Madam, – In his very interesting exploration of the Dracula phenomenon (Weekend Review, March 28th) Stephen Dixon states categorically that “the character was not inspired by the 15th-century Romanian warlord Vlad Tepes [Vlad the Impaler] . . . Stoker simply liked the name”.
Yet Stoker’s description of his character, quoted at the start of Dixon’s piece, “His face was a strong – a very strong – aquiline, with high bridge of the thin nose and particularly arched nostrils; with lofty doomed forehead, and hair growing scantily round the temples, but profusely elsewhere. His eyebrows were very massive, almost meeting above the nose, and with bushy hair that seemed to curl in its own profusion. The mouth so far as I could see it under the heavy moustache, was fixed and rather cruel looking . . .” – is remarkably similar to a contemporary description (from the papal legate to Buda, the Hungarian capital) of Vlad III Dracul, voivod of Wallachia [who had a] “cold and terrible appearance, a strong and aquiline nose, swollen nostrils, a thin and reddish face in which very long eyelashes framed large wide-open green eyes; the bushy eyebrows made them appear threatening. His face and chin were shaven but for a moustache. The swollen temples increased the bulk of his head . . . from which black curly locks hung on his wide-shouldered person”.
The legate's description is matched by a portrait of Vlad Tepes at Ambras Castle, Innsbruck, reproduced in the current issue of History Irelandmagazine, in which the reputation of the historical Dracula is reassessed by John Akeroyd. So if the name is the same and the physical description is the same what more inspiration does an author need? – Yours, etc,