The Maternal Role of Bram Stoker's Dracula

In Bram Stoker’s Dracula, one of history’s most frightening figures is no more terrifying than he is feminine. Through the opposite switching of gothic fiction, the lead vampire represents a maternal role as being both fertile and motherly. His fertility is responsible for reproducing his race of vampires as well as feeding his kin with what they need to survive. While the event of a birth often brings joy and happiness to a society, Dracula reverses the event of a birth by using it to bring evil and destruction into the world. Despite the common belief that Dracula is one of history’s worst monsters, he continues to maintain the maternal role through the reproduction of his race, but it is the reason for reproduction that creates the evilness surrounding Dracula.