Bram Stoker's Dracula Revealed: The Mythology, History & References Explained!

Bram Stoker's 1992 film Dracula is my favorite adaptation of the most adapted horror novel ever Dracula written by a guy whose name I forgot, of course, it's Bram Stoker despite having the author's name in the title Francis' film adaptation Ford Coppola does not represent the novel exactly in In fact, one of the main arcs of the film is a love story between Dracula and Mina that was not in the novel at all, however, Coppola took Stoker's novel and made it his own. , creating a unique piece of cinema with many layers within these layers. Coppola planted a lot of details and

references

, some of which are easy to miss, so in this video I will break down and explain the

references

in Bram Stoker's Dracula that you may have missed and not simply references to the Dracula novel because there is a lots of them, but references to the real world.

history

, art, literature and the

mythology

that inspired

bram

stoker

's iconic vampire story, so let's begin.

This may be one of the most epic introductions and origin story sequences of any film, but it's also not in the novel at all. The sequence is inspired by truth. story of vlad, the third voivode of vulchia, also known as vlad

dracula

, also known as vlad the impaler, also known as vlad tepes, which also means the impaling

stoker

, the novel takes its title from this true historical figure and refers to Vlad's story several times, however, the novel begins at the end of the 19th century. not in the year 15, 1462, Constantinople had fallen, the Muslim Turks were swept into Europe by the great superior force that the Turks Anthony Hopkins mentions here are the Ottoman Empire, they had conquered Constantinople nine years before the date he mentioned in 1453 and in doing so, they ended the Eastern Roman Empire. empire in 1462 the ottomans were strengthening their control over the balkans, including vlad the third's territory of volakia in present-day romania vlad was one of the few leaders in this region who managed to resist ottoman expansion at least for a time since it emerged transylvania a romanian knight of the holy order of the dragon the order of the dragon was a true military order founded in 1408 by sigismund von luxenburg a later emperor of the holy roman empire its objective was to defend against all non-christian invaders but particularly against the ottoman empire the Father of Vlad III, Vlad II took his title from this order.

His name was vlad dracul or vlad the dragon. His second son then took the title Vlad Draculia, which means son of the dragon. Throughout the film we can see a fictional version of Dracula's family crest that represents a dragon, he must face an insurmountable force from which he may never return because Antonio told us that this battle occurs in 1462 and seems to begin at night and then concludes in the early hours of the morning. It is likely to loosely represent the knight's attack. of Tergo Vishte during which Vlad III raided the Ottoman camp just south of the Wallachian capital of Turgoviste.

Vlad's troops wiped out a considerable portion of the Ottoman army but did not completely defeat them, as the scene would have us believe that Vlad, however, left behind a forced quotation quote of thousands of impaled Ottoman soldiers for the sultan to discover later. After the battle, the vengeful Turks shot an arrow at the castle carrying false news about Draculia's death. This scene adapts a real legend about the first wife of Vlad the Third whose name is not known according to this legend, while Vlad was away from his stronghold, the Pulonari castle, an arrow message was shot into the princess's chamber with the news of the attack by the Ottoman army on the castle the next morning, rather than risk capture, the princess jumped from the castle tower into the river below.

However, in the movie, she jumps after hearing fake news about Dracula's death. The river in this legend was later called Rule Domini, that is, the river of ladies. In a later scene in the film, Dracula names the river Arjesh, but Arjesh is actually the largest river that Domini rules over. connects with these blue flames are adapted from a section of the book in which Dracula explains that one night of the year a blue flame will appear over the places where the hidden treasure is buried. The stoker took this detail from Emily Gerard's articles on the superstitions of Transylvania, a great inspiration for Gerard's articles on their vampire tradition they claim that on St.

George's night a treasure can be found under a flickering blue flame, discover this Treasure can also attract evil spirits and Gerard also claims that by placing three coals on the threshold of a house, the seeker of this treasure can prevent demons from entering. This last detail may have been the inspiration for Dracula's need to an invitation before he can enter a house or Dracula's need for someone like Harker to willingly cross the threshold of his castle before he can possess them, as implied here in the portrayal of Dracula. What we see here was not based on a portrait of Vlad III but rather resembles a self-portrait by the German artist Albrecht Duda painted in the 1500s and I never drink why Dracula laughs at this because he doesn't drink wine but he does drink blood. oh, you didn't need me to explain it to you, okay, sorry to be proud, what the hell are they rich, whatever, as great as a murderer whose blood flows through these veins in this scene,

dracula

claims to be a descendant of attila, the hunt, The line is adapted from a section in the novel in which Dracula goes on a considerably longer rant revealing his ancestry and making several references to the true story of Vlad III.

