Within, stood a tall old man, clean shaven save for a long white moustache, and clad in black from head to foot, without a single speck of colour about him anywhere. He held in his hand an antique silver lamp, in which the flame burned without chimney or globe of any kind, throwing long quivering shadows as it flickered in the draught of the open door. The old man motioned me in with his right hand with a courtly gesture, saying in excellent English, but with a strange intonation:— “Welcome to my house! Enter freely and of your own will!” He made no motion of stepping to meet me, but stood like a statue, as though his gesture of welcome had fixed him into stone. The instant, however, that I had stepped over the threshold, he moved impulsively forward, and holding out his hand grasped mine with a strength which made me wince, an effect which was not lessened by the fact that it seemed as cold as ice—more like the hand of a dead than a living man.
(Bram Stoker Dracula Chapter Two)
The Count Dracula of Stoker's novel is a vampire. He can change into a bat, wolf, or a cloud of mist. He controls classically creepy animals like wolves and rats, and he also controls the weather. Most notably, he drinks blood and lives forever. It is hard to believe that the character Dracula is baised off of a real man. No real man can change into random things or control weather patterns or drink blood or live forever? Or did he? Dracula is the patronymic name of Vlad III Dracul, son of Prince of Romania Vlad II Dracul. To really know where Bram Stoker invented his basic mythology of his vampire, one must look at the history of this man and his effect on history.
Vlad III Dracula is the supposed inspiration for Stoker's novel for a few reasons. He bears the same name, Bram Stoker researched at the British Museum which did have accounts of Balkan history which contained the history of Vlad III, and various historical references to the life of Vlad Tepes and Dracula are near identical.
The beginning to understanding a member of any royal courth is to examine the surname. Dracula translated means "The Dragon" or "Devil" which makes the mention of the Eve of Saint George's Day in Chapter One significant.
“Do you know what day it is?” I answered that it was the fourth of May. She shook her head as she said again: “Oh, yes! I know that! I know that, but do you know what day it is?” On my saying that I did not understand, she went on: “It is the eve of St. George’s
Day. Do you not know that to-night, when the clock strikes midnight, all the evil things in the world will have full sway? Do you know where you are going, and what you are going to?”
(Bram Stoker Dracula Chapter One)
Saint George is believed to have slain a dragon, saving the city of Silene in Lybia from sacrificing their princess to the dragon so they could get water where the dragon slept. (Saint George and the Dragon) This is the day when Stoker has Jonathan Harker journey to Castle Dracula. In the end, Jonathan Harker kills Dracula just as Saint George killed the dragon thus saving the fair maden.
(Bram Stoker Dracula Chapter Two)
The Count Dracula of Stoker's novel is a vampire. He can change into a bat, wolf, or a cloud of mist. He controls classically creepy animals like wolves and rats, and he also controls the weather. Most notably, he drinks blood and lives forever. It is hard to believe that the character Dracula is baised off of a real man. No real man can change into random things or control weather patterns or drink blood or live forever? Or did he? Dracula is the patronymic name of Vlad III Dracul, son of Prince of Romania Vlad II Dracul. To really know where Bram Stoker invented his basic mythology of his vampire, one must look at the history of this man and his effect on history.
Vlad III Dracula is the supposed inspiration for Stoker's novel for a few reasons. He bears the same name, Bram Stoker researched at the British Museum which did have accounts of Balkan history which contained the history of Vlad III, and various historical references to the life of Vlad Tepes and Dracula are near identical.
The beginning to understanding a member of any royal courth is to examine the surname. Dracula translated means "The Dragon" or "Devil" which makes the mention of the Eve of Saint George's Day in Chapter One significant.
“Do you know what day it is?” I answered that it was the fourth of May. She shook her head as she said again: “Oh, yes! I know that! I know that, but do you know what day it is?” On my saying that I did not understand, she went on: “It is the eve of St. George’s
Day. Do you not know that to-night, when the clock strikes midnight, all the evil things in the world will have full sway? Do you know where you are going, and what you are going to?”
(Bram Stoker Dracula Chapter One)
Saint George is believed to have slain a dragon, saving the city of Silene in Lybia from sacrificing their princess to the dragon so they could get water where the dragon slept. (Saint George and the Dragon) This is the day when Stoker has Jonathan Harker journey to Castle Dracula. In the end, Jonathan Harker kills Dracula just as Saint George killed the dragon thus saving the fair maden.
Much of the history we know today about Vlad III is slightly biased. The
people either loved him or hated him. There is no in between. While Russian
accounts give him a favorable outlook, the histories of the Germans deam him a
madman and a brute. Surely, with all of the things that Vlad III accomplished in
his lifetime, he would have been seen as such. Tepes (pronounced tse-pesh)
translated means "impailer." Vlad is most noteably known for this. He would
round out and oil the steaks upon which he would impale everyone he thought
diserved punishment. There are stories of Vlad impaling a woman because her
husband's shirt was too short, mothers and their babies because of suspected
infidelity, and all political prisoners. Amid these bodies, he was known to
dine. Once, whilst he was amid a group of impaled nobels whom he decided were
corrupt, he dipped his bread in the blood dripping down from the spikes. Even
whilst he was imprisoned, he was known to impale the rats and spiders of his
cell on little stakes. It seems as if Vlad also lived off of the blood of many.
(Adrien Axinte)
The tales of the cruelty of
Vlad III Dracula are morbidly astounding. It is a wonder why Stoker didnot use
this information in his novel; however, the similarities between the two men are
either coinsidental or uncanny. Oh, and they only found animal bones in Vlad's tomb.
people either loved him or hated him. There is no in between. While Russian
accounts give him a favorable outlook, the histories of the Germans deam him a
madman and a brute. Surely, with all of the things that Vlad III accomplished in
his lifetime, he would have been seen as such. Tepes (pronounced tse-pesh)
translated means "impailer." Vlad is most noteably known for this. He would
round out and oil the steaks upon which he would impale everyone he thought
diserved punishment. There are stories of Vlad impaling a woman because her
husband's shirt was too short, mothers and their babies because of suspected
infidelity, and all political prisoners. Amid these bodies, he was known to
dine. Once, whilst he was amid a group of impaled nobels whom he decided were
corrupt, he dipped his bread in the blood dripping down from the spikes. Even
whilst he was imprisoned, he was known to impale the rats and spiders of his
cell on little stakes. It seems as if Vlad also lived off of the blood of many.
(Adrien Axinte)
The tales of the cruelty of
Vlad III Dracula are morbidly astounding. It is a wonder why Stoker didnot use
this information in his novel; however, the similarities between the two men are
either coinsidental or uncanny. Oh, and they only found animal bones in Vlad's tomb.