What are monsters made of?

Thématique 1 : Imaginaire Axe 2 –Imaginaires effrayants

What are monsters made of?

Studying an artwork

The Nightmare J. H. Füssli

Describe the painting using the toolboxes

"Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win."Stephen King

Evil (monsters) and fear (ghosts) are inside all of us. We all have a bit of evil and darkness inside of us... We all have the potential to be vicious (malveillant). It depends on if whether or not we nurture that potential.

Now read the timeline and list all the monsters you know from English literature (work on your own, then in group)

Watch the video and write down the names you recognize and other information .

- Do a quick search on the Internet to find information about the author assigned to your group :Mary Shelley, Bram Stoker, Oscar Wilde and R.L Stevenson (nationality/dates/ most famous work/one or two significant info ) - Present the information to the rest of the class

WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT GOTHIC FICTION?

What do you know about Gothic Fiction?

Born in England, the Gothic genre refers to a style of writing that is characterized by elements of fear, horror, death, and gloom, as well as romantic elements. It combines horror and romanticism, and includes a plot of suspense with supernatural events. The atmosphere of a gothic story is mysterious and scary, gloomy and threatening.

What do you know about Gothic Fiction?

The novel usually regarded as the first Gothic novel is The Castle of Otranto by English author Horace Walpole, which was first published in 1764. Common elements found in Gothic novels - Dark, gloomy, decaying settings - Supernatural beings or monsters - Romance, heroes, intense emotions, curses...

What do you know about Gothic Fiction?

In a Gothic novel of the 18th century, you often find old castles or abbeys, bandits, evil characters, dark tunnels, labyrinths, ghosts, skeletons, monsters or vampires. In the 19th century, the genre evolved : mad scientists and criminals entered the novel. The story did not happen in dungeons anymore, but in cities.

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein or the modern Prometheus

published in 1818

In Greek mythology, Prometheus was one of the Titans. He is known for creating humans from clay. He is also known because he stole fire (= knowledge and power) from Zeus and gave it to humans. Zeus punished him by chaining him to a mountain. Everyday an eagle came and ate his liver. But Prometheus is immortal: his liver re-grew every night... it was an eternal punishment.

Prometheus Bound (Rubens) ->

The creation of man by Prometheus. Marble relief,

Frankenstein summary

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Read the text and answer the questions

1. In what ways is the setting typical of a Gothic novel? Explain. Talk about the season, the time and the light

2. The creature a. List all the terms referring to the creature. What is their significance? b. List all the terms referring to the creature’s body. Is the monster beautiful? Explain. c. What elements in the text show that the creature actually looks and behaves like a real person?

3. Victor Frankenstein, the scientist a. Point of view : who is speaking in this extract ? b. List all the terms referring to Frankenstein’s feelings before and after the creation of the monster. c. List all the verbs referring to Victor Frankenstein’s actions after the monster comes to life. d. What can you say about Frankenstein’s dream ?

3. Answers a. We are dealing with a first-person point of view and internal focalization. The narrator is the scientist, Victor Frankensteirn, and we see the scene through his eyes. Internal focalization gives us access to his feelings. We do relize that he’s completely horrified by his creation.

b. Frankenstein’s feelings before the monster is alive: He has worked very hard to create artificial life. He probably worked non stop to finish the creature and consequently he put his health at risk (he hardly took the time to sleep and eat). Finishing the creature became a real obsession. It was the only reason he lived for. It became his sole occupation and he seemed very excited.

b. Frankenstein’s feelings after the monster is alive: He is no longer excited. Instead, he is horrified by his own creation. He realizes that what he created is not at all what he expected.

c. Frankenstein cannot accept/take full responsibility for the monster he has created. He is suddenly panic-stricken and he cannot act normally anymore. He is so scared by his creation that he runs away. He wants the monster out of his sight; he wants to escape and to hide from the monster. He no doubt fears for his life because the monster is tall and muscular. He’s scared to death.

d. He has horrible nightmares (“the wildest dreams”). He dreams of loved ones alive or dead. He is no longer able to distinguish life from death (his fiancé is alive but she suddenly turns into his dead mother in his dream).

d. This echoes the monster’s condition: he is a human being made of dead body parts. Also, Frankenstein’s dream is prophetical because Elizabeth is soon going to die. On her wedding night, the monster will strangle her to punish Victor for not creating for him a companion creature.

4. You are Victor Frankenstein. The next day you write a diary entry to express your feelings

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->Group Work : Describe the picture. - 2 groups work on the foreground versus background - 2 groups work on left versus right. -> Identify Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde -> What do the characters symbolise? -> What do you know about the story? -> HW

DRACULA

Subtitle here

1) Read the text and found information about:

• Places
• Dracula (appearance/actions)
• Feelings

2) Pick the elements from the text that are realistic and those which are unreal.

Now watch the scene and compare it to the one from the book.

- What are the differences?

- What are the differences?

- Which extract do you find the scariest? Why?

Write the scene from Dracula's point of view