Analysis of Dracula and the Vampire Myth Essay - 2043 Words

The story of Dracula started long before Brahm Stoker wrote his famous novel. Vampires have been in the minds of people since the early ninth century and, perhaps, even before that. The fact that the stories are still common after all these years brings out the question of, why? What makes these vampire stories so popular? The answer may be in the material itself. Taking a wide selection of vampire stories, including Brahm Stokers classic, reveals a long list of similarities. Of course, not all stories mirror the others in all aspects of images but the images that do repeat are the ones most people readily associate with vampires. I propose that the reason Dracula and other stories of vampires are still so widely known†¦show more content†¦These stories of vampires go back much farther than the Victorian era though. They occur in almost every culture and may have wide variances. The most popular vampire legions are from Eastern European myths (Richardson) and many of the primary characteristics of behavior came from these myths. In Eastern Europe, the Slavic people from Russia to Bulgaria, Serbia to Poland, have the richest vampire folklore in the world (Richardson). The split of the Eastern Orthodox Church and Roman Church, in 1054 AD caused a split in development in lore about vampires. The Roman Church saw saints in those characters the Orthodox Church saw as vampires (Richardson). Romanian vampires are called Strigoi or demon or witch. These tales share many common features with the modern vampire tales. The Vircolac are more closely related to wolfs in folklore and seem to have morphed into werewolves, though they were originally thought to be vampires. All these creatures, as well as witches, were thought to be most active on the Eve of St. Georges Day (Richardson). Britain, however, did not hear of these vampires until the 1700s. The eighteenth century in Europe brought a big vampire scare when even government officials were brought into the mass killings of vampires (Richardson). This scare started in East Prussia in 1721 and arose again in theShow MoreRelatedFilm Adaptation Of Bram Stoker s Dracula1320 Words   |  6 Pagesfrightening tale of Count Dracula has struck horror into the hearts of many since it was originally penned. In 1987, Bram Stoker wrote the revolutionary tale Dracula that played off the fears of the people of the era. The plot and characters that make the novel great also translate nearly perfectly to cinematic adaptations. Starting in the early 1900’s, directors have done their best to portray the terror that the original novel inspired. 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