The thesis examines the different types of fictional werewolves that evolved in the English literature of the (late) 19th century and also argues in favor of an interpretation which reads those werewolves as representative of the Victorian middle class' fears and processes of identity formation.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Werewolves in Western Culture
3. What Monsters Tell Us About Identity-Formation
4. The Werewolf in Selected Short Narratives of the Nineteenth Century
4.1 ‘Beasts Without’: the Werewolf as Cultural ‘Other’
4.2 ‘Beasts Below’: the Werewolf as Working-Class Member
4.3 ‘Beasts Above’: the Werewolf as Debauched Aristocrat
4.4 ‘Beasts in White’: the Female Werewolf
4.5 ‘Beasts Within’, or: “Much deeper in the nature of man”
5. Conclusion
Research Objectives and Key Topics
This academic paper examines the representation of the werewolf in nineteenth-century short narratives, investigating how these monstrous depictions served as tools for identity formation within the male middle-class. By analyzing a corpus of literary works, the research explores how the werewolf motif evolved from an externalized cultural threat to an internalized psychological reflection of Victorian anxieties regarding class, gender, and the nature of humanity.
- Evolution of the werewolf motif in nineteenth-century literature.
- Identity construction through the process of 'Othering'.
- Socio-cultural fears represented by werewolf archetypes (the 'Other', working-class, aristocrat).
- The intersection of gender, sexuality, and the monstrous 'female werewolf'.
- The transition from external threats to the internalized 'beast within' at the fin de siècle.
Excerpt from the Book
4.1 ‘Beasts Without’: the Werewolf as Cultural ‘Other’
Sir Gilbert Campbell starts his tale like this:
A wide sandy expanse of country, flat and uninteresting in appearance, with a great staring whitewashed house standing in the midst of wide fields of cultivated land, whilst far away were the low sandhills and pine forests to be met with in the district of Lithuania, in Russian Poland.
(Campbell 23)
Campbell’s story The White Wolf of Kostopchin (1889), although being an English werewolf yarn, is set in another country. Looking at other popular stories from the time, one quickly comes to realise that many of them locate their werewolves in more or less distant and desolate parts of the world – never in England. Thus, it does not come as a surprise that Mrs. Hugh Fraser’s narrative deals with the experiences of “a certain hunter who lived far out in the Campagna by himself, in a small stone house” (Fraser 81). Frederick Marryat speaks of “the intricacies and seclusion of the Hartz Mountains“ (Marryat 5) in The White Wolf of the Hartz Mountains (1839), which is “indeed a wild region […] and many strange stories are told of it” (Marryat 3); he concludes by saying that “a more desolate scene could not well be imagined” (Marryat 5). Clemence Housman is much more subtle when it comes to the location of her narrative: an exact geographical clue is never explicitly stated. We are merely told that the action takes place in “the northern circle of the world” (Housman 49), so a Scandinavian country in all probability.
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: The author introduces the scope of the study, noting that the werewolf has been overlooked in Gothic studies and proposing a focus on its role in identity formation during the nineteenth century.
2. Werewolves in Western Culture: This chapter provides a historical survey of the werewolf, tracing its evolution from ancient shape-shifting myths to medieval sympathetic victims and later enlightenment interpretations.
3. What Monsters Tell Us About Identity-Formation: The author draws upon theories of transgression to explain how monstrous figures help define the boundaries of the self through the process of 'Othering'.
4. The Werewolf in Selected Short Narratives of the Nineteenth Century: This central analytical chapter examines specific werewolf archetypes, including the cultural 'Other', the working-class beast, the decadent aristocrat, and the female werewolf, before addressing the 'beast within'.
5. Conclusion: The paper concludes that the nineteenth-century werewolf motif effectively mirrored the anxieties and psychological shifts of the era, culminating in the internalized horrors found in late Victorian literature.
Keywords
Werewolf, Nineteenth Century, Identity Formation, Othering, Gothic Literature, Victorian England, Short Narrative, Social Norms, Cultural Other, Female Werewolf, Beast Within, Psychoanalysis, Transformation, Monstrosity, Class Anxiety
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary subject of this academic paper?
The paper examines the representation of werewolves in nineteenth-century literature and how these figures functioned as symbols for social and psychological anxieties.
What are the central themes addressed in the work?
Key themes include the construction of identity, social and class dynamics, the role of gender in monstrosity, and the historical evolution of the werewolf motif.
What is the ultimate research objective?
The goal is to demonstrate that nineteenth-century werewolf stories served as a mechanism for the middle class to define their own identity by contrasting themselves with perceived 'Others'.
Which scientific or theoretical framework is used?
The author primarily utilizes the theory of 'Othering' and transgression, as discussed by scholars like Peter Stallybrass, Allon White, and Chantal Bourgault du Coudray.
What does the main body of the paper cover?
The main body performs a detailed analysis of werewolf types—such as the foreign 'Other', the working-class member, the aristocrat, the female werewolf, and the 'beast within'.
Which keywords best characterize this research?
The most relevant keywords include Werewolf, Identity Formation, Othering, Victorian literature, Gothic, and class anxiety.
How does the author define the 'female werewolf'?
The author argues that female werewolves are often portrayed as physically beautiful yet morally corrupt, symbolizing middle-class fears regarding changing gender roles and the 'New Woman'.
Why is Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde included in a study about werewolves?
The author identifies Mr. Hyde as a modern, internalized type of werewolf who represents the 'beast within', shifting the fear from an external monster to an inherent human quality.
- Arbeit zitieren
- Mate Madunic (Autor:in), 2010, 'Beasts Without' - Representations of the Werewolf in Selected Short Narratives of the 19th Century, München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/151898
