new century dawned in the Victorian Age. There is a controversy in the society about this new clothing fashion which shows some parts of women’s body. Woman body is pure and it belongs to her future husband. That is why Victorian woman has to wear something that can cover all her body.
The review of Victorian women in previous chapter explained that Sarah Stickney Ellis says in the Victorian Age, a woman is not encouraged to wear any kind of Cosmetics or any other adornments, clothes that can show their skin, stockings, or any other undergarments. Victorian women believe that their body is considering being the property of their husband. That is why dress is still the best outfit to wear (Ellis, 1839: 1653-1654).
see a woman’s body except for her husband. It is a must that Victorian women should wear dresses which can cover their body. To suit with many different activities, the dressing style comes out with many kinds of models. For morning activity like breakfast, they wore morning dress. In other occasion such as funeral, they would wear mourning dress and when they want to take a walk in the park, they wore walking dress. Another kind of Victorian women’s dress town dress which is worn when they went to the town. In addition, visiting dress is worn when they visited friends and relatives while when they need to see their guests they would wear receiving visitor dress. For amusement activities, they have shooting dress worn for doing shooting hobby, seaside dress for walking down the seaside, races dress for watching a race, concert dress for watching concerts, etc. In short, all the dresses seem have covered all that Victorian women need. So, the new fashion which is clothing that shows women’s skin, even their stockings, or any other undergarments that show parts of women’s body will never crossed in Victorian women minds who keep their beliefs that their bodies belong to their husband when they get married.
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attending some occasions because she is taught to be smart in choosing the right dresses.
As has been explained before, Lucy is not sufficiently interested to buy many kinds of dresses just to follow the fashion improvement. She only wants to wear the dress that she already has and she does not follow the progress of new fashion in the Victorian Age either. So, Lucy does not know much about the new fashion especially clothing because she does not want to wear anything that is against her nature as a woman from the high class society (p. 72)
The paragraph above shows how Lucy is not interested in dresses. The most important thing for Lucy is to wear the right dress for the right occasion. But as a woman who comes from high class society, she can not refuse the role of women of her class which is to look perfect in every occasion “Lucy was looking sweetly pretty in her white lawn frock” (p. 82). And it is clearly stated that Lucy does not want to wear clothing not because she does not follow the progress of the new fashion but she wants to stick to the idea that women’s body belongs to their husband.
little girls. If women do not have a good manner, they surely can disgrace their family and that is something that all women from the high class society avoid. So, they do not find many difficulties to become women with attitude.
As stated before in the review of the Victorian women, Lynn Abram says that a lady has to pay more attention in the matter of her manners, natural and unassuming language, as well as to be careful to hurt no one’s feelings because it is very impolite thing to do. So, they have to be very careful in saying and doing something because when they hurt someone’s feelings, it will make them having a bad impression in the society. What a lady has to do is talking generously and freely and watching her language when she talks to someone <http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/trail/victorian_britain/women_home/ideals_woma nhood_01.shtml> (6 May 2009).
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When Lucy gets three proposals from three different types of handsome gentlemen in a day, she is very happy and at the same time she also feels very sad because she has to choose one of them to become her future husband because she can not marry all the three gentlemen. Lucy does not know what to do because if she refuses them, it will make her a very impolite woman. She is so afraid to hurt the other two gentlemen if she says that she already chooses the one who hopefully becomes her future husband. That is why she welcomes all the three gentlemen when they come one after another to her house and talks with them very carefully.
In the previous part, Lucy is speaking so frankly with Dr Seward and Quincey P. Morris. She tries to be honest to both of them by saying that she already falls in love with someone although she does not know whether the man fall in love with her too or not because he does not tell her yet (p. 76).
deliver it in an appropriate way, saying the truth is the best way to clear all the mess.
Not only required to have very good manner in the society, women in the Victorian Age have to be sensitive to people surround them. It is also the nature of woman in the Victorian Age which is care to humanity.
