Question

The "new woman" was a feminist ideal in the Victorian age. This term described women who fought against the rigid conventional roles imposed on women at the time. In what way is this ideal represented in the character of Mina Murray in Dracula?
A. She is motherly in her affection to all those she knows.
B. She wants to be able to help her husband.
C. She is educated and financially independent.
D. She needs men to protect her from Count Dracula.
E. She doesn’t turn into a vampire after being bitten.

Answer 1

Answer: C. She is educated and financially independent.

Explanation:

Mina Murray in Dracula embodied the changing thought that the feminists of the Victorian age were pushing. They spoke of women who did not have to rely on men and so were able to throw off the conventional roles imposed on them by society.

Mina Murray was a schoolteacher before she was married and as such was educated and financially independent which meant that she did not have to rely on a man for her needs thus making her a "new woman".