Man Or Monster By Mary Shelley s Frankenstein And Oscar...

Man or Monster? According to Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary, a monster is defined as â€Å"an animal or plant of abnormal form or structure.† While this definition holds some truth, it is limited to only describing external appearances. In fact, what distinguishes a monster from a seemingly â€Å"civilized† man is often not manifested through external appearances. The true monsters are individuals who fail to maturely take responsibility for their actions. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, the â€Å"monsters† come from creators that will not take responsibilities for their actions and properly care for their creations; therefore, these neglecting creators are the true monsters and not the innocent, impressionable creations. Victor Frankenstein’s characterization and family background establish his nature as the true â€Å"monster† in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Victor had an idyllic childhood, wh ich laid the foundation to his self-absorbed and uncaring behavior later in life. As a child, both Victor’s mother and father provided him with excessive care, love, compassion and the freedom to pursue whatever his heart desired. In describing his relationship with his parents, Victor states, â€Å"They seemed to draw inexhaustible stores of affection from a very mine of love just to bestow them on me† (Shelley 19). This idea of showering their son with excessive affection is further demonstrated when Alphonse and Caroline adopted Elizabeth Lavenza into their familyShow MoreRelatedFrankenstein And The Picture Of Dorian Gray As British Gothic Literature1837 Words   |  8 PagesEric Haney Mr. Kearney English 4 AP 27 May 2015 Frankenstein and The Picture of Dorian Gray as British Gothic Literature â€Å"There is something at work in my soul, which I do not understand.† This quote from Mary Shelley s classic gothic novel Frankenstein is very representative of the functional importance of gothic literature to humanity. Gothic literature can be viewed as the dark side of the human soul, as good usually triumphs over evil in storytelling; gothic literature is the releaseRead MoreThe Period Called Romanticism: Representations of Terror in Literature2051 Words   |  9 Pagesterror reaction . In the human history, fear is a distressing negative emotion, which has been playing a very important role in the personal and social life, through the centuries and becoming a substantial part of the psychological background of the man. The emotion of fear is not a stranger to the majority of people and it would not be an exaggeration to say that every person is afraid of something. As H.P. Lovecraft stated â€Å"The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongestRead MoreEssay on The Gothic Genre and What it Entails6177 Words   |  25 Pagessuperior, enduring Gothic texts definitely reflect political ideal and contemporaneous social features which touched the vast majority of people. This is especially apparent if one traces the maturation of the form from Walpole (1764) to Mary Shelley (1818) and Maturin (1820). (For example William Godwins Caleb Williams (1794)had an overt political message intended to expose the inadequacy of Things as they are). During the development of the Gothic the motifs become less