Submission as a Social Norm for Women

Near the beginning of the novel Twilight by Stephanie Meyer, the clumsy and socially awkward protagonist Bella Swan is nearly hit by a car that loses control on the icy road. For a split second, Bella expects to die; however, seemingly out of nowhere, the impossibly gorgeous and moody Edward Cullen swoops in to save the day. Bella notices that his speed and strength are nowhere near human, and tries to discover how he saved her. This opens up the door to Edward’s controlling and dangerous personality.

Edward and Bella’s first interactions are fueled with passion and anger, which, as Leisha Jones’ journal article “Contemporary Bildungsromans and the Prosumer Girl” describes, are aspects of a relationship that women are unable to resist. Some of the dominant social norms for the female, as described by Jones, are that as women grow up, they learn to be submissive as well as “[equate] sexuality with danger” (Jones 440). Jones determines that Twilight outlines these characteristics with ease.  In Twilight, it is no difficult matter to determine that Edward Cullen is the sexy bad boy who is always in charge. Bella is “an all-too-human girl who falls in love with the perfect unattainable loveobject vampire;” in other words, a stereotypically helpless female who wants what she can’t have (Jones 441). When Bella is almost hit by the car and Edward saves her, Bella admits that she was “consumed by the mystery Edward presented. And more than a little obsessed by Edward himself” (Meyer 17). Bella’s curiosity overwhelms her common sense and she continues to chase down this dangerous boy despite what that means for her independence.

Though Bella begins with a confident, independent streak, this quickly goes downhill as she starts to argue with Edward over whether or not he was actually standing next to her at the time of the car accident.  Edward argues Bella into submission, and forces her to agree to lie (Meyer 15). He refuses to take no for an answer: “`Bella, you hit your head, you don't know what you're talking about.` His tone was cutting” (Meyer 17). The fact that Bella becomes willing to adapt her version of the story to fit Edward’s is a point in which Bella fails to maintain her independence. From then on, she falls head over heels for Edward Cullen, the dominant, angry, and mysterious vampire. Instead of completing herself through a journey of self-discovery, education, and mistakes as most young adults do at Bella’s age, Bella is ready to throw that away for someone else. Rather than being her own person, “`...she does not know her own name, and therefore cannot know either who she is or whom she is destined to be`” (Barry 135). Bella is looking for someone to complete her. And as someone that Bella equates his danger with sexuality, Edward fits the job description.

Works Cited

Barry, Peter. Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory. 3rd ed. New York: Manchester University Press, 2009. Print.

Jones, Leisha. “Contemporary Bildungsromans and the Prosumer Girl.” Criticism 53.3 (2011): 439-469. Project MUSE. Web. 22 May 2012.

Meyer, Stephanie. Twilight. New York: Little Brown & Co, 2005. Print.

Dracula and the Neo-Marxist Literary Theory

                Although there are many literary theories to choose from when it comes to the novel Dracula, I have chosen to focus on Neo-Marxism. I have done this because the ideas of Marxism and Neo-Marxism are fascinating, in that they both draw upon the aspect of society and how people relate/interact with one another based on class differences. The main aim of Marxism is to bring about a classless society and all aspects within a society and culture are viewed as products and processes of human activity. In the novel Dracula, the characters have characteristics which fall into the Neo-Marxist approach of literary theory.

                In Dracula, the class difference between the characters is quite evident. In the beginning of the novel, Jonathan, a proletariat, sets off from his home in London to visit Count Dracula in Transylvania. During his journey he encounters numerous Eastern Europeans who he describes were “at every station there were groups of people…just like the peasants at home or those I saw coming through France and Germany, with short jackets and round hats, and home-made trousers; but others were very picturesque” (Stoker, 6). It is clear that even though he is not of upper class, he doesn’t usually mingle with peasants, or those who are of lower class than he.

                Once Harker arrives at Dracula’s castle, it is clear that the Count is of upper class. Jonathan describes the castle and its furnishings to be “extraordinary evidences of wealth…the table service is of gold, and so beautifully wrought that is must be of immense value. The curtains and upholstery of the chairs and sofas and the hangings of my bed are of the costliest and most beautiful fabrics, and must have been of fabulous value when they were made, for they are centuries old, though in excellent order” (31). As the novel goes on, it is clear that everything the Count owns is of significant status and he enjoys living in the lap of luxury. Dracula owns property in England, as well as Transylvania, and is presumed to come from a line of wealthy ancestry. He is in a definite position of power and is prime example of what Marxism refers to as the bourgeoisie.

                The females in this novel are also of middle/upper class, vainly spending their days enjoying the lifestyle that comes with being upper class women. Mina, who longs to "be useful to Jonathan," perfectly represents a woman in the society of the early nineteenth century (84). Mina is consistently seen in an idealistic light, instead of in a realistic way. Near the end of the novel while Mina is recovering from her encounter with Count Dracula, Harker writes that she is "sleeping now, calmly and sweetly like a little child" (517). He compares her to a child, or at least someone who is more helpless than he, and he expects nothing more from her.  Lucy, on the other hand, is more sexualized and uses her money to better herself in hopes of finding a suitor. She possesses the greed that is stereotypic of the upper class and wonders even why she can’t marry as many men as she wants (93). Due to their consumer nature, both women play not only into the category of Feminine Criticism, but also Neo-Marxism.

                Capital is another important aspect of Marxism, which is prevalent in Dracula. The count acquires gold, money, and materialistic items, which are considered capital; however he also obtains blood and human life. The act of Dracula sucking blood and stealing mortal’s lives is a representation of gaining more capital. The bourgeoisie needed money and power to preserve their position of power within society, as Dracula needs human blood to secure his being. It is the blood of the lower class that he attains through manipulation and seduction, similar to how Marxism views mortal upper class people and how they treated the lower class. Without blood, the lower class could obviously not survive, and without obtaining their blood, Dracula cannot survive; the society would fall apart.

                All of course is restored when Dracula is defeated; the lower class triumphed the upper class and harmony was restored in the universe. To Marxism, this is the triumph of the lower class as well as the institution of socialism. The mark on Mina’s head, for instance, which was put there by Dracula when he was alive, disappears once he is dead. This is symbolic of things reverting back to how they should be, how Marxism interprets society should be; with no evil and greedy upper class and suffering lower class. Of course this isn’t factual, because Jonathan, Van Helsing, and Arthur are all of middle/upper class, and there still are peasants about the cities. But good has triumphed evil and it is the beginning of a better, classless, society.

-Stoker, Bram. Dracula. New York. London: W.W. Nortan and Company, (1997). Print

-Yelin, Louis. Deciphering the Academic Hieroglyph:  Marxist Literary Theory and the Practice of Basic Writing. Web

-Barry, Peter. Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory. Manchester. Manchester University Press, (2002): 124