Dorian Gray vs. Frankenstein
According to Merriam Webster’s dictionary, a monster is a “strange or horrible imaginary creature”. But monsters don’t necessarily need to be fictional; even humans can be monsters. The only thing that distinguishes us from fictional monsters are our appearances, human-monsters are hard to detect. Therefore, it’s easy to treat people based on their appearances since the human mind gets deceived by looks.
The purpose of this essay is to show how two different “creatures” such as Frankenstein’s ugly monster and the beautiful Dorian Gray are similar despite their different appearances.
“The Picture of Dorian Gray” is a novel written by Oscar Wilde. The story takes place in England, where the artist Basil Hallward paints a portrait of the young and beautiful Dorian Gray. During his stay at the artist’s studio, he gets introduced to Lord Henry who later becomes one of the most influential people in his life. Dorian Gray becomes aware of his amazing beauty and youthfulness due to the portrait and wishes that the portrait ages instead of him. His wish comes true, Dorian remains beautiful and youthful while the portrait changes. Lord Henry becomes his best friend and motivates him to live in abundance, to sin and always strive for beauty. After a while, Dorian discovers that his portrait doesn’t only age, but also changes face expression as a result of all his sins and evil deeds. Dorian gets anxious by the fact that the portrait shows his evil soul and is scared that somebody will see it, therefore he hides it. The portrait haunts Dorian although it’s hidden. As Dorian’s sins gets worse, he feels that he can’t handle the pressure anymore and decides to destroy the portrait that shows his true self.
“Franken...
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...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.
In conclusion, both novels have the “monster” theme and show us society and its preconceptions and that society judges by appearance. The monster was mild and beautiful inside, but "ugly" and horrible outside and therefore everyone feared him. They never gave him a chance to prove his gentle nature. Dorian was stunning but had an awful inside, yet everyone loved him and spoke well about him. This shows us that anybody could be a wolf in sheep’s clothing. People are more than their appearances; therefore appearance isn’t enough when you’re trying to get to know a person. As Shakespeare said “All that glisters is not gold”.
The word monster has the connotation of a beast hiding under a child’s bed; monsters are not real and with this belief in mind should not be feared. Those monsters are not real, but a person can have all of the characteristics of a monster: cruel, murderous, and lacking empathy. These characteristics match the ones of Dorian Gray from The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde and Victor Frankenstein from Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. Both books are about young men who do not realize what they are wishing for when that wish is granted; now they must suffer the consequences. Dorian Gray will never turn old; but the painting which the esteemed painter Basil Hallward created for him will, displaying the truth of his soul.
There is a strong thematic relationship between the texts; Frankenstein and The Picture of Dorian Gray. The texts show us two individuals that are influenced by the outside world to make monstrous decisions. In Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, a scientist with the intention to bring about life to the world ends up bringing about a hideous creature. The scientist, Victor Frankenstein, is horrified by what he has created and wants nothing to do with him, which causes him to become a terrible human being. In The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde, a beautiful man named Dorian Gray commits many unforgivable acts. Lord Henry Wotton influences Dorian into thinking that he should view the world in his way and in turn creates a monster. That sensual
In The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde introduces Dorian Gray as a mysterious and beautiful young man. He has no opinion and is very similar to a ball of clay, in the sense that he has no opinion and is free to be molded by whoever takes interest in him. Basil and Lord Henry both take interest in the young man. While both praise his physical beauty, Lord Henry wants to turn him into a hedonist minion. He convinces Dorian that he is a perfect candidate to live life according to his pleasure and that Basil is a poor influence upon him. Dorian takes this to heart and lives his life this way. He exchanges the purity of his soul for the beauty of his youth in certain painting. This breaks him down. He becomes less and less welcome by those who once admired him. He gets blackballed from clubs, has promiscuous sex and spends seventy-two hour periods in London’s opium dens. His life of seeking pleasure makes him more and more unhappy. When Basil shows up, he wants some one to sympathize with him and tell him that what he has done is not his fault. During the scene of Basil’s murder, Dorian’s want to be seen as good is apparent, but his unwillingness to accept fault and his corrupt ideology drive him to kill Basil, unveiling a new, malicious side to Dorian Gray.
The main focus in Frankenstein is the immense accentuation put on appearance and acceptance in the public eye. In society and in addition in the general public of Frankenstein, individuals judge one singularly on their appearance. Social bias is frequently established on looks, whether it is one 's skin color, the garments that one wears and even the way a man holds himself or herself. People make moment judgments taking into account these social biases. This recognition in light of appearance decides the conduct towards the individual. In Frankenstein, the general public of that time is like our own today. It is an appearance-based society that the ugly figure of Victor Frankenstein 's creature can be compared to a typical person of today.
