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Elizabeth Báthory in popular culture

Popular culture references to the Hungarian countess From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The influence of Countess Elizabeth Báthory in popular culture has been notable from the 18th century to the present day. Since her death, various myths and legends surrounding her story have preserved her as a prominent figure in folklore, literature, music, film, games and toys.

In folklore and literature

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The case of Countess Elizabeth Báthory inspired numerous stories and fairy tales. 18th and 19th century writers liberally added or omitted elements of the narrative. The most common motif of these works was that of the countess bathing in her victims' blood in order to retain beauty or youth. Frequently, the cruel countess would discover the secret of blood bathing when she slapped a female servant in rage, splashing parts of her own skin with blood. Upon removal of the blood, that portion of skin would seem younger and more beautiful than before.

This legend appeared in print for the first time in 1729, in the Jesuit scholar László Turóczi's Tragica Historia,[1] the first written account of the Báthory case.

When quoting him in his 1742 history book, Matthias Bel[2] was sceptical about this particular detail,[3] he nevertheless helped the legend to spread. Subsequent writers of history and fiction alike often identified vanity as the sole motivation for Báthory's crimes.

Modern historians Radu Florescu and Raymond T. McNally have concluded that the theory Báthory murdered on account of her vanity sprang up from contemporary prejudices about gender roles. Women were not believed to be capable of violence for its own sake. At the beginning of the 19th century, the vanity motif was first questioned, and sadistic pleasure was considered a far more plausible motive for Báthory's crimes.[4] In 1817, the witness accounts (which had surfaced in 1765) were published for the first time,[5] demonstrating that the bloodbaths or blood seeker for vanity aspect of Báthory's crimes were legend rather than fact.

The legend nonetheless persisted in the popular imagination. Some versions of the story were told with the purpose of denouncing female vanity, while other versions aimed to entertain or thrill their audience. Some versions of the story incorporated even more elaborate torture chamber fantasies than recorded history could provide, such as the use of an iron maiden, which were not based on the evidence from Báthory's trial. Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, whose name inspired the term masochism, was inspired by the Báthory legend to write his 1874 novella Ewige Jugend ("eternal youth")[6]

Bathory also appears as the main antagonist in the novel Dracula the Un-dead, a sequel to Bram Stoker's classic novel by his great-grandnephew Dacre Stoker and Ian Holt. In the book, she is cousin to Count Dracula and was the motive behind his decision to move to London in the original novel, as she was murdering women under the guise of Jack the Ripper and he swore to stop her.

The historical novel The Countess by Rebecca Johns tells a first-person fictionalized account of Báthory's life from her prison cell at Csejthe Castle. In the book, she tells her son, Pál, the story of her life, explaining her behavior toward her servants as punishment for their disloyalty.

Vampire myth

The emergence of the bloodbath or blood seeker for vanity myth coincided with the vampire scares that haunted Europe in the early 18th century, reaching even into educated and scientific circles, but the strong connection between the bloodbath or blood seeker myth and the vampiric myth was not made until the 1970s. The first connections were made to promote works of fiction by linking them to the already commercially successful Dracula story. Thus, a 1970 movie based on Báthory and the bloodbath or blood seeker for vanity myth was titled Countess Dracula.

Some Báthory biographers, McNally in particular, have tried to establish the bloodbath myth and the historical Elizabeth Báthory as a source of influence for Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula, pointing to similarities in settings and motifs and the fact that Stoker might have read about her. This theory is strongly disputed by author Elizabeth Miller.[7]

Meanwhile, Báthory has become an influence for modern vampire literature and vampire films.[8] The story, while retaining the essential facts, receives an imaginative interpretation in the horror novelist Syra Bond's Cold Blood.[9]

Literature

  • The Dracula Archives (1971) by Raymond Rudorff is a vampire novel that features Báthory.[10]
  • Our Lady of Pain (1974) by John Blackburn is a supernatural horror novel whose plot revolves around a play about Báthory being staged in modern Britain.[10]

Television

Film


There have been numerous films about, referring to, or containing characters based on Countess Elizabeth Báthory:

Video games

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The bloodbath myth served as a major component of some games:

