Course Blog

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.

After reading the first eight chapters of Conan Doyle’s The Hound of the Baskervilles, I argue that – with his famous character Sherlock Holmes – Conan Doyle contrasted his own beliefs and convictions about the supernatural. While he was a spiritualist and believer in the supernatural himself, Sherlock Holmes is a strictly logical and scientific person who usually dismisses supernatural explanations for problems.

In Conan Doyle’s novel, the protagonist and detective Sherlock Holmes is represented as a highly rational and logical individual who “balance[s] probabilities and choose[s] the most likely” (Conan Doyle 48). His usual method of investigation includes the close examination of objects or circumstances which then allows him to “reconstruct” (Conan Doyle 8) a person or their behavior.

In The Hound of the Baskervilles specifically, Holmes and his companion Watson are introduced to a case that challenges this mindset of Holmes. As Dr. Mortimer pays a visit to Baker Street and recounts the legend of the ‘Curse of the Baskervilles’ that has allegedly only recently killed Sir Charles Baskerville, Holmes’ first reaction to this story of a murderous “hell-hound” (Conan Doyle 34) is to consider it a “fairy tale[…]” (Conan Doyle 23). Holmes does, however, take on the case and is continuously confronted with ideas about ‘the otherworldly’. Dr. Mortimer, for instance, strongly believes in the myth of the “dreadful apparition” (Conan Doyle 34) that killed Sir Charles Baskerville. To him, the incidents surrounding his friend’s death “are hard to reconcile with the settled order of Nature” (Conan Doyle 34).

This represented binary between the natural and the supernatural seems to be highly relevant when considered in the biographical context that is known about the novel’s author, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Conan Doyle himself was known to have been rather interested in spiritualism during his lifetime. Accordingly, Conan Doyle is said to have been a strong believer in supernatural beings such as fairies and practices such as séances (cf. Davies 20), which led to many critics considering him to have been “gullible” (Davies 20). These beliefs and convictions of Conan Doyle allegedly even resulted in his own “feelings towards the character he had created in Sherlock Holmes [being] famously mixed” (Davies 12).

Knowing this makes it even more interesting to consider why Conan Doyle chose to create a character such as Sherlock Holmes who “confine[s] [his] investigations to this world” (Conan Doyle 34) and who wishes to “exhaust all other hypotheses before falling back upon” (Conan Doyle 40) the supernatural explanations of Dr. Mortimer.

Finally, what seems most revealing about this observation is that a number of characters that the reader is introduced to in the first eight chapters of The Hound of the Baskervilles is represented as being scientific, educated characters of high intellect: Sherlock Holmes, of course, being the legendary detective; Dr. Watson and Dr. Mortimer, two medical doctors; and Stapleton, a naturalist and former schoolmaster.  Still, the novel suggests that at least one of them – Dr. Mortimer – believes in supernatural causes for Sir Charles’ death. Holmes himself challenges this contradiction by asking him how “[Mortimer], a trained man of science, [can] believe it to be supernatural?” (Conan Doyle 34). In the character of Mortimer – a believer in the supernatural – Conan Doyle therefore successfully creates a foil to his famous detective – the man of science. A final question that arises from this observation is why Conan Doyle chose to contrast his own beliefs and convictions about the supernatural and to thereby highlight the tension between myth and reality.

 

Sources

Conan Doyle, Arthur. The Hound of the Baskervilles. Harpenden: Oldcastle Books, 2013. Print.

Davies, Stuart David, et al. « Introduction ». The Sherlock Holmes Book. London: Dorling Kindersley Ltd, 2015. 10-31. Print.

Treated as a companion by her mistress, in the receipt of the most liberal wages, and with perquisites such as perhaps no lady’s-maid ever had before, it was strange that Phoebe Marks should wish to leave her situation; but it was not the less a fact that she was anxious to exchange all the advantages of Audley Court for the very unpromising prospect which awaited her as the wife of her cousin Luke. (Braddon, 110)

This passage implies the complex relationship between Lady Audley and Pheobe and each of their common/individual interest. And this relationship between them leads us to these questions; What made Lucy so anxious and burdened in her position as an assistant/accomplice to her lady that she wants to give up her benefits of being a maid of wealthy, generous lady as Mrs. Audley? What is Phoebe’s weakness that is seized upon Luke that made her go into an unwanted marriage? What does the ‘unpromising’ prospect of the marriage life with Luke indicate?

