The Masque of the Red Death 1964 Film

-The film is far different from the short story. Although the basic idea is the same - A disease is killing off a Prince's population, while he enjoys a life of luxury secluded in his castle - Prince Prospero is a different character. In the short story, Prospero is described as mad but he and his guests are indifferent to the outside world. However, the Prospero in the movie takes pleasure in making the lives of those in and outside the castle miserable.

-In the film, Prospero worships Satan and brings in a village girl to try to corrupt her belief in God and convert her. This is not in the short story at all. The movie Prospero believes that Satan will protect him against the Red Death. His mistress, Juliana, also believed that Satan had spared her during her own sacrifice to become his wife. She was pecked to death by a crow.

-I prefer the Prospero in the short story even though he doesn't have as much detail, back story, or motive. Poe's Prospero is a coward with a false sense of arrogance. He fears the Red Death figure as soon as he sees him then becomes angry because he truly believed he had cheated death. The movie Prospero follows the figure, angry at first because someone defied his orders to not wear red, and then honors him because he thinks he is a messenger of Satan, his master. Then there is the relationship with Francesca, which also isn't in the short story. He wants to corrupt her but then asks for her to be spared. This is out of character to all of his actions in the film thus far and just adds another unnecessary variable to the story.

-One thing that remains true is that the Red Death is not portrayed as the main villain of the story. He is simply a part of the universe that cannot be stopped or controlled. The meeting with "Yellow Death," "Black Death," and "White Death" at the end seemed a little over the top and also unnecessary.

Carrie

-The movie shows Carrie in a MUCH more sympathetic life and her relationship with Hurstwood is more romanticized.

-Hurstwood's wife is portrayed as more than despicable and so the audience feels sympathy for him and understands his actions more.

-Even in poverty, the two are madly in love. What tears the two apart is not money, but that Hurstwood's wife reappears in their lives informs Carrie that they are still married and the stress causes Carrie to have a miscarriage. Carrie leaves Hurstwood to join the theater, but not because she resents him or doesn't love him anymore.

-Probably the biggest change in character is when Carrie and Hurstwood have their final meeting. She wants to take him in and share her wealth with him - not just give him nine dollars and send him on his way. It is Hurstwood who leaves her because he does not want to bring her down.

Sister Carrie: Carrie and Hurstwood

-Neither Carrie is not a usual Villain. She certainly isn't an outright villains like the other books I have read but I think she is a good example of a more every day villain.

-In the beginning, it would see she was the victim. Drouet feels sympathy for her low-income situation but he also wants to use his money as a way to sleep with her. But it is Carrie's own obsession with money and material items that lets Drouet do this. In return for clothes and nights out on the town, Carrie agrees to live with him without getting married. But Carrie is far from innocent. As soon as she sees Drouet next to Hurstwood, her attention begins to transfer to the more fashionable and wealthier man.

-Carrie dances between the two men, taking all that they give to her. She bathes in Hurstwood's love and the prospect of a good marriage, but accepts material gifts and acting roles from Drouet. Drouet was not the only one using Carrie, they were using each other. As soon as she found someone who she thought she could marry and bring her into even greater luxury, she leaves him.

-Carrie is so caught up in her own wants, that she does not realize the lengths in which Hurstwood has gone to runaway with her. After years of loyal service, he steals ten thousand dollars from work. Not that Hurstwood is completely innocent here. On the contrary, he lied to Carrie to get her to runaway with him, didnt tell her he stole the money, and married her without divorcing his wife. However, these are not the reasons why their relationship begins to fall apart - it is the lack of money.

-Once Carrie becomes friends with her neighbor, Mrs. Vance, she once again has a taste of the upperclass in New York, which is on an even higher scale than Chicago. Carrie begins to become dissatisfied again. When Hurstwood loses his job, stops dressing well, and puts a cut off on Carrie's spending, things begin to go very sour. It was at this point in the book that I began to wonder if Carrie had ever loved Hurstwood in the first place or if it is as I have said in this blog - it was only his wealth and status in Chicago's society that fascinated her.

