THE CONTRIBUTION OF “DRACULA UNTOLD” TO THE EVOLUTION OF BRAM STOKER’S DRACULA: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE PROTAGONISTS

Abstract

Byron’s “Fragment of a Novel” was one of the English pioneer novels featuring the vampire theme. It remained unfinished, but served as a starting point for John Polidori, his physician and friend, in the creation of “The Vampyre”. This novel generated the thematic elements linked with one of the most famous revenants in literature. Since then, his descendants have been the main characters of many novels and media interpretations, imbuing popular culture in various guises and appearances. Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” was based on Polidori’s vampire novel, and it is considered to represent “the greatest and most influential vampire novel ever written”(Frost, 1989, p.52)This essay aims at critically analysing the evolution of the protagonist and discovering how the one portrayed in the film has diverged from Bram Stoker’s legendary Dracula. The conclusion will be based on the type of deviation and transformation with
regards to their manifestations in both the novel and the film.