Bram Stoker, Dracula, Francis Ford Coppola, The Mysterious Stranger, male antagonists, Franziska, Mina, Azzo Klatka, vampires, comparison
Anonymously written and translated from German into English, then published in 1860, "The Mysterious Stranger" is a tale which can irrefutably be compared to Bram Stoker's Dracula, published in 1897. It is unknown if Stoker was inspired by this anonymous author, but readers of vampire tales conclude that the two stories have uncanny similarities; such as a male warrior antagonist yearning for the blood and love of the young, beautiful female protagonist. Both tales have an impossible night-time journey in April, through the Carpathian Mountains to large, strange castles with packs of wolves howling in the distance. Francis Ford Coppola's film Bram Stoker's Dracula, released in 1992, makes these parallels even more apparent when seen on the big screen. A consistent theme of these works is male antagonists, in which the sub-theme of their desires collectively aids in each story's conclusion. Both vampires lust for each of these tempting women, acting as though there is nothing to stop them from attaining their desire of love. However, at the end of each story, each incumbent spirit is eternally destroyed.
[...] This is also shown in the film when Dracula does not eat food. At this point Franziska says, “The thin, dried up, whimsical stranger is far more interesting to me than the rosy-cheeked, well-dressed, polite, and prosy cousin” to whom she is engaged. In vampire stories, once the women become interested in the vampire they lose interest in their current partner and there is no turning back, as we see in both of these stories. Once Azzo knew he had successfully seduced Franziska, he came back in the night while she was asleep and left a “red streak on her throat”, indicating he had bitten her. [...]
[...] The antagonist in Bram Stoker's Dracula is Vlad III the Impaler Dracula, while in “The Mysterious Stranger” there is Azzo von Klatka. Dracula is introduced in the beginning of the film as a muscular knight who battles the Turks for the sanctity of the church in 1462 when Constantinople had fallen. He left “his bride Elisabeta, whom he prized above all things on Earth”. Elisabeta “flung herself into the river” after the “vengeful Turks shot an arrow into the castle with a note attached” which told the lie that Vlad had been killed in battle. [...]
[...] N.p Web Dec Longinovic, Tomislav. Vampires Over the Ages. N.p.: n.p., n.d. [...]
[...] These visits are very much like Azzo von Klatka's to Franziska in “The Mysterious Stranger”. In the end, each vampire tries to disease the women to become the same creatures as they are. However, their love is unrequited and both women marry their fiancés. In “The Mysterious Stranger” and Bram Stoker's Dracula, there are unholy monstrosities who desire the beautiful female protagonists. Both of these women are able to cure their infections through killing these serpents with a knife or nail in the heart. [...]
[...] Comparing “male antagonists” in Francis Ford Coppola's film Bram Stoker's Dracula and Anonymous' short story “The Mysterious Stranger” Anonymously written and translated from German into English, then published in 1860, “The Mysterious Stranger” is a tale which can irrefutably be compared to Bram Stoker's Dracula, published in 1897. It is unknown if Stoker was inspired by this anonymous author, but readers of vampire tales conclude that the two stories have uncanny similarities; such as a male warrior antagonist yearning for the blood and love of the young, beautiful female protagonist. [...]
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