Villains in Literature |
A beater of dogs, a teenage thug, a serial killer are some of the heartless and cruel characters who contribute so much to the plot of these stories. Here`s our choice of some of the vilest villains in literature.
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
Heart of Darkness tells the story of Charles Marlow`s journey up the Congo River to meet the remarkable Mr Kurtz. It is often regarded as Conrad`s finest tale combining an atmosphere of mystery and menace.
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Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
Dickens wrote this story of a boy forced to live in a dark and dismal workhouse lorded over by Mr Bumble to draw attention to Victorian social ills. Desperate but determined, Oliver makes his escape and finds that life in the harsh streets of London`s underworld makes the workhouse look like a picnic. It is here he encounters the menacing Bill Sikes a robber, murderer and beater of dogs
Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
Du Maurier`s famous tale of suspense, mystery and love concerns Maxim de Winter`s shy new bride and the house she is to inhabit, but that still reverberates to the haunting presence of his previous wife`s influence. Orginally published in 1938
You Only Live Twice by Ian Fleming
When Ernst Stavro Blofeld brutally murdered the girl whom James Bond had married only hours before, the zest for life went out of Bond. He went to pieces, was even on the verge of becoming a security risk. But M is persuaded to give him one last chance. Ernst Stavro Blofeld is an evil genius with aspirations for world domination.
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Lord of the Flies by William Golding
A plane crashes on a desert island and the only survivors, a group of schoolboys, assemble on the beach and wait to be rescued. By day they inhabit a land of bright fantastic birds and dark blue seas, but at night their dreams are haunted by the image of a terrifying beast. They try to govern themselves but with disastrous results. Jack is William Golding`s cruel and power hungry youth leader. A superbly written modern classic.
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Brighton Rock by Graham Greene
A gang war is raging in Brighton. Pinkie is 17 and fighting for leadership. He has already proved his ruthlessness by killing Hale, a journalist. But he isn`t prepared for the courageous Ida Arnold who is determined to avenge Hale`s death.
Red Dragon by Thomas Harris
Special agent Will Graham has been assigned to cases before where he was able to see and feel with the madmen, anticipate their moves, and be vulnerable to their horrific brutality. Now after being forced out of retirement, he meets another evil mind. This is the first story in the series featuring Dr Hannibal Lecter a brilliant psychiatrist and cannibalistic serial killer.
Nineteen Eighty Four by George Orwell
Big Brother is the all seeing dictator of Oceania who rules with a philosophy that decries individuality and reasons as thoughtcrimes. Newspeak, Doublethink, Big Brother, the Thought Police - the vocabulary of George Orwell`s classic political satire, `Nineteen Eighty-Four`, has passed into the English language, symbolising the horrors of totalitarianism. First published in 1949
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The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and My Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
This dark psychological fantasy is more than a moral tale. It is also a product of its time, drawing on contemporary theories of class, evolution and criminality and the secret lives behind Victorian propriety, to create a unique form of urban Gothic. The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and My Hyde has become synonymous with the idea of a split personality.
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Dracula by Bram Stoker
Bram Stoker`s novel became one of the masterpieces of the horror genre, brilliantly evoking a world of vampires and vampire hunters whilst simultaneously exposing the dark corners of Victorian sexuality and frustrated desire.
Page last updated: 16/12/11