#even mina calls it 'chivalrous care' even though she feels in her bones that it's the wrong step to take here

[abrahamvanhelsings]

yes dracula is full of benevolent misogynism because it was written in the 19th century. yes no sane man would let a woman come with them on a quest to assault a vampire because the general consensus is that women are sweet and caring but frail and must be protected. yes to every man involved this would seem like the most chivalrous thing to do. you carry her bags, you stand up for her in public transport, you hold open the door for her, you keep her safe and don't let her get anywhere near the vampire - not even in her thoughts. does that make it better? perhaps not, and certainly not in this case! but when reading a book like dracula you need to keep in mind how the era it's written in and its social conventions work bc they are, inevitably, going to be different from our own conceptions of the world and the people in it, and it does not do a book justice to judge it by modern day standards