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Dracula: a name that inspires thoughts of intrigue, fear, romance and in some a life style that is all its own. Yet one thing that is not always known is that there is a true story hidden behind the legend of Dracula. More than one actually, one in which a man is a demon who executes a hundred thousand men, impaling them, and dinning on their blood. Then there is the story of a patriot who cares for his people and is only doing what he must to protect them from the invading armies. The latter of which is less known, yet in the most famous book about Dracula, Bram Stoker brings forth many of the true facts about Vlad Țepeș also known as Vlad the Impaler. The tricky thing comes when we look at why Bram Stoker chose what he did for the book, and later what Coppola chose to leave out or modify from the novel when he directed the movie adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula in 1992. Stoker wrote his based more on a German view of Vlad while Coppola modified his based on a more educated modern understanding of the times in which Vlad Țepeș lived, one of which Vlad was seen as a hero to the people of Hungary not initially the savage he is made out to be in many of the earlier studies.
The pseudo myth/fact of Dracula is a topics that has two sides, one which says Dracula is based on and evil man named Vlad the Impaler and one that says it is an unjustified comparison to a man who justly ruled, as Beresford author of From Demons to Dracula (a comprehensive account of vampires through history) gives us a view of the honorable leader by writing, “Romanian peoples honestly believe Dracula to have been a fair and just, if strict, ruler. Other versions of the stories adopt and entirely different perspective” (Beresford 85). The idea that a cou...
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...one from this world for over 300 years.
Works Cited
Beresford, Matthew. From Demons to Dracula: the Creation of the Modern Vampire Myth. London: Reaktion, 2008. Print.
Bram Stoker's Dracula. Dir. Francis Ford Coppola. Prod. Francis Ford Coppola. By James V. Hart. Perf. Gary Oldman, Winona Ryder, and Anthony Hopkins. Columbia Pictures, 1992. Film.
“Bram Stoker’s Dracula with Francis Coppola”< Bram Stoker's Dracula. Dir. Francis Ford Coppola. Prod. Francis Ford Coppola. By James V. Hart. Perf. Gary Oldman, Winona Ryder, and Anthony Hopkins. Columbia Pictures, 1992. DVD
Dracula : the True Story. Dir. Maththias Kessler. Prod. Kurt Langbein. By Langbein & Skalnik. Perf. Matthias Kessler. Janson Media, 2007. DVD.
Florescu, Radu, and Raymond T. McNally. Dracula, Prince of Many Faces: His Life and His times. Boston, MA: Little, Brown, 1989. 221-34. Print
The novel Dracula by Bram Stoker has plentiful examples of key concepts we have examined in class including: Purity and impurity, magical thinking, strong emotions such as disgust and shame, , formalization, and myth. In this essay I will summarize events that take place within the novel when the protagonists deal with Dracula and then relate these events to the key concepts to demonstrate why the characters view him as dangerous, and therefore something to be avoided completely.
If one wants to be powerful, the only way is through the right path because with deceiving and tricking it only leads to problems, which is what happens to the count. Stoker life showed signs that he believed in this since he followed in his father’s footsteps and was very close to family, which was one of his keys to success. What Dracula was lacking was the trust between him and the other vampires. If he followed good practices like Helsing he would be all powerful, but then again ‘good’ Dracula, is an oxymoron. Stoker lived in a changing time period where there was a mix of different feelings and ideas coming about.