In the novel, Dracula begins this rant by claiming to be a sequel to a subgroup of the Romanian people of actually Hungarian descent Later in the film, Dracula introduces himself to Mina as Prince Vlad of Sic. I'm Fritz Vlad from Sophomore. Historically, the Sicalis have claimed to be descendants of Attila and his Huns, although the truth of this is complicated. Dracula's claim also contrasts with the true

history

of the law. third, that he was of witch and Moldovan descent instead of sequels, your signature writes the best of your talents. I know what you're thinking, but Dracula's hairy palms have nothing to do with self-love.

This detail is taken from Stoker's novel, who in turn raised it. From Sabine Barangould's Book of Werewolves, another book that inspired much of the vampire story in Stoker's novel, although Bearing Gould's book is primarily about werewolves. This book states that a werewolf can be identified when he is not in wolf form because he has short fingers and hair. in the hollow of his hands, as cold as Dracula's shadow is in this scene, is not faithful to the novel which states that Dracula does not cast a shadow nor is he reflected in any mirror. The Stoker probably adapted this feature from the ancient superstition linking a person's shadow or reflection with their soul, therefore no reflection means no soul here, Dracula is licking Harker's blood.

I'm sure you'll be surprised to learn that he's a vampire. I should note that while vampires and other blood-sucking revenants exist in many cultures, Stoker's vampire borrows. Much of the specifically Romanian tradition is found in Emily Gerard's writings on Transylvanian superstition or other texts on the subject, while folklore sometimes portrays the vampire as human in appearance, the aristocratic and royal appearance of Dracula owes more to fiction than folklore John William Polidori's 1816 novel The Vampire is credited with establishing the trope of the vampire as an aristocrat, like most scenes in this film, this is an adaptation of the novel, however, this scene is especially iconic because it was depicted on the cover of the popular 1919 edition of the novel in the novel none.

Of Dracula's brides are described as having snakes in their hair, this design choice likely references Medusa, the snake-haired gorgon from Greek

mythology

, possibly the connection was made because Medusa is usually depicted as one of the three sisters. gorgons and dracula has three vampire girlfriends. Day and night they work hard filling boxes with decrepit earth from the bowels of the castle. In the scene we learn that Dracula is blowing up the earth in his castle into boxes to transport it to England. A common trait of the vampire in folklore is his need to return. periodically to the specific location of his grave, I assume that Stoker built on this belief and had Dracula box the earth of his home as a way to travel with his earthen grave to England.

The film's incredible costume designer, Aiko Ishioka, based Dracula's robes here on Gustav Klimt's. 1908 painting the kiss. This is the first time we see Dracula transform into a stoker wolf. He based his Dracula character not only on vampire lore but also on werewolf lore. In fact, Baron Gould's Werewolf Book states that these two creatures are closely related. He probably wore Gould's. book that inspired Dracula's ability to transform into a wolf, however, Romanian folklore attributes the shapeshifting to the vampire. A Romanian variation of the vampire called the strigoi is believed to be a shapeshifter and possess the ability to disappear at will.

Both are abilities that Dracula himself possesses. The vampire like any other knight creature can move during the day, although it is not his natural time and his powers are weak, as Van Helsing mentions in this scene. Vampires can appear during the day, for example, the French monk and scholar Augustine Kalmei recorded. There are cases of Russian and Polish vampires in the years 1693 and 1694 that claim that they would appear from noon to midnight. However, vampires in folklore are generally nocturnal, so Stoker's detail that they are weaker during the day is perhaps implicit in Dracula's folklore ability to revert to his youthful state.

Appearance is also referenced in the novel in folklore, it is common for vampires to not age, although immortality is usually implied rather than explicitly stated because the traditional vampire is already dead, it stands to reason that they can survive indefinitely through consumption. of blood. The appearance of a corpse, too youthful and attractive, is also not unheard of in folklore. The Romanian linguist Emil Petrovici recorded a folk tale in which Estrigoy transforms into a handsome young man to seduce and marry a girl. This silent film effect is intended to reference the very early cinema Stoker's novel was published and the film is set in the year 1897, shortly after the birth of cinema; in fact, later, Dracula and Mina watch actual silent films from this era, for example, this is the 1896 film, The Arrival of a Train.