-They begin to resent each other, until finally Carrie finds work on her own as an actress under the name, "Carrie Madenda," which Drouet had given her. Carrie ends up leaving Hurstwood with 20 dollars and note to live with Lola. Free of Hurstwood, Carrie's career begins to take off. After becoming successful she encounters both Drouet and Hurstwood the same night. She feels pity for Hurstwood and gives him money, but does not seem to take any responsibility she may have had in his fall. Hurstwood ends up killing himself, Carrie remains successful but unhappy. She does not seek out information about him and dos not know that he has died.

The Masque of the Red Death: Prince Prospero

-The original assumption most readers make about Poe's short story, "The Masque of the Red Death," is that "Red Death" is the main villain. That it is the disease that is the primary evil of this tale. However, it is the main character, Prince Prospero, that is the true villain.

-As a prince, it is Prince Prospero's duty to govern and rule his people. But in a time of crisis, when half of his kingdom's population has died from the "Red Death," Prospero "was happy and dauntless and sagacious... he summoned to his presence a thousand hale and light-hearted friends from among the knights and dames of his court, and with these retired to the deep seclusion of one of his castellated abbeys" (pg. 1.) He abandoned his people for a life that "provided all the appliances of pleasure" (pg. 1). He believed that the "external world could take care of itself" (pg. 1).

-He has lavish parties where "there were buffoons, there were improvisatori, there were ballet-dancers, there were musicians, there was Beauty, there was wine. All these and security were within. Without was the 'Red Death'" (pg. 1). By running away from what he is afraid of, Prospero thinks that not only can he cheat the "Red Death," but that he is more powerful than it.

-At his most over the top masquerade party, with seven rooms of different colors, a figure, personifying the "Red Death" appears. The other guests and certainly Prospero are frightened and outraged but as a Reader I not only found the figure as just a natural part of the world Poe had created but also welcomed him to punish Prospero for abandoning his people.

-"And now was acknowledged the presence of the Red Death. He had come like a thief in the night. And one by one dropped the revellers in the blood-bedewed halls of their revel, and died each in the despairing posture of his fall. And the life of the ebony clock went out with that of the last of the gay. And the flames of the tripods expired. And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all" (pg. 6). The obvious point of the story is that no one can outrun death. Prince Prospero tried to use his power and wealth to do so but in the end he and all of his guests were killed. What makes Prospero a villain is that he could have tried to help his people, done his duty, and maybe help save some lives but instead he ran away and was arrogant enough to believe that if he turned his back on the world that the world could not make him turn around and face reality.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarves

- The Disney version of Snow White obviously has a much lighter tone than the Brothers Grimm version. The message is still the same, but the actions less grotesque.

- The Queen still asks for one of Snow White's organs, but it is the heart not the liver and lungs, and she keeps it in a box. This is a step below cannibalism.

- She only tries to kill Snow White twice, however, she does go to a greater length that the Queen in the story by actually transforming herself into a hag. The Brothers Grimm Queen merely disguised herself with make up and a costume. The Queen in Disney's version, actually changes her shape. I would argue that although this Queen's methods are less barbaric, she might be even more blinded by jealousy in that not only does she not care if she dies trying to kill snow white but also has given up her beauty to do so (yes, she can change back but that she could even live with looking so ugly is an important detail to note).

- Disney's Evil Queen also dies at the end of the story but not in the same way. Instead of being tortured and humiliated, she falls from a cliff, while trying to crush the dwarfs with a boulder. Although the Brothers Grimm's Queen dies beautiful, I think falling to one's death might better than dancing to death in burning hot slippers in front of the person you hate the most. The Disney Queen at least thought she had succeeded and that Snow White had died, but the original Queen's last living image is of Snow White having everything.

Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm: Snow White

-It is no secret that the earlier versions of fairy tales are much darker than the modern Disney movies, however, the story of Snow White is particularly grotesque.

