What Makes a Man a Monster Research Paper
A monster is a person who creates harmful actions towards innocent people. Throughout literature, we see monsters in Macbeth, Hamlet, Frankenstein, and The Picture of Dorian Gray. In these stories, some characters in the story become monsters by murdering and cause unintentional consequences without them knowing it. In the today’s world, the word “Monster” can have a list of different meanings. Monsters generally cause harm to innocent people and they live for harmful actions. In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein creates a creature and this creature begins to murder innocent individuals. The creator of this creation, Victor, is considered the monster because of creating the beast.
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This eventually leads Dorian to cause monstrous actions. In Shakespeare's Macbeth, Macbeth causes harm to his people while Lady Macbeth is actually the fuel to the fire by telling him to cause harm. She convinces him to be the monster when it is actually her who is the true monster. A common theme between all of these works is that all of these monsters only think about themselves. They are all seeking power and they are only thinking about what will get them in control. They all act shellfish and will do whatever it takes to get them to accomplish their personal needs and wants in their life. The true monsters are not the ones that look scary but the ones that look normal and hide their true intentions inside them and cast an illusion on the outside of them.
In Shakespeare's play, Macbeth, the three Witches are perceived as the monsters because of their physical appearance. They give Macbeth his fate and tell him that he will be king one day. The Witches tell Banquo that he himself will never be king but his heirs will. Macbeth is troubled by the fact and Lady Macbeth is troubled as well. Lady Macbeth persuades Macbeth to commit
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The artist, Basil Hallward, painted a portrait of Dorian and has an affection for Basil and his art work. Basil introduces Dorian to a man named Lord Henry. Lord Henry gives Dorian a long lecture about how Dorian will start to grow old day by day. Dorian is choleric by this idea and he wishes his own soul to remain youthful. He also wished that the portrait of himself starts to age and not himself. With this wish, Dorian starts to think only of himself. This causes Dorian to become shellfish and only think of personal needs. The obvious monster in this books is Dorian Gray because he committed murder but he is not the only one. Lord Henry is considered a monster because of the idea he gave to Dorian. According to Ted Spivey, there are two monsters in the play: Dorian Gray and Lord Henry. Spivey states, “ The tragedy of Dorian Gray, as I have suggested, is the same as that of Macbeth… two characters whose souls are gradually poisoned until their destructiveness forces them to face the fact that they have been deluded about their advisors, whose knowledge they have used to destroy life” ( Spivey). With this evidence, we can conclude that Lord Henry and Dorian Gray are the monsters in this book because of their shellfish needs and wants. They only think about what they want and not what the right thing to do which is to stop these sinful crimes. Another
Despite popular belief, Frankenstein is not the name of the monster but instead its creator. Victor Frankenstein created the “tremendous and abhorred” (page 76) creature that is known as the Monster after he discovers how to give
...that had to become evil in order to get what he wants. It was Frankenstein and the society’s fault that the monster actually turned into a monster, they didn’t reach out to him, and instead they froze him out of the society because of his looks.
Monsters and Men (Unit Paper). For ages, we have wondered what is the difference between monsters and men that make them who they are. What are the characteristics that define a monster? Typically it’s the bad guy, the person or thing that comes into the story just to cause a massacre or stand in the protagonist’s way.
Shelley and Wilde write about how easy it is for a person to be influenced to commit monstrous acts to society due to a lack of approval from those who matter. “The Creature makes us sympathize with him because he only wants to be loved by one of his own. Dorian Gray captures our sympathy throughout the whole book because he is just an ordinary young kid who gets corrupted by Lord Henry and, ultimately, has his life ruined” (Andrew). Victor Frankenstein and Lord Henry Wotton fail their creations. They show the creations no love and do not give them the adoration that is necessary for anyone to feel accepted. This leads to not only the creations to become monstrous, but it makes the creators look monstrous due to their failure. The creations turn monstrous, because of the monstrous creators they are influenced by. Shelley and Wilde show that monsters are created by the influences around
If someone were to ask people who Frankenstein is they would probably describe a tall, hideous monster with bolts sticking out of its neck. But long before movies reinvented their version of the monster, there was a novel by Mary Shelley entitled Frankenstein. In her novel, the monster is shown as child-like and uneducated. But what really makes someone a monster? Who is the true monster of Mary Shelley’s novel? Victor and the Creature present similarities and differences in their action and character throughout the novel.
