Mirrors Flashcards
Dracula
The novel mirrors society’s fears and anxiety
Dracula is a reflection of fin de siècle culture
Dracula, however, cannot be seen in mirrors and does not have a reflection, representing how he does not belong in this world and cannot exist in the modern world
However, he continues to infect it
Although, much like mirrors in ‘The Bloody Chamber’, as the collection goes on, enables women to liberate themselves, Dracula allows women to be sexually liberated, thus he acts as a mirror for a liberated human that was not allowed to prosper in Victorian Britain
However, the fact he is destroyed at the end perhaps reflects the inability for society to be liberated, due to the fear of uncontrollable desires and female liberation in society as the ‘New Woman’ came to the forefront of society
TBC
Reflects the Male Gaze
In ‘The Bloody Chamber’, the mirrors enable the Marquis to objectify the narrator into nothing but a pornographic image
However, the heroine is aroused by being objectified as it enables her to not just be seen for childbirth, thus liberating her from the constraining roles of either being a mother of a wife as she is ‘reborn in his unreflective eyes’
Suggesting that the male gaze can be liberating, but only if the woman is seen as equal and not subjected to being seen as just an object, she needs to see herself as sexually liberated
‘The Lady of the House of Love’, on the other hand, the woman cannot be seen in the mirror and does not have a reflection which could suggest that women have become part of the male gaze
Or it could suggest that as she is a predator, she is not objectified as she has agency and is thus liberated in that sense
In ‘The Tiger’s Bride’, the mirror reflects the father’s ownership of his daughter, however it also enables her to liberate herself and realise that she was simply an object to her father, thus allowing her to transform into a liberated woman
This is similar in ‘Wolf-Alice’ as the mirror allows for her transformation into a human, and thus her self-awareness as a woman and her power over her surroundings
Suggesting if a woman is able to claim back her reflection and is able to control how she is seen, then she will hold power and agency
