Throughout the Speckled Band it is clear that anything foreign or exotic is dangerous and that can be especially seen in the descriptions of Dr. Roylett. “[T]he wandering gipsies” (135) are instantly the first suspect of Holmes and Watson even though Holmes himself admits, “I see many objections to any such a theory” (140). Despite these misgivings, Holmes continues this line of investigation until it is proven completely impossible. He admits this near the end of the story saying, “The presence of the gipsies…were sufficient to put me upon an entirely wrong scent” (151).
Additionally, the ultimate cause of death ended up being a “swamp adder…the deadliest snake in India” (150). The knowledge Dr. Roylott used to kill his daughter “would only occur to a clever and ruthless man who had an Eastern training” (151). To Holmes, an eastern education automatically creates an evil, snakelike person who is ready and willing to kill. Foreignness seems to equate to enhanced nefariousness. Helen Stoner claims, “Violence of temper approaching to mania has been hereditary…and in my stepfather’s case it had, I believe, been intensified by his long residence in the tropics” (134).
I think Arthur Conan Doyle chose to repeatedly portray exoticness as dangerous because at the time the short story was written the British empire was losing power. If England was portrayed as superior to the countries they were losing their grasp on, the British people could still feel superior globally.
I really like your analysis of The Speckled Band as an example of the exotic in Victorian/gothic literature. I would like to expand upon your ideas by pointing out that Dr. Roylett himself could be considered “exotic,” not because of his time spent in India, but because he is Helen’s stepfather. Because he is not Helen’s biological father, and is only related to her via marriage, Dr. Roylett is an “exotic” addition to Helen’s family and life and, therefore, doesn’t quite belong.
I like that you connected this moment in the text to real political tensions during the time period. I think xenophobia is still a very relevant topic and very prevalent here. I discussed similar themes in my own blog post but the examples you used were very thought provoking. The word dangerous is in itself a dangerous term depending on who you place that descriptor on and the connotations of what it means.
I found your post very thought-provoking. I also wrote about the portrayal of Dr. Roylott as exotic and continually compared to animals. However, I did not link it to xenophobia and I believe that your point was well-made. I did not consider the context in which this was being written and it was smart to do so. To think that this was written to reinforce a notion of British superiority adds another element to this close reading.
I agree, and I really like how described what Doyle has done with this passage. It does seem as though anything that is not English seems to be exotic, and it makes sense considering the time period. England had one of the largest empires to ever exist. With that comes lots of different culture, and in a time in which the empire is starting to lose control, it makes sense that English people started to view other cultures in this manner as an attempt to feel superior.