BLOOD AND SEXUALITY IN STOKER’S DRACULA

Abstract

This paper analysis Bram Stoker’s Dracula with respect to the use of the
images of blood which are profound in the work. It focuses on the various meanings and
usages of this motif and draws on the implications on the overall meaning of the novel. We
consider the work within the frame of the advancing scientific and quasi-scientific theories
that marked the era, and can be seen as reflected in Stoker’s eponymous novel. Another aspect
addressed in this paper is the unique representation of sexuality as part of the vampiric nature.
The attraction of the vampire since its folkloric origins has been developed in Stoker to covert
but persuasive erotic scenes, some of which can be read as disguised perverted sexual acts.
Furthermore, the exchange of blood through the transfusions as a symbol of exchange of
bodily induces the idea of indirect male to male blood mixing revealing the idea of veiled
homosexuality.