Dossiers Portraits de Monstres

8/3/2019 Dossiers Portraits de Monstres

1/9

Monsters : Dorian Gray.

The Picture of Dorian Gray(Oscar Wilde 1890) - Plot overview

A painter, Basil Hallward, paints a most exquisite portrait of his muse, the handsome young man named

Dorian Gray. During the last session of painting, Dorian, who has until this point been completely

innocent both of his beauty and of the world, meets Basil's friend Lord Henry Wotton, who opens his

eyes to the ephemeral nature of his own beauty and tells him that he should experience life to the

fullest. Upon the completion of the portrait, Dorian wishes out loud that the painting would grow old,

and not he. Due to Lord Henry's influence, Dorian goes out looking for passion and falls in love with a

young actress of considerable talent, Sibyl Vane. When she falls in love with him, however, she realizes

the falseness of her stage life and performs very poorly in front of Basil and Lord Henry when they come

to meet her; Dorian is thoroughly disappointed, loses all respect and love for her, and breaks the

engagement. He goes home to find that the painting has become slightly more cruel-looking, and the

next morning, just after resolving to go back and marry her regardless, finds out that Sibyl has killed

herself. The painting fills him with fear and he has it locked up in an old schoolroom in his house.

Dorian finds a certain joy, over the next years, in committing sinful or pleasurable deeds and watching

the painting change; he loses none of his beauty or youth, but the painting grows old and ugly.

He is constantly in touch with Lord Henry, who feeds his beliefs about a new Hedonism-the search for

pleasure, not morality-which should take over the world. When Dorian is thirty-eight, he runs into Basil,

having not seen him for a long time, and finally shows him what has happened to his portrait. Basil is

horrified and tries to make Dorian repent, but Dorian kills him, and has an old friend of his burn the body

and get rid of the evidence.

Dorian becomes increasingly anxious and fearful that someone might discover his secret, and goes to an

opium den to try to erase his bad feelings. Sibyl's brother, James, who has been searching for him for

eighteen years, knowing only that his sister called him Prince Charming, finds Dorian and threatens his

life. He lets him go when Dorian tells him to look closely at his face; he could not have been more than

twenty years old. While at a hunting party a few days later, a man is accidentally shot and killed, and

Dorian finds out that this man was James. He decides that from this time on, he will be good; and to dothis, he must get rid of the constant anxiety and fear he has been feeling-he must destroy the portrait.

He stabs it, with the same knife he used to kill Basil, and when the servants enter they see the portrait as

it was when it was new, and a horrible, old, ugly man lying dead on the floor.

Source: http://www.bookrags.com/notes/dg/SUM.html
http://www.bookrags.com/notes/dg/SUM.htmlhttp://www.bookrags.com/notes/dg/SUM.htmlhttp://www.bookrags.com/notes/dg/SUM.html


2/9

Monsters : Edward Scissorhands

Brief Summary :

In a castle high on top of a hill lives an inventor's greatest creation - Edward, a

near-complete person. The creator died before he could finish Edward's

hands; instead, Edward is left with metal scissors for hands. Since then,

Edward has lived alone, until a kind lady called Peg discovers Edward and

welcomes him into her home. At first, everyone welcomes Edward into the

community, but soon things begin to take a change for the worse.

http://www.imdb.com

Movie critics:http://www.rottentomatoes.com

Spirituality and Practice:

A modern fairy tale about a deformed outsider whose innocence and gentle nature

make him a freak in the eyes of the community he visits.

Washington Post:

Enchantment on the cutting edge, a dark yet heartfelt portrait of the artist as

a young mannequin.

The trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWFa8zfWfeA
http://www.imdb.com/http://www.imdb.com/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWFa8zfWfeAhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWFa8zfWfeAhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWFa8zfWfeAhttp://www.imdb.com/


3/9

Monsters:Elephant Man.

