What Is the Cultural Significance of Dracula?

¶ … Dracula's cultural impact

Dracula's Immortal Cultural Impact

Nearly five centuries after his death, Vlad "Tepes" Dracula's reputation continues to intrigue, inspire, and terrorize people. Vlad the Impaler, as he was often referred to as, was the Prince of Wallachia in Romania and a three time Voivode of Wallachia, and was born in 1431 and killed in action near Bucharest in 1476. Vlad the Impaler is known for his leadership as well as his extreme cruelty. It is this terrorizing historical figure, and the lore surrounding him, that inspired Bram Stoker to write Dracula. Dracula holds an important place in popular culture thanks to the literary work of Bram Stoker who published Dracula in 1897.

While Stoker's novel is not based upon the historical figure of Dracula, it does draw upon the legend surrounding the prince and provides an insight into Romanian culture, their superstitions, and the area surrounding Transylvania and Wallachia. Additionally, Stoker's novel provided commentary and insight into the Victorian conventions and social fears of the time. While Dracula was published in 1897, it served as inspiration for 2009's Dracula: The Un-Dead, written by Stoker's descendent, Dacre Stoker.

In addition to being a successful and popular work of literature, Dracula also inspired scholars to look further into the historical Dracula's background and socio-political impact. There are many important texts that recount the tales of Dracula's cruelty and hail his military and political exploits. Dracula's exploits have also inspired renowned scholars, such as Raymond T. McNally and Radu Florescu, to investigate Dracula's historical impact in Romania and Hungary. Also, it can be argued that Stoker's novel helped to influence other fiction writers such as Anne Rice who is best known for her Vampire Chronicles and Stephanie Meyer, who is known for her popular vampire series, Twilight.

Stoker's work was also adapted into a play and was subsequently used as inspiration, albeit without Stoker's widow's consent, for the German Expressionist masterpiece, Nosferatu. Despite a court order to have all copies of the German film destroyed, several copies escaped and have allowed for the once-forbidden film to be hailed as a cinematic masterpiece. Not only did the novel inspire others to interpret it cinematically, but also helped to influence the creation of horror cinema. What is more, the novel and Nosferatu, helped to influence the 1931 Hollywood film Dracula starring Bela Lugosi -- who, like the historic Dracula, was from present-day Romania. Christopher Lee in 1966's Dracula: Prince of Darkness played another memorable cinematic interpretation of Dracula. Lee's Dracula films helped to launch a Dracula franchise that lasted from 1966 to 1976. The latest Dracula film was released in 1992 and follows Stoker's novel the most faithfully. It can also be argued that Stoker's novel helped to influence