-The Step Mother has no back story. The reader knows that she came to the castle "proud and haughty, and she could not tolerate anyone else who might rival her beauty" (pg. 196) but we don't know why. It isn't for fear that she might lose her husband's attentions, after the first page of the story he isn't mentioned again. Like Marquise de Merteuil, it is her own ego and vanity that fuels her.

-The main theme of this story is to be wary of envy and jealousy, for these feelings can drive a person to do unthinkable acts and the consequences maybe grave. In the case of the Queen, she not only tries to kill her stepdaughter four times but also wanted to eat the poor girl's liver and lungs. She wants to be the "fairest" so badly that even if "it costs [her] life" (pg. 201) she will kill Snow White. She is so blinded by jealousy that she doesn't realize with both of them dead, she will still not be the fairest in the realm.

-The consequences for her actions are just as cruel and severe as her own attempts to kill Snow White. She is forced to wear iron hot slippers and dance until she dies at Snow White's wedding. In the end, not only was Snow White the fairest but also Queen.

Cruel Intentions: Sebastian Valmont and Kathryn Merteuil

- Up until Sebastian's death, the basic story is almost identical to "Les Liaisons Dangereuses" only with a modern setting.

- The character most changed is Sebastian Valmont. Because the movie is not told through letters, the audience can see his actions first hand and therefore feel more secure in believing that he is in fact in love with Annette (Madame de Tourvel). Unlike in the novel, Sebastian sacrifices his life for Annette by pushing her out of the way of an oncoming cab and uses his dying breath to confess his love for her. This is an even greater transformation that original Valmont, making Sebastian seem more like a troubled teen than a villainous womanizer, destroying the lives of women for his own ego and sport. This has a lot to do with the modern setting - a girl who has sex before marriage in 1999 was seen a lot differently than a woman doing the same thing in the 1700's. Annette does not end up falling ill and dying after Sebastian's death, but keeps his diary as a memory to carry with her through life and his Jaguar, which Kathryn, again the true villain, desperately wanted.

- Kathryn Merteuil also seems less villainous because it is a modern setting. The consequences have less magnitude and therefore her actions seem less vile. Her sickest act is at the end, where she is giving the speech at Sebastian's funeral. There is something very rewarding for the audience to see her being brought down by Cecile since, in the novel, Cecile returns to the convent. Kathryn loses her reputation like Merteuil but not her looks. Besides Sebastian, everyone in "Cruel Intentions"receives a happier ending than in "Les Liaisons Dangereuses."

Les Liaisons Dangereuses: Marquise de Merteuil and Vicomte de Valmont

- I chose "Les Liaisons Dangereuses" because I knew it has the inspiration for the movie, "Cruel Intentions," which is one of my favorite movies. Marquise de Merteuil and Vicomte de Valmont are villains of self indulgence and the evil that can come from privilege, vanity, and boredom. Still, they are not exactly the same type of villain.

-In the beginning, their motives are the same. They reward their vanity and egos through the conquests and destruction of others. When Merteuil asks Valmont to seduce the young Cecile as revenge against her former lover, who is meant to marry Cecile, Valmont's response is, "What is it that you suggest to me? To seduce a young girl, who has seen nothing, knows nothing, who would be, so to speak, delivered defenseless into my hands, whom a first compliment would not fail to intoxicate, and whom curiosity will perhaps more readily entice than love. Twenty others can succeed and these are as well as I. That is not the case in the adventure which engrosses me; its success ensures me as much as glory as pleasure” (pg. 19) Valmont has reached a point in his conquests that merely sleeping and ruining a girl's life is not enough of a thrill.

-His current "adventure" is the Madame de Tourvel. She is married, pious, and has been warned about his ways. This only makes Valmont want to conquer her more. He writes to Mertuil saying,“I shall possess this woman; I shall steal her from the husband who profanes her: I will even dare ravish her from the God whom she adores. What delight, to be in turns the obect and the victor of her remorse! Far be it from me to destroy prejudices which sway her mind! They will add to my happiness and my triumph… I shall be truly the God whom she has preferred” (pgs. 24-25) By sleeping with Tourvel, his ego will be satisfied on such a level that he will be on a God-like level.

