Dracula vs pride and predjudice

One of the main problems that is faced while contrasting Jane Austin’s “ Pride and Prejudice” with Bram Stoker’s Dracula, is that even when it is the same society that we are talking about, the time is not the same, is almost a hundred years apart from each other, with according to societies, could mean a huge difference. While Jane Austin makes a clear portrait of women at her time, showing them almost as mere ornaments for men  ” But the wife of Mr. Darcy must have such extraordinary sources of happiness necessarily attached to her situation, that she could, upon the whole, have no cause to repine.” (Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen, 1813) ; Stoker shows how important they have become, not only as the beauty that every man needs at his side, but also playing an important role in society, and also, capable of taking care of theirselves, most of the times and sometimes even capable of saving and rescue their men. Maybe the most important difference between these two points is that in Austin’s book, women are not independent, they always need a man who could take care of them and, if they are eventually alone, society tends to undersee them and disqualify them. Women are always searching for a good man to marry, so they could maybe, have economic stability and a good reputation. Thus this only could happen if they have also money or any mean to sustain themselves, because if it’s not the case, they could only find a poor man, who will make them work very hard everyday, and fill their house with children who will always be hungry and have no right to go to school or learn any “ important” things. Of curse, those “ important” things tend to be frivolities such as playing an instrument, being able to sing, to dance gracefully, to prepare a nice tea, and things like that, which may not have a practical use. Even when a refined woman is always desirable, as we tend to see also in Bram Stoker’s Dracula, is always a plus if they are able to think by themselves and, of course, to defend themselves and even fight any kind of menace, that its even sexually appealing “ And may I say that Miss Lucy is hotter than a June bride riding bareback buck naked in the middle of the Sahara! ” (Dracula, Bram Stoker, 1897) Lucy, from Dracula, was a non typical female character and that made her nothing but incredibly sexy for men. Of course, man always need the damsel in distress but it is really attractive for male characters and real life men a girl that can throw a few punches on the right direction, it is said also that men like to be rescued just as much as women, the problem for them is that usually if they ar not the ones than persue and achieve the rescue, their manhood is threatened and they feel diminished and powerless. In Dracula, money is not as important as we saw in “ Pride and Prejudice”, It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.  However little known the feelings or views of such a man may be on his first entering a neighbourhood, this truth is so well fixed in the minds of the surrounding families, that he is considered the rightful property of some one or other of their daughters (Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen, 1813) is of curse, important to accomplish some things and to enjoy some others, but does not necessarily defines who people are, and the kind of family they will have. Another thing to consider while contrasting is the concept of chastity in both novels. Austin sees it as one way to control men, one more way to hold them back from achieving important things in life, and above all, is the best way for woman to hold the power in a relationship, it is almost the only weapon they can use to keep a man interested, Meanwhile, Stoker finds out that chastity is not that important, he fills his book with desire, you can feel the sensuality exuding almost in every page of the book, it is the complete opposite to Pride and Prejudice, because in Dracula, love is made of pure desire or even lust, so a natural conclusion is that women will not keep virginity until marriage, but fall into that desire sooner or later, and this does not make them less worthy of a man’s love, on the contrary, this makes them even more attractive, that is Stoker’s vision of course, for Jane Austin, a woman who will not hold her virginity until marriage will be, unacceptable and of course no marriage material at all. Maybe the most important difference between the two stories is that Dracula is fiction, even when the main character may be (or may be not) be based on a real person called Vlad Teppes, who was Prince of Wallaquia. This book has a man’s point of view, he is adventurous, willing to take risks and the sum of the rational thinking of his time. While Pride and prejudice, on the other hand, is non fiction, tells the story from a woman’s point of view, and that makes it a lot more emotional, the problems that the main character is facing are nothing but real ones, real people, real situations that she has to overcome in order to be happy; there is not a supernatural enemy as the source of every problem, as we see in Dracula, where even when we think that the vampire is a metaphor of all the problems a couple has to overcome before being actually happy, and that could be a simile with Austin’s book. The biggest difference between this books it’s also the major similarity, love, the most powerful and deceptive feeling of human kind, on both books, love is the final goal “ Do you believe in destiny? That even the powers of time can be altered for a single purpose? That the luckiest man who walks on this earth is the one who finds… true love?-“ (Dracula, Bram Stoker, 1897) , but of course, the pursue of love is different, on Pride and Prejudice, as stated before, it’s a sweeter point of view the one telling the story, “ Her astonishment, as she reflected on what had passed, was increased by every review of it. That she should receive an offer of marriage from Mr. Darcy! That he should have been in love with her for so many months! So much in love as to wish to marry her in spite of all the objections which had made him prevent his friend’s marrying her sister, and which must appear at least with equal force in his own case– was almost incredible! ” (Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen, 1813) one could say, that’s the commercial part of love, the part that everybody talks about, the one we see in movies and soap operas and every other romantic environment , whereas in Dracula, we see the dark side of love, “ Mina, to walk with me you must die to your breathing life and be reborn to mine” Dracula. (Dracula, Bram Stoker, 1897 )the obscure and truculent version, the real thing as love is no always sweet and perfect, it hurts it burns, it obsesses, its dark and light at the same time.. And as Dracula would say “ Love is stronger than death” (Dracula, Bram Stoker, 1897)