Analyses the dichotomy between the representations of monsters in Victorian British novels and the way these same monsters are represented in modern film adaptations. The novels and film adaptations examined include Frankenstein, Dracula, She, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and The Island of Dr. Moreau.
Many monsters in Victorian British novels were intimately connected with the protagonist, and representative of both a character's personal failings and the failings of the society in which they lived. By contrast, more recent film adaptations of these novels depict the creatures as arbitrarily engaging in senseless violence, and suggest a modern fear of the uncontrollable. This dichotomy is here analyzed through examinations of the classic novels Frankenstein, Dracula, H. Rider Haggard's She, Stevenson's Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Wells's The Island of Dr. Moreau, and analysis of the 20th century film adaptations of the works.
