Monstrosity

In this essay, we will look at monstrosity and how it is presented, particularly in ‘Beowulf’ and
‘Frankenstein’. Monstrosity is something outrageously evil, ugly or malformed. It is generally used to
create convincing horror aspects and villains.

Beowulf
Beowulf is a legendary hero from Scandinavian legend who saved villages and kingdoms from threats
of monsters such as Grendel, the Sea Hag and the Fire Drake. Grendel is a beast of darkness who
skulks around killing innocent people and devouring them. He blends into the shadows and has a
menacing stature that allows him to overpower almost everyone. Anyone other that Beowulf. Grendel
is terrifying not only because of his evil deeds and unnatural power, but also because the people of the
town can do nothing against him and are helpless. Helplessness is a useful way to portray monstrosity
by showing how much more powerful a beast is compared to normal people like you and me. The Sea
Hag is Grendel’s mother, and another example of monstrosity in Beowulf. She is in a cave by the sea
where she lives. She is scaled with a long tail and hideous breath that reeks of death like her cold,
dank lair. When Beowulf enters her cave, he can see carcasses and stalagmites covered in algae. As he
goes deeper in, a slimy, scaly tail knocks the breath out of him, and he almost collapses upon smelling
the stench of the beast’s breath. It comes closer, seeing victory, but Beowulf claws at her eyes, and he
kills it with his blade as it screams. The battle is described with all the gruesome detail that makes this
monster a perfect example of using disgust to portray monstrosity. The final example in Beowulf is
the fire drake. The Fire Drake is a classic dragon which is obviously terrifying in another way. The
creature crawls from its cave to face Beowulf, and it is eventually slain, but Beowulf is defeated in the
process. The Fire Drake uses size and bestial terror to convey monstrosity, as it can kill Beowulf, even
if it dies in the process. Overall, Beowulf shows monstrosity in many ways through its different
monsters.

Frankenstein
Frankenstein is a very famous horror novel, written by Mary Shelley. It follows a man named Victor
Frankenstein who is obsessed with creating life. He goes gravedigging and takes body parts from
corpses, stitching them together until he creates a mismatched corpse. He then works in his lab,
shocking it with electricity to awaken it from death. As it sits up, Victor looks upon the abomination
in disgust, ‘the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless disgust and horror filled my heart’ is how
it is described. It has sunken, watery, yellow eyes, pearly white teeth and thin, yellowish skin that
scarcely covers the work of arteries and veins beneath. Victor runs away and has nightmares about
disturbing things. The story progresses with the monster killing many of Victors family and loved
ones. Eventually he chases the monster, and it flees. They chase for many months, but Victor dies
after telling his story to people who found him injured from the chase. The monster comes to say
goodbye to his creator and then kills himself, showing that he has some shreds of humanity. The
monster is a good example as it brings together unnatural strength, disgust and even sadness to create
a convincing abomination that you can easily fear as well as feel sorry for.