essay Flashcards
(9 cards)
dracula quote paragraph 1 - new woman
blood, lucy
she wants blood, and blood she must have or die
blood becomes a powerful symbol of women crossing the boundaries of Victorian social expectations. In the novel, female vampires like Lucy crave blood not just for survival, but as an expression of forbidden desire, autonomy, and power, traits that defy the ideal of passive, pure womanhood. This hunger symbolizes the New Woman’s rejection of submissive roles, as she demands agency over her body and choices.
When we are married I shall be able to be useful to Jonathan, and if I can stenograph well enough I can take down what he wants to say in this way and write it out for him on the typewriter, at which also I am practicing very hard.
Though it is new fashioned that Mina is a working woman, educating herself, she is working a job conventionally held by women and entirely to support her husband, thus limiting her power in the workforce. Through this the novel ensures that her intelligence stays in devotion to her husband, instead of being used to her own autonomy
doesnt necessarily challange traditonal roles of victorian women. She shows pride in working for her husband.
Ex machina
P1
Ava
what will happen to me if i fail your test
Ava manipulates Caleb by learning about his emotions and subtly guiding him to distrust Nathan.
Film convention:
Close-up shots during Ava and Caleb’s conversations emphasize her emotional expressions and human-like vulnerability, making Caleb empathize with her.
Soft lighting in her glass room contrasts with Nathan’s darker, harsher-lit spaces, symbolizing Ava’s role as innocent but increasingly strategic.
This shows Ava’s use of emotional intelligence, traditionally seen as a feminine strength, to gain agency. She weaponizes her perceived passivity, echoing the New Woman’s shift from submissiveness to control over her own narrative.
kyoko being silenced
reclaiming her autonomy by killing nathan
P1
Kyoko’s inability to speak is a deliberate feature programmed by Nathan to control and silence her, symbolizing how patriarchal systems deny women a voice and agency. Her muteness becomes a metaphor for the suppression of female expression and autonomy. despite this enforced silence, Kyoko reclaims power through action—she helps Ava kill Nathan, sacrificing herself in the process. Her violent rebellion, though fatal, represents the extreme lengths women must sometimes go to resist oppression. In this way, Kyoko embodies a tragic form of the New Woman—one who defies control not through words, but through decisive, liberating action
conclusion p1
both dracula and ex machina convey the new woman concept through cultivated characters who fight against patriarchal power
lucy becoming evil
p2
femme fetale
come to me arthur leave these others and come to me. my arms are hungty for you, come, and we can rest together. come my husband
Lucy’s use of anaphora- repetition of ‘come’ builds a hypnotic rhythm, mirroring the seductive pull of her vampirism. She is actively trying to lure Arthur in, a symbol of sexual autonomy, as she is stepping out of the submissive and innocent role. The commands ‘come to me’ ‘leave these others’ further reflect on the sudden shift in power as she takes on a dominant, assertive voice, flipping the traditional gender dynamics. However, her attempt at being a femme fetale fails, as arthur resists, which suggests that the femme fatale can only exist within the male imagination A threat to be conquered, not as a lasting figure of female empowerment.
downfall of femme fatale
Draculus femme atale, downfall metaphorically highlights that women may express desire or egency, doing so outside the bounds of patriarchal control, lwads to distruction.
Nathan determines Calebs preferences on physical female compositions by uncovering his porn history.
Ava uses her knowledge of Caleb being physically attracted to him, by creating intimate moments with him , dressing herself in feminine clothes, covering up her robotic parts
p2
, which is an artificial and unrepresentative way to view women, symbolizing the degrading patriarchal ideologies women are given.
Avas physical appearance, being half robot, with metal arms and legs, while the other half consitsing of human features, including a soft feminine face, gentle and high pitched voice, tearing the receptants between believing that she is simply an advanced machine or a thinking, reasoning, feeling being that might qualify as a person.
By covering up her robotic features, with delicate and floral clothing, symbolising her manipulation through the use of her acquired knowledge of calebs empathy and sexual preferences, ultimately using these to her own advantage.
This is shown through close ups of ava anxiously gripping her sleeves, reinforcing the construction of avas innocence and insecurity. She falls into the patriarchal idealogy of a fragile female in need of saving, feeding into Calebs ‘savior complex’.
