Essay Comparing Frankenstein And The Picture Of Dorian Gray

Serial killers are violent sociopaths with very dark, twisted views on human emotion and morals, but do they become monsters because of this lack of inhibitions and moral guidelines that they have or do they become monsters after committing heinous crimes such as a multitude of murders. In the 1818 horror novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Shelley illustrates that Victor Frankenstein's creation is a horribly grotesque abomination of nature with a corrupted mind due to the lack of parental figures and the act of being labeled an outcast of society and a monster, while in Oscar Wilde’s 1890 novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, the protagonist Dorian Gray is a very suave, refined gentleman even though he is a pleasure seeking hedonist with a

Oscar Wilde's idea of what makes a man a monster differs from Mary Shelley's because he focuses on a Dorian Gray’s actions and inner emotions compared to Shelley's focus on the outward appearances and the natural constitution of being inherently evil with Frankenstein’s monster. The idea of a monstrous being exists in many writings like The Picture of Dorian Gray and Frankenstein stems from the fact that it is not always a fantasy creature that is what is a monster but it is a human, an average citizen that finally snaps or hits a breaking point. It is the idea that anyone could have a monster contained in their emotions that makes this a terrifyingly interesting concept to

Frankenstein’s creation questions “Why did you form a monster so hideous that even you turned from me in disgust?”(Shelly 155). The creation is blaming his creator for making him into the monster that he is and turning away from him when he needed help, yet Victor did not create the monster for the express reason to commit sins, the monster was created with free will, just like every other human, yet the monster chose his path of murder and revenge. The creation’s reason for these sins is a societal rejection due to his horrific looks. The creation believes that if he is loved by a female so “The Monster’s proposed solution is for Frankenstein to create a bride for him who would reciprocate his love and thus render him benign”(Britton 7). The monster holds on to the idea that he is not inherently evil, but that he has just not received affection or care from someone. Frankenstein believes this to be untrue and that creating another monster would just release more chaos into the world. The monster continues to blame his evil deeds on his sadness saying “I am malicious because I am miserable”(Shelley 174). The monster