- An important aspect to "Les Liaisons Dangereuses" and its characters is that it is told through letters. Therefore, the reader has to decipher for themselves what they believe is true and just rumor. Does Valmont actually fall in love with Madame Tourvel, or is she just another one of his conquests? Is he has bad as Madame de Volanges says in her letters to Madame de Tourvel? That “He can calculate to a nicety how many atrocities a man may allow himself to commit, without compromising himself; and, in order to be cruel and mischievous with impunity, he has selected women to be his victims. I will not stop to count all those whom he has seduced: but how many has he not ruined utterly?” (pg. 29) Merteuil is able to make Valmont leave Madame de Tourvel, even if it was through manipulation, and in the end he is a major factor in her death.

- Besides Valmont and the reader, all of the other characters in the book do not know the extent of Merteuil's villainous schemes and manipulations. Even Madame de Volanges is fooled by her, saying, “The Marquise de Merteuil is the single exception to this general rule; she alone knew how to withstand and disarm his villainy.” (pg. 29) Merteuil becomes the main villain of the story and Valmont a deathbed hero because she not only lies to those around her but to her partner in crime. She alienates herself as the true deceiver. Valmont dies in a duel, a gentleman's death, and exposes Merteuil. She has to live the rest of her life in exile and has lost her beauty, and thus her ego and vanity, to illness. In the case of Merteuil, a scarred appearance and ruined reputation is worse than death.

O: Hugo

- "O" is a modern interpretation of Shakespeare's Othello centering around a Basketball school at a private boarding school. Josh Hartnett portrays Hugo, the character based off Iago. Although the story remains pretty faithful to the original just set in modern times, Hugo has different motivations than Shakespeare's Iago.

- In the movie, the Duke is Hugo's father and the coach of the basketball team. And his favoritism of O both on and off the court is an obvious motivation for Hugo's manipulation of Odin, Desi, Michael, Rodger, and Brandy. Even before he begins to set his plans into motion, we know that he has been taking steroids to improve his performance on the team and thus impress his father.

- Like Iago, everyone seems to like and trust Hugo yet he is left in the shadows while Odin and Michael receive the school and his father's praise. This is particularly apparent during the scene where the Duke gives a touching speech about Odin before naming him MVP, even going so far as saying, "I love him like my own son." Hugo feels like Odin is not only stealing his spotlight on the basketball court but also from his father.

- It does seem like in the end, both Hugo and Iago did just want to be noticed, to be recognized and get attention. But who they receive this attention from is different. It's questionable from who exactly Iago wants attention from - the world? The Duke? His country? Fellow soldiers? All of the above? With Hugo, his father is definitely someone he wants attention from. Not solely his father, but from his monologue at the end that the Duke was a large part of his motivation.

- The perception of Iago and Hugo as villains are different because of the changes in motivation. I personally find Iago more interesting as a character because his motivations are less clear. He isn't just trying to get daddy's attention. Hugo seems just as spoiled as the kids he goes to school with and is jealous of. That makes him hypocritical and, in my opinion, unimpressive. What Hugo does have going for him is that an attractive actor is playing him.

Othello: IAGO

- Iago is arguably one of the greatest villains of all time. Through manipulation, he destroys five people's lives (not including his own) and for what? Because Othello made Cassio his Leutinant and not him? Doubtful. Like the rest of the play, I think what drives Iago is jealousy. He is jealous of Othello's military success and social status, of Cassio's looks, and that Desdemona is more beautiful than his own wife.

- In the very first scene, Iago has already begun to set his plans into motion by enlisting Roderigo as his partner by making him believe that he can have Desdemona if his plans work out. Iago explains that he hates Othello and Cassio and wants to bring them down because Othello promoted Cassio. He tells Roderigo to tell Desdemona's father about her relationship with Othello.

- By scene 3 we know that Iago has already manipulated Othello's trust when Othello refers to him as "Honest Iago" (pg 826) and leaves Desdemona in his care. This allows Iago to use his wife, Emilia, in his plans since she is Desdemona's maidservant. Eventually, Iago betrays three key relationships: friend and friend, husband and wife, commander and soldier.

