VAMPIROS SUBVERSIVOS: UMA ANÁLISE QUEER DE DRÁCULA (1897) DE BRAM STOKER

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the queer metaphors present in Bram Stoker's work "Dracula" (1897), with the intention of reflecting on gender and sexuality themes embedded within the figure of vampires and how their very existence serves as a force for subversive analysis regarding gender identities and compulsory sexuality. Through qualitative and bibliographical research, this study sheds light on the construction of the vampire figure and its appearances in Gothic literature, reflecting on the impact of social constructs on the configuration of gender identity, addressing the ideal of masculinity prevalent in English society, and the eroticism contained within the work through sexual metaphors that serve for the subversive construction of the vampire figure. We will argue that the vampire figure holds subversive potential, as it questions compulsory gender roles, as well as identities and sexualities. Through an analysis of the homoerotic undertone present in the work, it is possible to observe a tension between the prevailing behavioral standards in Victorian English society and those performed by male characters. It was concluded that homoerotic desire and performed male sexuality are villainized and undesirable, just as the libidinous behavior of female characters is.