Count Dracula is known throughout the world as the king of vampires, but very few know that he was a real person. The man who made a deal with the Devil for immortality was based on the heroic Walachia prince during the 15th century. His name was Vlad Dracula, which translates to “son of the Devil”, which is where the legend begins. Vlad was born the prince of Walachia in 1431 in Sighisoara, Romania but due to the Ottoman Empire invading Walachia, Vlad, and his brother were handed over to Emperor Sultan Murad II as a ransom. The two boys became captives of the Ottoman Empire in order to make sure that their father would support the Ottomans during their war with Hungary. Dracula was returned in 1448 after his father was assassinated, after
Loosely based on the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker, the film is the story of a
The late nineteenth century Irish novelist, Bram Stoker is most famous for creating Dracula, one of the most popular and well-known vampire stories ever written. Dracula is a gothic, “horror novel about a vampire named Count Dracula who is looking to move from his native country of Transylvania to England” (Shmoop Editorial Team). Unbeknownst of Dracula’s plans, Jonathan Harker, a young English lawyer, traveled to Castle Dracula to help the count with his plans and talk to him about all his options. At first Jonathan was surprised by the Count’s knowledge, politeness, and overall hospitality. However, the longer Jonathan remained in the castle the more uneasy and suspicious he became as he began to realize just how strange and different Dracula was. As the story unfolded, Jonathan realized he is not just a guest, but a prisoner as well. The horror in the novel not only focuses on the “vampiric nature” (Soyokaze), but also on the fear and threat of female sexual expression and aggression in such a conservative Victorian society.
Stevenson, John Allen. A Vampire in the Mirror: The Sexuality of Dracula. 2nd ed. Vol. 103. N.p.: Modern Language Association, 1988. JSTOR. Web. 6 Jan. 2014. .
Bram Stoker took the legend of Vlad Tepes and used it as an idea for Dracula. He was the ruler of an old country called Wallachia. He is most famous for impaling his enemies on sticks around his castle. He taught himself how to miss vital organs in the body, causing the victim to die a slow painful death. This is why people consider him an ancient vampire. What people don’t know about him is that the rich loved him, but the poor hated him. To anyone that didn’t have to seal to make it by he was great. But to the poor people who couldn’t buy food, they were always in fear of him. He was abused as a child, and this is what is thought to have caused his behavior. (Melton 1053)
The man known as “Dracula” was Vlad Tepes (the Impaler) - a king in one of the historical parts of Romania. Born in 1431 in Sighasoara, Transylvania, Tepes grew up in a Germanic, and later Turkish atmosphere (as a prisoner from 1444 to 1448), became a tyrannical ruler that was feared throughout the lands, then died in 1476 in a fight defending his country.
Since the 19th Century, Bram Stoker’s Dracula has entertained its readers taking them to heights of excitement in the climax
And Anthony Hopkins play the priest of the Christian church of the opening sequence and also does the voice-over for the film. Plot The film starts out in 1462 where Muslim Turks try to invade Transylvania with a massive army. Dracula, before becoming the vampire, is the commanding officer of the defending Christians of Transylvania. The eve before the battle Dracula says farewell to his wife, Elizabeta.
Comparing the 1931 version of Dracula, starring Bela Lugosi, with Frances Ford Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula 1993 version yields some similarities. Both films are of the same genre: Horror. Both films are set around the same time period. Also, both deal with a vampire coming to England and causing disruptions in people's lives. Beyond these few similarities are numerous contrasts.
While the character of Renfield is ostensively extraneous to the central plot of Dracula, he fulfils an important role in Stoker’s exploration of the central themes of the novel. This paper will examine how Renfield character is intertwined with the three central themes of invasion, blood and otherness. Firstly, through Renfield’s inner struggle we learn that he is ‘not his own master’ (Stoker, 211). The theme of invasion is revealed by the controlling and occupying powers of Count Dracula. Secondly, the recurring theme ‘the Blood is the Life’ (Stoker, 121), is portrayed throughout the novel and has been interpreted through Stoker’s character Renfield. Then finally, a look at the social construction of the ‘other’ in Dracula and how, through Renfield, who is ‘unlike the normal lunatic’ (Stoker, 52), the Count emerges as the ‘other’ of all ‘others’.
‘Dracula’ is a novel that probes deeply into people’s superstitions, fears and beliefs of the supernatural. The creature Dracula is an evil being with no concern for others, he kills for his own ends and cannot be stopped, and this is what makes ‘Dracula’ truly frightening.
Dracula, by Bram Stoker, is a classic tale of Gothicism. Traditionally, gothic tales only carried single theme of horror. Through Dracula, Stoker breaks this single theme barrier. The theme throughout Dracula is clearly displayed through the characters as they step from ignorance to realization in this tale of horror.