Sanson 1

Leah Sanson
3/31/14
Dr. Riley
British Literature II

The Ugly Surfaces

When we first encounter Guido in Mary Shelleys Transformation, he is just
like any other, maybe even a little above average. He describes himself as being born
with the most imperious, haughty, tameless spirit with which ever moral spirit was
gifted (1) and deemed handsomeI was a master of every knightly accomplishment
(1). It came as a surprise then when his personality does not coincide with any of these
other descriptions. The speaker is selfish and arrogant. The monster in Transformation
was a visual representation of the horrific qualities that Guido possessed all along. Mary
Shelly dramatized the selfishness and arrogance Guido possessed by creating a character
that would make it more evident to the readers how ugly Guido really is inside. Each of
the characteristics that he possessed was then visually represented in a way in the dwarf
that Guido became. This can also be said for Mary Shelleys Frankenstein. The monster
in that story is a visual representation of the ugliness that was found inside Victor.
Arrogance in Guido was evident to even himself when he reflects on his earlier
behavior and is visually represented in the dwarf that he transforms into. He stated that
he was arrogant and self-willed; I loved display (2) and this is one characteristic that
comes and hurts him in the long run. He thought that he was enormously great from the
beginning but then reality hits him and belittles him little by little and finally everything

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is taken away from him when he switches bodies with the dwarf. He also thought that
because he had so much money from his fathers inheritance that he could do whatever he
wanted and he could get away with it. He chose to spend all of his fathers inheritance on
useless things and travel Europe, spending it on gambling, drinking and women. He left
his love behind. Having squandered the whole of the wealth which was to have been
shared by Juliet (4) and him, he broke the contract that he and Torella agreed upon, he
wasted away the money that he was supposed to live comfortably off of for the rest of his
life. At first he said that he was deemed handsome (2) but now he was a dwarf that was
not easy on the eyes to say the least. He was ugly and deformed, a misshapen dwarf,
with squinting eyes, distorted features, and body deformed, till it became a horror to
behold. (6). He did not recognize himself at all. This was his reality check. Once
describing himself as having been a master of every knightly accomplishment (2), he
could now barely walk and move his limbs because they were completely foreign.
Selfishness is another quality that Guido possessed which in turn led to the
monster he morphed into. Guidos selfishness showed through when he was given the
chance to repent for his wrongdoings to Torella and instead of apologizing, Guido
thought of no one but himself when he confronted Torella, refused utterly to subscribe to
his conditions (4), started a fight, and then got himself exiled. He wanted to agrees on
his own conditions and control all the money. He spurned his offers, and fancied that I
triumphed when I was thrust out from Genoa (5). He had a plan to take Juliet with him
and then Torella found out and a conflict ensued (4) and two of Torellas servitors
were dangerously wounded (4). He was selfish some more when he decided that instead
of agreeing with Torella, he would get revenge and become the best once again. Torella

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even said, generous pardon would followrepentance (4). The selfishness then got the
best of him when he had the encounter with the dwarf. The dwarf persuaded Guido with
the chest of gold and Guido could not help but get greedy and want it all. Guido felt
useless without anything, he, poor and single (8), was powerless (8). He was so
greedy that he was later punished by turning into an ugly troll like figure. He later
describes himself during this time saying that this portion of my history weighs heavily
with me (4) and describes himself as a slave to his own temper (4).
One of the most prevelant characteristics of Guido is actually the worst and may
be why he was punished in the dwarfs body. Pride is one of the seven deadly sins and is
seen in Guido in many instances. In the beginning he is too prideful to just return to
Juliet and marry her, he tries to send home gifts but gambling with the money some more.
He is then too prideful to accept the terms in which he should marry Juliet. He does not
want to admit that he has done any wrong or made any mistake. And lastly and most
importantly, he refuses to admit his wrongdoings to Torella and instead takes the
cowardly way out and tries to kidnap Juliet. Throughout the entire story, Guido is
recalling how prideful he was and how it came to hurt him in the long run. He had an
excess of fiendly pride(1) and he said it became the tyrant of my thought (4). Then
when he encountered the dwarf figure, even he stated that Guido has fallen through his
pride (7). While in the dwarfs body he realizes the mistakes he has made. He repented
his sins and was finally rewarded when he stabbed his own body. He was finally Guido
again, extraordinarily handsome and all.
Not only was this theme apparent in Transformation, it was also prevalent in
Mary Shelleys Frankenstein. In this novel, The Monster is comparable to the dwarf in

