You are on page 1of 8

Dracula: History, Myth, and Popular Culture

Transformations
History: Vlad III Dracula Literature: Bram Stokers, Dracula Theatre: Dracula Film: NosferatuShadow of the Vampire 1431-1476 1897 1924 & 1927 1922-2000

History: Vlad III Dracula


Born: 1431 in Sighisoara, Transylvania

1431-1476

Dracula: Son of the Dragon/Devil


Second child of Vlad II Dracul, voivode of Walachia Walachia: principality between the Danube and the Transylvanian Alps in southern Romania Voivode (prince and military leader) for 3 separate periods: 1448, 1456-1462, and 1476 To Romanians: Vlad Tepes (Vlad the Impaler) To Turks: Kaziglu Bey (the Impaler Prince) Impalement: preferred method of execution Unified Walachia - resisted Ottoman advances

Killed while fighting Turks near Bucharest in 1476

History: Vlad III Dracula


During 2nd reign: murdered between 40,000 and 100,000 people by 1462 Mid-15th century: German, Russian, and Turkish pamphlets establish notoriety The Frightening and Truly Extraordinary Story of a Wicked Blood-drinking Tyrant Called Prince Dracula. Nuremberg, 1488: "He had a large pot made and boards with holes fastened over it and had people's heads shoved through there and imprisoned them in this. And he had the pot filled with water and a big fire made under the pot and thus let the people cry out pitiably until they were boiled quite to death. An immortal heroic icon Never associated with vampires

1431-1476

Literature: Bram Stoker

1847-1912
November 8th, 1847: Abraham Bram Stoker born in Clontarf, Ireland Attended Trinity College in Dublin 8 years of civil service 1872: First story, The Crystal Cup

1878: Begins managing Henry Irving at Londons Lyceum Theatre


1882: First book, Under the Sunset 1890: First novel, The Snakes Pass 1897: Dracula published April 20, 1912: Dies in London

Literature: Bram Stokers Influences 1890-1896

Researched eastern European vampire folklore (especially Transylvanian myths) An Account of the Principalities of Walachia And Moldavia, An Extraordinary and Shocking History of a Great Berserker Called Prince Dracula, and The Historie and Superstitions of Romantic Romania The Un-dead and Count Wampyr 1890: Met Hungarian professor, Arminius Vanbery Syphilis in Victorian England Never set foot in Romania

Literature: Bram Stokers Influences 1890-1896

Literature: Bram Stokers Dracula


Epistolary novel Significant plot changes 2nd to the Bible in sales Inspired or influenced over 700 films Never been out of print Translated into every major language in the world

1897

Only one page in a vast output of political pornography directed against us by our enemies; an attack on the very idea of being a Romanian. -Adrian Panescu, 1985

You might also like