Quote: “I was afraid to raise my eyelids, but looked out and saw perfectly under the lashes. The girl went on her knees, and bent over me, simply gloating. There was a deliberate voluptuousness which was both thrilling and repulsive, and as she arched her neck, she actually licked her lips like an animal. . . . Lower and lower went her head as the lips went below the range of my mouth and chin and seemed about to fasten on my throat. . . . I closed my eyes in a languorous ecstasy and waited—waited with beating heart.” (Stoker, Chapter 3)

Comment: This quote comes from chapter 3 where the “weird sisters” are about to feed on Harker while in Dracula’s castle. The passage indicates a desire from Harker, as the lines between sexual acts and vampirism are blurred. Harker, seemingly enjoying his predicament, reminds me of Cohen’s thesis regarding the desire of the monstrous. Harker is drawn to these monsters because of the blurred distinctions between feeding and pleasure. Despite the fact that Harker is unaware of their condition, he states that one of the women “licked her lips like an animal”, which could mean that Harker doesn’t mind the fact that he’s being “hunted”. This sexual “kink” could be a form of taboo desire that Harker would have needed to repress from Victorian society.

Question: Do the vampires represent other taboos from Victorian society other than a sexual desire?