The Monster Within Man

          For the final "Make-a-Thing Project" assigned, I went with an interpretation of the theme found within 'The Tempest' by William Shakespeare: the difficulty in distinguishing man from monster. This theme is directly associated with the character Caliban, a brutish man-beast that serves as a slave to Prospero. "By this good light, this is a very shallow monster. I afeard of him! A very weak monster. The man i' th' moon! A most poor credulous monster.—Well drawn, monster, in good sooth!" -Trinculo. Caliban and Ariel are both considered having the physical forms of men; however, in the play, Shakespeare constantly depicts them as having many monstrous qualities. You can read more about this theme here. This brings forth the question-- "Is it a man, or is it a monster?"

          I did it! I made a thing! And it also happens to be a thing that I'm very proud of, too! I made a mirror (yes, I know, I'm vain), but this isn't just any mirror- it's a Monster Mirror! Let me explain, using modeling clay, I created a mold of a ghoulish creature with, horns, pointy ears, and other undesirable qualities. I then used paper mache as a protective outer layer and painted the skin green. When you look into the mirror, You obviously see the three-dimensional figure staring back at you; but once you adjust your vision you can see your reflection with the hideous reverse-mask on. Through this, I was able to raise the ambiguousness of differentiating man/woman from monster.

          Additionally, I wanted to play around with the different attitudes certain characters hold towards Caliban. When you first look in the mirror, you see one of two things: the monster or the human, it all depends on viewpoint and perspective. The same can be said for Caliban! At first glance Miranda, Prospero and Ariel, see Caliban as a hideous beast capable of nothing but destruction; yet, later on in the story, Trinculo basically says that once he got a good look at Caliban, he realized he really isn't a monster and he couldn't believe he was ever afraid afraid of him!

THE FINAL PRODUCT! 

          There's the final product of "The Monster Mirror"!  Fair warning, this project not only serves as a representation of deep, philosophical literary analyzation; it will also take any mirror selfie to the next level and it can also scar any young child who looks into it.

          The entire time I worked on this project, I listened Nicki Minaj's verse in "Monster" on a continuous loop.