Frankenstein And The Picture Of Dorian Gray Analysis

A discolored creature of massive build towers over the diminutive, feeble humans, who are immobilized by fear of its menacing glare and mutated frame. Like small mice, the people scamper away from the monster’s presence in disgust of its hideous appearance and fear of its unpredictable behaviors. Now, the creature stands alone, grieving over the pain of its abandonment. Who’s the real monster – man or creature? Since the origins of horror stories, grotesque creatures, like those previously described, construct the basis of a story’s thrill. Hideous creatures often make up the common conception of monsters among society. However, the idea of a monster presents ambiguous interpretations. In truth, a monster signifies the compilation of human fears. Beneath the exterior, the true monster lies within a person’s soul. In both Frankenstein and The Picture of Dorian Gray, both authors, Mary Shelley and Oscar Wilde, use their novels to express the fallacy of external appearances and the corruption of human …show more content…
Dorian becomes a monster through his submission into Lord Henry Wotton’s powerful influence, which exposes Dorian to sinful pleasures. Despite having injected his poisonous philosophies into Dorian, Lord Henry Wotton is not the monster because he possesses no control over Dorian’s succeeding actions – cruelty and murder. This aggressive behavior results from Dorian’s overbearing sense of pride in his beauty, compelling him to disregard the responsibility of his actions and to fearfully hide behind a false face. According to Wilde, “[there] is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book” (Wilde vii). A book is simply a cover that holds the hidden meaning of its contents and the identity of the author. Like a book, Dorian’s youthful and innocent appearance masks the hideous soul and his monstrous