Day: September 27, 2017

In this book, we immediately find an acquaintance in the narrator. The reader knows by inference and dialogue (though he does not directly introduce himself) that the narrator is Dr. Watson. Holmes talks directly to Dr. Watson, the narrator, and Dr. Watson responds, and frequently refers to himself as well as his actions. This is the first difference between The Hound of the Baskervilles and Lady Audley’s Secret. In this book, we as readers have a more direct relationship with Dr. Watson as a narrator.

Secondly, this book differs from Lady Audley’s Secret in its descriptions in general. In Lady Audley’s Secret, the descriptions of even simple objects (such as letters) are long, drawn out, and elaborate. Descriptions in The Hound of the Baskervilles are detailed and intriguing, however, they are not as whimsical, or tied to moments of emotion in the text. In Lady Audley’s Secret, the more important and emotionally-tied an object or a person was, the longer and more elaborate the description. (Such as many descriptions of Lady Audley, for instance).

These two superficial differences are the first noticeable when beginning to read.

 

Although Sherlock Holmes novels are known to be detective novels, reading The Hound of the Baskervilles through a gothic lens allows us to see that there are, in fact, many gothic elements. The first mention of any type of gothic theme is when Dr. Mortimer shows Holmes the letter he has in his possession: “…standing over Hugo, and plucking at his throat, there stood a foul thing, a great, black beast, shaped like a hound yet larger than any hound that ever mortal eye had rested upon… One, it is said, died that very night of what he had seen…” (Conan Doyle, 15). If one was not reading this through a gothic lens, the common tropes may not be as easily recognized. The hound may be written off as just a device used in the detective novel. But by looking through a gothic lens, immediately, the supernatural trope commonly used in gothic literature is apparent. This hound cannot, reasonably, exist. Clearly the hound is part of the supernatural. Additionally, one of the witnesses to the hound drops dead upon witnessing it. This plays into the uncanny trope, as it seems very strange that one would just drop dead from being scared, and is definitely unusual.

The trope of power is also abundantly clear throughout the novel. Watson constantly refers to Holmes as some type of supreme being, and even the other characters in the book are aware of Holmes’ power: “‘Have you any better explanation?’… Has Mr. Sherlock Holmes?’” (Conan Doyle, 66). Here Holmes’s opinion is regarded so highly, that Stapleton reveals that he knows Watson’s true purpose, just to hopefully hear what Holmes has to say. This dynamic of power may have gone unnoticed by reading this novel through a crime lens, but when viewed as having gothic elements the prominent power relationships cannot be ignored. Therefore, even though Sherlock Holmes is not typically regarded as gothic, it is clear that there are gothic elements to the text.

“It’s no wonder my uncle felt as if trouble were coming on him in such a place as this… It’s enough to scare any man. I’ll have a row of electric lamps up here inside of six months, and you won’t know it again with a thousand-candle-power Swan and Edison right here in front of the hall door.” (Hound of the Baskervilles, p 58)

These lines, spoken By Henry Baskerville, are the man’s immediate reaction to the near-desolate Baskerville manor. The mention of installing lamps, no matter how brief, presents a reference of setting and time for the novel, The Hound of the Baskervilles. This novel is the third of the crime novels written by Arthur Conan Doyle, Originally serialized in a magazine from August 1901 to April 1902. This puts the novel firmly post development of the lightbulb, arguably one of the most influential technological breakthroughs of its time. Despite this, the lightbulb, or in-house electricity was not cheap enough to be widely available across the classes until the 1910s – after the novel takes place. This means that Sir Henry had considerable privilege. Associating lack of electrical lighting, or general technological advances, with a depressing or bleak lifestyle describes Sir Henry’s view of wealth, in my opinion. Those who have money are more fulfilled than those who do not. The comment also brings in the Victorian trope of the archaic; references to a time when the advantages of the “present” were not available. Sir Henry seems to be a man firmly planted in his time period, who evaluates wealth and technology as necessary stones to lead a life worth living.

