The Gothic Villain Essay

Hearing of the word hero brings to my mind a good looking man with some qualities of fair, equal, courage, brave, honest and a positive leader. This makes the opposite a villain a person who wishes wrong for someone or a person who creates evil. The event changes dramatically, a hero of the past may not be considered a hero in the present and versa. Hernando Cortes a hero for joining two worlds and conquering the most powerful civilization of America or Hernando Cortes a villain for making the Aztec Empire disappear. Hernando Cortez was an important symbol for the explorations, but killing people, ending the most powerful civilization in America and spreading diseases does not makes him a hero. With

What is a hero? A hero is the protagonist of a story and they are a brave and noble character. A her has superhuman qualities but they are still human and they have flaws. A hero must conquer difficult tasks and a villain tries to keep the hero from their goal. People consider Iron Man and Odysseus are both considered heroes but some say Odysseus shouldn’t be considered a hero and some say Iron Man shouldn’t be considered a hero. Both are similar and different but who should be considered a hero?

Filled with determination to act upon a self-fulfilling goal that benefits the greater good in some way, the anti-hero serves as the protagonist of the story. Though the anti-hero may seem to be the villain they are not, at worst they are delusional but never evil. Often formed from tragedy and occasionally psychotic the anti-hero is an important archetype in the area of storytelling.

Similar to Young Goodman Brown, William Wilson is also an example of how and why people will go to extremes to avoid duality. For Poe, the doppelganger is also the embodiment of the narrator William Wilson’s guilt and self-hatred, which is why he constantly wants to escape himself. The narrator claims that he became evil suddenly, yet there is a gradual shift in emotions observed in his deteriorating relationship with the doppelganger. The narrator begins his relationship with his doppelganger as a friendly schoolboy rivalry before he realized that the other Wilson was indeed an alter ego to himself. When the doppelganger was presumed to be another person, and not another part of the narrator, his flaws did not matter to the narrator.

William Wilson is undoubtedly an interesting short story written by Poe to describe the seemingly paradoxical situation of a man he calls William Wilson. Through introducing the concept of a doppelganger, Poe describes the paranoia that arises from the Wilson as he takes on this doppelganger that ultimately results in his own murder suicide when he realizes that this is actually a shadow of himself. Interestingly enough, paragraph two of page 7 describes what Wilson admits as his own fall into the vice of gambling as he moved on to the next segment of his life at Oxford. Through the intuitive use of word choice as well the paradoxical statements of his own description, Poe illustrates Wilson’s own self-reflection that showed his obsession

This is one piece of evidence that William Wilson is more controlled by the superego (morals) than the narrator. To further support this theory, the narrator mentions his impulsive actions and his “[addiction] to the wildest caprices” (Poe, 1). These are apparent throughout the story as he turns to heavy alcohol usage and gambling, even cheating in this already unhealthy and risky behavior. The “unpardonable crime” (1), of which he has committed many, also supports the theory that the narrator is controlled partially, if not entirely, by his Id. Later on in the story, the other William appears when the narrator is partaking in particularly risky or irresponsible habits, presumably to stop him. This reinforces the theory that he is influenced by the superego and

Edgar Allan Poe wrote a series of psychological stories, among these being “William Wilson” and “Angel of the Odd”. William Wilson is a mysterious story about a supposedly evil doppelganger, while Angel of the Odd is a bit more light and about the dreams a drunken man has about strange incidents. These two stories are clearly contrasted in tone but can be compared in many ways based on the storyline and underlying ideas of the writings.

Through the juxtaposition of Poe’s characters of the Narrator and William Wilson, the reader is able to get a vivid picture of what he was trying to portray. Firstly, we find out that William Wilson joins the school the same day as the Narrator and has the exact same birthday. Secondly, Poe explains that William Wilson shares the same exact look, demeanor and voice, as long as it is no louder than a whisper, as the Narrator. Poe states “His cue, which is a perfect imitation of myself, lay both in words and actions;” (Pg.6)

The dark figure of crime refers to the idea that the majority of crimes committed are never reported, and even fewer of those reported end up cleared or convicted. Politicians may want to keep it this way, having certain crimes going unreported/unsolved, for many reasons.

What is the difference between the hero in a story and the villain? The hero is supposed to do the good and the villain is supposed to be against it. When it comes down to saving the day or ruining it, there always has to be a strategic plan that tackles all the odds. If there isn't a realistic plan to accomplish a goal then there might be risks and consequences in the process of trying to achieve the objective. Although Peter Stockmann is not as charismatic a leader as his younger brother Tom, Ibsen seems to support the mayor’s view of how organization and political systems must work to control the population and prevent chaos.

Through the juxtaposition of Poe’s characters, the Narrator and William Wilson, the reader is able to understand the different personality traits of each character. In the beginning of the story we find out that not only did William Wilson and the Narrator join the school the same day but they also share a birthday. Poe then subsequently explains that William Wilson shares several physical traits with the Narrator, in their identical look, demeanor and the same voice, as long as it is no louder than a whisper. The Narrator stating “His cue, which is a perfect imitation of myself, lay both in words and actions;” (Pg.6).

What is a hero? What is a villain? Although definitions vary within our global society, it is generally accepted that a hero is selfless, humble, and moral and has integrity, while a villain is corrupt or evil, incapable of feeling guilt or compassion and is guilty of committing heinous crimes. However, it should be noted that the labels of ‘hero’ and ‘villain’ are subjective, and that, in the words of Sirius Black (the falsely incriminated godfather of the titular hero of the Harry Potter series) “… the world isn’t split into good people and [villains]. We’ve all got light and dark inside of us…” (Yates, 2007)

How does different literature, written years and centuries apart by different authors, still contain the same prevailing ideas? Some ideas occur over and over again in literature, often revolving around human nature. Humans have a tendency to do the same thing over and over again, even across generations and many years. This idea is often seen when observing these romanticism and gothic writings. Sources F, B, A, and G all convey a similar message about human nature.

Ghosts, the devil, and big scary monsters keep us up at night. But, there are many other gothic elements that contribute to the creation of gothic literature. Ms. Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs contains a profuse amount of gothic elements, many of which are found in older gothic short stories. Some that share these elements are “Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment” which has characters who have a fascination with the past, “A Rose for Emily” which has mystery surrounding a certain place, and “The Masque of Red Death” which the plot is based on the bloody deaths of people.

What is a grotesque character? In literature, a character or location that is irregular, extravagant or fantastic in form. When used as a device, the purpose is often in the style of expressionism, making the grotesque a parody of human qualities or a distorted reflection of a familiar place. In many ways grotesque characters have some kind of problem in society, and example would be a veteran who lost a limb in war and trying to fit back into society, or anything that we see as not normal in our society. Characters in this particular subject can be deformed, obsessed, or in our terms just not normal or right. Another definition of a grotesque