Analysis
We thought we started this project with a solid direction and purpose. However, as we started researching the comparisons between the monsters represented in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray our direction shifted a bit. With these two books being our favorites that we read over the course of the semester in English 372 we wanted to put them side-by-side and compare and contrast the inner workings of the monsters depicted within them. The idea of a “monster” intrigued us and made us think about what exactly makes a monster a monster, and Frankenstein and The Picture of Dorian Gray both have apparent “monsters” in their storyline. This project was a great opportunity to explore the comparisons between the monsters in the two different texts and the multiple monsters within one text at a time, as well as to create our own definition of what a monster truly is.
Initially, we had the intention of researching how Creature—Dr. Frankenstein’s creation—and Dorian Gray are the monsters or antagonists of their stories. It was much to our surprise that once we took a closer look at the works, our view of who the monsters are changed. We came to the conclusion that the creators themselves are the real monsters because they created or heavily influenced their victims. In Frankenstein, Dr. Frankenstein selfishly creates the Creature for his own benefit. With little to no instruction on how to act, behave, and interact with others, the Creature becomes destructive. He murders many innocent people and is highly feared by society. His hideous appearance and violent acts are what classify him as a monster. However, we have concluded that Dr. Frankenstein is the true monster in this story because he was the one who created this creature with no forethought on what he would do if this creature were a mistake or committed acts of violence. The creation of this Creature was purely a selfish act. In The Picture of Dorian Gray we quickly realized that Lord Henry is a very negative influence on Dorian Gray as a person. It’s as if Lord Henry used Dorian Gray as a social experiment in an attempt to create the perfect human. Overtime, Dorian becomes obsessed with youth and beauty and is, in many ways, corrupted. This goes to show that Dorian isn’t the monster in this book, but Lord Henry is because he is the one that put such immoral ideas in his head.
After doing some research on monsters and characters within these two books, we realized that they have more similarities than what we had originally expected. Lord Henry and Dr. Victor Frankenstein had many similarities; they are both selfish, they use their victims for their own good and pleasure, and they don’t realize the negative aspects of their actions. Basil Hallward could also be seen as one of Dorian Gray’s creators in that he created the painting that partially influenced Dorian into wanting eternal youth and beauty. Dr. Frankenstein is comparable to Basil in that both creators were killed in the end of the novels by their creations. Both of these creators were blinded by the looks of their creations: Dr. Frankenstein was blinded by the ugliness of Creature, only seeing the bad in him, and Basil and Lord Henry, were blinded by the beauty in Dorian, only able to see the good in him. This was the ultimate downfall for these creators because they refused to see more than one side of their creations, and therefore could not help them better themselves.
And as far as the more obvious monsters in the stories go-- Dorian Gray and the Creature-- they have distinctly different features that qualify them as monsters, yet they both still fit the definition. The Creature was hideous physically but had initially only good intentions for human kind, but Dorian Gray was beautiful on the outside and was influenced into being a terrible person on the inside. However, this is good to see these differences in the monsters Creator and Dorian, because it shows that looks don’t make a monster who they are, but neither does what is on the inside of a person or being. Both looks and emotions can be destructive to the individual and to the people around the individual, as seen in these two stories. It not only gives a moral outlook for the two novels themselves, but also shows universal ideas that are seen in life everyday.
We chose do use a Weebly to create our project because it is a very user-friendly site. Weebly allows our viewers to easily access our website and to learn about the monsters portrayed in these two 19th Century novels. This topic is interesting that will capture the attention of a wide range of viewers. Everyone has their favorite movie monster so they can relate and bring in their own experiences to our website. We would especially like to connect with those who have read and are familiar with both works and to make them think critically of the themes and points we are arguing within out website. Unfortunately, there is no way to add a “comments” section into our website. With that we would have liked to invite our viewers to comment and offer their insight as well.
Overall, we agreed that this was our favorite of all four papers we had to write for this class. We enjoyed the topic and all were generally interested in further exploring these two texts. It was good for us to talk about this topic that we chose and discuss the ideas that we came up with because it enabled us to dive deeper into this theme of what really does make a monster. It helped us gain different perspectives on the main characters in these two novels. This project was a great way to expand our knowledge on what a literary “monster” actually is and let us explore the ins and outs of both these books. We hope that you enjoy our website as much as we enjoyed making it.