“Exactly. I fancy the yew alley, though not marked under that name, must stretch along this line, with the moor, as you perceive, upon the right of it. This small clump of buildings here is the hamlet of Grimpen, where our friend Dr Mortimer has his headquarters. Within a radius of five miles there are, as you see, only a very few scattered dwellings. Here is Lafter Hall, which was mentioned in the narrative. There is a house indicated here which may be the residence of the naturalist — Stapleton, if I remember right, was his name. Here are two moorland farmhouses, High Tor and Foulmire. Then fourteen miles away the great convict prison of Princetown. Between and around these scattered points extends the desolate, lifeless moor. This, then, is the stage upon which tragedy has been played, and upon which we may help to play it again.”

 

In viewing Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Hound of the Baskervilles through the lens of names, we can glean a great many hints about the type of story being told and the world the story is set in simply from the names Conan Doyle gives to his characters, towns, and buildings. That is, before we learn anything about the particulars of what happens on the moors, the names Conan Doyle uses to set the scene give hints about what’s to come.

 

For example, one of the farmhouses is called Foulmire, and we later hear a great deal about the mire from Stapleton himself in a later chapter. In addition to that, the name Foulmire is very Gothic and in keeping with the tone of the story. Foul means offensive to the senses, and it may also be a Macbeth reference, for Conan Doyle, a well-educated, literary individual, would surely have read Macbeth–and The Hound of the Baskervilles itself has a very similar setting to the Scottish play. The name also echoes of the famous lines of Macbeth, “Fair is foul and foul is fair” could be a hint, as befits a good mystery story, that things are not always as they seem.

 

The other farmhouse is called High Tor, tor meaning a rocky hill, and that makes that house (by name at least) the direct opposite of Foulmire–a mire would be found in a valley, between tors, and the words foul and high can be construed as opposites, in the sense that “foul” is a low-sounding word, and that “high” is much more lofty.

 

Also consider the name of the hamlet–Grimpen—grim meaning, well, grim–dark, foreboding, unwelcoming–and pen meaning a pen, a fenced-in area. A finite space. Pen in this sense is usually used to mean an enclosure for animals–like, say, a certain hound. A pen is also a prison, and there is an actual prison fourteen miles from where the story takes place–Princetown. This establishment has significance in the narrative because we later learn there’s an escaped convict running around on the moors. Also, a ghostly monstrous dog in English folklore is called a grim. So Grimpen is literally a pen for a grim.

I’ll wrap this post up by talking about death-related symbolism, because it appears in two counts here and is rather more heavy handed. First off, yew trees, especially in British literature, are strongly associated with death, often being found in graveyards–not to mention that every part of them is poisonous–so the yew alley could be easily interpreted as an alley of death. The last name I want to touch on is Mortimer–mort meaning death and mer meaning sea. This sinister-sounding name implies that the seemingly helpful Dr. Mortimer may not be as much of an ally as he seems.

In the two very distinct novels “Lady Audley’s Secret” and “The Hound of Baskervilles”, the representation of women, especially in their introduction, is strikingly similar. The narratives of the two stories differ greatly; “Lady Audley’s Secret” tells the story of a man’s plight to figure out the disappearance of his good friend and the true identity of the titular lady, while “The Hound of Baskervilles” follow the famed detective Sherlock Holmes to investigate the supposed supernatural death of a Sir Charles Baskerville through the eyes of Holmes’ friend Dr.Watson. The obvious similarity of the two novels is the investigation of a death, but a subtle similarity that struck me was the description of the female characters. In “Lady Audley’s Secret”, Lucy Graham first is described as having ,”…soft and melting blue eyes; the graceful beauty of that slender throat and drooping head, with its wealth of showering flaxen curls; the low music of that gentle voice; the perfect harmony which pervaded every charm…” (Braddon 12) This very detailed description of Lucy is almost uncomfortable in its tone and specificity. In “The Hound Of Baskerville”, Watson gives a very similar description of Miss Stapleton in which he goes into detail about her skin, hair, face, mouth, and eyes.(Doyle 70) The description of the women focused more on their physical attributes, and this type of narration of the women continue throughout the books. It should also be noted that these physically detailed descriptions both come from men, one being Sir Michael Audley and the other being Dr.Watson. The depiction of the women in both books put primary focus on their physical appearance while the ones of men do not. I think that the image of women in the stories shows how the females characters were meant to serve as something for the male characters to consume rather than be rounded characters.

