Dracula, seen on the Internet by the Italian team

Dracula: History, Myth, and Popular Culture

Transformations History: Vlad III Dracula Literature: Bram Stoker’s, Dracula Theatre: Dracula

1431-1476 1897 1924 & 1927

History: Vlad III Dracula Born: 1431 in Sighisoara, Transylvania 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

1431-1476

History: Vlad III Dracula

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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

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Never associated with vampires

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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 London’s Lyceum Theatre

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

Literature: Bram Stoker’s Influences 1890-1896

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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 Stoker’s 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

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

1897

Literature: the Count or the Voivode 

1897

2 major differences Count: Castle in Transylvanian Alps Voivode: Castle in Walachia's foothills Count: of Szekely blood, from the "northern country" Voivode: of an older Walachian stock

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2 Major Similarities Count Dracula describes his royal heritage: "Is it a wonder that we were a conquering race; that we were proud; that when the Magyar, the Lombard, the Avar, the Bulgar, or the Turk poured his thousands on our frontiers, we drove them back? [...] To us, for centuries, was trusted the guarding of the frontier of Turkeyland; aye, and more than that, endless duty of the frontier guard.“ Count Dracula alludes to an "ancestor" who "sold his people to the Turk and brought the shame of slavery on them!" Vlad III Dracula’s younger brother, Radu, surrendered Walachia to the Ottomans.

Theatre: Dracula

1924 & 1927

1924: Dracula, by Hamilton Deane, premiered in Derby, England – popular 3 year tour 3 acts set mostly in a drawing room in London Count: Raymond Huntley (2000+ performances) Count: from cadaverous to charming American entrepreneur, Horace Liveright, bought rights to the Deane production John Balderston: young journalist/playwright assigned by Liveright to 'Americanize' Deane’s script Toned down theatrical dialogue – structure remained Huntley turned down role – Bela Lugosi hired (speech) 1927: Dracula opens in Fulton Theatre in New York City Runs for 33 weeks, earning over $2 million