The monster of the novel is often misattributed with the name, “Frankenstein.” However, Victor Frankenstein can ultimately be considered the true monster of this tale. His obsession would lead to the corruption of his soul and the creation of two monsters—one himself, and the other, the creature. In attempting to take on the role of God, nature would become a monster to Victor and destroy his life. These elements of monstrosity in Frankenstein drive the meaning of its story.
Monsters can come in various physical forms, but all monsters share the same evil mentality. A Monster is a being that harms and puts fear within people. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a prime example of how appearance does not determine whether a creature is a monster or not. In the story, Victor Frankenstein tries to change nature by creating a super human being. The being appears to be a monster. Victor becomes so obsessed with his creation and then rejects it. Victor is the real monster because of his desire for power, lack of respect for nature, and his stubbornness.
A monster is not a monster unless he intentionally wants to hurt many and his plans are to hurt many. In Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, the monster is portrayed as an evil, hideous creature through everyone’s eyes. Victor Frankenstein creates a monster and once he brings him to life he abandoned him, leaving him to learn and discover the world by himself. The monster has to learn his way around society while being rejected by society because of this looks. Frankenstein’s monster is seen as evil because the way people treated him caused him to act out. The monster is not inherently evil because he helps others, has emotions, and does not fight back when he is attacked.
Monstrosity is not just defined by disfigurement, but also by the actions and obsessions of man. Most, if not all, tales of monsters often came about as exaggerations of sins and immoral actions. Others see men who become too obsessed with the idea of overstepping their own humanity and playing God as monsters in society. Frankenstein and The Picture of Dorian Gray reflect this idea. While the painting and the creation mirror the monstrous nature and the sin Gray and Frankenstein enact throughout the course of each novel, both Dorian Gray and Victor Frankenstein are the true monsters.
Wilde says that Dorian’s journey begins with Ordinary World. He is a young and good looking male. He has a normal life till he met Basil and Lord Henry. He now receives the Call of Adventure. When he met Basil at a party, they become friends and everything is still good until he met Lord Henry. He captured the imagination of Basil and for Lord Henry is how he knows that Dorian can do anything with his looks and perfection. Basil made a portrait of Dorian. Lord Henry made Dorian realize that he is not doing anything wrong and he is perfect no matter what. This is how
A monster is usually viewed to be a supernatural creature that humans judge based on looks and not necessarily on personality. In the novel, Frankenstein written by Mary Shelley, the monster is a creature Victor creates but abandons immediately because he is horrified by his own creation. Due to the monster’s appearance, society does not give the creature a chance to show his true self. Therefore, the monster faces an external conflict because of Frankenstein’s and society's rejection, making it difficult for him to blend into his new life. Victor creates the monster because of his unusual compulsion of aspiring to be like God. However, Victor does not know how to treat or be responsible for his creature. Victor Frankenstein is the true monster
A monster is defined as an imaginary creature that is typically large, ugly, and frightening. By this definition, Victor’s creature who is depicted to be eight feet tall and hideous
In analyzing Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, concepts such as influence and the origin of evil in Dorian Gray play an exceptionally valuable role in understanding the motives of the characters. Although some critics argue characters such as Lord Kelso significantly influence Dorian’s corruption, Lord Henry Wotton’s toxic personality undeniably impacts Dorian the most. Throughout the course of the novel, Lord Henry remains the ultimate source of evil and uses deception and persuasion to poison Dorian from a naïve boy to a destructive monster.
Basil Hallward, a painter, knows the corruptive influence that Lord Henry can impose upon his model, Dorian Gray. Basil does not want Lord Henry to even meet Dorian because he is afraid that Dorian will be influenced and ruined. Basil begs Henry by saying, "Don't spoil him. Don't try to influence him. Your influence would be bad. The world is wide, and has many marvelous people in it. Don't take away from me the one person who gives to my art whatever charm it possesses: my life as an artist depends on him" (Wilde 10). Right from the beginning Wilde begins to show what type of person Lord Henry is. Lord Henry's influences pose a threat to Dorian. Basil is well aware of this.
... Wilde split himself into three parts and gave them different personalities. Basil's and Lord Henry's fascination with Dorian represents Wilde's obsession with young men and his own unconscious fears. "Basil Hallward is what I think I am: Lord Henry what the world thinks me: Dorian what I would like to be -- in other ages, perhaps." He was quite aware of what he really is: faithful, softhearted and blinded by love (we can find him as another Basil in De Frofundis).