While reading The Hound of the Baskervilles, I could not help but notice some similarities between it and Lady Audley’s Secret. Specifically, Miss Stapleton struck me as very similar to Lady Audley, both in how she is described and through her actions thus far.

Like Lady Audley, Miss Stapleton is described as very beautiful, and almost “exotic”, as we see from Watson’s narration: “I had heard someone describe her as being a beauty. The woman who approached me was certainly that, and of a most uncommon type…for Stapleton was neutral-tinted, with light hair and grey eyes, while she was darker than any brunette whom I have seen in England – slim, elegant, and tall” (Doyle 70). Watson is taken aback by Miss Stapleton’s beauty, and only becomes more shocked when she urgently tells him to go back to London. She tells him she cannot explain why he must leave, and when her brother comes near, she tells Watson to not speak of this to him. Already we can see there is some secret that Miss Stapleton is hiding, and she does not want Watson, or even her own brother, to know what it is (just like Lady Audley wanted to keep her secret from both Sir Audley as well as Robert). Miss Stapleton also shows she is quite capable of lying, when she gives her brother a fake explanation of what she and Watson were talking about.

Clearly, Miss Stapleton is actively interested in keeping her secret, as we see when she runs to apologize to Watson about the mixup. Watson expresses his doubts as she tries to brush off what she told him earlier: “‘Please forget the words I said, which have no application whatever to you.’ ‘But I can’t forget them, Miss Stapleton…Tell me why it was that you were so eager that Sir Henry should return to London.'” (73). This exchange reminds me of when Lady Audley pays a visit to Robert at the inn. Like Lady Audley with Robert, Miss Stapleton wants to make sure Watson does not know too much, but he is very intent on finding out what she is hiding. This idea of a character keeping secrets hidden behind a veneer of beauty reminds me exactly of Lady Audley.

 

When reading The Hound of the Baskervilles through a gothic literature lens, it becomes very clear that this book shares elements with gothic literature. Based on the video we saw in class, gothic literature contains a variety of different tropes. A couple of these tropes include the uncanny and the supernatural, both of which I found within this novel.
“Dr Mortimer looked strangely at us for an instant, and his voice sank almost to a whisper as he answered: Mr Holmes, they were the footprints of a gigantic hound!”(p.20). The tone and content of this quote resonate with me like that of a campfire scary story or a Scooby Doo episode. Most campfire scary stories and Scooby Doo episodes revolve around an uncanny element or mystery, exactly like many gothic novels. In this case that uncanny element is the gigantic hound.
“Since the tragedy, Mr Holmes, there have come to my ears several incidents which are hard to reconcile with the settled order of Nature”(p.24). This quote brings to attention the concept of supernatural vs. nature. If something cannot be understood as a part the “settled” or known nature, then it must be of supernatural origin. With that logic in mind, the “gigantic hound” must be supernatural until it is proven natural. Just like the uncanny element or mystery in a Scooby Doo episode appears to be supernatural in almost all aspects, until it is discovered that the “insert random Scooby Doo monster” is just a man in a really good costume.
When reading this novel without looking at it through any particular lens, it is obvious that it is a detective novel. The first mention of Sherlock Holmes essentially places this novel immediately within the detective novel genre. The discovery of gothic tropes only add to the novel’s story, thus making it more compelling and interesting.

When looking at The Hound of the Baskervilles through a lens of Lady Audley’s Secret, I realized that both novels include a main character as the “detective”, but more interestingly the characters use different methods.

