The Development of Villains in B. Stoker’s "Dracula", A.C. Doyle’s “The Final Problem” and J. K. Rowling’s "Harry Potter" saga.

Abstract

This Master's Thesis explores the phenomena of villains and their development in English literature in the period from 1893 to 2016, based on the examples of Dracula from B. Stoker's Dracula, Moriarty from A. C. Doyle's "The Final Problem”, and Voldemort from J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. The analysis investigates the development of these villains and brings up the greater questions about evil and the essence of human nature. In order to do so, these villains are correlated to the philosophical, theological, and social ideas by Hobbes, Rousseau, Machiavelli, Augustine of Hippo, and Locke. This work is divided into six sections. First comes the introduction, then three sections for closer analysis of each villain where the philosophical ideas are used to suggest the possible interpretation of these characters. A close reading of the original texts is used to provide information about the villains, their characteristics, and specifics. A comparative discussion of the villains ensues from the philosophy-oriented character analysis. The conclusion finalizes the character analysis, comparisons, and philosophical consideration. The argumentation declares that even though these villains represent different forms of evil, they at the same time, remain undoubtfully evil at their core. Their evil nature is the same, the representation of it is what differs them.