When the monster dwells on the fact that he has no friends, money, and property because of the way he looks he claims, “I was besides, endued with a figure hideously deformed and loathsome; I was not even of the same nature as man”(Shelley 102). With the monster’s emotion toward his first encounters, he struggles with accepting who he is because he feels the hatred from others. The words “deformed and loathsome” express the disgusted and discomfort that clouds the thoughts of each human during their first encounter. He recognizes his differences in comparison to others and begins to become self-conscious when he attempts to come out into the community. In the same aspect, humans today feel the same way when they look different than the ones around them.
Oscar Wilde, author of The Picture of Dorian Gray, makes Basil's life change drastically by having him paint a portrait of Dorian Gray and express too much of himself in it, which, in Wilde's mind, is a troublesome obstacle to circumvent. “Wilde believes that the artist should not portray any of himself in his work, so when Basil does this, it is he who creates his own downfall, not Dorian” (Shewan 36).
Monsters: they are the ones who intentionally and repeatedly hurt others, physically or emotionally, without remorse. Filling minds with paranoia, creeping into the darkest parts of the human psyche, and starring as the lead role in many nightmares, monsters terrorize the happiness and sanity of daily life. In Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, a scientist with good intent creates life, but he is horrified by his creation’s appearance, neglects to take proper care of it, and causes it to ultimately become wicked. In The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, a beautiful man, influenced by his friends, loses grasp of his identity and morals. Shelley and Wilde create two distinct characters, the creation and Dorian Gray, neglected of receiving proper care, misguided on their paths to self-actualization, and tainted by the influences of the corrupt, transforming them into wretched monstrosities.
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.
The definition of ‘monstrosity’ and what it means to be ‘monstrous’ can be understood to mean something that is visually unattractive, malformed and/or terrifying. However, monstrosity is not exclusively about something aesthetically ugly, it can also apply to what differs from what is considered ‘normality’. What is ‘normal’ versus what is ‘monstrous’ is closely linked when exploring ideas about the human condition. The representations of monstrosity in Frankenstein and in The Tempest reveal how what is monstrous and what is normal are often found side by side, challenging the idea that it is limited to outcasts who do not ‘fit-in’, and that deep down, a desire to be understood, accepted and included and to live life with meaning are central to the human condition and that monsters in society often reveal our deep seated fears and anxieties about our own existence.
...most readers tend to sympathize with Frankenstein because of the way in which he is mentally and physically harmed by his creation. However, one must also realize that while Frankenstein is a victim in the novel, he also exhibits features that make him a monster. These monstrous qualities, however, stem from his passion for science and his desire to create life. Not only does the reader criticize and pity Frankenstein, but the reader also empathizes with Frankenstein’s creation. He was unjustly shunned by society because of his physical appearance. On the other hand, the reader realizes that like Frankenstein, the creation can not be sympathized with entirely. He too exhibits traits that make him appear villainous. It is the duality of these two characters that make Frankenstein and his creation two of the most appealing characters of the nineteenth century.
The Picture of Dorian Gray is a novel written by Oscar Wilde. Dorian is a stunning young man with looks that would make a woman go nuts. He has a youthfulness that will never leave him no matter how old he grows or what he does. Although he might look like an amazing guy, he is no angel. Dorian is a sinner, a deadly sinner and has no problem continually doing it. Dorians sins are the worst and no matter what happens he seems to keep his composure and not let anything stop him from his wrong doings. Sin is not something Dorian can run away from and in the end payback is going to come.
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 Oscar Wilde's novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, beauty is depicted as the driving force in the lives of the three main characters, Dorian, Basil and Lord Henry. Dorian, the main character, believes in seizing the day. Basil, the artist, admires all that is beautiful in life. Lord Henry, accredited ones physical appearance to the ability of achieving accomplishments in life. Beauty ordains the fate of Dorian, Basil, and Lord Henry. The novel embodies the relationship of beauty and morality. Beauty is not based on how attractive an object is to everyone, but how attractive it is to one.
Oscar Wilde`s novel The Picture of Dorian Gray is written primarily out of the aesthetic movement of the Nineteenth Century. Therefore, the text contains a profuse amount of imagery which reflects the concepts of beauty and sensory experiences. By taking the aesthetic approach, Wilde was able to revive the gothic style through grotesque imagery of the portrait and the character whose soul it represents. Wilde is not using gothic elements to shock his audiences; rather he uses the gothic to capture the hideousness of Gray`s corruptness which leaks out of the painting and into the tone of the entire text.
Set in the late 19th Century, Oscar Wilde wrote his only novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, which is a story about debauchery and corruption of innocence and well known as a "Gothic melodrama. " Violent twists and a sneaky plot make this novel a distinct reflection of human pride and corruption. Before we examine the quality of the error that Dorian Gray commits, we should first examine his friends and their relation to him, because Dorian falls into this error with a little help from his friends. 1. What is the difference between a. and a The relationship between Dorian Gray and Basil Hallward.