Who knew vampires were such sexual creatures? This seems obvious considering their reckless thirst for human blood. Due to the context of the time Dracula was written, in the late 19th century, openly and publicly expressing one's sexuality was not tolerated. Members of society, especially women, were taught to keep their sexuality in check and to keep to themselves until they were legally married. In Bram Stoker's Dracula, the reader witnesses how Lucy Westerna, Mina Murray, Jonathan Harker, and Count Dracula, individually, behave in the face of their secret sexual desires. Eric Kwan-Wai Yu states: “Whatever forms or fear vampirism might evoke elsewhere, in this novel the dominant form has to do with sexual threat or the terrible perception of sexual perversity” (147). Sexuality plays a vital role in Dracula, affecting each character in a unique way. Lucy Westerna and SexualityLucy Westerna, probably the most sexual character in the novel, illustrates that losing control of your sexual desires will lead to inevitable consequences. At the beginning of the novel, the reader is given a clear picture of Lucy's openness about her sexuality. Lucy exchanges letters with Mina Murray, her best friend, explaining her three proposals from three different men. In her letter to Mina, Lucy writes that she "will be twenty in September and... has never had... a real proposal." This is devastating for Lucy, so the reader can clearly infer that she is overconfident, to the point of being a snobbish woman who expected to be propositioned at least once before she turned twenty. Lucy ends up getting her wish by receiving “[t]ree proposals in one day.” She should be delighted with this news, since she had dreamed of this day for so long, but her arro...... middle of paper ...... Dejan. “Vampiric seduction and the vicissitudes of masculine identity in Bram Stoker’s Dracula.” Victorian Literature and Culture 37 (2009): 411-25. Cambridge Journals. Internet. April 18, 2013. McCrea, Barry. “Heterosexual Horror: Dracula, the Closet, and the Marital Plot.” Novel: a forum on fiction. 43.2 (2010): 251-70. Academic research completed. Internet. April 18, 2013.Prescott, Charles E. and Grace A. Giorgio. "Vampiric affinities: Mina Harker and the paradox of femininity in Bram Stoker's Dracula." Victorian Literature and Culture 33 (2009): 487-515. JSTOR. Internet. April 29, 2013. Stoker, Bram and Roger Luckhurst. Dracula. New ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011. Print. Yu, Eric Kwan-Wai. “Productive fear: work, sexuality and mimicry in Bram Stoker’s Dracula.” Texas Studies in Literature and Language 48.2 (2006): 145-70. Academic research completed. Internet. April 18 2013.