Through the materials provided and additional research on the Net, try to devise as many distinctive features as you can about the given character:

Group 1: Frankenstein

Group 2: Dracula

Frankenstein

Watch the trailer of “ Frankenstein” and try to make up your idea about the main character

compare your idea with the the plot

Now highlight the development of the main character through 4 steps:

Step 1:

One climatic night,in the secrecy of his apartment, he brings his creation to life.

"[a] flash of lightning illuminated the object and discovered its shape plainly to me; its gigantic stature, and the deformity of its aspect, more hideous than belongs to humanity, instantly informed me that it was the wretch, the filthy demon to whom [he] had given life."

- Mary Shelley, Frankenstein Chapter 7

Step 2:

Lonely, shunned and forlorn, the creature struck at Frankenstein's brother in a desperate attempt to injure his cruel maker.

“urged by this impulse, I seized on the boy as he passed and drew him towards me. As soon as he beheld my form, he placed his hands before his eyes and uttered a shrill scream: I drew his hand forcibly from his face, and said ‘ Child, what is the meaning of this? I do not intend to hurt you; listen to me.’ "He struggled violently. ‘ Let me go,’ he cried; ‘monster! Ugly wretch!

- Mary Shelley, Frankenstein chapter 16

Step 3:

The monster begs Victor to create a mate for him, a monster equally grotesque in order to avoid his loneliness.

" I am alone and miserable: man will not associate with me; but one has the formed and horrible as myself would not deny herself to me. My companion must be of the same species and have the same defects. This being you must create."

- Mary Shelley, Frankenstein Chapter 16

Step 4:

When Frankenstein, struck by doubts, destroys his new creation, the monster reacts against him.

“You have destroyed the work which you began; what is it that you intend? Do you dare to break your promise? I have endured toil and misery: I left Switzerland with you; I crept along the shores of the Rhine, among its willow islands, and over the summits of its hills. I have dwelt many months in the heaths of England, and among the deserts of Scotland. I have endured incalculable fatigue, and cold, and hunger; do you dare destroy my hopes?”

“Begone! I do break my promise; never will I create another like yourself, equal in deformity and wickedness.”

“Slave, I before reasoned with you, but you have proved yourself unworthy of my condescension. Remember that I have power; you believe yourself miserable, but I can make you so wretched that the light of day will be hateful to you. You are my creator, but I am your master;—obey!”

- Mary Shelley, Frankenstein chapter 20

Step 5:

The death of his creator overcomes the monster who decides to depart for the northernmost ice to die.

"Farewell! I leave you, and in you the last of human kind whom these eyes will ever behold. Farewell, Frankenstein! If thou wert yet alive, and yet cherished a desire of revenge against me, it would be better satiated in my life than in my destruction. But it was not so; thou didst seek my extinction that I might not cause greater wretchedness; and if yet, in some mode unknown to me, thou hast not ceased to think and feel, thou wouldst not desire against me a vengeance greater than that which I feel. Blasted as thou wert, my agony was still superior to thine; for the bitter sting of remorse will not cease to rankle in my wounds until death shall close them for ever."

- Mary Shelley, Frankenstein chapter 24

Dracula, the Vampire

Click on the upper link for a general view of the novel's plot

Step 1: click on the link below and look at the historical part about the character

Dracula between history...............

.............. and legend

Step 2: "do not cross that door...."

This is the scene where J. Harker enters into the castle and discovers............

"The castle is on the very edge of a terrible precipice. A stone falling from the window would fall a thousand feet without touching anything! As far as the eye can reach is a sea of green tree tops, with occasionally a deep rift where there is a chasm. Here and there are silver threads where the rivers wind in deep gorges through the forests.
But I am not in heart to describe beauty, for when I had seen the view I explored further; doors, doors, doors everywhere, and all locked and bolted. In no place save from the windows in the castle walls is there an available exit.
The castle is a veritable prison, and I am a prisoner!"

(From chapter II)

Step 3: .......and now.......THE TRUTH.......

"I only slept a few hours when I went to bed, and feeling that I could not sleep any more, got up. I had hung my shaving glass by the window, and was just beginning to shave. Suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder, and heard the Count's voice saying to me, "Good morning." I started, for it amazed me that I had not seen him, since the reflection of the glass covered the whole room behind me. In starting I had cut myself slightly, but did not notice it at the moment. Having answered the Count's salutation, I turned to the glass again to see how I had been mistaken. This time there could be no error, for the man was close to me, and I could see him over my shoulder. But there was no reflection of him in the mirror! The whole room behind me was displayed, but there was no sign of a man in it, except myself.

This was startling, and coming on the top of so many strange things, was beginning to increase that vague feeling of uneasiness which I always have when the Count is near. But at the instant I saw that the cut had bled a little, and the blood was trickling over my chin. I laid down the razor, turning as I did so half round to look for some sticking plaster. When the Count saw my face, his eyes blazed with a sort of demoniac fury, and he suddenly made a grab at my throat. I drew away and his hand touched the string of beads which held the crucifix. It made an instant change in him, for the fury passed so quickly that I could hardly believe that it was ever there".

(From chapter two)

Step 4: Now read the last chapter of the book.

Approfondimenti:

Al fine di collegare il mito del vampiro alla sua rivisitazzione moderna, si suggeriscono agli allievi i links ai trailers in lingua inglese di "The Twilight Saga", molto conosciuta ed apprezzata dai ragazzi.

Utilizzando il trailer in lingua originale di un film contemporaneo quale è " Robocop", gli allievi sono portati a riflettere sulle implicazioni etiche che emergono quando l'uomo utilizza la scienza per ricreare la vita (vedi Frankenstein).