- The strength of Iago's manipulation comes from the private conversations he has with each of the main players. For example, to Roderigo Iago says that Desdemona only lusts after Othello and once "the blood is made dull with the act of sport, there should be again to inflame it, and to give satiety a fresh appetite, loveliness in favour, sympathy in years, manners, and beauties, all which the Moor is defective in" (pg 829). This gives Roderigo further hope that with Othello out of the way, he can be with Desdemona.

- With each character, Iago finds what they want, sees it as a weakness, and exploits it. Othello and Roderigo want Desdemona. Cassio wants to be Lieutenant again. Desdemona wants Othello. Emilia wants Iago. And because he has built up this
persona of being "Honest Iago" and has made them distrustful of each other, they all believe him.

- I have read Othello a few times now and every time I read it I wonder what was Shakespeare trying to say with Iago? Besides the power of jealous what is it that Iago exposes? And I would say that although he is a great actor and manipulator, the bonds between the other characters were not as strong as they believed them to be. There were so many places and times for Iago's plans to go wrong. If any of these characters just talked to each other honestly then they should have realized what Iago was doing. Iago exposes the insecurities in ourselves and the jealousy that comes out of these insecurities.

MERLIN

In the literary medium, the themes of villainy of Lancelot, Guenevere, and Mordred are Greed and Betrayal. I kept my previous post in mind while watching the 1998 miniseries, "Merlin." From the start I knew that there would be some major differences since the main character of "Merlin" is not Arthur like in Le Morte D'Arthur. But I was surprised to find how different the perspective of Lancelot, Guenevere, and Mordred were different because this story was written so many years later. The following are points of differences between the two mediums and how those changes make the characters a different kind of villain.

- The main villain of Merlin is Queen Mab. It is the battle between Merlin and Mab that drives the story. Arthur, Mordred, Guenevere, Lancelot, etc are all just accessories to this greater battle between "the old ways" and what is just. Mab represents the fear of change, of hanging onto the past and tradition even if it isn't what is "good." To show that she is a villain, her voice is raspy, she wears lots of black, and moves in a quick twitchy like manner. All of the villains in this miniseries besides Uther and Vortigern have similar makeup.

- Mordred is a pawn of Mab. Her greatest and most dear pawn - her last hope - but a pawn nonetheless. In the film, he is shown as being "bad" from the start with his incestuous birth and attitude even as a little boy. He is raised with the purpose of destroying Merlin and Arthur. He reveals Lancelot and Guenevere's relationship to Arthur at the same time that he meets him, while in "Le Morte D'Arthur" he was a member of the round table. This makes his villainous actions more about vengeance rather than betrayal. The film version of Mordred was a lot less interesting to me than Mallory's because of this. The idea that he is raised by "villains" so he becomes a villain and just carries on his role is very one dimensional. Most of the time he is overshadowed by his mother, Morgan Le Fay, because she is more sympathetic and has a love story with Frik. Her hatred of Merlin is also much more understandable.

-Lancelot and Guenevere's relationship was also changed in the film. In the film, Arthur leaves for years in the search of the Holy Grail and Lancelot is entrusted with Camelot. He and Guenevere have an affair but Merlin knows about it. This seems less about the idea that "Adultery is bad" and more about "The consequences if this relationship is found out will be bad." Merlin even admits he might have been too hard on the lovers when puts the sole blame upon Lancelot for his (Lancelot's) wife's death. In the film, no one else suspects the two until Mordred, who has been told by Mab, shows up and reveals their relationship the moment Arthur returns from his search of the grail. Their relationship is seen in a sympathetic, relate-able light. Arthur and Guenevere did not marry for love, she was alone for years, and she fell in love with Lancelot. Guenevere even defends the affair by pointing out how long Arthur left her alone. In Mallory's tale, however, Arthur merely goes on a fake hunting trip and the two lovers are discovered by the knights of the round table. Because not even Arthur wants to condemn Guenevere neither do we. It is Mordred's manipulation about equality that forced Arthur to put Guenevere in the line of fire. Like in "Le Morte D'Arthur," Lancelot comes to her rescue but in the film that is the end of it. We do not know if they just stay together or if they both do commit themselves to God in repentance.