The real John Merrick

Movie review :

John Hurt stars as John Merrick, the hideously deformed 19th century Londoner

known as "The Elephant Man". Treated as a sideshow freak, Merrick is assumed to beretarded as well as misshapen because of his inability to speak coherently. In fact, he

is highly intelligent and sensitive, a fact made public when one Dr. Frederick Treves

(Anthony Hopkins) rescues Merrick from a carnival and brings him to a hospital for

analysis. Alas, even after being recognized as a man of advanced intellect, Merrick is

still treated like a freak; no matter his station in life, he will forever be a prisoner of

his own malformed body. []Hal Erickson, Rovi

www.rottentomatoes.com

www.bbc.co.uk

Famous quote: Im not an animal, Im a human being John Merrick

Movie trailer:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ye4YTZOq2fk
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/http://www.rottentomatoes.com/http://www.bbc.co.uk/http://www.bbc.co.uk/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ye4YTZOq2fkhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ye4YTZOq2fkhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ye4YTZOq2fkhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ye4YTZOq2fkhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/http://www.rottentomatoes.com/


4/9

Monsters: Adolph Hitler.

Mein Kampfcover

Adolf Hitler, military and political leader of Germany 1933 - 1945, launched World

War Two and bears responsibility for the deaths of millions, including six million

Jewish people in the Nazi genocide [densad].

More information about: Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler was born on 20 April 1889 in Braunau-am-Inn on the Austrian-German

border. His father was a customs official. Hitler left school at 16 with no qualifications

and struggled to make a living as a painter in Vienna. This was where many of his

extreme political and racial ideas originated.

In 1913, he moved to Munich and, on the outbreak of World War One, enlisted in the

German army, where he was wounded and decorated. In 1919, he joined the fascist

German Workers' Party (DAP). He played to the resentments of right-wingers,promising extremist 'remedies' to Germany's post-war problems which he and many

others blamed on Jews and Bolsheviks. By 1921 he was the unquestioned leader of

what was now the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP or Nazi Party).

In 1923, Hitler attempted an unsuccessful armed uprising in Munich and was

imprisoned for nine months, during which time he dictated his book 'Mein Kampf'

outlining his political ideology. On his release he began to rebuild the Nazi Party and

used new techniques of mass communication, backed up with violence, to get his

message across. Against a background of economic depression and political turmoil,

the Nazis grew stronger and in the 1932 elections became the largest party in the

German parliament. In January 1933, Hitler became chancellor of a coalitiongovernment. He quickly took dictatorial powers and began to institute anti-Jewish

laws. He also began the process of German militarisation and territorial expansion

that would eventually lead to World War Two. He allied with Italy and later Japan to

create the Axis.

Hitler's invasion of Poland in September 1939 began World War Two. After military

successes in Denmark, Norway and Western Europe, but after failing to subdue

Britain in 1941, Hitler ordered the invasion of the Soviet Union. The Jewish

populations of the countries conquered by the Nazis were rounded up and killed.

Millions of others whom the Nazis considered racially inferior were also killed or

worked to death. In December 1941, Hitler declared war on the United States. Thewar on the eastern front drained Germany's resources and in June 1944, the British

and Americans landed in France. With Soviet troops poised to take the German

capital, Hitler committed suicide in his bunker in Berlin on 30 April 1945.

Source:http://www.bbc.co.uk
http://www.bbc.co.uk/http://www.bbc.co.uk/http://www.bbc.co.uk/http://www.bbc.co.uk/


5/9

Monsters: Dexter (TV Series 2006)

General plot: A likeable Miami police forensics expert moonlights as a serial killer of

criminals who he believes have escaped justice.

His victims :

http://www.sho.com

Trailer Season 4 :

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0773262/
http://www.sho.com/http://www.sho.com/http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0773262/http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0773262/http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0773262/http://www.sho.com/


6/9

Monsters : E.T. (Steven Spielberg 1982)

He is afraid. He is alone. He is three million light years from home.

