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Overview
Overview
The following is a list of literary works featuring novellas, short stories, and poems to choose from for your final project of the semester, an analysis of a classic monster story using Jeffrey Jerome Cohen's "Monster Culture (Seven Theses)." The sooner in the semester you read/listen to some of these and choose the one you are most fascinated with, the better!
Why these pieces? First, their length means most (excepting the longer Picture of Dorian Gray) can be enjoyed in a day's listen or a few days' reading while still providing the substance appropriate for a complete analysis. Second, all are classics that are now in the public domain, meaning they are available freely and in a wide variety of formats online.
I recommend enjoying several early in the semester, following your interest, and then deciding on the one that works best for you.
This list may be augmented with more pieces as I continue my search to provide a breadth of representation.
General Contextual Questions
General Contextual Questions
Your analysis of the following stories will require you to answer and explain the following contextual questions using library holdings/database sources (and not general Internet search results). Of course, searching online for general direction may be useful, but ultimately you will need the library. I recommend consulting a librarian for pathways to reputable sources:
From where did the writer live and write? (Nationality)
What year was the piece originally published?
What were the social, historical, and cultural contexts behind the work? (This will depend on both place and time)
1916 screenshot of actress Musidora in the Louis Feuillade-directed film series Les Vampires. (Louis Feuillade, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
The Wendigo by Algernon Blackwood
The Wendigo by Algernon Blackwood
Novella, 1910. What lurks in the rugged Wilderness? What dangers reside beyond the border of civilization?
Themes
Overwhelming power of untamed wilderness; nature versus civilization; tension between rational and supernatural explanations; psychological deterioration in isolation; colonial attitudes versus indigenous knowledge; fear of being transformed into the Other; unknowable nature of the monstrous
Sample Questions to Consider
What were the cultural attitudes, fears, and/or anxieties about the wild, wilderness, the frontier, the natural world that might have informed Blackwood's story?
What were the intellectual trends in psychology or other intellectual disciplines that may have contributed to the narrative and its characters?
Blackwood is a white male westerner appropriating Native American folklore to tell his tale. Research the original folklore. How does the author change or alter or possibly even corrupt it to serve his own story?
How does the story highlight the clash between civilized human perception and the raw, untamed power of the wilderness?
How does the Wendigo, and the fear of it, create a sense of "otherness" between the members of the expedition?
Media Options
The Wendigo (text) on Project Gutenberg
The Wendigo (audio) on LibriVox
The Willows by Algernon Blackwood
The Willows by Algernon Blackwood
Novella, 1907. In this story, Blackwood also explores the borderline between civilization and the wilds. Again, what lurks in the rugged Wilderness? What dangers reside beyond the border of civilization?
Themes
Overwhelming power of untamed wilderness; nature versus civilization; tension between rational and supernatural explanations; psychological deterioration in isolation; colonial attitudes versus indigenous knowledge; fear of being transformed into the Other; unknowable nature of the monstrous
Sample Questions to Consider
What were the cultural attitudes, fears, and/or anxieties about the wild, wilderness, the frontier, the natural world that might have informed Blackwood's story?
What were the intellectual trends in psychology or other intellectual disciplines that may have contributed to the narrative and its characters?
In what ways does this "environmental monster" challenge traditional notions of monsters as individual beings?
How does the vagueness of the monster tap into primal fears of the unknown and incomprehensible?
How does the story confront the humanity's sense of its own importance?
Media Options
The Willows (text) on Project Gutenberg
The Wendigo (audio) on LibriVox
The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
Novella, 1915. One working man, alienated, finds himself suddenly transformed one morning into a ...
Themes
Alienation and isolation in a modern world; work and identity; identify and dehumanization; absurdity of modern life; family power dynamics and obligations; social conformity and rejection; guilt and self-sacrifice; social expectations and shame
Sample Questions to Consider
How does Gregor's transformation disrupt traditional definitions of "human" and "monster"?
Is his monstrosity primarily physical, or does it also encompass social and psychological dimensions?
How does Gregor's transformation create a sense of "otherness" that alienates him from his family and society?
How does the family's reaction to Gregor, create a form of "monstrosity" within them?
Does his metamorphosis reflect anxieties about work, family, or the individual's place in modern society?