  • A character based on Elizabeth Báthory, named Elizabeth Bartley, appears as the main antagonist of the video game Castlevania: Bloodlines (1994). In the game's story, she is introduced as the niece of series antagonist Dracula. After being killed in the early 16th century, she is revived 300 years later and orchestrates the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, starting World War I in order to use the souls of the deceased to resurrect Dracula. She is fought as the penultimate boss of the game, perishing as she completes the ritual to revive Dracula.
  • A fan-made, five-mission campaign for Thief II: The Metal Age on PC.[36]
  • In the MMORPG Ragnarok Online, Bathories are witch-like enemies fought on the 4th basement floor of Clock Tower.
  • In the MMORPG DarkEden, Lady Elizabeth Bathory is a game "boss" alongside Lord Vlad Tepes, who players are able to kill in an instanced level known as a "lair".
  • In the MMORPG Atlantica Online, Countess Elizabeth Bathory is the boss of the dungeon Bran Castle alongside Lord Vlad Dracula.
  • "The Countess" is a super unique monster from Blizzard Entertainment's popular dungeon-crawler Diablo 2. The following passage is read in a rotting tome and initiates the quest:

    ... And so it came to pass that the Countess, who once bathed in the rejuvenating blood of a hundred virgins, was buried alive... And her castle in which so many cruel deeds took place fell rapidly into ruin. Rising over the buried dungeons in that god-forsaken wilderness, a solitary tower, like some monument to Evil, is all that remains. The Countess' fortune was believed to be divided among the clergy, although some say that more remains unfound, still buried alongside the rotting skulls that bear mute witness to the inhumanity of the human creature.

  • In the video game Fate/Extra CCC, the new Lancer Servant is based on Báthory as a Heroic Spirit.
  • She also appears in the game Fate/Grand Order as a Lancer, and later as five event servants for Halloween, Elizabeth Bathory [Halloween] as a Caster, Elizabeth Bathory [Brave] as a Saber, Elizabeth Bathory [Cinderella] as a Rider and a robotic Alter Ego version called "Mecha Eli-chan" that also has a "Mk. II" counterpart. While the Saber, Caster, Rider and Lancer servants are based on her 14-year-old self, an Assassin and Rider servant with the alias of "Carmilla" is her own existence in her adult age, succumbing over her dark side. The younger Elizabeth despises her older self, and wishes to never become like her, instead enjoying being a JPOP idol.
  • In Fate/Extella she appears in the same form as in Fate/Extra CCC; however, as several servants severe liberties are taken, such as making her into a JPOPesque singer, a further departure from the semi-realistic portrayal of historical and fictional characters of the early TYPE-moon games from the fate franchise.
  • In the video game Vampire Hunter D, the main antagonist addresses herself as Elizabeth Bartley Carmilla, also referencing the title character of Sheridan Le Fanu's novella Carmilla.
  • The Butcheress from the video game BloodRayne claims to be her descendant.
  • In the video game Resident Evil Village, antagonist Alcina Dimitrescu bears strong resemblance to Báthory, and takes sadistic pleasure in torturing her victims before killing them and drinking their blood,
  • In the video game Ninja Gaiden 2, the female villain named Elizabet is seen bathing nude in a pool of blood and her demonic power seems to be that of using blood to attack her foes.
  • In the role-playing game Nightlife, Báthory appears as a Vampyre NPC living under the alias Lisa "Blood" Bath. She is the lead for an unsigned hardcore/heavy metal band called Krypt.
  • In the 2010 role-playing video game expansion Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening, a Baroness (dead at the time the game takes place) abducts and kills young female villagers and uses their blood for rejuvenating rituals.
  • In the 2004 PlayStation 2 videogame Primal, there is a young Elizabeth in a Carpathian castle who seems destined to grow up to be Elizabeth Báthory.
  • In Mortal Kombat, the Fatality Tutorial mentions Elizabeth Báthory as the DLC character Skarlet's favorite historical figure, due to the character's blood-based powers.
  • The indefinitely halted video game Shadows of the Eternal was intended to have Elizabeth Báthory as a major character and possible villain, with the main protagonist Clara being a handmaiden and lover/confidante of her.
  • In the Mass Effect series, a female human plastic surgeon named Erzsebet Vidmar killed 30 Asari to harvest a genetic compound which is responsible for slowing the aging process, in an attempt to access the thousand-year lifespan Asari are known for.
  • While Báthory does not appear directly in the game, one of the villains in Fire Emblem Gaiden and its remake Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia is the witch Nuibaba; she would kidnap young, beautiful women and sacrifice them to attain eternal beauty, somewhat in a similar vein to Elizabeth Báthory.
  • In For Honor, The name of the playable female Black Prior is Erzabet. Erzabet is the Hungarian form of Elizabeth, and likely references Elizabeth Báthory.
  • The Tekken series features a playable female vampire character named Eliza, possibly short for Elizabeth.
  • In Warframe, Garuda, a warframe based around gore and blood, has an alternate helmet called "Bathory" which is a nod towards Elizabeth Báthory.

