In literature, the vampire bite is often interpreted as a symbol of coitus between the vampire and his or her victim. However, when one takes a closer look into the anatomy and functions involved in the sex of particular blood-sucking scenes found in vampire literature, it becomes clear that the erotic scene is of a transsexual nature, abandoning preconceived conventions of the male and female body.
Dracula of Bram Stoker's Dracula employs different ways of sucking blood and receives different results. His initial attacks on Mina and Lucy are applied to the neck. It would be a misleading simplification to say that these scenes are heteroerotic in nature after one takes notice of the hermaphroditic composition of Dracula in his erogenous role. Dracula's anatomy consists of several possible combinations of phallic and vaginaic symbols. His fangs protrude from the gums farther than the rest of his teeth. The fangs could be view as phallic symbols, or, by appearance, one may interpret them as two clitorises. The clitoris interpretation is more viable than one may first think when one attributes Dracula's lips to the labia. The bite would be a mere prick (no pun intended) without the sucking of the blood. The only sign of ejaculation during the intercourse between Mina and Lucy and Dracula is the bleeding of the girls' necks. Dracula sucks the blood, as ejaculatory fluid, in a manner similar to the contractions of vaginal muscle tissue during vaginal orgasm—the mouth closes tightly around the puncture-wounds (which provide the ejaculation) while the throat opens to accept the blood into the stomach. (Kitzinger, 49) This construct is further legitimized when one expands the comparison of Dracula's digestive system to the female reproductive system.
[...] Through this latter interpretation it can also be said that the sex of the two partners involved in the intercourse of a vampire bite does not matter so long as one is sucking and the other is being sucked. This is because the sexual anatomy and function of the partner is defined by his/her/its role in coitus rather than his/her/its literarily defined sexes. This applies also in the former construct, though in that construct, Dracula's sex is presumed male. Beyond the formation of constructs, there still exists a sexual ambiguity and transsexual nature in Dracula's bites with Lucy and Mina. [...]
[...] She has an impregnating phallus and the reproductive capabilities of creating, in herself, a newly born vampire. It is clear that the sex of the vampire and the victim bears no relevance to the ability to reproduce. Two men or two women can go through this symbolic reproductive experience with the same result as any other combination of sexes. The means of reproduction also bear no relevance to the ability to reproduce. In Carmilla Carmilla is able to impregnate Laura by a bite to the neck, while in Dracula Dracula is also able to turn Mina into a vampire through the process of feeding her his blood. [...]
[...] be semen and Dracula's stomach the womb since the initial bite to the neck “impregnates” Mina, Lucy and any other of Dracula's past victims with the curse of the vampire. This would mean that the punctures in Mina and Lucy's neck represent the urethra at the tip of the penis. Considering the neck is nearer the top of the body, it is not too far-fetched to say that Lucy and Mina themselves are phalluses with two urethras at the top of their heads (pun intended). [...]
APA Style reference
For your bibliographyOnline reading
with our online readerContent validated
by our reading committee