- Mordred and Arthur's deaths are also seen in a totally different light. In the film, Arthur hesitates when Mordred points how that by killing him he will be committing another sin because he will be killing his son. In Mallory, Arthur delivers the fatal blow and then Mordred, knowing he is going to die, pushes himself further on the spear to get close enough to also kill Arthur.

Le Morte d'Arthur

I think it would be difficult to have grown up in the West and not know some basic details of the Arthurian Legend. At the very least, most people have seen the Disney movie. There even was just recently a mini series called, Merlin. But I don't know how many people have actually read the legends. I wasn't one of them and I still haven't read them all. For this independent study I only focused on the death of Arthur, the end of the tale. Because of this, I came into it with my own ideas of what happened and of who the bad guy was. But as I read the story I realized there wasn't just one clear cut villain in "Le Morte d'Arthur," but that there were villainous themes that characters, including the famed Lancelot, followed. The two main villainous themes of this particular story are greed and betrayal (which usual comes out of greed).

The three characters that represent these themes the most are Lancelot, Guenevere, and Mordred. The betrayal of Lancelot and Guenevere is obvious and a well known tell. Lancelot is the supposed best knight of the round table and "the Kynge loved hym passyngly well" (pg. 647). Guenevere was the Queen. It was the most forbidden union, the ultimate betrayal. It was also the perfect chance for Mordred's greed for the throne to strike. He and Agravaine tell Arthur his suspicions and with 12 knights they wait for Lancelot, who believes the other knights and the king to be out on a hunting party, to visit the Queen. Even when one of his men try to warn Lancelot not to visit the Queen and that Agravaine is up to something (pg. 648) he visits the Queen anyways. Lancelot escapes but only by killing some of the knights. The main difference between Guenevere and Lancelot is that they know that they have wronged Arthur. To go back to my opening about the general public's knowledge of Arthurian legend, most people know that Lancelot comes to rescue Guenevere. This is true but in the legend they do not end up together. Guenevere becomes a nun and Lancelot a monk to repent for their sins. It is the repentance that the legend portrays them in a sympathetic light and also puts them on a lesser level of villainy against the protagonist as Mordred, who receives a violent death. This is further shown when the legend states that "the nyne knyghtes put Syr Launcelot in the same hors-bere that Quene Guenevere was layed in tofore that she was buryed" (pg 696). The message the legend is trying to send is clear: Adultery, even by good people in love, will result in destruction. The round table is broken and many men died and the affair of Lancelot and Guenevere was the source. This is relevant to my study because it shows that a character, which had been seen as a hero for the majority of the story, can become a villain of the story.

Mordred is on another level than Lancelot and Guenevere because he uses their relationship to betray Arthur as well and start a war resulting in the death of Arthur. And although he is a knight of the round table, from his birth (he is the illegitimate child of Arthur and his half sister, Morgan Le Fay) it is foreshadowed that Mordred will be a villain. While Arthur goes after Lancelot, Mordred claimed that Arthur was dead and usurped the throne. This leads to an epic battle between father and son, king and traitor, and they kill each other:
"And Sir Mordred saw Kynge Arthur, he ran untyll hym and hys swerde drawyn in hys honde; and there Kyng Arthur smote Sir Mordred undir the shylde, with a foyne of hys speare, thoroqoute the body more than a fadom. And whan Sir Mordred felte that he had hys dethys wounde, he threste hymselff with the myght that he had upp to the burre of Kyng Arthur's speare; and ryght so he smote hys fadir, Kynge Arthure, with hys swerde holdynge in both hys hondys, uppon the syde of the hede, that the swerde perced the helmet and the tay of the brayne" (686).
To his last breath, Mordred is hateful and greedy. Unlike Lancelot and Guenevere, who repent and mourn, Mordred is murderous even while dying.