Movie info:

Both a classic movie for kids and a remarkable portrait of childhood, E.T. is a sci-fi

adventure that captures that strange moment in youth when the world is a place of

mysterious possibilities (some wonderful, some awful), and the universe seems

somehow separate from the one inhabited by grown-ups. Henry Thomas plays Elliott,

a young boy living with his single mother (Dee Wallace), his older brother Michael

(Robert MacNaughton), and his younger sister Gertie (Drew Barrymore). Elliott often

seems lonely and out of sorts, lost in his own world. One day, while looking for

something in the back yard, he senses something mysterious in the woods watching

him. And he's right: an alien spacecraft on a scientific mission mistakenly left behind

an aging botanist who isn't sure how to get home. Eventually Elliott puts his fears

aside and makes contact with the "little squashy guy," perhaps the least threatening

alien invader ever to hit a movie screen. As Elliott tries to keep the alien under wraps

and help him figure out a way to get home, he discovers that the creature can

communicate with him telepathically. Soon they begin to learn from each other, and

Elliott becomes braver and less threatened by life. E.T. rigs up a communication

device from junk he finds around the house, but no one knows if he'll be rescued

before a group of government scientists gets hold of him.

http://www.rottentomatoes.com

Movie review (David Steritt)

It helped alter the course of sci-fi movies by suggesting that intergalactic aliens might

not be monsters but friendly, even loving, creatures. This doesn't make it a

masterpiece, but it's fun.
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/http://www.rottentomatoes.com/http://www.rottentomatoes.com/


7/9

Monsters: Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde

The transformation: Oh my God! Can it Be?

The main characters:

Dr. Henry Jekyll - A respected doctor and friend of both Lanyon, a fellow physician,

and Utterson, a lawyer. Jekyll is a seemingly prosperous man, well established in the

community, and known for his decency and charitable works. Since his youth,

however, he has secretly engaged in unspecified dissolute and corrupt behavior. Jekyll

finds this dark side a burden and undertakes experiments intended to separate his

good and evil selves from one another. Through these experiments, he brings Mr.

Hyde into being, finding a way to transform himself in such a way that he fully

becomes his darker half.

Mr. Edward Hyde - A strange, repugnant man who looks faintly pre-human. Hyde is

violent and cruel, and everyone who sees him describes him as ugly and deformed

yet no one can say exactly why. Language itself seems to fail around Hyde: he is not a

creature who belongs to the rational world, the world of conscious articulation or

logical grammar. Hyde is Jekylls dark side, released from the bonds of conscience and

loosed into the world by a mysterious potion.

http://www.sparknotes.com

Key Facts

Full title The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Author Robert Louis Stevenson / Type of work Novel / Genre Gothic mystery story

Time and place written 1885, Bournemouth, England.

Narrator The narrator is anonymous and speaks in the third person. Dr. Lanyon and Dr. Jekyll

each narrate one chapter of the novel via a confessional letter.

Point of view For most of the novel, the narrative follows Uttersons point of view; in the lasttwo chapters, Lanyon and Jekyll report their experiences from their own perspectives.

Tone Mysterious; serious

Setting (time & place) The late nineteenth century London

Protagonist Henry Jekyll

Major conflict Jekyll attempts to keep his dark half, Edward Hyde, under control and then to

prevent himself from becoming Hyde permanently.

Rising action Utterson attempts to discover the truth about the Jekyll-Hyde relationship.

Climax One could argue for two different climaxes. The moment when Utterson breaks

down the door to Jekylls laboratory and finds Hydes corpse constitutes a climax in thatUtterson finally admits and accepts that something terribly wrong has taken place. But one

might also see the novels climax as arising within Lanyons lette r, at the moment that he

witnesses Hydes transformation into Jekyll and the mysterious connection between the

personas is finally explained.

