Discussions about the Imperial Family and European Royalty > Balkan Royal Families

Dracula

(1/7) > >>

lady:
Is it true or myth that writer Bram Stoker created his Dracula after Prince Vlad of Valaquia?

palimpsest:
Bram Stoker made use of the German propaganda against Vlad the Impaler [Tepes]. Vlad had some border problems with the German cities in Transylvania and the Germans used the newly invented press-machine [Guttenberg] to portray him as a "savage". He was cruel and impaled a lot of people [enemies of all kind, including boyars] but Romanians remember him as a cruel-but-just ruler. For example during his reign it is said that nobody dared to steal anything, and the myth goes that you could have a golden cup at a public fountain and nobody would steal it. He built churches and monasteries and helped Mount Athos. He also fought against large ottoman armies with some success [guerilla like warfare]. The whole Vampire thing is invented by Stoker, there is no “folklore” to sustain it, no local myth. To the contrary, he is seen as a sort of people’s hero who punished the “rich-and-powerful” and brought justice.

bell_the_cat:

--- Quote ---Is it true or myth that writer Bram Stoker created his Dracula after Prince Vlad of Valaquia?
--- End quote ---


Bram Stoker borrowed the name from Prince Vlad. I remember being very excited to visit Vlad Dracul's (rather ordinary) house in Sighisoara, Romania. When I returned home to northern England I discovered that most of the action in Bram Stoker's novel takes place in Whitby, North Yorkshire. In fact Stoker was more interested in exposing the Victorian fear of sexuality in his book. The use of the Romanian hero was merely a literary device.

I think the real Vlad was a bit of a sadist though!

palimpsest:
Yes, you are right, "sadist" is a good description. But on the other hand, at that particular historical time to be a "successful" ruler you were required to be cruel.

Vlad "Dracul" was the father of Vlad Tepes [and I'm sure Stoker knew that].

bell_the_cat:

--- Quote ---Yes, you are right, "sadist" is a good description. But on the other hand, at that particular historical time to be a "successful" ruler you were required to be cruel.

Vlad "Dracul" was the father of Vlad Tepes [and I'm sure Stoker knew that].
--- End quote ---


Yes he obviously liked the sound of the name "Dracula"! It sounds so creepy in English.....especially when intoned by Bela Lugosi!

In Romanian it just means "dragon".

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page