12C Essay Topic 3
12.02.2017
jj
Who was the real Dracula?
Notorious for his nightly visits. Famishes by an inexhaustible thirst for human life juice. And always escaping from one of his greatest enemies; the daylight. The speech is of Count Dracula. But why is the Romanian prince Vlad III a role model for the legend of Dracula? In the next few lines there will be shown a few equalities between the two figures.
Dracula's real name was Vlad Basarab, but after his death he only got called Vlad Tepes, which means 'Vlad the Pounder'. This “nickname” he got through his passion to impale his enemies and other criminal on wooden pales.
He was also called Draculea, which means 'son of Dracul'.
When Vlad II (his father) was defeated by the king of the Roman Empire as a knight of the Order of the Dragon against the Ottomans. He got the nickname “the dragon”, Dracul. When his second son was born, he was named Vlad Basarab, but he was called Drăculea, which means 'son of the Dracul'.
Dracul is derived from the word Draco from the Latin, the translated word means dragon.
In the people's mouth his Vlads nickname Draculea soon got a change in the meaning, because the word Draco, which actually meant dragon, now became Dracu, the devil. From Draculea, son of the dragon , then became to 'son of the devil'. 1
Vlad Basarab was born in 1431 as the second son of the Wallachian Boyar Vlad II. He was probably born in Sighioasa (Schäßburg), which is located in Transylvania.
Transylvania is a historical region located in what is today a part of Romania and a part of the kingdom Austria-Hungary. But the author Bram Stoker was never in the places of his roman. For this reason, he did extensive research an searched in many libraries and archives to find something about this place.
But how did Vlad and Dracula actually die? Vlad Tepes Draculea or Vlad Basarab finally found his death around the year 1476. Until this day the historians argue about the exact cause of death, but the most popular end is that he was killed in an uprising. His head ended on a pale.
Many heads of his opponents landed, like his, on a pale and were placed conspicuous somewhere. The head was preserved in honey and handed over to the Ottoman Sultan. The Sultan order to fasten him on a pale, so everyone can see him.3
The author Bram Stoker decided to make Dracula's death a little bit more dramatic. Dracula's retreat place were some boxes, but Dr. Seward, Van Helsing and the other one destroyed all of them, except one. They chased after him all the way to Transylvania, where they find the last box.
The 'crew' opened the its lit and found the body of Count Dracula in there. Jonathan Harker cuts of the head, while Morris drives his knife into the heart of Dracula and Dracula dies.
There are many equalities of Vlad Basarab and the literary character Dracula, but in Vlads historical curriculum vitae are there many inconsistencies and speculations that are not the same as in the roman of Bram Stoker. Many people lost their lives, because of Vlad and Dracula and they will be known for a long time, as long as Bram Stocker's book will be known as a famous roman.
References & Links
DE
Basket
