ShmoopTube

Where Monty Python meets your 10th grade teacher.

Search Thousands of Shmoop Videos


Foreignness and 'The Other' Videos 20 videos

A Modest Proposal...in 21st Century Media
74728 Views

We were so moved by Angelina Jolie's overseas adoptions that we created a proposal to bring foreign-born children over by the thousands! Think abou...

A Farewell to Arms
20538 Views

You might be hearing a chorus of farewells if you recommend A Farewell to Arms as the next read for your Fabulously Feisty Feminist Book Club.

Dracula
27348 Views

What is Dracula really about? Just Count Dracula? Or is there more to it than vampires? This video addresses some major ideas in Bram Stoker’s cl...

See All

Dracula Part 2: Vlad the Impaler 5358 Views


Share It!


Description:

Vlad the Impaler was an appropriately named guy, until he went on tropical vacations. Then, he went by Vlad the Imtanner. For some facts that are actually true, check out this video.


Transcript

00:01

We speak student!

00:07

Dracula

00:09

Vlad the Impaler

00:11

a la Shmoop

00:13

So as I was researching

00:16

the background for Dracula,

00:19

I came across a lot of references

00:22

to Vlad the Impaler.

00:24

And, from my reading, Vlad the Impaler

00:27

would find victims for various reasons,

00:30

and it was unclear as to why he would impale people.

00:33

[ evil laugh ]

00:34

But what he would do is stick

00:36

a post in the ground with a pointy tip,

00:39

and a few guys would swing the poor person being impaled.

00:42

It would go through their chest

00:44

and not kill them.

00:45

[ pained groan ]

00:46

That was, I guess, a sport

00:48

- or something that he did just to... - A spectacle.

00:51

Lawn decorations in 15-whatever.

00:54

[ moan ]

00:57

Was Vlad the Impaler the inspiration for Dracula?

01:00

Oh, yeah. So part --

01:02

I mean, the novel goes into --

01:04

When the novel goes into a little bit of

01:05

the extensive biography

01:08

of Count Dracula, since he's hundreds of years old...

01:11

[ aww ]

01:12

Part of it is that he's

01:14

not just a nobleman,

01:15

but he comes from this very aristocratic clan.

01:19

That was part of the repulsion of the invasions of the Ottoman Empire,

01:23

so in modern day Turkey.

01:24

So the person --

01:26

The vampire, I should say, Count Dracula,

01:29

always had this sort of basis.

01:30

And his clan was noted for

01:33

being a very militaristic, warring clan.

01:36

Vlad the Impaler, I think,

01:39

is one of the sort of

01:41

the stories in the firmament

01:44

from where Dracula takes off.

01:47

Got it. Makes sense.

01:49

[ whoop ]

01:51

Was Vlad the Impaler the inspiration for Dracula?

01:58

[ evil laugh ]

Related Videos

The Importance of Being Earnest Summary
123040 Views

They say that honesty is the best policy, but Jack lies about his identity and still gets the girl. Does that mean we should all lie to get what we...

The Giver Summary
105893 Views

Ever wish you could remember everything that you ever studied? How about everything that everyone has ever studied? Yeah, pretty sure our brains ju...

Invisible Man (Ellison)
1818 Views

Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man is an American classic. Hope you're not expecting any exciting shower scenes though. It's not that kind of book.

Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night
1257 Views

Do not go gentle into that good night. In fact, if it's past your curfew, don't go at all into that good night. You just stay in your good bed and...

Quotes: A fool's paradise
296 Views

Find out the meaning behind "a fool's paradise."