‘In Dracula and Rebecca, Bram Stoker and du Maurier manipulate typical elements of Gothic femininity in order to construct women in a negative light.’ To what extent do you agree with this view?

The Gothic literary movement featured many socially integrated female stereotypes which reflect textually in its portrayal of females. In ‘The Madwoman in the Attic’- a textual critique of Victorian femininity- Gothic femininity is described as featuring “Feminine virtues of modesty, gracefulness, purity, chastity…”. Femininity is negatively depicted in the Gothic through its use of femininity to manipulate, the featuring of female passivity, and the use of personal appearance as temptation. In Stoker’s Dracula and du Maurier’s Rebecca, a synthesis of these factors presents a negative view of femininity and therefore of females themselves. Stoker seemingly unconsciously manipulates these qualities to criticise the “New Woman” emerging towards the end of the 19th century, whilst du Maurier consciously utilises these feminine qualities to force the reader to reflect on their own stereotypes and views. Whilst arguably femininity is sporadically used to compliment females- such as the focus on Mina’s courage in Dracula and the narrator’s loyalty in Rebecca- overall, both authors create a negative portrayal of females, which whilst used by Stoker and du Maurier to create very different messages, is similar in terms of style. Stoker and du Maurier use female attraction as a reason for temptation in their relative texts. However, whilst Stoker portrays female attraction as the cause for male temptation, du Maurier manipulates female attraction to tempt readers into adopting a false view, which is eventually condemned. Du Maurier’s construction of Rebecca’s physical attractiveness unconsciously convinces the reader to mirror the narrator’s distrust of Rebecca, as we feel sympathy for the narrators physical inferiority and for the fact that she “Felt like a guest in Manderley.”. Rebecca’s physical superiority seems to contribute to her post-humous control over Manderley, and for this we are manipulated into distrusting her, therefore making her innocence a surprise for the reader. Rebecca, manages to tempt males through frequent affairs, Maxim describes her as; “Being attractive to people, men, women, children…”. Rebecca achieves significant temptation by goading Maxim into murder on her own terms, which secures her an endless victory; “If I had a child… no one would ever prove that it was not your’s.”. Similarly, in Dracula, Helsing states upon observing a female vampire in Dracula’s mansion; “She was so fair to look on, so radiantly beautiful, so exquisitely voluptuous” as reasoning for nearly abandoning his critical mission to kill the females. The effect of using female vampires as seductresses in Dracula is that, just as Eve tempted Adam in Paradise Lost, females are the corruptors of men, an idea alluded to by Mina; “I could not resist the temptation of mystifying him a bit- I suppose some of the taste of the original apple remains still in our mouths.” The female seductress often featured in Dracula is a figure of temptation, danger and corruption, therefore undeniably placing females and female sexuality in a negative light.