EXTRAORDINARY VICTORIANS! Information about extraordinary Victorian literary characters and where to find cool book trailers!

ALLAN QUATERMAIN  The character Quatermain (not "Quartermain", a common error) is an English-born professional big game hunter and occasional trader in southern Africa.  Find trailers for this Good Reads.com or Amazon.com

GRIFFIN: THE INVISIBLE MAN  Griffin, a scientist who has devoted himself to researching optics, invents a way to change a body's refractive index to that of air so that it absorbs and reflects no light, thus causing the body to become invisible. He successfully carries out this procedure on himself, but fails in his attempt to reverse the procedure.  Find book trailers on youtube and amazon.com!

CAPTAIN NEMO  Nemo is one of the most famous and most mysterious antiheroes in fiction. The son of an Indian Raja, he is a scientific genius who roams the depths of the sea in his submarine, the Nautilus, which he designed and built on a deserted island. He’s the main character in Jules Verne’s novel, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.  Find several 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea book trailers on youtube!

DORIAN GRAY  Dorian Gray is the subject of a full-length portrait in oil by Basil Hallward, an artist who is impressed and infatuated by Dorian's beauty. Through Basil, Dorian meets Lord Henry Wotton, and he is enthralled by this aristocrat’s hedonistic worldview: that beauty and sensual fulfilment are the only things worth pursuing in life. Understanding that his beauty will fade, Dorian expresses the desire to sell his soul, to ensure that the picture, rather than he, will age and fade. The wish is granted, and Dorian pursues a libertine life of varied and amoral experiences while his portrait ages and records every soul-corrupting sin  Find several trailers for The Picture of Dorian Gray on youtube!

MINA HARKER  Mina is probably the most complex character of the novel and vies with Dracula for the central role.  Find trailers for Dracula on youtube!

DR. JEKYLL/MR. HYDE  One might question the extent to which Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are in fact a single character. Until the end of the novel, the two personas seem nothing alike—the well- liked, respectable doctor and the hideous, depraved Hyde are almost opposite in type and personality. Stevenson uses this marked contrast to make his point: every human being contains opposite forces within him or her, an alter ego that hides behind one's polite facade.  Find a book trailer for The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde on Amazon.com.

VICTOR FRANKENSTEIN  Victor Frankenstein is the protagonist of Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel,Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. He is a scientist who, after studying chemical processes and the decay of living beings, gains an insight into the creation of life and gives life to his own creature (often referred to as Frankenstein's monster, or incorrectly referred to as simply, "Frankenstein").