Firstly, the existence of huge burden that Phoebe has to bear is evidenced by her explicit and implied practices of running the lady’s errands regarding the secret quest the lady is going through. In the earlier chapter, Phoebe had been to London to run errand that should remain confidential to others except my lady and it seems that she must have been participating in additional works for the quest of lady. And Lady Audley’s referring to a tragic narrative of a beautiful woman who committed crime exposes the fear not only Phoebe but also lady herself even has to bear. It raises questions about what lies in their common fear of being revealed who they are or what they did.

Secondly, regarding the weakness of Phoebe that makes her go through the unwanted marriage, we can guess that it may not matter only to herself but also to the lady. In the later chapter of the book, there is a scene in which Phoebe is reprimanded for her sharing of lady’s secret with Luke. It may explain the fear that Phoebe and lady have in common, which makes up the motivation for cooperation out of necessity.

Finally, I want to explore the possible connotations that the word ‘unpromising’ implies. Given the conservative and women-oppressing environments of the Victorian age, it is very likely that the unpromising aspect/future of Phoebe’s marriage life does not simply mean dissatisfaction, but rather a more critical risk to her life, even to the degree of life-threatening. And it is also possible that Lady Audley herself may have gone through the predicament of unwanted, unsatisfactory, oppressive or threatening marriage before she got married to the ‘sweet’ gentleman like Mr.Audley.

“I do not believe in mandrake, or in blood-stains that no time can efface. I believe rather that we may walk unconsciously in an atmosphere of crime, and breathe none the less freely. I believe that we may look into the smiling face of a murderer, and admire its tranquil beauty” (Braddon 144).

In this passage, Robert makes it pretty clear to Lady Audley what he really thinks about her, and more specifically, what he thinks happened to George Talboys. In a literal sense, he says that George could have been killed by someone you would never expect to be a murderer, and it could have happened in the room you were just in. In reality, he is alluding to Lady Audley; he uses the words “smiling face” and “tranquil beauty”, which have been used throughout the book (or similar variations) as descriptors of Lady Audley. Robert is basically telling Mrs. Audley that he knows she killed George, and that everyone else may have been fooled by her looks, but that he knows better – all the while admitting that he does not currently have the proof to make anything of it.

While Lady Audley keeps a mostly calm, confident demeanor during the conversation, she does seem to get nervous from some of the things Robert says.  When he tells Lady Audley that he has letters from George’s wife, her initial laughter (at his mention of items George had left behind) turns to silence. She then simply asks the question, “Have you ever seen any of the letters written by the late Mrs. Talboys?” Clearly, the idea of George having seen Mrs. Talboys’ writing causes Lady Audley some distress, signaled by her sudden change in behavior. Personally, I have no doubt in my mind that Lady Audley is the same person as Mrs. Talboys, but even as obvious as it seems to me (and Robert), there is not enough evidence for Robert to mount a case against her. He and Lady Audley seem to be at a sort of standstill; she pretends like she knows nothing and acts confident, yet is worried about Robert being able to prove her guilt, while Robert seems to know for sure what the truth is, but is just as of yet unable to find the right evidence or crack Lady Audley’s facade.

“‘Do you remember, Phoebe. . . that French story we read – the story of a beautiful woman who committed some crime – I forget what – in the zenith of her power and loveliness, when all Paris drank to her every night, and when the people ran away from the carriage of the king to flock about hers, and get a peep at her face?’” (Braddon 109)

This passage emphasizes the juxtaposition between beauty and sins, how a woman of such loveliness, with such grand fortune could sink so low. As she recounts the story to Phoebe, Lady Audley emphasizes the woman’s fame, her beauty, and belovedness over the actual crime she committed. She never actually states the woman’s crime, as if her popularity was more important than her wrongdoings. Lucy seems to justify malevolence with beauty and fame; she pities this woman, expressing more sympathy for her loss of followership than concern over her sin.  This tale mirrors her own life story, as she conveys herself as this fresh, youthful, fairy-like woman, while she seems to be hiding a much darker interior.

Nonetheless,  this story seems to reflect Lady Audley’s fears of growing old and losing the support of those around her. Eventually, when her beauty has faded, Lucy will not hold the same power over her followers. As Lucy asks Phoebe, “‘What is to become of me when I grow old?’” she expresses a fear of losing the adoration of her followers after her beauty has faded (Braddon 109); she fears a loss of power, that she will no longer be able to enchant and seduce a crowd with her looks, and that they will inevitably turn on her. The question arises: what is Lady Audley concerned that they will discover? Or, more succinctly, what is Lady Audley’s secret?