Falling action Utterson leaves Jekylls laboratory, goes home, and reads the letters from

Lanyon and Jekyll, which explain all.

Themes The duality of human nature; the importance of reputation

Motifs Violence against innocents; silence; urban terror

Excerpt (Chapter 1 Story of the Door Enfield describing Hyde to Utterson):

He is not easy to describe. There is something wrong with his appearance; something

displeasing, something downright detestable. I never saw a man I so disliked, and yet I

scarce know why. He must be deformed somewhere; he gives a strong feeling of

deformity, although I couldnt specify the point. Hes an extraordinary -looking man,

and yet I really can name nothing out of the way. No, sir; I can make no hand of it; I

cant describe him. And its not want of memory; for I declare I can see him this

moment.
http://www.sparknotes.com/http://www.sparknotes.com/http://www.sparknotes.com/


8/9

Monsters:Frankensteins monster

Title of the novel: Frankenstein or the modern Prometheus

Who Is Frankenstein?

Victor Frankenstein is the doomed protagonist and narrator of the main portion of

the story. Studying in Ingolstadt, Victor discovers the secret of life and creates an

intelligent but grotesque monster, from whom he recoils in horror. Victor keeps his

creation of the monster a secret, feeling increasingly guilty and ashamed as he

realizes how helpless he is to prevent the monster from ruining his life and the lives of

others.

So what was the name of the monster?

The monster is the eight-foot-tall, hideously ugly creation of Victor Frankenstein.Intelligent and sensitive, the monster attempts to integrate himself into human social

patterns, but all who see him shun him. His feeling of abandonment compels him to

seek revenge against his creator.

http://www.sparknotes.com

Who was Prometheus?

Prometheus was the Titan who created mankind. A task given to him by Zeus, he was

to create a being with clay and water in the image of the gods that could have a spirit

breathed into it. Prometheus taught man to hunt, read, and heal their sick, but after

he tricked Zeus into accepting poor-quality offerings from humans, Zeus kept fire

from mankind. Prometheus being the creator, took back the fire from Zeus to give toman. When Zeus discovers this, he sentences Prometheus to be eternally punished by

fixing him to a rock of Caucasus where each day an eagle would peck out his liver,

only for the liver to regrow the next day because of his immortality as a god.

So, why is Victor Frankenstein compared to Prometheus?

The Titan in the Greek mythology of Prometheus parallels Victor Frankenstein.

Victor's work by creating man by new means reflects the same innovative work of the

Titan in creating humans. Victor, in a way, stole the secret of creation from God just

as the Titan stole fire from heaven to give to man. Both the Titan and Victor are

punished for their actions. Victor is reprimanded by suffering the loss of those close

to him and the dread of being killed himself by his creation.

http://en.wikipedia.org
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9/9

Monsters in painting: Francis Bacon

Francis Bacon(28 October 1909 28 April 1992), Irish-born British figurative painter.

Self-portrait(1969) Self-portrait(1976)

Francis Bacon had always been obsessed by his ugliness and painted hundreds of

deformed self-portraits, trying to depict deteriorating human flesh.

Study for Self-Portrait, 1985.

Study for a Self-PortraitTriptych, 198586 is a triptych painted between 1985 and

1986 by the Irish born artist Francis Bacon. The work is an acknowledgment and

examination of the effect of age and time on the human body and spirit, and was

painted after a period when many close friends of the artist died. Although widely

considered a masterpiece and one of Bacon's most personal works, the triptych is at

the same time one of his least experimental and most conventional paintings. Bacon

believed that the fatigue of old age and the complications of fame lead him to

appreciate simplicity as a virtue of its own, a sentiment which he attempted

transferred into his work.

http://en.wikipedia.org
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triptychhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_peoplehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Bacon_%28painter%29http://en.wikipedia.org/http://en.wikipedia.org/http://en.wikipedia.org/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Bacon_%28painter%29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_peoplehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triptych

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Dossiers Portraits de Monstres