Synthèse LLCE sujet monstruosité

Inès                                                                        Pour le 21 octobre 2022

FOURMAULT BEN MILAD

1èreA

Synthèse Monstruosité : Sujet 0

Monstrosity is a theme that has been used frequently in art and literature for centuries, appealing to the imagination of the reader or the spectator. The set of documents provides an overview of monstrosity in art.

This selection supplies three British documents. Document A, is an excerpt from Act 3 Scene 1 of William Shakespeare's comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream, written in 1595. Document B is an extract from chapter 18 of the third Harry Potter novel Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban written by J.K. Rowling and published in 1999. Finally, Document C is a British poster from the movie The Elephant Man directed by David Lynch and released in 1980.

We may wonder if we should only rely on the appearances of monstrosity.

To start with this essay, we will see how these three documents defined monstrosity. Then, we will compare how the artists represent monstrosity. And thirdly, we will analyze how their representation may appeal to the reader or the spectator.

Through the documents, the artists draw a definition of monstrosity. All three artists, represent monstrosity through a character which human body looks like or transforms into an animal that the other characters find repulsive or frightening. Indeed, in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Bottom is considered as a monster by his friends considering he has a donkey's head, owing to the curse that the fairy Puck casts on him. Likewise, Elephant Man is affected by a facial deformity that makes him look like an elephant and no one considers him as a human being. Contrary to the two other documents, in the Prisoner of Azkaban, Lupin has to deal with a transformation of his entire body into a werewolf once a month at full moon.

In all three documents, monstrosity leads to isolation due to physical appearances. In document A, Bottom’s companions “run-away” (l4) when they see his “ass’s head”. In document C, before a cure was found, once a month Lupin “was smuggled” into the Shrieking Shed to hide that he was a werewolf. And finally, the movie poster
shows Elephant Man alone in a gloomy background, suggesting that he is rejected by the others. We can notice that the characters have a frightening appearance, however they are all portrayed as humans with feelings.

The artists represent monstrosity in different ways. On the one hand, the main character in text A, Bottom is unaware of his physical transformation and imagines that his friends are playing a trick to try to scare him: “This is a knavery of them to make me afeard” l5). And he demonstrates his bravery by saying that he is not afraid. On the other hand, Lupin in text B blames himself for his transformation: “None of this could have happened […] if I hadn't been so foolhardy” (l7,8). And Elephant Man is aware of his malformation and expresses himself "I AM NOT AN ANIMAL! I AM A HUMAN BEING! I … AM … A MAN!". He needs to clarify his situation and explains that he is a human like everyone else. The suspension marks indicate his distress at having to spell out his identity.

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