Count Dracula

Ringkasan

Count Dracula adalah vampir bangsawan Transylvania, tokoh antagonis dalam novel Dracula karya Bram Stoker (1897). Ia dianggap vampir purwarupa dalam fiksi sesudahnya.

Count Dracula is a Transylvanian nobleman and vampire, the title antagonist of Bram Stoker's novel Dracula (1897). He is considered the prototypical vampire of later fiction.

Kisah dan tradisi

Count Dracula adalah tokoh fiksi, bukan makhluk dari cerita rakyat. Ia lahir dari novel Dracula karya Bram Stoker, yang pertama kali terbit di Britania Raya pada 1897. Menurut Encyclopedia.com, novel itu merangkum banyak kisah tentang vampir yang sudah ada sejak zaman kuno dan memberinya wujud nyata lewat tokoh sang Count. Wikipedia menyebutnya sebagai vampir purwarupa dan arketipal dalam karya fiksi sesudahnya. Dalam novel, Jonathan Harker menggambarkan sang Count sebagai lelaki tua yang tinggi, tercukur bersih kecuali kumis putih panjang, dan berpakaian serba hitam. Wajahnya berhidung bengkok tajam dengan gigi putih yang runcing dan menonjol di atas bibir, telinganya pucat dan sangat runcing di bagian atas, dan kesan umumnya adalah kepucatan luar biasa. Harker juga mencatat ada rambut di telapak tangannya dan kukunya panjang serta runcing. Kemampuan dan batas kekuatan sang Count dipaparkan lewat tokoh Van Helsing. Sang Count tidak berbayang dan tidak tampak di cermin, dan Harker tidak pernah melihatnya makan. Ia disebut dapat berubah menjadi serigala, kelelawar, atau kabut, memiliki kekuatan dua puluh orang, memerintah hewan seperti tikus, burung hantu, kelelawar, ngengat, rubah, dan serigala, serta dapat mengubah orang lain menjadi vampir. Ketika serigala melolong, ia menyebutnya "anak-anak malam". Namun ia tidak masuk ke rumah tanpa diundang oleh salah satu penghuninya, kekuatannya berhenti ketika siang tiba, dan salib, mawar liar pada petinya, peluru suci, pancang, atau pemenggalan kepala disebut dapat membatasi atau mengakhirinya. Sang Count tinggal di sebuah kastel di Pegunungan Karpatia dekat Borgo Pass. Menurut ringkasan Wikipedia, ia menaiki kapal Rusia Demeter dengan membawa peti-peti yang ia perlukan; Harker pernah menemukannya terbaring di salah satu dari lima puluh peti besar berisi tanah. Kapal itu kandas di Whitby, dan seekor anjing besar melompat dari kapal menuju tebing pemakaman gereja. Para pahlawan kemudian mengikutinya kembali ke Transylvania; di sana pisau Jonathan menebas lehernya dan pisau bowie Morris menembus jantungnya, lalu tubuhnya hancur menjadi debu. Asal-usul tokoh ini diperdebatkan. Dalam novel, Van Helsing menyebut sang Count pastilah Voivode Dracula yang melawan bangsa Turki, dan sang Count sendiri membanggakan darah Székely. Encyclopedia.com menyebut sebagian besar kritikus sepakat bahwa tokoh ini sebagian didasarkan pada Vlad si Penusuk, sedangkan menurut Wikipedia para ahli yang dipimpin Elizabeth Miller meragukan hubungan itu dan Sir Henry Irving dianggap luas sebagai inspirasi tokohnya. Entri ini hanya membahas tokoh sastranya, bukan tokoh sejarah mana pun.

Count Dracula is a fictional character, not a figure of folk tradition. He comes from Bram Stoker's novel Dracula, first published in Great Britain in 1897. According to Encyclopedia.com, the novel synthesized much of the vampire lore that had existed since ancient times and gave it a palpable form in the character of the Count. Wikipedia calls him the prototypical and archetypal vampire of later works of fiction. In the novel, Jonathan Harker describes the Count as a tall old man, clean shaven except for a long white moustache and clothed entirely in black. His face is strongly aquiline with sharp white teeth that protrude over the lips, his ears are pale and extremely pointed at the top, and the general effect is one of extraordinary pallor. Harker also notes hairs in the centre of the palm and long nails cut to a sharp point. The Count's powers and limits are laid out through the character of Van Helsing. The Count casts no shadow and has no reflection in a mirror, and Harker never saw him eat. He is said to be able to transform into a wolf, a bat, or mist, to have the strength of twenty men, to command creatures such as the rat, the owl, the bat, the moth, the fox, and the wolf, and to turn others into vampires. When wolves howl, he calls them "the children of the night". Yet he may not enter a house unless someone of the household invites him, his power ceases at the coming of day, and a crucifix, a branch of wild rose on his coffin, a sacred bullet, a stake, or a cut-off head are said to restrain or end him. The Count lives in a castle in the Carpathian Mountains near the Borgo Pass. According to Wikipedia's summary, he boards the Russian ship Demeter taking along the boxes he needs; Harker once finds him lying in one of fifty great boxes of earth. The ship runs aground at Whitby, and an immense dog leaps from the ship and heads for the churchyard cliff. The heroes then follow him back to Transylvania, where Jonathan's knife shears through his throat and Morris's bowie knife plunges into his heart, and his body crumbles into dust. The origins of the character are debated. In the novel, Van Helsing deduces that the Count was the Voivode Dracula who earned renown in his conflict with the Turk, and the Count himself boasts of Székely blood. Encyclopedia.com says most critics agree the character was based in part on Vlad the Impaler, whereas according to Wikipedia scholars led by Elizabeth Miller question that connection and Sir Henry Irving is widely considered a real-life inspiration. This entry covers only the literary character, not any historical figure.

Konteks budaya

Menurut Encyclopedia.com, para pemburu vampir dalam novel ini menegaskan sikap-sikap zaman Victoria, dan novel itu merangkum banyak kisah vampir yang lebih tua.

According to Encyclopedia.com, the vampire hunters in the novel underscore the Victorian attitudes of the time, and the novel synthesized much older vampire lore.

Fakta utama

Budaya / Culture: Sastra Modern
Kawasan / Region: Eropa
Era: A literary character from a novel first published in 1897; one of the best-known fictional figures of the Victorian era.
Klasifikasi / Classification: Undead
Habitat: Dwelling
Kemampuan / Abilities: Berubah wujud, Kekuatan luar biasa, Mengatur unsur alam dan hewan, Merayap di dinding kastel, Tidak mati karena waktu, Menularkan keadaan Un-Dead

Nama lain / Alternate names

Count De Ville

Tahukah kamu? / Did you know?

Menurut Wikipedia, Stoker memilih nama Dracula untuk menggantikan nama Count Wampyr yang semula ia rencanakan bagi tokoh penjahatnya.

According to Wikipedia, Stoker chose the name Dracula to replace the name Count Wampyr that he had originally intended for his villain.