Monster X Monstrous Flashcards
(13 cards)
Intro
In Gothic literature, monsters often embody society’s repressed fears and taboos, personifying what is feared, marginalised, or morally transgressive.”
Monster themes.
-Gothic fiction frequently portrays monsters as isolated
-physical otherness
-some monsters are sympathetic,
-Alternatively, Monstrosity can also be the depiction of pure evil.
-real monster may be the human.
-Another recurring theme is transgression.
-Monsters are also used to reflect societal fears
Gothic fiction frequently portrays monsters as isolated
marginalised figures characterised as ‘other’ or foreign. In Chapter 1 & 2 of dracula, Transylvania is described as wild, ancient and superstitious: Dracula represents the Eastern European “Other”—a racialized and cultural outsider threatening the British Empire. His move to England symbolizes reverse colonization.
Dracula’s first description is characterised by
his physical otherness. “his face was a strong - very strong aquiline.” His features are exaggerated and abnormal which is directly interpreted as a danger.
In the courtship of Mr Lyon, the beast’s home is
also isolated and marginalised. It ”seems to hide itself shyly behind snow laden skirts of an antique cypress.” The initial atmosphere is very tense due to his animalistic features which suggest predation “he reared his hind legs like an angry lion”. Even though on the inside he is kind, the initial reaction to him is fear.
This goes to show that some monsters are sympathetic
and their monstrosity is used to illustrate their feelings of alienation and suffering depicting them more as tragic than terrifying. The lady of the house of love shows signs of psychological conflict as she despises being a monster but cannot escape her nature. She is both a predator and a prisoner. she feels like a somnambulist “who” helplessly perpetuates her ancestral crimes”
Alternatively, Monstrosity can also be the depiction of pure evil
The lack of regard to human life or norms is what creates a monster. For example in chapter 26 Dracula’s monstrosity is shown through his brutal murdering of an innocent man “the throat had been torn open as if by some wild animal”
Gothic literature frequently reveals that the real monster may be the human.
Although this monstrosity is portrayed with animalistic traits, Gothic literature frequently reveals that the real monster may be the human. In the tiger’s bride we see that the beast is not the monster but rather the men who gambled the heroine away.
This is also shown in the werewolf, where the little girl kills
the vicious werewolf that turns out to be her grandmother. The girl takes the traditional “monster-slaying” role but is herself quite ruthless, revealing there is a touch of monstrosity within her as well
Another recurring theme is transgression.
Monsters often blur the lines between life and death, human and non human or the natural and the supernatural.
Dracula defies natural laws and transgresses human limits by “scaling the walls like a lizard” or controlling the wolves yet he is also described using human traits and emotions: “evil smile”, “the expression of the count’s face was so hellish” in chapter 23
In “la belle dame sans merci” by John Keats,
the mysterious woman transgresses the limits between real and dream. She seems real but is only the knight’s hallucination and can be considered supernatural as she is described as a faery’s child.
The belle dame also blurs the line between sexual and maternal love which is linked to moral transgression. “she looks at him as though she did love” and makes a “sweet moan” which can be seen as quite sexual but also lulls him to sleep, which is a very motherly gesture.
These moral transgressions can represent taboo desires and repressed instincts
For example the marquis in the bloody chamber embodies psychosexual monstrosity as the story explores sadism male control through female objectification.
Monsters are also used to reflect societal fears
The three female vampires in dracula represent the total inversion of victorian ideals of feminine purity and show an excess of sexuality, using it even as a weapon. Lucy and minas transformation also illustrate the fear of loss of Victorian virtue. Dracula infects them physically but also psychologically. Mina is described as “ tainted as she in the devil’s illness”.
As both mina and lucy’s transformation leads them to diverge completely from the traditional victorian ideal, they become increasingly monstrous.