Robert Audley, from Lady Audley’s Secret and Sherlock Holmes, from The Hound of the Baskervilles both try to uncover the mystery presented to them. They use their resources such as letters and people of interest to ask questions. The interesting difference is that Sherlock Holmes is a well-known detective who knows none of the people is his case personally. While Robert Audley is not an actual detective, and his case involved people with whom he was emotionally attached to.

Sherlock Holmes, being the well-known detective said, “the world if full of obvious things which nobody by any chance ever observes” (Doyle, 36). This quote made me wonder, are things obvious to Sherlock Holmes because he has no emotional tie to the case, or because he is a professional, and experienced detective? Does Robert Audley take a while to realize the obvious in his case because he was emotionally attached to the people in it, or because he wasn’t experienced?

It’s interesting because Sherlock Holmes, being the experienced detective uses the word “obvious” a lot, for example, “obvious conclusion” (Doyle, 4), and “obviously” (Doyle, 5). This made me infer that he uses deductive reasoning as his method to uncover the case, because deductive reasoning points out the general information or what is “obvious” and makes more specific or particular claims later. The word “obvious” infers that these things that Holmes notices are easy to observe, while they might not be for others, “things which nobody by any chance ever observes.” I think Robert Audley fits into that category of “nobody by chance ever observes.” Robert Audley, on the other hand has to use his circumstantial evidence in a chronological order to make a claim or theory (inductive reasoning), “1. I write to Alicia…. 2. Alicia writes…”(Braddon, 104).

I think it takes Robert a long time to realize the culprit in his case because he was emotionally attached to Mr. Talboys, Alicia, Lucy, and Sir Michael. I infer that he didn’t want to believe his evidence, and that his judgment was impaired. On the other hand Holmes has no emotional ties getting in the way, he just has the facts, so his judgment is not impaired and he can notice the “obvious.”

With the arrival of Dr. Mortimer at Detective Sherlock Holmes office as the first scene in The Hound of the Baskervilles, the questions of natural versus supernatural come into action. Dr. Mortimer tells Holmes and his friend/colleague, Dr. Watson, of Sir Charles Baskerville’s death and the mysterious, supernatural hound that is believed to haunt the Baskerville lineage and their estate. Watson and Holmes are informed that the next of kin of is to arrive to Baskerville Hall very soon, but Dr. Mortimer fears it is unsafe for him to do so. Unsure of what to do, he asks for the help of Holmes and Watson to which they agree to take the case.

From what Holmes has been told by Dr. Mortimer, he is not as quick to speculate that Sir Charles Baskerville died at the hands of a supernatural hound. Evident from the beginning of this novel, there is a connection between classism and the question of natural/supernatural. Holmes questions Dr. Mortimer, “and you, a trained man of science, believe it to be supernatural?” (Conan Doyle 24). Holmes thinks that men of a higher class, have had a better education, especially a man like Dr. Mortimer, therefore they must not believe in the supernatural. Their intellect is rooted in logic and what they have learned is the truth. Holmes states “if Dr. Mortimer’s surmise should be correct, and we are dealing with forces outside the ordinary laws of Nature, there is an end of our investigation. But we are bound to exhaust all other hypotheses before falling back upon this one” (Conan Doyle 29). For him to do his job properly he must consider all other options and examine all other pieces of the story to explain the death of Sir Charles Baskerville was not done by something supernatural.

Further into the novel, Watson moves into Baskerville Hall with Sir Henry. He decides to take a walk around the moor, where Sir Charles had died, and ran into one of the neighbors, Stapleton. Watson and he have a conversation pertaining to Sir Charles death and the mysterious hound. Stapleton adds, “it is extraordinary how credulous the peasants are about here! Any number of them are ready to swear that they have seen such a creature upon the moor” (Conan Doyle 65). What he states parallels Holmes’ idea that belief in the supernatural only belong to common folk and intellectuals are to dismiss the curse. This leaves the reader in a mystery, opening them up to the Gothic tradition of storytelling and who has the power to believe in it.

Conan Doyle, Arthur. The Hound of the Baskervilles. Penguin Group, 2003.