Scenes of mesmerism and hypnotism in Gothic novels are commonly read as symbolic of sexual assault that reinforce traditional hierarchies of gendered power. In contrast, Bram Stoker rejects the trope of the helpless woman controlled by the all-powerful mesmerist in his depiction of Mina Harker’s psychic connection to Dracula. Rather, he presents this connection as a means by which Mina can regain power after a traumatic assault, and does so by employing nineteenth-century feminist rhetoric which presented telepathy as a powerful extension of women’s natural faculty for sympathy. The word ‘sympathy’ appears an unusual number of times in Dracula, compared to other Gothic or invasion fiction of the period. In his use of this word, Stoker engages with a number of nineteenth-century discourses, including moral philosophy, feminism, and mesmerism. Each of these branches of thought viewed sympathy as an inherently female virtue. In the novel, feminine sympathy is presented as the means by which the vampire can be fought and destroyed without compromising the humanity of those that fight. Thus, a consideration of the depiction of sympathy in Dracula suggests that Stoker was far more receptive to New Women and the feminist movement of the 1890s than is often allowed.

中文翻译：

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催眠融洽：布拉姆·斯托克的德古拉中女性同情的力量

哥特小说中的催眠和催眠场景通常被解读为性侵犯的象征，强化了传统的性别权力等级。相比之下，布拉姆·斯托克在描述米娜·哈克与德古拉的心灵联系时拒绝了由全能催眠师控制的无助女人的比喻。相反，他将这种联系作为米娜在遭受创伤性攻击后重新获得权力的一种手段，并通过采用 19 世纪的女权主义修辞来实现，这种修辞将心灵感应作为女性同情的自然能力的强大延伸。与那个时期的其他哥特式或入侵小说相比，“同情”一词在德古拉中出现的次数不寻常。在使用这个词时，斯托克涉及了许多 19 世纪的话语，包括道德哲学、女权主义和催眠术。这些思想分支中的每一个都将同情视为与生俱来的女性美德。在小说中，女性同情被描述为可以在不损害战斗者的人性的情况下与吸血鬼战斗和摧毁的手段。因此，考虑到德古拉对同情的描述，斯托克对新女性和 1890 年代女权主义运动的接受程度远高于通常所允许的程度。