Margaret Fuller and Mary Wolstonecraft say in the review of the Victorian Age that women supposed to have deeper sense on humanity than men. Women have strong attachments and instantaneous emotions of compassion that makes women different than men (Fuller and Wollstonecraft, 1855: 1656-1661).
According to Fuller and Wollstonecraft, women in the Victorian Age are women who care about people surround them. Having high sensibility to humanity and also sympathy are the nature of women. Possessing good manner and attitude toward other people and help them to deal with problems in their life are some of the characteristics of Victorian women.
Mina, as explained in the previous part, is a woman who has a warm personality and a beautiful heart. She cares about other people even to people whom she has just met. People who meet Mina and talk to her can feel her kindness.
True politeness decrees that Mina shows it by listening patiently and responding Mr. Swales story kindly makes him feel glad. After Mr. Swales talked to Mina, he feels glad and not afraid of dying (p. 93).
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Mr. Swales says to her because she sympathizes to what the old man felt. She tries to make the old man feel comfortable by encouraging him to say something that bothers his mind. After he talks and shares his feelings to Mina, Mr. Swales feels glad and now he is not afraid to die.
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In this novel, the characteristics of Mina Murray and Lucy Westenra are very important to reveal the idea of women in the Victorian Age. Therefore, solving the first problem on the characteristics of Mina Murray and Lucy Westenra is very important.
Through the character and characterization theory by M.J. Murphy the writer reveals the depictions of Mina Murray and Lucy Westenra in Bram Stoker’s Dracula novel. According to the theory, in a literary work, a character can be presented in nine ways. They are through personal description, speeches, past life, from other characters, conversation, reactions, direct comment, thoughts, and mannerisms. This theory is very appropriate to reveal the characteristics from the novel that consists of several collections of diary entries, telegram, and letters from the characters, and also fictional clippings from newspaper.
For the analysis of the first problem about the characteristics of Mina Murray and Lucy Westenra, the writer separates the analysis of Mina and Lucy. The purpose of the separation is to analyze their characteristics deeper.
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energetic young woman. She has a beautiful heart, cares and appreciates other people. She does not want to hurt anybody’s heart. She is an honest girl and has a kind personality.
The analysis of the second problem is about the representation of Victorian women through the characteristics of Mina Murray and Lucy Westenra. The writer tries to reveal certain issues and attitude of women in the Victorian Age society.
Mina Murray is a beautiful, smart and hard working young woman who never gives up to learn and practice something that she believes will be useful for her to enter the marriage life in the future. She is also a woman who has a strong will to prepare herself to become a dutiful wife who will be useful for helping Jonathan in doing his work. Mina tries to write notes about what Jonathan says in shorthand and type them with a typewriter that she already learned and practiced over and over again in the past. The reason why she works hard to master writing shorthand and typing is just for helping Jonathan’s works. It never crosses in her mind to do it for working or finding another job.
When Mina finally gets married to Jonathan, she feels so happy because marriage is what all Victorian women dream including her. After Mina gets married, she automatically becomes the member of middle class society just like Jonathan. Mina’s status will show her position in the Victorian society because, as a woman who lives in the Victorian Age, social status is very important at that time.
As a woman who already has a husband, having children from their marriage and becoming a mother is also her duty to make Jonathan happy and also to fulfill her nature as a woman. By being a mother Mina also plays her role in the society because it is very important for women in the Victorian Age to have children if they do not want to be labeled inadequate, a failure or in some way abnormal by the society.
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Lucy also looks very carefully when she talks to someone because she does not want to hurt someone’s feelings because of what she said. Her family teaches her to be a woman with attitude, a woman who knows how to behave in the society because attitude will show women’s social status. That is why, when Lucy has to refuse two gentlemen who propose her, she can manage her language and arrange the words so that what she wants to deliver can be accepted by the two gentlemen without making them upset or hurt.
Women also have to be more sensitive to people around them because Victorian women have great feelings on humanity compared to men. Mina shows this kind of attitude by trying to be a good listener and feeling what other people feel dealing with something that disturbs their mind so she can make them feel comfortable to talk and share the problem.
