Key Issue 4: Monster and Monstrous (Mounjiya, Monique, Ondine, Pauline)
Key Issue Four
The monster and the monstrous in Gothic writing
Mounjiya, Monique, Ondine, Pauline
Introduction:
Various definitions of what a monster can be:
Comes from the Latin word “monere”, meaning “to warn”.
1. a. An imaginary or legendary creature, such as a centaur or Harpy, that combines parts from various animal or human forms.
b. A creature having a strange or frightening appearance.
2. Archaic An organism that has structural defects or deformities.
3. a cruel, wicked, or inhuman person
4. One who inspires horror or disgust: a monster of selfishness.
Definitions of what being monstrous involves:
1. a. Shockingly hideous or frightful in appearance.
b. Of or resembling a fabulous monster.
2. Exceptionally large; enormous: a monstrous tidal wave.
3. Extremely immoral or cruel: a monstrous dictator; monstrous behaviour.
4. Archaic Deviating greatly from the norm in appearance or structure; abnormal.
Famous monsters in Gothic Literature:
Dracula (Bram Stoker’s Dracula)
Frankenstein (Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein)
Mr Hyde (The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde)
The role of the Monster in Gothic Literature:
In Gothic writing, there is a significant difference between what is a monster and a monstrous being. Usually, the monster is considered ugly (deformed) and strange (different from society). It is more from the physical point of view. On the contrary, a monstrous being is behaving as immoral and cruel, which is the moral point of view. But these two terms are often associated to create complex characters and to bring s sense of duality.
The monster is the centre of unnatural events in most gothic books. By being that deformed and thus different, it breaks the laws of nature
During the 1700s, mentions of mythical monsters were rapidly decreasing in fiction as the world focused on studies of nature and medicine. However, with the rise of Gothic fiction in the late 1700s, their popularity increased and remained an important genre throughout the 1800s. In Gothic writing, monsters represented society's fears, such as the fear of scientific advancements (Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein). The author can also use the monster/monster’s body to explore or denounce a specific trait (race, gender, sexuality) that they experienced (beauty being contradictory to the vice of the mind in Dorian Gray).
In Dracula, Bram Stoker (1897):
- Vampires were undead creatures/demons that fed on human blood to survive.
- The belief in vampires became more important during the 18th century as several “vampire sightings” got reported.
→ They resulted in a mass hysteria throughout Eastern Europe (people started digging graves to hunt the potential monsters).
- Associations were made between vampires and the sufferers of tuberculosis. This infectious disease causes victims to cough up blood and become pale, thin and generally almost dead.
- As the disease had reached epidemic proportions, Dracula by Bram Stoker met a receptive audience.
In The Picture of Dorian Gray:
The Picture of Dorian Gray is quite an intricate and complex gothic novel to study. Gothic films and literature are most of the time associated with monstrous monsters, such as Frankenstein or a haunted mansion in the middle of a forest. However, in Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde seems to steer away from the physical monster, and tells a story that delivers a detailed portrait of a society that illustrates how influence can change a person, and turn them into something cruel and monstrous; that the characters’ decisions are not driven by love or passion, but by the need and want to sin.
In this novel, we witness the evolution of a young naive man, who was once innocent, turned into someone full of dark ideas, driven by this desire to sin, and who becomes a monstrous creation of society.
There’s this omnipresence of art in the novel, and Wilde intentionally does so, to explore the strong link that life, art, and sin have to each other. He shows that art can be beautiful, yet horrifying, like Dorian Gray. The name ”Gray” of the character emphasises the morally grey area that Dorian Gray finds himself in.
Other monstrous aspects include Lord Henry and Basil Hallward, both quite opposing characters. Several times in the novel, Basil Hallward expresses his admiration and devotion toward Dorian; however, it is much more than that. Basil says many times throughout the chapters that “ I have put too much of myself into it”, concerning Dorian’s portrait being exhibited; we realise later on that it is fear that incapacitates Basil to exhibit the portrait, the fear of his love and attraction for Dorian being discovered. During that period of time and sometimes still nowadays, homosexuality was seen as a sin, and a vile trait, which is why we could consider Basil monstrous, because of his forbidden passions.
Frankenstein, Mary Shelley (1818):
As medicine and science evolved during the 18th and 19th centuries, their practice was foreign to the public who could not understand these medical and scientific advancements. People commonly viewed scientific medicine and its practitioners with certain fear and unease.
Part of Gothic fiction, Frankenstein also stands as the first science fiction novel in history (published in 1818). The author, Mary Shelley, wrote the work with inspiration coming from ghost stories. The monster in the book, Frankenstein, who was assembled with dead body parts, was given life by his creator and father Victor Frankenstein. Victor’s creation turns out to not be as perfect as he’d imagined, and in return, he and society reject the specimen. The monster seeks its revenged through murder and terror. The monster here depicts science being a mysterious concept that escapes our grasp, our control and understanding, only feeding into the fear society already grounded.
Bibliography:
https://epublications.marquette.edu/gothic_monstrosity/
https://www.thefreedictionary.com/monster
https://addi.ehu.es/bitstream/handle/10810/21432/TFG_Ortiz_Tueba.pdf?sequence=1
https://custom-writing.org/blog/monsters-in-literature
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