Dracula as Feminine Anonymous

The title character in Bram Stoker's "Dracula" is a sexually perplexing figure. Nietzche wrote of a creative being called the "berman", or "superman". Men who overcome their handicaps and identify with God are potential supermen; as models of this concept, Nietzche named Socrates, Jesus, Leonardo DaVinci, Napolean Bonaparte, and Goethe, among others. Adolf Hitler took this idea to a new level during World War II, proclaiming that all Aryans were supermen and fit to control who lived and who died. Hitler did not only identify himself with God, but took for himself a godlike title. Dracula is another of these "supermen": he has supernatural powers surpassing any mere mortal's, and decides who is to die, and who is to become immortal. There are, however, a number of discrepancies within the text that indicate that Dracula is far from the masculine, all powerful persona of the true superman. In fact, he embodies several notably feminine characteristics, and is closely associated with several important feminine concepts. The question at hand is whether Stoker intended Dracula to be interpreted as a superman, or as a gender-ambiguous character whose feminine aspects undermine his...