Initially, we had the intention of researching how Creature—Dr. Frankenstein’s creation—and Dorian Gray are the monsters or antagonists of their stories. It was much to our surprise that once we took a closer look at the works, our view of who the monsters are changed. We came to the conclusion that the creators themselves are the real monsters because they created or heavily influenced their victims. In Frankenstein, Dr. Frankenstein selfishly creates the Creature for his own benefit. With little to no instruction on how to act, behave, and interact with others, the Creature becomes destructive. He murders many innocent people and is highly feared by society. His hideous appearance and violent acts are what classify him as a monster. However, we have concluded that Dr. Frankenstein is the true monster in this story because he was the one who created this creature with no forethought on what he would do if this creature were a mistake or committed acts of violence. The creation of this Creature was purely a selfish act. In The Picture of Dorian Gray we quickly realized that Lord Henry is a very negative influence on Dorian Gray as a person. It’s as if Lord Henry used Dorian Gray as a social experiment in an attempt to create the perfect human. Overtime, Dorian becomes obsessed with youth and beauty and is, in many ways, corrupted. This goes to show that Dorian isn’t the monster in this book, but Lord Henry is because he is the one that put such immoral ideas in his head.
After doing some research on monsters and characters within these two books, we realized that they have more similarities than what we had originally expected. Lord Henry and Dr. Victor Frankenstein had many similarities; they are both selfish, they use their victims for their own good and pleasure, and they don’t realize the negative aspects of their actions. Basil Hallward could also be seen as one of Dorian Gray’s creators in that he created the painting that partially influenced Dorian into wanting eternal youth and beauty. Dr. Frankenstein is comparable to Basil in that both creators were killed in the end of the novels by their creations. Both of these creators were blinded by the looks of their creations: Dr. Frankenstein was blinded by the ugliness of Creature, only seeing the bad in him, and Basil and Lord Henry, were blinded by the beauty in Dorian, only able to see the good in him. This was the ultimate downfall for these creators because they refused to see more than one side of their creations, and therefore could not help them better themselves.
And as far as the more obvious monsters in the stories go-- Dorian Gray and the Creature-- they have distinctly different features that qualify them as monsters, yet they both still fit the definition. The Creature was hideous physically but had initially only good intentions for human kind, but Dorian Gray was beautiful on the outside and was influenced into being a terrible person on the inside. However, this is good to see these differences in the monsters Creator and Dorian, because it shows that looks don’t make a monster who they are, but neither does what is on the inside of a person or being. Both looks and emotions can be destructive to the individual and to the people around the individual, as seen in these two stories. It not only gives a moral outlook for the two novels themselves, but also shows universal ideas that are seen in life everyday.
We chose do use a Weebly to create our project because it is a very user-friendly site. Weebly allows our viewers to easily access our website and to learn about the monsters portrayed in these two 19th Century novels. This topic is interesting that will capture the attention of a wide range of viewers. Everyone has their favorite movie monster so they can relate and bring in their own experiences to our website. We would especially like to connect with those who have read and are familiar with both works and to make them think critically of the themes and points we are arguing within out website. Unfortunately, there is no way to add a “comments” section into our website. With that we would have liked to invite our viewers to comment and offer their insight as well.
Overall, we agreed that this was our favorite of all four papers we had to write for this class. We enjoyed the topic and all were generally interested in further exploring these two texts. It was good for us to talk about this topic that we chose and discuss the ideas that we came up with because it enabled us to dive deeper into this theme of what really does make a monster. It helped us gain different perspectives on the main characters in these two novels. This project was a great way to expand our knowledge on what a literary “monster” actually is and let us explore the ins and outs of both these books. We hope that you enjoy our website as much as we enjoyed making it.
Works Cited
Rosenberger, Veronica B. "What Makes a Monster and What Makes a Man? Exploring the Relationship between the Creator and the Creation in Three Gothic Novels." The Cupola: Scholarship at Gettysburg College (2013): n. pag. Web. 29 Nov. 2014.
Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft. Frankenstein. New York: Dover Publications, 1994. Print.
Wilde, Oscar. The Picture of Dorian Gray. New York: Barnes and Noble Classics, 2003. Print.
Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft. Frankenstein. New York: Dover Publications, 1994. Print.
Wilde, Oscar. The Picture of Dorian Gray. New York: Barnes and Noble Classics, 2003. Print.