Lily Burkin L&S Arts & Humanities
Feminine Repression in Bram Stoker's Dracula and Nosferatu (2024)
Robert Eggers’ 2024 remake of Nosferatu centers on the erotic and deeply parasitic relationship between the maiden and the Gothic monster and, in doing so, illuminates a connection between femininity and the undead that has persisted throughout–and beyond–Victorian gothic horror literature. Works of horror intrinsically serve as a mirror of the conditions within which they were created–as in Bram Stoker’s Dracula, which displays the shifting roles of women in the late nineteenth century while also revealing anxieties about homosexuality, the aristocracy, and the Jew. A tale as widespread as Dracula, as it is passed down and retold, also shifts and adapts to the whims and proclivities of the subsequent authors and directors who retell Stoker’s story. Using Eggers’ interpretation of Nosferatu as a focal point, I will analyze how the depiction of the Gothic feminine has changed between 1897 and the present day, and use vampirism as a lens to examine modern fears and desires centered around the female body–which has been thrust into the limelight with the recent overturning of Roe vs. Wade and the regression of women’s rights in the United States.
Message To Sponsor
To the Leadership Fund - thank you so much for the opportunity to pursue my research on the congruences between the Victorian and modern gothic movements, and the trajectory of women's rights. It was a life-changing experience, because until now I felt powerless in the face of a tumultuous political environment that has threatened my fundamental rights as a woman. Through this experience, I' found a way to fight back against that helplessness not only through academia, but also through art--critiquing the way things are, and becoming a voice for change. The SURF program has pushed me to apply for PhD programs in literature so that I can continue my research into how horror literature reflects the social climate in which it is created, and it has provided me with the materials necessary to write my own vampire novel that, I hope, will both challenge the status quo and imagine an alternate way of living, and of resistance. Thank you so, so much for this invaluable gift.