Characters and their transformations

Introduction :

I chose to introduce the theme « characters and their transformation » through the following question how and why the transformation of the character is present in gothic litterature ? But Let me first define this theme. We all knew a transformation in our life, a transformation of landscape or a transformation of ourselves. But when we are talking about character transformation in litterature we are talking about the collective observable changes in an individual’s defining character over the course of a narrative. But the transformation of a character in a novel, or even a film is marked by the appearence.

First we will see the differents types of transformations and their influence on the readers throughout the extract of Frankenstein  of the author Mary SHELLEY, then troughout the movie Dracula directed by Francis COPOLLA which is an adaptation of the novel of Bram STOCKER and finally with The Werewolf  of Angela CARTER. And then we will see secondly what the authors wanted to denounced.

First of all, we can observ in the 3 documents a physicall transformation. Frankenstein is a scientist who creates a monster by transforming death into life, at first the monster liked his creator and wanted to experiment love and friendship, but it’s because of the nastiness of the men that he became bad. In the extract that we studied we can notice that the horror and the anxiety of Frankenstein is growing up during all the extract. That’s why we can talk about transformation. The setting is also important it is at first romantic but then obscur and so we can observe the transformation of the main character who first seems to be calm, but then, when the wind is rising, the feelings of anxiety of Victor as we can see when he is saying « I was anxious and watchful » which is the contrary of « I had been calm during the day » at the beggining. Here with the gothics elements (like breathless/ terror/ obscured/ in the darkness) show us the transformation of the main character, it’s a physicall and psychological transformation the narrator asks himself questions and began to panic.

Then, in Dracula from Francis Ford Coppola we can observe many transformation of the count Dracula. He is at first a vampire and so we can say that he endured a physicall transformation. But with his vampire’s powers he can transform himself into rats, or a bat or enven a werewolf. Moreover Dracula had a psycholigcal transformation because he stand for wrath, sloth, envy, lust etc Dracula is like the incarnation of the gothic transformation he is not human he feed himself with blood, and blood is one of the gothic’s elements very important.

In the werewolf from Angela Carter, we can observe a physicall and psychological of the girl and of the wolf. Because this story is a rewriting of the « Little Red Riding Hood ». We can notice the transformation by the attitude of the girl who in the traditional tale was innoncent, candid, naive and joyful. In this story she seems to be dangerous, smart and she isn’t a victim. We can affirm that the girl endured a psycological transformation. But she is not the only one the wolf who in the original tale was smart and dangerous here seems to be weak and old but it is because in this story the grandmother is the wolf she had a physicall transformation because a werewolf is a creature who is human but whiwh can

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