Media Options
The Metamorphosis (text) on Project Gutenberg
The Metamorphosis (audio) on LibriVox
The Metamorphosis in the original German, 1916. CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
A Phantom Lover by Vernon Lee (Violet Paget)
A Phantom Lover by Vernon Lee (Violet Paget)
Novella, 1886. Vernon Lee was the pseudonym of Violet Paget A Phantom Lover is a supernatural novella by Vernon Lee (pseudonym of Violet Paget) first published in 1886. Set in a Kentish manor house, the story concerns a portrait painter commissioned by a squire, William Oke, to produce portraits of him and his wife, the eccentric Mrs. Alice Oke, who bears a striking resemblance to a woman in a mysterious, seventeenth century painting. (Summary by Anthony Leslie on LibriVox)
If you have never heard of Vernon Lee, let this beautiful passage from her essay "Limbo" help to color her ghostly ethos for you:
Let us rather think gently of things, sad, but sad without ignominy, of friendships stillborn or untimely cut off, hurried by death into a place like that which holds the souls of the unchristened babies; often, like them, let us hope, removed to a sphere where such things grow finer and more fruitful, the sphere of the love of those we have not loved enough in life.
But that at best is but a place of ghosts; so let us never forget, dear friends, how close all round lies Limbo, the Kingdom of Might-have-been. (Fron Lee's essay "Limbo" qtd. by Sadie Stein)
Themes
Blurring of past and present; destructive nature of obsession; gender and power dynamics; marriage and intimacy; the power of place and ancestral memory
Sample Questions to Consider
How does the story explore the power dynamics between men and women?
How does Lee use the setting, and atmosphere, to create a sense of dread?
How does Lee portray the destructive nature of obsessive desire?
How does the story use the idea of a "phantom" to explore the ideas of memory, and the power of the past?
Media Options
A Phantom Lover (text) on Project Gutenberg
A Phantom Lover (audio) on LibriVox
"Dionea" (short story, 1890) by Vernon Lee (Violet Paget)
"Dionea" (short story, 1890) by Vernon Lee (Violet Paget)
Short story, 1890. Vernon Lee was the pseudonym of Violet Paget. A tale of feminine charm and of an ancient pagan power manifesting in a Christian culture.
If you have never heard of Vernon Lee, let this beautiful passage from her essay "Limbo" help to color her ghostly ethos for you:
Let us rather think gently of things, sad, but sad without ignominy, of friendships stillborn or untimely cut off, hurried by death into a place like that which holds the souls of the unchristened babies; often, like them, let us hope, removed to a sphere where such things grow finer and more fruitful, the sphere of the love of those we have not loved enough in life.
But that at best is but a place of ghosts; so let us never forget, dear friends, how close all round lies Limbo, the Kingdom of Might-have-been. (Fron Lee's essay "Limbo" qtd. by Sadie Stein)
Themes
Female beauty, sexuality, love, personal autonomy, ostracism, expulsion, witchcraft
Sample Questions to Consider
How does the story explore the power dynamics between men and women?
Who is it that does not fit in society, and why?
What are the consequences of deviance?
Is the story supernatural in nature? If so, what is the power that penetrates into the reality of the story, and from where does it come? Is it ancient?
Does Dionea dwell at the gates of difference? Does she police the borders of the possible? Is fear of her really a kind of desire? Does she stand at the threshold of our own becoming?
Media Options
Hunt, William Holman, 1827-1910, from Pre-Raphaelitism and the pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (Internet Archive Book Images, No restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons)
Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu
Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu
Novella, 1872. The first female vampire in modern literature? Yes! What social and sexual fears, anxieties, and taboos does Carmilla embody? What is the nature and power of her danger? Who is at risk? Interesting gender dynamics; lesbianism; monsters as markers of cultural difference; sexuality, disease, and social boundaries.
Themes
Sexual taboos; sexual repression and desire; reversed power dynamics; the power of ancient evil; female friendship and nurturing
Sample Questions to Consider
How does Carmilla's transgression of Victorian gender roles contribute to her monstrous image?
In what ways does her active, predatory sexuality challenge the era's ideal of passive femininity?
How does Carmilla embody anxieties about female autonomy and the potential for female power to be destructive?
How does the story reflect Victorian fears about the "deviant" or "unnatural" aspects of sexuality?
Media Options
Carmilla (text) on Project Gutenberg
Carmilla (audio) on LibriVox
Illustration by David Henry Friston for Carmilla, 1872. (Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
The Great God Pan by Arthur Machen
The Great God Pan by Arthur Machen
Novella, 1884. What lies beyond the veil of this reality, beyond the boundary of the see-able world? What great powers, dark and deep, exist just beyond the reach of our everyday existence? If we could experience it, would we understand it? Would we survive it?
