What do you think of when you hear the word ‘werewolf’? Do you imagine a poor soul, when the time is right (and the moon is full), he suddenly sprouts hair, turning into something unfamiliar; his instincts surging forward in a rush of chemical lunacy? Does this description sound like something else?

The idea of the Werewolf has been around for centuries. Originating in early European culture, the concept of a ‘man-wolf’ has been used as a motif in much the same way as the vampire or witch has: to serve as a symbol to be feared and warned against. However the underlying symbolism of the werewolf, or ‘lycanthrope’, is far more extensive than this; and this, in its two main forms, I shall be focusing on.

The first interpretation of the symbolism that shall be investigated relates to the question I laid down in the beginning of this article. Look at it again - could this description possibly fit a human process? A process that only Homo Sapiens undergo? If you answered ‘puberty’, then you would be correct! During puberty, the body undergoes dramatic changes, flooding the system with hormones that cause all matter of different things. We begin to produce hair in unfamiliar places, our muscles grow stronger and more defined, our voices grow deeper and coarser, and we experience rapid shifts in our energy levels. Now if you imagine any werewolf movie you have seen, be it ‘The Wolfman’, or ‘American Werewolf in London’, or any other that details the transformation of human into beast, you can see the similarities!

The concept of transformation, or metamorphosis leads me to the second symbolic form of the werewolf that we shall be looking at. Just because werewolves represent a natural change within us, does not mean the werewolf is represented as a natural occurrence. This may seem obvious, and here’s why. The werewolf, throughout almost every reproduction within a narrative, is portrayed as an unnatural, heinous beast. The transformation into this creature is an external metamorphosis from civility to untamed wildness; or to put it another way, a representation of man’s animal side - something the ‘civilized man’ has always tried to escape from. However, as the concept of the werewolf shows, the ‘animal’ is always inside, waiting to be unleashed. Tales of lycanthropy, much like the story of ‘Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde’, or any zombie tale ideally highlight mans fear of his animal nature, or as Sigmund Freud defined it, his “Id”.

There are many other ways the symbolism of the werewolf can be deconstructed. However the two above appear to be the most prevalent metaphors in popular culture, therefore being the most relevant to today’s society, where movies like ‘Underworld’ or the soon-to-be-released remake of ‘The Wolfman’ continue to terrify moviegoers around the globe.