Dracula was set in the late 1800’s; it has very sexualized characters, which fits with the time period. Although, if Dracula were to take place today, many of the characters would probably act differently and the women would be more prominent in activities that were considered to be for men. The women would not only help with defeating Dracula, but they would also not be portrayed as weaker than men. If Dracula were to take place today, many of the characters would be different; they would make diverse decisions and participate in altered activities.
In Dracula, many of the characters would different if it were to take place today. At the beginning when Jonathan Harker is traveling to count Dracula’s castle, I believe that he would not have received much warning from the towns’ people. Instead of traveling by train he would probably have flew over by plain and then either rented a car or taken a taxi. People today, don’t talk as much to random strangers while, when he was traveling, he was talking to quite a few people. When Jonathan was staying at the castle, I would imagine that when he noticed that Dracula was never present during the day, he would think that it was strange. He went there because of work, but he didn’t do a lot of work with Dracula.
Dracula was a very unique character in his time. While, if the story was set today his decisions would probably change. He didn’t want the female vampires to drink the blood of men because he wanted to be in control and that if a man became weak and sick it would be suspicious, while if a woman became sick and weak, people wouldn’t think much of it. He might of let the female vampires drink the blood of men on some occasions because today, everyone has the same strength and everyone gets sick. Dracula liked to drink the blood of women who were openly sexual but today, people are much more diverse in behaviours and attitudes. Being openly sexual was thought to be almost wrong. Although, today many people are openly sexual while other still are not but it’s not as black and white anymore. There is a large scale of how much women are openly sexual.
The women in Dracula were thought to be weaker and unable to be smart. For example, when Mina wants to accompany the men to attack Dracula she is turned down because she is a woman, although she told the men were Dracula was. Today, Mina and other women would be able to fight against Dracula; some men might not even participate. I believe that some of the men that went to fight Dracula only went because they were obliged to participate. Today, women work, not just doing housework they contribute to society. Women and men have equal rights in the majority of places. Today women do not have to be a certain shape to be thought as beautiful. In Dracula, when Mina and Lucy come back from going on a walk, mina states in her journal “I believe we should have shocked the ‘New Woman’ with our appetites”. She is commenting on the fact that they just ate a large amount of food and were not thinking about being prime and proper.
Dracula would have changed drastically if the story was set in the present because the characters would have acted differently and made new decisions. Jonathan would not have received as much warning from the towns’ people because today, people don’t enjoy talking to strangers as much as they did in the story. While Dracula might have had different thoughts on only drinking the blood of women. Today, women are not as sexualized and they have equal rights. The women might have participated in the fight against Dracula because they would be allowed to. Women are not thought to be weaker than men and that they need to be saved. Dracula was set in the late 1800’s, which is appropriate on how women are described.
