Patriarchy at the Source

"What does it mean to be a woman writer in a culture whose fundamental definitions of authority are, as we have seen, both overtly and covertly patriarchal?" asks Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar as they examine the struggle of women writers' "eighteenth- and nineteenth-century foremothers" (449/453). I am fascinated by these notions of overt and covert definitions of authority, particularly in where they might be discovered. If Gilbert and Gubar seek the struggle of women in nineteenth-century literature, it would not be unreasonable to search for examples of male domination in the same place.

Last year I took a class at the University of Kent called "The Literature of Terror," in which we read spooky Victorian classics by H.G. Wells, Oscar Wilde, Wilkie Collins and others and analyzed the social implications within each text. In particular, Bram Stoker's Dracula surged to the front of mind while reading this excerpt from The Madwoman In the Attack.

Although Dracula is largely overrun with male character, the few existing female figures are clearly products of "a society where women are warned that if they do not behave like angels they must be monsters" (454). Stoker demonstrates this idea in a stark way. The Weird Sisters (or brides of Dracula) who attempt to seduce Jonathan Harker early in the novel are vampires and highly sexual. But their sexuality does not stem from their monstrousness; rather, it is suggested that they are more monstrous because of their sexuality.

The two more important female characters, Mina Murray and Lucy Westenra, are Englishwomen often described by Stoker with terms like "sweet," "gentle" "pure," or "angelic." They are regarded highly by male protagonists for their submissive qualities. When Lucy falls prey to Dracula, however, her angelic nature gives way to monstrous sexuality that some critics interpret as making her a child predator -- and for her actions, she is killed. Likewise, through the course of the novel as Mina falls deeper into Dracula's thrall, her reticence and purity are seen to wane.

Other literature written by Victorian men takes up this theme. Such works could likely provide details about the patriarchal view of women's freedoms and creativity in the past, leading up to today. These would actually prop up the notions of constraints upon women in the works of female authors like Dickinson and the Brontes.