Krwawa hrabina
The Bloody Countess

Summary/Abstract: Gothic trends in literature and art inspire the imagination of modern people to discover the depths of evil in the human psyche. Countess Elizabeth Bathory who lived in Hungary in 16th century was a successor of Dracula both in literature and art and is recorded in history as a specific vampire who drank and bathed in human blood in order to preserve her youth. The countess has been the inspiration for various classic and contemporary works. Johanna, the heroine of Mściwy karzeł i Masław, książę mazowiecki [The Vengeful Dwarf and Masław, the Mazovian Prince] (1830), by the Polish writer and poet Zygmunt Krasiński, resembles Elisabeth Bathory. She discovers the properties of human blood by accident and commits a series of murders to bathe in blood which is to make her more attractive to her lover. In the The Bloody Countess (1968), a short story by the Argentinean poet Alejandra Pizarnik, the Countess learns from a witch that blood, especially that of virgins, is a wonderful cosmetic and begins to use it to satisfy her own needs. Another version is presented by the writer and poet Andrei Codrescu in the novel The Blood Countess (1995) which to a certain extent justifies the evil acts performed by the Countess. The author goes back to her childhood, where surrounded by corrupt aristocrats, young Elizabeth witnessed many cruel scenes. As an adult she creates her own “extravagant manner” and precedes each killing with various forms of torture which for a short time relieve her of her melancholy and boredom. In a similar way to Pizarnik’s story, the novel reaches its climax when the Countess’s crimes are discovered and she is brought to justice, although she feels no remorse and claims that as an aristocrat she had the right to commit these crimes. In the 1970’s Countess Bathory became a muse for several filmmakers. Such films as Contes Immoraux by Walerian Borowczyk, Countess Dracula by Peter Sasda and Harry Kümel’s Daughters of Darkness focused mainly on the erotic..

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