To what extent was Bram Stoker’s Dracula based on historical figures?
In 1897, Bram Stoker wrote Dracula, the story of a monstrous Transylvanian count who terrorized local villages and fed on the peasants who lived in them. The book is today widely recognized as a historically significant literary work, and its importance has caused many scholars to debate whether Bram Stoker’s main character Dracula was actually inspired by real historical figures.
Many scholars believe that Vlad the 3rd or Vlad the Impaler was the direct inspiration for Count Dracula. Vlad the 3rd was the son of King Vlad the 2nd Dracul and as Prince, was the heir to the Wallachian throne. He was born during the year of 1431 and died during a battle in December 1476. When comparing what history says
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Interestingly enough, after people discovered these murders she had committed, she was never put on trial, instead she was locked away in her castle till the day she died, which was on August 21, 1614. Like Dracula, Elizabeth was well educated and she was taught to read and write in several different languages, including the language of the peasants. Like Count Dracula, Elizabeth Bathory’s status as a noble person gave her almost complete control over the peasants who lived in the villages she controlled. Elizabeth Bathory was able to bring young girls into her castle by offering food and money ("Elizabeth Bathory" 0:6:17-0:7:00), but when these girls never returned home it wasn’t noticed or cared about by the King because the massive debt the King owed to her and her family("Elizabeth Bathory"
In the novel Dracula, by Bram Stoker, there is much evidence of foreshadowing and parallels to other myths. Dracula was not the first story featuring a vampire myth, nor was it the last. Some would even argue that it was not the best. However, it was the most original, using foreshadowing and mood to create horrific imagery, mythical parallels to draw upon a source of superstition, and original narrative elements that make this story unique.
With castles, hidden streets, waterways, recurring rainy weather, interesting European architecture, and mystique, London is the perfect location for Bram Stoker's Dracula. London: The capital of Great Britain, and the center of attention in the nineteenth century, due to the many incidents that were going on at the time. The novel includes many daunting scenes, such as when Dracula heaves a sack withholding a deceased child before three female vampires. Stoker may have been influenced by London's numerous enticements; it is no surprise why he choose it to be the setting of his novel, London seems to be "exotic" and unknown. Stoker is obviously inspired by London's castles, hidden
During the Romantic Era, Bram Stoker created a timeless monster in his novel, Dracula. Stoker uses a series of letters and journal entries to tell the story form a first person point of view. The Count, for whom the book is named, seems to be invincible to mere man. Stoker uses his character of Dracula to reflect the elements of romanticism through his supernatural powers, a fascination with youth and innocence, and imagery.
“There are darknesses in life and there are lights, and you are one of the lights, the light of all lights.” (Stoker). Dracula is a book written in 1897 by Bram Stoker. The book is a story about Jonathan Harker's journey in the late 19th century to Transylvania in order to fix up some documentation for Dracula so he can own real estate England. In Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Dracula is wrongfully portrayed as a villain.
Bram Stoker’s Dracula is a story of horror, suspense, and repulsion. The main antagonist, Count Dracula, is depicted as an evil, repulsive creature that ends and perverts life to keep himself alive and youthful. To most onlookers that may be the case, but most people fail to see one crucial element to this character. Dracula is a character that, though it may be long gone, was once human, and thus has many human emotions and motives still within him. Let us delve into these emotions of a historically based monster.
Dracula by Bram Stoker, is the original vampire book, the one that started it all. From it derived the now so beloved and famous teen-romance vampire genre, with novels like Twilight. However, Dracula is not remotely like the sparkle-in-the-sunlight, falling-in-love-with-mortals vampire any more than Harry Potter is like the Wicked Witch of the West. Dracula is a gothic horror novel set in Transylvania and England during the Victorian Era. The story is told in letters, diary entries, and newspaper clippings from the viewpoint of several characters, allowing for a wide variety of viewpoints that highlight happenings in Dracula as well as present the social issues pertained within. While it contains action, suspense, horror, and romance, it also displays the corruption within the everyday society. The way the women are presented, interacted with, and how Count Dracula affects them brings forth the issues within the Victorian society, especially the men’s treatment of women and the different social and gender roles, which Stoker uses to highlight the situational irony found within the novel.
