Demonic characters in the
Gothic novel and afterwards.(part 1)
Gothic novel is a literary genre
that flourished
in the late 18th and early 19th centuries in England. Horace Walpole with The Castle of Otranto was the forerunner of the type which now includes such prominent
writers as Ann Radcliff, Mary Shelly, Robert Louis Stevenson, Bram Stoker and many others. This genre usually involved supernatural and sublime tinged with
horror.
Gothic novels were especially popular for the pleasing terror they induced in the reader by introducing him to dark backgrounds of
medieval ruins and haunted castles. Emotional extremes and dark themes, including a threatening mystery and an
ancestral curse, as well as countless trappings, such as hidden passages and
oft-fainting heroines are not uncommon as far as this genre is concerned. Consequently,
characters such as Frankenstein, Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde or Dracula have become enormously popular demonic
characters of all times. Commonly perceived as indispensable part of gothic novel,
although generally considered malevolent by
nature and repulsive by the look,
they managed to gain a lot of readers’ sympathy. To start with eight foot tall
and hideously ugly monster rejected by society and end with a centuries-old vampire and Transylvanian nobleman,
they all have features winning them a lot of compassion and empathy on the part
of the readers.
The first monstrous
creation is one of Frankenstein’s. He is a product of supernatural workings of
his master, a mix of stolen body parts and strange
chemicals which resulted in his grotesque appearance, making it impossible for
him to socialise with others. The monster himself feels repulsed by his look “I, the miserable and the abandoned, am an abortion, to
be spurned at, and kicked, and trampled on.” (Frankenstein)
He mourns at the fact that he has ever been brought to
life. Abandoned by his creator and
confused, the monster strives
to be good. Unfortunately, due to his outward
appearance, an integration with the
society is completely inaccessible to him. Whatever he performs, good or bad
deeds, e.g. saving a girl from drowning or killing Victor’s brother, each time
all he gets are beatings and disgust. Torn between vengefulness and compassion, the monster ends up lonely and
tormented by remorse. Also Victor feels unmitigated
hatred for his creation:“When I thought of him, I
gnashed my teeth, my eyes became inflamed, and I ardently wished to extinguish
that life which I had so thoughtlessly made.” (Frankenstein)Only the reader is able to see the real suffering of Frankenstein and
marvel at his sensitivity and benevolence when analyzing the monster’s eloquent narration of events. Likewise, only the reader
can sympathise with the monster’s kind nature hidden in his enormously strong
body, equiped with the mind of a newborn child.
The second exemplification of monster is Mr Hyde. The text of “The Strange Case of Dr.
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”
repeatedly depicts Hyde as a creature of great evil and countless vices. Similarly to Frankenstein’s monster, Hyde appears
to be repulsively ugly and deformed. Here, however, unlike with the former
character, his physical hideousness aims at emphasising ill-morality and
unethical behaviour of the character.” He is not easy to describe. There
is something wrong with his appearance; something displeasing, something
downright detestable. I never saw a man I so disliked, and yet I scarce know
why. He must be deformed somewhere; he gives a strong feeling of deformity,
although I couldn’t specify the point. He’s an extraordinary-looking man, and
yet I really can name nothing out of the way. No, sir; I can make no hand of
it; I can’t describe him. And it’s not want of memory; for I declare I can see
him this moment. “(The Strange Case of Dr.
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde) Hyde as an uncanny figure, someone whose deformity is truly
intangible, and no vocabulary seemsto exist to describe this supernatural,
demonic in a way, nature. Hyde is completely opposite in type and personality
to Dr Jekyll. Not only is he smaller and hairier, as far as the outer
appearance is concerned, but also more ruthless,
malevolent and mean than Dr Jekyll could ever be. Still, it cannot be overseen
that the evil side of Jekyll, the embodiment of Jekyll’s instincts, is no one else
but Hyde. In this sense they are one and the same entity but dual in nature.
This duality of nature makes it impossible to state beyond all doubt whether
Jekyll –Hyde should be sympathised with or loathed by the reader. Ultimately,
all Hyde desires is a life of his own, so should he be condemned for that yearn
for existence? Undoubtly, his deeds evoke moral dissent, still he will never be
entirely evil, at least as long as Jekyll co-exist in him. Consequently,
unanimous judgement over Hyde’s goodness or viciousness cannot be passed. In
this sense Hyde is more humane than any other of the gothic characters, as he
combines good and evil, revealing the dual nature of human beings.