Toys

Báthory is featured in McFarlane Toys' 6 Faces of Madness series, a collection of action figures which also includes Jack the Ripper, Rasputin and Vlad the Impaler. Báthory is depicted bathing in blood while the heads of some of her victims are impaled in a candelabrum. Bathory was also made as a doll in the Living Dead Dolls series.

In the board game The Harbingers, which is part of the Atmosfear series of interactive video board games, Elizabeth Bathory was one of the six playable harbingers in the game, portrayed as a vampiress. Prior to that, she had her own added expansion set to the first Atmosfear game; Nightmare.

In the card game Sentinels of the Multiverse, Blood Countess Bathory is the leader of the Court of Blood, a playable "Environment" deck.[37] She is periodically featured in the storytelling podcast based on the game, The Letters Page.[38]

Music

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  • "Elizabeth", song by Swedish rock band Ghost from the album Opus Eponymous.
  • Elizabetta (2019), opera in two acts by Gabriel Prokofiev, with libretto by David Pountney, premiered in Regensburg, Germany, 2019.
  • Báthory Erzsébet (2012), Hungarian musical-opera by composers György Szomor and Péter Pejtsik, with libretto by Tibor Miklós.
  • Countess Báthory (Báthoryčka), is a 1994 opera by the Slovakian composer Ilja Zeljenka, with libretto by Peter Maťo, after Jonáš Záborský.
  • The Lady of Čachtice (Čachtická pani) is a 1931 opera by the Czech composer Miloš Smatek, with libretto in Slovak by Quido Maria Vyskočil and Elena Krčmáryová.
  • Erzsebet is an opera by French composer Charles Chaynes.
  • A Bestia: Báthory Erzsébet véres legendája (The Beast: The Bloody Legend of Erzsébet Báthory) is a Hungarian rock opera by Béla Szakcsi Lakatos and Géza Csemer.
  • Báthory Erzsébet, opera (premiered in Budapest, 1913) by Hungarian composer Sándor Szeghő (1874–1956).
  • "Elisabetha", song by Gothic metal band Darkwell. There are two versions of this song, one with Stephanie Luzie as vocalist.
  • Erzsébet: Elizabeth Bathory: The Opera is by Dennis Báthory-Kitsz (he claims he may be related to her).[39]
  • The extreme metal band Cradle of Filth dedicated their album Cruelty and the Beast (1998) entirely to her, telling her story with a certain degree of artistic license, but keeping the main details of her story intact. There are two versions of the album cover, both feature a woman bathed in a tub of blood. References to Elizabeth Báthory occur throughout the band's work.
  • The German band Untoten have released a concept album about her, called Die Blutgräfin.
  • French singer Juliette (Nourredine) mentions La Bathory in her song "Tueuses" from her 1996 album Rimes Féminines along with numerous famous female criminals.
  • Australian/Japanese unit GPKISM have released two EPs about Báthory, Barathrum (meaning Hell) and Iudicium (meaning fate, judgement or trial).
  • Russian black metal band Messiya had released an EP dedicated to her called Erzebet in the year 2009.
  • Channeling of Lady Elizabeth Bathory is a live album by multigenre jam band Stefanik, Perny & Kollar featuring Kofi recorded in Višňové village, under Čachtice Castle in 2010.
  • Underground hip-hop artist Killah Priest named his album Elizabeth in reference to her.
  • Warwickshire poet and harpsichordist, Siân Lavinia Anaïs Valeriana released an extended play under her nom de plume 'The Raveness' entitled Eat the heart in the year 2006, based around Báthory.

Songs about Elizabeth Báthory include:

Bands named after Elizabeth Báthory include:

  • The influential Swedish black metal band Bathory take their name from Elizabeth, and mention her in some songs, one being "Woman of Dark Desires".
  • The Dutch black metal band Countess take their band name from Elizabeth's title. They also covered the song Countess Bathory, originally by Venom.
  • American band Ellsbeth take their name from Elizabeth. They released a concept album about her named Well Dressed Killing Machine in 2009.
  • German heavy metal band Elisabetha take their name from her.
  • Mexican heavy metal band Erzsebeth take their name from her and released a concept album about her named La Condesa Inmortal in 2007.
  • Colombian black metal band Erzebet take their name from her.
  • American Gothic metal band Erzebet take their name from her.

References

Further reading

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