“Phoebe Marks, you have told this man!” The girl fell on her knees at my lady’s feet. “Oh, forgive me, forgive me!” she cried. “He forced it from me, or I would never, never have told!” (Page 113).

 

By chapter fourteen there is quite a bit of evidence to suggest that Lucy Audley may be Helen and that this secret is looming over her new life. In chapter fourteen we learn about a number of characters who might have knowledge of this secret. Because Alicia wants nothing to do with Lucy, Lucy ends up spending time with Phoebe. Phoebe has a fiancee named Luke. She has acquired him a job as a servant.

 

When Lucy meets him she doesn’t think much of him. Lucy is upset that she will be losing Phoebe as a maid to someone she feels is rather rude and boorish. Phoebe explains that she doesn’t love him. She first says she is still engaged to him because she fears him explaining that when he was a child he was violent and even threatened his mother with a knife. Lucy suggests that Phoebe not marry Luke, that doing so what be a terrible idea and that she wants to keep her as her maid. However Phoebe insists that she must marry him and that “It will be my ruin, and the ruin of others, if I break my word”(Page 112). So Lucy accepts that Phoebe must marry Luke and suggests that there must be some great secret at the bottom of this. All great liars suspect everyone of lying which again supports the possibility she is Helen and she is hiding her identity. Phoebe then admits that there is a great secret she has which she is hiding and turns away.

 

Lucy asks what Luke might want to do professionally. Phoebe tells her he wants to open a public-house(pub). So Lucy invites him to her home to help him in this project. He comes and listens to Lady Audley’s “liberal” promise of fifty pounds so that he might start this business of his. Instead of being thankful however he is rather rude and asks for double the amount offered. When Lucy refuses he says “Oh yes, you will though” with “quiet insolence, that had a hidden meaning”. This is when it is revealed that Luke knows about Lucy’s secret and that Phoebe was forced to tell him.

 

After some close reading we know a little more about the situation. Lucy has confided in Phoebe whatever secret she is keeping. Also Phoebe has revealed this secret to Luke. Whatever the secret is it gives Luke leverage to extort Lucy for more money than she offered, even given her social status. This suggests that her secret is pretty serious, especially considering her explosively angry reaction when she finds out Phoebe has revealed her secret. We have also found out that Phoebe has a secret of her own which she is hiding. Luke may also be holding this secret over her so Phoebe and Lucy have a similar relationship with him. She may also be ruined by the revealing of her secret, similar to Lucy. Neither of them love their significant other, though we know why Phoebe will marry Luke. It has not been made entirely clear yet why Lucy married Sir Michael though. Why are there so many similarities?

“Lucy Audley was radiant on this cold and snowy January morning. Other people’s noses are rudely assailed by the sharp fingers of the grim ice-king, but not my lady’s; other people’s lips turn pale and blue with the chilling influence of the bitter weather, but my lady’s pretty little rosebud of a mouth retained its brightest coloring and cheeriest freshness”(pg 141).

First, this passage is a clear example of two opposing sets of binaries.   Words and phrases like “radiant”, “pretty” and “brightest coloring and cheeriest freshness” are in extreme contrast with “rudely assailed”, “sharp fingers of the grim ice-king” and “bitter weather”.  This can be put into the light vs dark category.  On one hand we see this reoccurring idea of Lady Audley’s beauty and her bright defiant smile.  However, on the other lurks the overarching motif of darkness and of course secrets.

Off of this, the passage also showcases two other general themes that are prevalent throughout the book.  The first being the concept of Lady Audley’s strength.  Through the cold and harsh conditions Lady Audley still finds a way to prevail and radiate through.  She once again is breaking societal norms for women in the sense that she preserved through difficult circumstances rather than following what is expected of her (a bad reaction to the weather).  I believe that this shows how tough was Lady Audley really is.

Moreover, her ability to withstand the abrasive weather is also just one more thing that makes Lady Audley different and stand out from those around her.  For whatever reason, she can survive through situations that others can’t, which further separates her from all the other characters and continues to raise suspicion about her true identity.