For cinematography, I understand that it is a wonder of the civilized world. If you're looking for culture, then visit a museum, as Mina alludes to. Film was generally considered cheap entertainment at the time and not a true art form. Apparently Coppola likes irony after Dracula exposes his horrible game of the day there is a pretty cool easter egg found in this human poster the board advertises a production of Hamlet at the Lyceum theater a real theater where Stoker worked as a business manager the board also shows the name of the actor who will play Hamlet sir henry irving irving was a real actor and director of the lyceum theater stoker took the name and story of dracula from vlad iii but also based much of dracula's personality and mannerisms in its chief henry irving the ability of a vampire to transform its victim into another vampire is a common feature in vampire lore of the 17th and 18th centuries: vampires were thought to be the cause of actual infectious diseases or vampire plagues, As they were known, the threat was considered so real that the authorities of the Austro-Hungarian Empire investigated the matter, impaled people and roasted them, boiled their heads in the kettle, skinned them alive, cut them into pieces and then drank their blood.

Helsing refers to various methods of torture and execution that were attributed to Vlad III and the book contains fairly close replicas of actual wood block engravings depicting Vlad from a German manuscript created around the year 1480. This scene shows Dracula's ability to control the winds which is also referred to in the novel. This feature is probably taken from a passage in Gerard's articles on Transylvanian superstition describing a school of black magic. In the mountains called Sholemance, according to Gerard, only 10 students are allowed into the school at a time and they are taught by the devil himself. The tenth student becomes his assistant, helping to create lightning and other forms of weather in the novel by dracula, van helsing accuses dracula of being a school student, which would imply that he learned to manipulate the weather, the use of the crucifix to ward off evil, has roots in much of european folklore and in christian exorcism practices, hisEmphasis is on Stoker's novel, however, it was probably inspired by the German legend of Faust.

The stage adaptation of this legend was a frequent production at the Lyceum Theater where Stoker worked on the play. The cruise arrangements are used against the devil. mephistopheles the role played by stoker's partial inspiration for dracula sir henry irving the use of other sacred artifacts against vampires in Stoker's novel, such as the use of holy water and sacramental bread, has its roots in Romanian folklore, but It was probably also inspired by the legend of Faust. He places the tip of the heart and then in the name of God strike, do it now. The method the vampire hunters use to completely kill Lucy is Another reference to Gerard's articles on Transylvanian superstition states that to prevent someone who has been killed by a vampire from becoming a vampire, you must pierce their body with a stake or shoot a gun at his coffin;

This last method was apparently ignored by The stoker Gerard states that in severe cases it is recommended to cut off the head of the corpse, fill its mouth with garlic and then replace it; That last detail, as well as other references to the use of garlic in Gerard's writings, are probably what inspired the use of garlic in Dracula. Did you taste his blood for a moment? No, in order for Stoker's vampires to turn their victims into vampires, the victim must consume the vampire's blood. However, this doesn't seem to have any basis in folklore and was probably invented by Stoker so that there wouldn't be too many vampires crawling around, he can appear as lost as vapor like fog and disappear at will.

If you were wondering why Dracula can transform into mist, keep wondering. I also couldn't find any source for this detail, as I said before, the strigoi possesses the ability to disappear. at will, so Dracula's fog may simply be an elaboration of what in the novel Dracula transforms into a bat; However, this man-bat creature is an invention of the film and not even an invention of Coppola. Batman's suit was apparently Gary Oldman's idea. In Batman it's hard to say when or how exactly the trope of a vampire transforming into a bat was established. Bats have long had a rather unfair association with demons and witchcraft.

I should add that for the species this was probably an influence, as well as the previous versions. of the vampire, for example, the bloodthirsty bird of greek mythology, the strixa and the shape-shifting strigoi, regardless of stoker's dracula novel, really cemented the safer-than-circle trope, drawing a magic circle or A sacred circle as protection against evil has its roots in the ancient folklore or mythology of various cultures, including Romania, in her articles on the superstitions of Transylvania, Emily Gerard states that before summoning a demon you must draw a circle at the junction of roads to protect you; However, once again, Stoker's use of the circle is probably inspired by the legend of Faust and later.

Play on the legend Faust draws a circle as protection against the demon Mephistopolis and by the way, Coppola definitely lifted this rising flame effect for Mina's sunset spell, another scene that wasn't in the novel if you want to go even further goal, the silence of 1926. The film version of Faust that you see here was directed by FW Murnau. He also directed the first film adaptation of Dracula called Nosferatu in 1922. Those are the interesting references and details I noticed while watching my favorite vampire movie in the last two decades, please let me. I know if I missed an interesting detail you noticed or if I got something wrong in the comments below.

Also let me know which movie I should review next. If you enjoyed this video, please like it and subscribe to the channel if you haven't already. Check out these other videos about spooky things and thanks for watching until next time, happy Halloween.