In everyday life, as in literature, there will always be an opposing force to evil. In the novel “Dracula,” by Bram Stoker, Professor Van Helsing acts as Dracula’s main antagonist. An antagonist is the character who acts against the main character, which increases the conflict of the story and intensifies the plot. Through the use of theme, characterization and specific events, the author shows readers how Dr. Van Helsing effectively fits the role of Dracula’s most threatening adversary.
Imagine as the night sky is at its darkest point, a dark castle with crumbling stones and looming gargoyles can be seen in the distance; the sight of the dreadful prison would send deathly shivers down anyone’s back. Using words with a connotation similar to the air in the preceding sentence is a distinct peculiarity found in gothic literature throughout history. Along with common gothic vocabulary, these writers frequently allude to existing myths, prophecies, and legends to convince the reader of a stronger connection in the storyline. Finally, gothic literature authors often use prophecies and visions to foreshadow a deeper, more sinister event. Bram Stoker’s
Bela Lugosi is arguably the most classic example of an actor taking on a vampire role. However, during 1931 when the universal studio was casting the 1931’s Dracula, Lugosi could only barely speak English, and therefore almost lost his chance at playing the iconic part (“Dracula (1931 English-Language Film”). Nonetheless his accents and costumes, which has become the classic look of the vampire, he himself was so typecast in his role that he was actually buried after his death in his Dracula costume. Certainly, it is Lugosi’s performance that makes Tod Browning’s film such an influential Hollywood picture. Overall, I will give it a 3 star out of 5, compared with the older version film of Dracula, because of the dialogues and sounds, the plot is much easier for the audiences to understand, without any editing or background music the horror of the film is not inferior to
Bram Stoker's Dracula is a true Gothic novel that belongs on any gothic literature course. Focusing in on the recurring themes, characters and settings used throughout the novel one sees how Dracula has set the standard for Gothic literature today.
Bram Stoker’s frightening tale of Count Dracula has struck horror into the hearts of many since it was originally penned. In 1987, Bram Stoker wrote the revolutionary tale Dracula that played off the fears of the people of the era. The plot and characters that make the novel great also translate nearly perfectly to cinematic adaptations. Starting in the early 1900’s, directors have done their best to portray the terror that the original novel inspired. Francis Ford Coppola’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula was released in 1992 and follows the book’s storyline very closely. However, to appeal to his generations ideals on relationships and sex, Coppola made some changes to the plot; however, many of the characters and themes are kept intact. He also
A horror classic by Abraham Stocker, Dracula, may be one of the most notorious villain stories of all time. Bram Stocker is a Irish writer who changed the view of what to read in his time. He shows dark and twisted situations and metaphors throughout Dracula and many other of his horror novels. This novel was released in the Victorian era, which saw his type of writing as equivalent to the devil. This era was a long time of peace and bright minded people. Stockers style surprised many readers, because he always has you thinking it can’t get any darker than it is but it always exceeds the previous twisted situation or event. Bram Stocker shows Dracula as an iconic creature, with many reasons to be feared, but displayed in the wrong time era.
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 written by Bram stoker is a Novel that many people enjoyed. It talks about the good and evil. It was a Novel about suspense horror and mystery. In the novel Dracula Bram Stoker tell us the story of a vampire known as count Dracula who is known by the people of Transavia to be completely evil. I will be analysis the novel to see why Stoker wrote the book, who he wrote it for, the good people in the story, and some other analysis. First I will beginning with the reason Stoker choose to write about Dracula.
The first writer to introduce the vampire in literature was Lord Byron in the eighteenth century, but the most significant writer to develop the myth was Bram Stoker. He is the „father” of the vampire as he gave a complete description of the vampire in his most famous book” Dracula”. After the release of the book, the myth of the vampire became extremely popular amongst writers and as a consequence the books whose main