“The winter sunlight, gleaming full upon her face from a side window, lit up the azure in those beautiful eyes, till their colour seemed to flicker and tremble betwixt blue and green, as the opal tints of the sea change upon a summer’s day. The small brush fell from her hand, and blotted out the peasant’s face under a widening circle of a crimson lake” (Braddon 121)

Throughout the novel there has been a conflict or a binary between what is real and what is a merely a facade. This conflict can be seen by the reader in this passage. I was interested in this passage because of the way Lucy visibly reacts to Robert. Here, the image of Lucy’s eyes changing color implies that there is some part of her that is not real, and that she is uncomfortable by Robert. Lucy’s blue eyes are a part of the image of herself that she has created and chooses to show to the world, but when Robert starts to question her and what happened to George; Lucy’s eyes flash a green color thus revealing that a part of her that she keeps hidden is starting to reveal itself. A large part of Lucy’s power comes from her image. Everyone thinks she is a sweet, beautiful, innocent woman, and she needs people to have that idea of her in order for her to maintain her power and position. If Lucy is found out to be Helen, then she will loose her place as Lady Audley and likely be persecuted. Thus Lucy takes advantage of female stereotypes to get what she wants, and to help her achieve her goal. 

In this passage, Braddon also describes Lucy painting a “beautiful Italian peasant, in an impossibly Turneresque atmosphere” (Braddon 121). However after Robert accuses Lucy she messes up her painting. Lucy painting mirrors how she subtly manipulates the situations to benefit her and her needs. However, Lucy is so shocked by Robert’s accusation that she messes up her painting thus revealing that the scene she has set up is beginning to fall apart.

“Circumstantial evidence. . . a word dropped incautiously from the over-cautious lips of guilty; the fragment of a letter; the shutting or opening of a door; a shadow on a window-blind; the accuracy of a moment; a thousand circumstances so slight as to be forgotten by the criminal. . .” (Braddon, 123).

This passage shows Robert Audley finally becoming what Victorian society would have expected of an adult.  Rather than lounging around and doing nothing, Robert is putting his education as a barrister into practice.  Here, Robert is explaining to Lady Audley that he believes that George’s disappearance is nefarious in nature and that someone is responsible for it.  A pervading sense of mystery is present in this scene, and the effect that it has on the novel’s characters is drastic.  

Throughout the novel and in this scene, characters cross numerous thresholds, literally and metaphorically.  They cross from sanity into madness (George Talboys) and from the unknown into the known (Robert piecing together George’s mysterious disappearance).  In this passage, Robert mentions the “shutting or opening of a door,” (Braddon, 123) and a “shadow on a window-blind (Braddon, 123). ”  Both of these phrases have the connotation that even the smallest actions are capable of being used as evidence to catch a criminal.  This passage ironically shows Robert simultaneously crossing two significant thresholds, into both enlightenment and adulthood.  Robert is enlightened because he comes to realize that George’s disappearance may be intentional.  He enters adulthood because it is the first time in his life that he is doing something with real meaning, rather than superficially wandering from on frivolous activity to another.  Individual words used in this passage such as “evidence,” “guilt,” “crime,” “penalty,” and “criminal” (Braddon, 123) are all related to the legal profession.  By using these words, and by making connections between mysterious events, Robert asserts himself as a professional seeking to solve a serious problem, something Robert Audley never would have done without George’s disappearance.

“Faint shadows of green and crimson fell upon my lady’s face from the painted escutcheons in the mullioned window by which she sat; but every trace of natural colour of that face had faded out, leaving it a ghastly ashen grey. Sitting quietly in her chair, her head fallen back upon the amber damask cushions, and her little hands lying powerless in her lap, Lady Audley had fainted away (Braddon 123-124).”

In this quote Lady Audley is responding to the description of circumstantial evidence by Robert Audley. Robert states that some examples of circumstantial evidence include “a scrap of paper;a shred of some torn garment; the button off a coat; a word dropped incautiously from the over-cautious lips of guilt (Braddon 123).” After reading this description from Robert, the baby’s shoe and the little lock of hair found by Phoebe in Lady Audley’s jewelry box immediately come to mind. The objects found inside of Lady may have nothing to do with Georges disappearance, but Lady Audley’s reaction to this description of circumstantial evidence may suggest otherwise.

My experience with victorian era literature is limited as is my knowledge of victorian era social cues, but when someone passes out after being confronted with information, that information must hit that person right where they are emotionally vulnerable or guilty of something. That spot for Lady Audley is most likely her secret and anything connected to that secret. Those little items found in her jewelry box, if they are actually connected to Lady Audley’s secret, may fall fall under the category of circumstantial evidence. This could explain why “every trace of natural colour in Lady Audley’s face faded out, leaving it a ghastly ashen grey” after hearing Robert’s description. I think as Robert gets closer to finding out George’s whereabouts, we may see Lady Audley become more and more anxious, because she may be more connected to George than originally thought.