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Transformation and the same could be said about Victor Frankenstein and Guido. Both
have some sort of money that runs in the family and take advantage of it. With Victor, he
goes to school and feeds his unhealthy obsession for the supernatural and magic like
sciences. They both also have bad characteristics especially when it comes to greed and
selfishness. Victor was more selfish about control over nature and things that he should
not even be worried about controlling while Guido was more selfish over the monetary
aspect, always looking for a new way to come across money. That is best seen with the
encounter with the dwarf because he bribes Guido with money to get what he wants.
Victors selfishness is apparent when he creates the monster himself. Victor is not
satisfied with just learning about this science but rather he feels he must go above and
beyond. That is when he decides to do what no man has attempted before and control the
uncontrollable. And when he does complete the task, he is somewhat surprised and
horrified with what has become of his project. All of Victors hidden skeletons are now
present in one magnificent and dominating creature. Although there are many small
similarities between these two works of literature, what these two have most in common
is the fact that the monsters in both of these works serve as a visual representation of the
greed in the main characters and Mary Shelley uses these monsters as an allegory to show
us the monster that is in every single one of us.
The Monster in Frankenstein does not even have the privilege of getting a name
and neither does the dwarf in Transformation. This makes the monsters more
ambiguous and makes them more relatable to anyone in the general public rather than one
single person. This proves the allegory. Anyone can relate to the selfishness in the main
characters and the monsters in these works symbolize the monsters in us all. The monster

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in Frankenstein stems from Victors constant battle to try and control nature. He wanted
to create a life form and play a role of God. He definitely over-stepped his boundaries
and for that he was punished. He created a being with yellow skin scarcely covered the
work of muscles and arteries beneath; his hair was of a lustrous black(35) and it was a
horrid contrast with his watery eyes, that seemed almost of the same colour as the dunwhite sockets in which they were set, his shrivelled complexion and straight black lips.
(35). This is something that not even Victor thought would happen, he created a monster,
one that reflected the inside and troubles that plagued him. After being created, the
monster wrecked havoc on Victors family and friends, killing nearly all of them. Is this
what Victor wanted all along? Victor, before being sent away to school was always
taking advantage of his family and not truly appreciating them especially with Elizabeth,
he just always assumed she would be there for when he returned. He was also seen being
put on the back burner to his mothers favorite, Elizabeth. The monster just carried out
the harsh feelings and resentment that Victor was holding inside of himself all along. The
horrificness that is so well described about the monster is still present in Victor but it is
not so prevalent. The horrifying features in the monster make it more obvious what
Victor was like on the inside. This is parallel to the bad characteristics in Guido that were
then shown in the ugly dwarf.
Both of the monsters appeared in these stories because of the bad decisions that
the protagonists made. Also, both Guido and Victor Frankenstein each committed at least
one of the seven deadly sins. In Transformation, Guido was full of pride, which is one
of the most harmful of the deadly sins. It is considered the most serious and is known as
the sin which all the rest stem from. Victor also had some faults and although he was

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known for being prideful, greed is what took over Victor Frankenstein. He created a
being that was not necessary in any way. He tested his intellect and was surprised by the
outcome. He succeeded in discovering in discovering the cause of generation and life
(31) and he became capable of bestowing animation upon lifeless matter (31). Greed
consumed Victor from day one, even before the creation of the monster but the amount of
greed that Victor possessed during the creation period is what really brought out the worst
in the monster. After the monster is created, we see the same parallel characteristics but
more dramatized. The monster demanded a partner from Victor because a life alone was
not enough for him.
Mary Shelley uses the allegory of a monster to show the monster in all of us in
many of her works of literature. This makes us realize the ugly inside all of us and
although we may not turn into a physical monster, the bad qualities will eventually
consume us and we may become a monster from the inside. Mary Shelley uses the main
characters in her tales to give us examples of the many ways we could go wrong morally.
Victor and Guido both have extreme amounts of greed and selfishness and in the
beginning they are both very arrogant. That changes however when they realize the
mistakes that they have made with their own monsters. The monsters in both of these
stories serve as revelations for both of the main characters. They realize they wrong that
they have done. What distinguished Guido from Victor though is that Guido realizes his
greed and mistakes and decides to change for the better. He states I abhor myself in the
recollection. (4). And describes A fiend possessed my soul (4). He also describes
this experience as an internal earthquake (1). While Victor makes no attempt to change
whatsoever, he ultimately dies in the same position that he was in all along, alone. We all

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have monsters in our closets but for the main characters in Mary Shelleys tales, those
monsters became realities for all of the public to see.

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Works Cited
Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft. Frankenstein. New York: Dover Publications, 1994. Print.
---. Transformation. The Mary Shelley Reader. Eds. Betty T. Bennett and Charles E.
Robinson. (Oxford UP, 1990), pp. 121-35. Web. 15 February, 2014.