Brett Easton Ellis is a modern American author whose works include some graphic and violent situations and characters. His first novel in 1985, "Less than Zero", was about the interactions between rich, unprincipled American youth. Although considered a satire, it seemed only too real.
However, its intensity was nothing compared to Ellis' third novel, "American Psycho", published in 1991.
Patrick Bateman is the narrator and protagonist of the story, which is set in the later part of the 1980s. Bateman happens to be a wealthy, Manhattan serial killer.
His drug-fueled murders escalate from stabbings to mutilation to cannibalism...and we are left to wonder if his actions are real or hallucinations.
2. Count Dracula
Answer: Bram Stoker
Born in Ireland, Abraham "Bram" Stoker (1847-1912) was originally a theater critic and manager of London's Lyceum Theatre. After meeting a Hungarian writer, Stoker became interested in the stories about the Carpathian Mountains and vampires. His epistolary Gothic novel, "Dracula", was published in 1897, while he was working at the Daily Telegraph in London.
His newspaper background helped give realism to the fictional diaries, letters and telegrams he created for his novel, said to be based on the real life of Vlad the Impaler, ruler of Wallachia, Romania in the 15th century.
3. Milo Minderbinder
Answer: Joseph Heller
Joseph Heller (1923-1999) had a knack for creating improbable characters with colorful names. His satire of war, "Catch-22", was published in 1961. The phrase became part of the English language, meaning a bureaucratic, vicious and absurd cycle with contradictory choices in a 'no-win' situation. An example was claiming you were insane in order to get out of combat; however, if you wanted to get out of combat, clearly you were sane! First Lieutenant Milo Minderbinder is in charge of the mess hall during World War II, and he becomes obsessed with 'expanding operations'.
A true capitalist, Minderbinder has no allegiance to anyone or anything unless he can make a profit.
4. Nurse Ratched
Answer: Ken Kesey
It seems that most of the evil characters we find in novels happen to be male. However, Ken Kesey (1935-2001) gives us a tyrannical head nurse who can hold her own against any male - even her name gives us insight into her character. Kesey wrote his novel, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", in 1962, at the beginning of the countercultural lifestyle.
It is set in a psychiatric facility in Oregon where Nurse Ratched has despotic authority over the incarcerated individuals, e.g., to set the schedules, withhold medication, prevent recreational activities. Louise Fletcher won an Oscar for her performance in the film.
5. Satan
Answer: John Milton
Here we go back to the 'original' evil-doer, Satan, who appears in John Milton's 1667 epic poem "Paradise Lost". What is most amazing to me is the fact that John Milton (1608-1674) was completely blind by 1651, some 16 years prior to his writing this masterpiece.
The antagonist Satan has been written about long before and after Milton, but Milton's Satan may be one of the most sympathetic in literature. He is forceful, seductive and clever, trying to win us over by convincing us he is simply the victim of God's despotism, rather than the vengeful usurper he actually is. Milton tries to warn us against the attractiveness of evil and to resist temptation in all its forms.
6. Simon LeGree
Answer: Harriet Beecher Stowe
Abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896) was born into a religious family. Her novel, "Uncle Tom's Cabin; or Life Among the Lowly", was published as a serial in "The National Era"; the first installment came out on June 5, 1851. One of the impetuses for her series was the passage of the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act which forced free states to re-enslave those who had escaped to the North.
Her story revolves around the slave Uncle Tom who escapes and finds a home with a benevolent owner until the owner is murdered. Tom then winds up with the evil Louisiana plantation owner Simon LeGree. LeGree beats Tom mercilessly to crush his spirit and his belief in God. Tom never capitulates and it costs him his life.
7. Iago
Answer: William Shakespeare
Arguably, one of literature's greatest villains is Iago, from the play "Othello", penned by William Shakespeare in 1603. Iago is supposed to be the faithful companion and advocate for "Othello, the Moor of Venice". While posing as Othello's trusted friend, Iago hates Othello for promoting Cassio over him. Iago is a master puppeteer who manipulates the characters of the play, all of whom call him "honest Iago".
He plays on Othello's emotions by making him think his new wife Desdemona has been unfaithful to him, resulting in tragedy for all the players.
As far as information on William Shakespeare (1564-1616), "the Bard of Avon", he is considered one of the greatest playwrights of all time.
8. Humbert Humbert
Answer: Vladimir Nabokov
Vladimir Nabokov (1899-1977), born to a wealthy Russian family, was not only an author but, prior to that, he was also an entomologist, with a specialty in lepidoptera (butterflies). He originally wrote novels in Russian, but his most famous English work was "Lolita", published in Paris in 1955. "Lolita" was rated fourth on the list of Modern Library's 100 Best Novels.
The story is about an aging literature professor with psychiatric issues who becomes obsessed with pre-teen Dolores Haze (whom he privately calls Lolita).
In order to be close to her, he marries her mother, who finds out about his feelings but is killed before she can take any action. Humbert winds up sleeping with his sexually precocious step-daughter, but there are no happy endings here.
9. Bill Sikes
Answer: Charles Dickens
From another of our greatest authors, Charles Dickens (1812-1870), comes another malevolent character in the form of Bill Sykes. Sikes can be found in "Oliver Twist", published in 1838. I could have chosen Fagin as the villain in this story, but Fagin possessed some semblance of humanity in caring for his young pickpockets. Bill Sikes, on the other hand, is a large bully of a man, with no heart and no remorse. Sikes, a former pupil of Fagin, is violent and hateful.
He beats his dog almost to the point of killing it, and he does actually brutally murder Nancy, his girlfriend and the only human being to show him any love or affection.
10. Randall Flagg
Answer: Stephen King
Finally, we deal with one of the most prolific writers of all time, i.e., Stephen King, also writing under the pseudonym Richard Bachman from 1977 to 1982. Born in Maine in 1949, he is a master of horror and the macabre. Among his villains have been Jack Torrance ("The Shining") and Annie Wilkes ("Misery"), but I have chosen Randall Flagg from "The Stand", published in 1978.
Although Flagg has appeared in several of King's novels, "R.F.", the epitome of evil, is first introduced in "The Stand".
The story is about a man-made plague which has destroyed most of the populace; two factions arise - one good (in Colorado) and one evil (in Las Vegas). Flagg heads up the Vegas group and becomes a despot who tortures his enemies and threatens nuclear annihilation.
This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor looney_tunes before going online.
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