Post-Menopausal Vampirism in “Good Lady Ducayne”

Abstract

This article discusses Mary Elizabeth Braddon’s depiction of post-menopausal vampirism in “Good Lady Ducayne” (1896) from the perspective of feminism. Although the story focuses on a young girl’s suffering and growth, the subplot features a post-menopausal lady who uses her elderliness as well as wealth and social standing to steal the young heroine’s blood. This article examines how the elderly female antagonist’s immense power and influence are a result of her post-menopausal liberation from conventional feminine roles arising from marriage and motherhood. In doing so, the article sitauates the old antagonist’s symbolic vampirism in the fin-de-siècle context of the evolution of both modern medicine (the rise of blood transfusion, gynecology, and eugenics) and the New Woman culture. Ultimately, it argues that Braddon’s hyperbolical depiction of the post-menopausal old woman challenges and presents an alternative to the standardized female life course in the Victorian world.