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Folklore is rich with stories of humans turning into animals, trees, or objects, whether by choice or circumstance. This theme of becoming 'the other' has been adopted in contemporary literature to explore intricate questions of identity, often with a touch of humor. Below are ten of the most unforgettable human transformations in literary works.
10. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland Lewis Carroll
Lewis Carroll’s Alice books are among the most renowned children’s stories globally. The narrative centers on a young girl named Alice as she navigates the bizarre and chaotic realm of Wonderland. Her journey of adapting to this ever-changing world serves as a metaphor for maturation. The story also includes a literal depiction of growing up. After following the White Rabbit into Wonderland, Alice finds herself in a hallway filled with locked doors. She discovers a key too small for any door except a tiny one on the ground, alongside a bottle marked 'Drink me.' After ensuring it’s not poison, she drinks the potion and shrinks, leaving the key out of reach. She then encounters a cake labeled 'Eat me,' which initially helps her grow tall enough to retrieve the key. However, she continues to grow, becoming too large for any door. This sequence humorously captures the awkwardness of growing up.
9. Lamia John Keats
In the poem, Lamia is a mysterious figure trapped in the form of a serpent. While searching for a Nymph he desires, the god Hermes encounters Lamia. She pleads with him to restore her humanity in exchange for revealing the Nymph’s whereabouts. Once transformed back into her stunning human form, Lamia marries her beloved. However, during their wedding feast, a wise man exposes her true identity, forcing her to revert to a serpent and ultimately leading to her death. Her husband, overcome with sorrow, perishes as well. The poem leaves much about the characters and their motivations open to interpretation, though it carries strong Christian undertones of a man’s downfall caused by a woman and a serpent.
8. Beauty and the Beast Traditional
As the song goes, this is a “tale as old as time.” While not entirely accurate, the story embodies timeless archetypal themes. It revolves around a young woman who sacrifices herself to a beastly creature in her father’s stead, a narrative that has evolved in meaning over the years. Central to all versions is a prince cursed into monstrous form, whose humanity is restored through the transformative power of love. Early renditions focus on the beast’s need to regain his human shape, but modern interpretations also emphasize the heroine’s journey to value inner qualities over outward appearances. This trope was cleverly inverted in Shrek, where true love unites the characters in their shared ‘ogre’ state.
7. The Once and Future King T. H. White
Transformation offers a unique perspective, enabling us to empathize with others by stepping outside ourselves. In T.H. White’s The Once and Future King, metamorphosis is integrated into a structured educational curriculum. The series chronicles the early life of King Arthur, known as Wart, a young squire mentored by Merlyn to prepare for his future kingship. To teach him, Merlyn transforms Wart into various creatures, including a merlin, an ant, an owl, a goose, and a badger. Each transformation brings adventures and valuable lessons. The most dramatic transformations occur during a magical duel between Merlyn and Madam Mim, where both rapidly shift forms to outmaneuver each other. In a striking finale, Merlyn becomes a lethal bacterium to defeat his adversary.
6. The Odyssey Homer
The Odyssey, attributed to Homer, is an epic poem recounting the arduous journey of Greek soldiers returning from the Trojan War. Displeased gods ensure their voyages are fraught with hardship. Odysseus, in particular, endures a decade-long odyssey before reuniting with his wife in Ithaca. Along the way, he encounters numerous fantastical adventures. On Aeaea, he and his crew meet Circe, the enchantress goddess. She entices the men to a feast, drugging their food and transforming them into swine. Only Odysseus, forewarned by Hermes, avoids her trap. After a year-long detour with Circe, the men are restored, and their journey resumes. This tale raises questions: is it mere fantasy, or a commentary on the degradation of men who succumb to primal desires? Homer leaves the interpretation to the reader.
5. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Robert Louis Stevenson
The eternal struggle between good and evil has long been a central theme in literature, often internalized as a conflict within the human psyche. Stevenson’s novel explores this duality through a unique transformation. Dr. Jekyll concocts a potion to isolate his darker impulses, aiming to achieve moral perfection. Instead, he creates Mr. Hyde, a being devoid of conscience. Initially, Jekyll enjoys the freedom Hyde provides, but Hyde’s escalating violence and atrocities force a reckoning. The novel vividly portrays the battle between base instincts and rational morality, with Jekyll’s physical transformation into the grotesque Hyde symbolizing this inner turmoil. Hyde’s repulsiveness is more felt than explicitly described, adding to the story’s chilling impact.
4. Orlando: A Biography Virginia Woolf
The theme of gender transformation has deep roots in literature, such as the Greek myth of Tiresias, who was turned into a woman. Woolf’s Orlando stands as one of the most significant gender metamorphoses in literary history. The story begins with a young boy born in the Elizabethan era who, through sheer willpower, chooses not to age. This premise allows Woolf to explore centuries of English literature as Orlando works on a poem across generations. The pivotal moment occurs when Orlando transforms into Lady Orlando while asleep, awakening as a woman. Woolf, a pioneering feminist writer, uses this transformation to contrast male and female experiences and explore love beyond gender constraints. Orlando remains unfazed by the change, as the essence of the person remains intact. While one of Woolf’s more accessible works, it raises profound questions in an engaging manner.
3. The Metamorphoses Ovid
Ovid serves as the primary source for most Graeco-Roman transformation myths. His epic poem, The Metamorphoses, traces a continuous narrative from the creation of the world to Caesar’s apotheosis. Despite Christian disapproval of its pagan themes, the poem’s vast array of tales ensured its enduring popularity. Without Ovid, our repository of transformation stories would be significantly poorer. His account of Arachne is the most detailed we have. Arachne, a young woman overly proud of her weaving skills, boasts that her work surpasses even Athena’s. The goddess challenges her to a contest, and Arachne produces a stunning tapestry depicting the gods’ immoral exploits. Enraged, Athena strikes Arachne, sparing her life but transforming her into a spider, her nimble fingers turned into legs. Arachne must now weave more fitting creations. With fifteen books of such tales, Ovid reigns as the undisputed master of metamorphoses.
Notable Omission: The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde; The Adventures of Pinnochio, Carlo Collodi
2. The Metamorphosis Franz Kafka
Kafka excels at using the absurd to delve into the mundane aspects of life. The Metamorphosis famously begins with the line, “One morning, when Gregor Samsa woke from troubled dreams, he found himself transformed in his bed into a horrible verminous insect.” The reason for Gregor’s transformation is never explained; instead, the novella focuses on how his relationships evolve. Gregor’s mind remains unchanged, and his character stays consistent throughout. His grotesque transformation contrasts sharply with his family’s growth into a more capable unit, adapting to their shameful secret. Gregor’s death comes when an apple thrown by his father becomes lodged in his shell, leading to infection. Ultimately, the final transformation for all is death.
1. The Golden Ass Apuleius
Also titled Metamorphosis, The Golden Ass is the sole surviving Roman novel in its entirety. Unlike many ancient texts that feel distant, this work continues to captivate modern readers. The story follows Lucius, a young man fresh out of education, who chooses to wander rather than settle into a career. Returning to his hometown, he encounters a witch and secretly observes her transformation into an owl. Desiring to fly, he steals a sip of her potion but ends up covered in coarse fur with large ears—transformed into a donkey. To revert to human form, he must eat a rose, but fate intervenes, and Lucius is stolen. Throughout his misadventures, he nearly obtains the rose multiple times, but Apuleius keeps it just out of reach. As a donkey, Lucius endures hardships and embarks on a series of humorous and risqué escapades. Ultimately, the goddess Isis restores his human form, and he dedicates his life to her worship.
