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Paper #2: The Psychology of the Supervillain

 


British Literature from 1800

Paper #2: The Psychology of the Supervillain

If Frankenstein can be considered the first work of science fiction in English literature, then we can also claim that Victor Frakenstein is its first supervillain. After all, he’s a criminal mastermind who creates monsters, manipulates his family, and has grandiose visions of saving/ruling the world. After his first appearance, literature swarmed with unreliable narrators who were spurred onto evil acts, their crimes on parade for anyone to read and decipher.

For this paper, I want you to make a case study of the development of the ‘supervillain’ using three ‘criminals’ in our class so far. These could consist of the Ancient Mariner, Victor Frankenstein, the Creature, Walton, the Duke, Porphyria’s Lover, the Monk, the Bishop, Johannes Agricola, Fra Lippo Lippi, Caliban, and the Invisible Man. You can even use something else from American/British literature at this time (Poe, Stevenson, Wilde, etc.) if you know these works, but try to focus mostly on our works in class. Explore what qualities, desires, motivations, and methods they each have in common. Why might we consider each one a model sociopath, and how can we learn to ‘read’ this in their works? What makes them dangerous? Unreliable? Unthinkable?

Your paper should identify one of these characters as the prototypical supervillain, and then use two others to corroborate or elucidate these traits. Be sure to close read examples from each book/poem so we can see these criminals in action. How does each author reveal their motivations and actions, and where can we read between the lines to see even more? Be specific, and try to find the hidden clues that a Sherlock Holmes (who was created in the 1880s, just before The Invisible Man) would sniff out.

REMEMBER: When citing literature in a paper, be sure to introduce the work and cite the page number of your edition. For example,

In Robert Browning’s poem, “Porphyria’s Lover,” the narrator tells the reader, “No pain felt she;/I am quite sure she felt no pain” (9).

(WC): Browning, Robert. “Porphyria’s Lover.” New York: Dover, 1993.

REQUIREMENTS

  • Page limit optional, though consider how much work you need to make a convincing case
  • Examine and quote from three works
  • Cite all sources according to MLA format, along with a Works Cited
  • DUE Wednesday, October 13th by 5pm [no class]

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