Throughout the novel, The Devil in the White City, Dr. H H Holmes, one of the leading characters in the text manipulates women, in order to achieve perverse sexual gratification. He views women simply as objects to appease his desires and seduces them, eventually acquiring control over these women. An identical process is seen by Count Dracula a literary figure from the novel “Dracula”. A motif of objectification is developed throughout the texts, as women simply stand as something to be and obtained and used for one’s desires. The parallel between Dr. H H Holmes and the literary figure of Count Dracula creates a theme of vampirism within the text, through this Larson divulges the motif of objectification and explores the archetype of a submissive and virginal woman, developing a conflict between purity and impurity.
The objectification of women throughout the text dehumanizes them, as a result of this they are taken advantage of as they are seen as objects simply to be manipulated to one’s will. When entering a room, Holmes claims that “flesh-and-blood women moved among its features. As always, the thought aroused him” (Larson 207).The author’s description of women as…show more content… Holmes’s carnal desires and how he sees women as a means to appease these desires. This idea of associating blood with sexual themes and arousal indicates the vampiric theme in the text. Holme’s obsession with the relationship between flesh and blood and sexuality creates a parallel between him and Count Dracula, the original vampire. Seeing women as simply flesh-and-blood as Holmes’s describes them exemplifies how he views women simply as objects.This is not only the first thing, but the only
