How Dracula got His Fangs For centuries, people have told hair-chilling stories of monsters who cannot die, but live on the blood of others. From the Philippines to the highlands of Ireland, these vampire-like demon stories come from every part of the earth. One of the most memorable vampires came from Bram Stoker’s classic novel Dracula. But, the wicked Count Dracula of children’s nightmares came from a real life warlord. More than just a legend, this purely fictional character was based off of an ancient ruler of Transylvania: Vlad III. Transylvania, literally translated to “through the woods or beyond the woods”, contains many legends of Count Dracula from the imagination of Bram Stoker (What Is Transylvania?). Although the fictional …show more content…
In an attempt to protect his country, Dracula fought bravely with his limited resources. He used biological warfare, starvation, and fear to ward off the invading forces. Sick Wallachians would infiltrate Turkish camps, towns would be burned, and bodies were strewn everywhere. Vlad’s greatest use of fear was “the Forrest of the Impaled” which turned around the famous Sultan Mehmed II. This forest consisted of twenty thousand impaled Turkish soldiers and it earned Vlad III the nickname Tepes which means Impaler. However, Vlad Tepes’ forces eventually fell to the overwhelming Ottoman …show more content…
But this horrifying haunt kept readers looking over their shoulders with his despicably wicked ways. Unlike any other vampire of that time, Count Dracula rose to a level of infamy which has lasted for over one hundred years. Like the Wallachian Prince Vlad Dracula, Count Dracula possessed the same “heavy mustache” and terrifying aura (Dracula pg. 16). Even the historical Dracula had a taste for human blood for “as he dined beneath impaled bodies, he dipped his bread in the blood flowing down the hideous spikes, while his servants collected blood in a cup from which the prince drank with great enjoyment” (Searching for the Real Dracula pg.
As the first character writes about his personal experiences we find that proves to be very effective, in the way the writer is able to portray the gothic theme to the reader. The first example would be Jonathan's journey to Eastern Europe,
Since the beginning of time vampires have been categorized into different "types” and are portrayed in different ways throughout several books. This paper will focus on three vampires from the following books: Dracula by Bram Stoker, and I am Legend by Richard Matheson. Dracula is considered to be the traditional vampire, where it all started, and the vampires in Matheson’s book, follow somewhat Stoker’s concept, but is more of a modern “type” of vampires. Certain vampire elements have been presented, but others have been completely removed or altered. In addition, elements along with appearances are used to infer if the vampire is a form of “the other”. There are two types of vampires; the traditional or modern vampire which can be distinguished based on the elements present in their storyline.
The truly shocking and terrible, blood-sucking-monster we once knew have now changed into beautiful, perfect,and healthy human beings. This paper will discuss the change and the reason why the change of idea many still accept and like the modern picture of vampires.In order to answer this, I will examine the differences between Bram Stoker's Dracula , the typical figure of horror before, and the soft light just before sunrise or after sunset's Edward Cullen, the obvious example of the 21st century vampire. From this, I will be able to decide out what changed in the features of the vampires we know today.Many would think about Edward Cullen as a "shockingly disrespectful behavior of the vampire old example" (Mole).
In addition to his actions, much has previously been made of Dracula's physical appearance. However, as Stevenson so aptly puts it, Dracula's physical appearance is only "a convenient metaphor to describe the undeniable human tendency to separate 'us' from 'them' " (140).
The novel, Dracula, was written by Bram Stoker in the late eighteen hundreds. The setting of Dracula is during the end of the nineteenth century, in England and Eastern Europe. The entirety of the novel is based on a vampire with heinous intentions that he casts upon a group of English citizens whom decide to rid the town of his evil. While reading the novel it is apparent that the genre is horror and gothic and that the tone is very dark and dramatic. Bram Stoker does this in a very intentional way. Therefore, discovering the ways Stoker implements Dracula into the criteria of the gothic fiction genre is simple.
Dracula is a proud of his lineage. His blood is noble among gypies (criminals) but when placed in comparison to the elite of England, he is considered primitive, “…Dracula's criminality dominates over his noble blood: 'science' assimilates him to a lower type, associating him with animals and 'inferior' human groups” (McWhir 34).
