Updated Reading List: Of Monsters and Men

**Primary Works

1. Frankenstein, Mary Shelly
2. Dracula, Bram Stoker
3. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë
4. Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë
5. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson

**Secondary/Theoretical Works

1. Baldick, Chris. In Frankenstein’s Shadow: Myth, Monstrosity, and Nineteenth-Century Writing. Oxford: Clarendon, 2001. Print.
2. Carroll, Noël. “Ethnicity, Race, and Monstrosity: The Rhetorics of Horror and Humor.” Engaging the Moving Image, Yale University Press, New Haven; London, 2003, pp. 88–107. JSTOR,
3. Malchow, H. L. “Frankenstein’s Monster and Images of Race in Nineteenth-Century Britain.” Past & Present, no. 139, 1993, pp. 90–130. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/651092.
4. Lancaster, Ashley Craig. “From Frankenstein’s Monster to Lester Ballard: The Evolving Gothic Monster.” Midwest Quarterly, vol. 49, no. 2, Winter2008, pp. 132-148.
5. Smith, Andrew, and William Hughes, editors. The Victorian Gothic: An Edinburgh Companion. Edinburgh University Press, 2012.
6. [Addition to List] Iskandar, Adel and Hakem Rustom. Edward Said. [Electronic Resource] : A Legacy of Emancipation and Representation. Berkeley : University of California Press, ©2010., 2010. Academic Complete (Ebook Central).
7. [Addition to List] Johnson, Robert. British Imperialism, Palgrave Macmillan, 2003. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/dickinson/detail.action?docID=3027518.
8. [Addition to List] Arata, Stephen D. “The Occidental Tourist: ‘Dracula’ and the Anxiety of Reverse Colonization.” Victorian Studies, vol. 33, no. 4, 1990, pp. 621–645. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3827794.

**Academic Journal(s)

1. Interdisciplinary Studies in the Long Nineteenth Century
2. Victorian Literature and Culture

**Key Terms

1. Monstrosity
2. Intersectionality
3. Normativity
4. Grotesque
5. Gothic
6. [Addition to List] Imperial Gothic
7. [Addition to List] British Imperialism/Colonialism

**How This List Was Formulated/Questions Framing My Inquiry

In preparing to construct this preliminary reading list, I had to first frame my thoughts around the central questions of “What constitutes a monster?” and “Why have monsters been created within literary works, particularly those of the Victorian era?” Working with both Professor Seiler of Dickinson College and Professor Claire Broome-Saunders of Oxford University, I discerned that it would be in my best interest to not only broaden my selected time period from the Victorian era to the 19th century in order to gain a more holistic view of the concept of monstrosity, but to look at monsters as beings that possess both a displeasing aesthetic, as well as an assumed set of moral characteristics that are largely derived from the monster’s outward appearance. Furthermore, through my discussions with professors and classmates and my engagement in literary research, I also began to gain a better understanding of the ways in which literary monsters of the 19th century existed as more than just vehicles for entertainment – they largely served as figures or symbols of the societal fears of their times. For this reason, I have framed this reading list not only around the way in which monsters were constructed and evolved within the 19th century (see “From Frankenstein’s Monster to Lester Ballad”), but also around the way in which monsters embodied 19th century fears regarding race, ethnicity, religion, and gender.

Because this topic offers me the chance to shed light on the ways in which society and its cultural, aesthetic norms lead to the construction of an “other,” it is also important that my thesis touch on “normativity” and what were considered societal and aesthetic norms within 19th century. By outlining what internal and external characteristics are concerned “normal,” I will be able to better outline why people of the 19th century feared and rejected certain members of society.

Lastly, it is also important to note that much of this reading list originated from my love of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and the way in which it engages with the concept of monstrosity in relation to gender (monster and creator are often feminized), religion (societal fear of Godlessness), and the cruelty of society (arguably the monster begins as the kindest being in the novel). By using Frankenstein as a starting point, I have had the ability to digress into the ways in which the themes in Frankenstein are present in other 19th century literary pieces and begin to explore the ways that monsters have been represented on the stage and in film.

In the upcoming weeks, I plan to further develop this reading list by speaking with Professor Menon about the concepts of colonization, resistance, and “the other’ and speaking with Professor Moffat about the overarching Victorian era.

 **Update On My Thesis:

 Towards the beginning of my thesis journey, I focused most of my secondary resources on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein due to the fact that this was the novel that sparked my desire to write about monstrosity for my thesis. While I still believe that Frankenstein is a worthwhile primary text for my topic (and is a text that I have included in my primary reading list), my engagement in further research and analysis has allowed me to see that I have been placing too much emphasis on this single text alone and have consequently ignored other novels and themes that might be beneficial to my pursuit of writing a dynamic thesis. By expanding my research to include other gothic novels of 18^th and 19^th century Britain, as well as other potential lenses and areas of criticism related to gothic novels and the concept of monsters, such as feminist, sociological, psychological, and historical criticism, I have determined that I am most interested in engaging with the overlap that exists between monsters and British imperialism/ colonialism. Because many of the monstrous figures in gothic novels are defined as being racially, biologically, and aesthetically different from the citizens of England, I hope to explore why these concepts were utilized by authors to inspire fear among British audiences. More specifically, I have narrowed my focus to identifying how monsters in 18^th and 19^th century British gothic novels possess an “otherness” that is directly related to Britain’s existence as a conquering Empire.

Due to this shift in focus, it has/will continue to become necessary for me to have a firm overview and  understanding of British imperialism and the ways in which it shaped the perspectives of the citizens of England and their national conception of the “other.” For this reason, I have expanded my secondary source list to include works, such as Edward Said’s “Orientalism” and Robert Johnson’s British Imperialism, so that I may begin to gain insight into Britain’s history as a conquering nation. In addition, I have added the words “Imperial Gothic” and “British Imperialism/Colonialism” to my key words list to reflect the fact that I am seeking to uncover the ways in which Britain’s pursuit of global domination affected its people, its literature, and its societal fears.

As a whole, I have selected these five primary texts for my thesis because I feel that they each offer valuable, unique contributions to the idea of the imperial Gothic monster. For example, Frankenstein and Dracula focus on mythical monsters and their inability to assimilate within English society, while Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights directly associate humans of non-English ancestry with monster-like qualities. While I have not read a majority of my primary texts, I plan to continue to research and read for my thesis with the hope of constructing a final work that links literary, Gothic monsters with the societal fears of Britain.