Mina starts out as a typical Victorian woman in a solidly feminine gender role. She is "an assistant schoolmistress" (46), which illustrates a female career in Victorian England: she is an assistant in an establishment that educates young people, and childrearing is a role mainly occupied by women. In her letter to Lucy, she states "when we are married I can be useful to Jonathan" (46), implying that she is currently not useful as a single Victorian woman. Many other allusions are made to Mina's femininity and presumed fragility throughout the novel. However, as the novel progresses, Mina's wit, courage, and bluntness eventually place her in a much more masculine and empowering role; in essence, she becomes the figurehead of the group's movement against Dracula. This gender role transition begins around the time Lucy becomes "sick", restless, and spontaneous sleepwalker. Mina adopts a more masculine and protective role towards the distressed Lucy, stating that "fortunately, each time, I woke up in time and managed to undress her without waking her and put her back to bed" (74). After Mr. Swales is discovered dead, Mina does not slow down and remains confident in her care of Lucy, deigning to "take her for a long walk...then she should not have much inclination to sleepwalking" (76). . When Mina wakes up to find Lucy missing one night, she ventures into the cemetery to discover Lucy on a bench, with a figure huddled over her. Instead of acting as one would expect a Victorian woman to do and crying for help or being horrified, Mina “ran towards the cemetery entrance” with confidence (79). Mina continues in this hybrid role of Lucy's protector and nurturer until later in the novel, when she marries Jonathan. Interestingly enough, this is when Mina's transition to a male gender role is most evident. Mina walks