Themes
Boundaries between the natural and the supernatural; the monster as warning against exploration; forbidden practices; danger of forbidden knowledge; ethics of science; divisions between science and the supernatural; pagan forces in a modern world; sexual horror and moral corruption; urban world versus countryside; the price of spiritual transformation
Sample Questions to Consider
In what ways does Pan represent a primal, chaotic force that disrupts the boundaries between the human and the animal, the civilized and the savage?
How does Machen create a sense of terror by emphasizing the unknowable and incomprehensible nature of Pan and his influence?
How does The Great God Pan reflect Victorian anxieties about scientific experimentation, the loss of faith, and the breakdown of social norms?
Media Options
The Great God Pan (text) on Project Gutenberg
The Great God Pan (audio) on LibriVox
Roman; Statue of Pan; Stone Sculpture, Metropolitan Museum of Art (CC0, via Wikimedia Commons)
"Goblin Market" by Christina Rosetti
"Goblin Market" by Christina Rosetti
Poem, 1862. "Goblin Market" tells the story of sisters Laura and Lizzie, who are tempted with fruit by goblin merchants.
Themes
Female solidarity and sisterly love; temptations and forbidden pleasure; sexual awakening and exploitation; Christian redemption and sacrifice; addiction and dependency; female agency and resistance; the power of memory and experience; Victorian attitudes toward female sexuality; the dual nature (delicious and destructive) of pleasure
Sample Questions to Consider
How does their market, with its seductive but ultimately harmful fruits, function as a monstrous space?
How does their temptation of the sisters represent a transgression of social and moral boundaries?
How does the poem use the idea of a "forbidden fruit" to create a feeling of cultural anxiety?
How does the poem explore the psychological impact of temptation and addiction?
Media Options
Goblin Market (text) on Project Gutenberg
Goblin Market (text found in Long Poems Collection 004) on LibriVox
Illustration by Arthur Rackham, "Goblin Market" by Christina Rossetti. (Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
Novella, 1886. What is the id, the ego, and the super-ego? What would happen if the id were released, completely, without the overriding powers of the higher levels? What would it look like? A wildly popular story to this day.
Themes
Duality of human nature; psychoanalysis; Victorian repression, release, and anxieties about identity and morality; science versus ethics; limits of rational knowledge.
Sample Questions to Consider
In what ways does Hyde's capacity for unrestrained evil challenge the Victorian ideal of the civilized self?
How does the way Hyde violates the boundries of acceptable behavior, define him as a monster?
How does Hyde's character reflect Victorian anxieties about the hidden desires and darker impulses lurking within the human psyche?
Media Options
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (text) on Project Gutenberg
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (audio) on LibriVox
Artwork by Charles Raymond Macauley for the 1904 edition of The Strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. (Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells
The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells
Novella, 1897. Science fiction novella. What if you could make yourself invisible? An allegory about the dangers of unchecked science and the corruption of power.
Themes
Science without ethics; corruption of power; strength of community; invisibility; scientific hubris
Sample Questions to Consider
How does the loss of visibility equate to a loss of social accountability, and how does this contribute to his monstrous actions?
How does Griffin's invisibility disrupt the established social order and create a sense of chaos?
How does Griffin's invisibility represent anxieties about scientific advancement and its potential for misuse?
How does Griffin's isolation and alienation contribute to his descent into madness and violence?
Media Options
The Invisible Man (text) on Project Gutenberg
The Invisible Man (audio) on LibriVox
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
Novella, 1891. This is the longest of the list and arguably a full length novel, albeit a short one by Victorian standards. Beauty and youth above all else? This is the story of one man's quest to maintain his vitality beyond and boundaries of nature.
Themes
The relationship between art and life; beauty, youth, and corruption; the nature of influence; Hedonism and morality; the double life of Victorian society; the relationship between soul and body; the price of eternal youth; art as moral mirror; the aestheticism movement; time and aging; the power of reputation
Sample Questions to Consider
How does the portrait function as a monstrous entity, embodying Dorian's moral decay and hidden sins?
How does Dorian's influence corrupt those around him, turning him into a monstrous force within society?
How does Dorian's obsessive pursuit of pleasure and self-preservation reflect a narcissistic personality disorder?
How does Dorian's ability to compartmentalize his conscience and suppress his guilt contribute to his monstrous behavior?
Media Options
The Picture of Dorian Gray (text) on Project Gutenberg
The Picture of Dorian Gray (audio) on LibriVox
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