Though Vlad fought many battles using his impaled enemies as a warning; there is one battle in particular is famous to his name. Vlad knew the enemy was coming, so he helped all the citizens of the Capital city of Wallachia escape and staged a scene for Sultan Mehmet II to come upon. The long straight stretch of road that led to the city was lined with the impaled Turkish prisoners. The sultan became so appalled he turned around his troops without even making it to the city gates. Another cunning plot included masquerading as turkish soldiers in the sultan’s camp; though the origin goal to kill Mehmet had failed, they did manage to create a mass confusion.
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.
In the today’s world Vlad the Impaler or Vlad lll is viewed as a terrible and cruel person. The only thing most people know about him is that he was who Bram Stoker based his infamous character Count Dracula off of. Although history makes Vlad lll out to be a tyrannus ruler, and Bram Stoker’s Dracula fictionalized him as an evil vampire; His leadership and military strategy prove that he was a just and fair leader.
The generalization for vampires has been displayed in films and literature for hundreds of years. The stereotypical versions of vampires are that they have long fangs, sleep in coffins during the day, and suck the blood out of humans. Both novels contradict those stereotypes in different ways. To understand the diversity of the vampires described in both novels, one must examine the characteristics that the vampires display and the meaning and purpose behind them. David D. Gilmore’s book “Monsters” analyzes monsters and other mythical creatures. Gilmore describes why humanity invented the idea of
Blood sucking, shapeshifting, killer… These are just some of the myths attached to Count Dracula. Dracula is a vampire, and as we all know, vampires consume blood. In the novel, the author Bram Stoker never mentions how Dracula became a vampire (every other vampire was created off of Dracula), however Van Helsing thinks that he made a deal with the Devil and traded his mortality for that of a cursed soul in return for something else. A lot of myths are attached to Dracula, which is
Vampires have aroused a perennial fascination within humanity since their fictional materialization into history. However, it is over the course of the last century that these creatures have become an iconic symbol of mystifying horror and inexplicable desire. Recently, the vampire has undergone a significant reconstruction of physical appearance, behaviour, and surroundings, along with, extensive modifications to its super-natural disadvantages. These distinct character adaptations are imperative when considering two of the most notable vampires ever fashioned: Count Dracula and Edward Cullen. The dissimilarity between Bram Stoker’s 19th century, Count Dracula, and Stephenie Meyer’s 21st century, Edward Cullen, is a complex reflection of the contrasting societies from which these vampires emerged.
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
Have you ever watched a movie that had the character dracula in the movie? Most of these characters in the movies or books were based off of Vlad the Impaler. There are even rumors saying that he dipped his bread into the blood of his victims, and that he drank the blood of his victims aswell. It was pretty gruesome on the way he killed his victims.Vlad the Impaler was an evil person, who was a violent, torturous dictator, and he was viewed as one of the most evil person in the world.
“He speaks in perfect English and welcomes Harker inside, shaking his hand with an ice-cold, vice-like grip” (Dracula, 55). Dracula explains to him that he will no be able to make the trip to London, but one of his trusted servants will be going along with Harker back to London. After supper Jonathan analyzes Dracula and notices one very strange feature, his mouth is thick and white; they cover sharp white teeth, which stick out over his lip. What Jonathan does not know is that those teeth are canine teeth only found in animals. There are exceptions, for instance, vampires have these teeth so they can puncture the human’s carotid vessel in their neck and suck their blood. The first time that Jonathan sees Dracula’s cannibal teeth grow is when Harker starts shaving. He accidentally cuts himself and Dracula leaps for his throat so he can suck his blood. Harker touches his crucifix and Dracula’s “demonic fury” vanishes. The strangest event that Harker notices in Dracula’s castle is “Dracula emerge from his room on the floor below, slither out, head downward, in lizard fashion, with his cloak spread out around him like great wings” (Dracula, 179). This shows that “Dracula is not a person. He is a presence, an absence that requires concealing” (Wolf, 368). This tells Harker that something is very wrong with this man. He recalls how the peasants behaved