Hound of the Baskervilles, The Published 1901 I ABOUT THE AUTHOR Arthur Conan Doyle was born on May 22, 1859, in Edinburgh, Scotland. As a young man he seemed destined for a career in medicine. In 1876 he attended the University of Edinburgh Medical School. There he met Joseph Bell, whose deductive powers and dramatic flair he would later embody in the character of Sherlock Holmes. In the early 1880s he served as a medical officer on an Arctic whaling ship and ship's surgeon on a voyage to West Africa. By the summer of 1882, he had settled in the town of Southsea in the south of England. In 1885 he received his medical degree. Even after he was a well-established writer, he continued to pursue his medical education, becoming an eye specialist. His medical practice was unsuccessful, leaving him plenty of free time to write. His first story was 'The Mystery of Sarassa Valley,' published in October 1879 in Chamber's Journal. He had trouble finding a publisher for his first Sherlock Holmes novel, A Study in Scarlet, which eventually appeared in Beeton's Christmas Annual for 1887. It and its successor, the novel The Sign of Four, published in 1890, were not popular at first. Conan Doyle himself regarded these early Holmes novels as mere entertainments to bring in some money while he concentrated on historical novels. He hoped to become a new Walter Scott, who had earned fame and respect with such novels as Ivanhoe (1820). In 1891 Conan Doyle agreed to supply the new magazine the Strand with a series of Sherlock Holmes short stories. 'A Scandal in Bohemia' appeared in the magazine's July 1891 issue and was a popular sensation. For the rest of his life Conan Doyle was pressured by publishers and the general public to write more stories about Sherlock Holmes. He tried to stop writing the stories a number of times. After his initial contract with the Strand was fulfilled, he demanded an outrageously large amount of money for new stories, hoping that the Strand would refuse. Instead, the magazine eagerly met his asking price. Then he tried killing Holmes off in 'The Final Problem,' the last of his second run of Holmes stories for the Strand. He received hate mail for killing Holmes and was besieged by publishers offering him huge sums of money to write more about Holmes. An American publisher finally offered more money than Conan Doyle could resist, and he agree to write The Hound of the Baskervilles. Writing about Holmes offered Conan Doyle a ready way to earn money for the rest of his life. But it was the character of Professor Challenger rather than Sherlock Holmes that was Conan Doyle's favorite creation. In 1912 he published a science-fiction adventure, The Lost World, featuring the professor. The death of his son during World War I (1914-1918) led Conan Doyle to seek out spiritualists and inspired in him a religious dedication to the spiritualist movement. This embarrassed friends and business associates. Spiritualism found its way into nearly all of Conan Doyle's writings of the 1920s, and even the hardheaded Professor Challenger is converted in The Land of Mist. Conan Doyle died on July 7, 1930, at Crowborough, Sussex. Many critics have pointed out the similarities between Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson and their creator Arthur Conan Doyle. In real life, Conan Doyle sometimes employed detection techniques similar to those of Holmes to solve mysterious crimes. In the most famous such case, he proved that George Edalji, a lawyer, had been wrongfully convicted of a crime he could not have committed. Conan Doyle used such evidence as Edalji's astigmatism and the difference between the mud of roads and that of fields to demonstrate beyond doubt that Edalji was innocent and to expose the real criminal—a feat of detection worthy of Holmes. In addition, Dr. Watson shares characteristics with Conan Doyle. Both were robust men who were physically active for most of their lives. Both were physicians who served overseas. The tall and thicknecked Watson fits the description of Conan Doyle himself. Even so, readers should not take the similarities between the characters and the author beyond the superficial. Holmes and Watson are well-imagined figures with traits all their own. II OVERVIEW For many years, the region around the Baskerville estate was poor and backward, but when Sir Charles Baskerville returns to claim his estate, the region again begins to prosper. By devoting his vast fortune—earned in business—to better the community, Sir Charles fills the long-empty role of leadership that is the duty of the Baskervilles. But into this otherwise happy and orderly society comes disorder in the form of two utterly evil men. One is a convicted mass murderer escaped from prison, who lurks about on the moors; the other is Seldon, a clever criminal, who is insidious enough to corrupt the faithful Baskerville servants into the service of evil. Even more unsettling is the terrible Hound of the Baskervilles. When the good Sir Charles Baskerville is murdered, an ancient curse on the family is revealed that now threatens Sir Henry, the new heir. For generations, the Baskerville family has been victimized by a giant, spectral hound that prowls the moors. The hound now seems to be loose again; it has claimed Sir Charles and appears ready to strike again. Is this a supernatural creature or merely part of someone's devious plot to supplant the rightful heirs of Baskerville Hall? Sherlock Holmes is called upon to solve the mystery, and the intricate story builds to an extraordinary climax when the hound attacks: 'Fire burst from its open mouth, its eye glowed with a smoldering glare, its muzzle and hackles and dewlap were outlined in flickering flame.' A fiend from hell seems loosed upon Sir Henry. III SETTING The late Victorian setting of The Hound of the Baskervilles is an orderly one. In it, each person has a role to fill, and when every role is suitably filled, society prospers. But the social order is endangered by those bent on its destruction, and the villains come in many disguises. The opening scenes place Sherlock Holmes in the comfortable surroundings of his home at 221B Baker Street in London. But quickly the action shifts to the dreary 'Grippen Mire,' a vast moor or bog-marsh area of England. This bleak and deserted wasteland provides a startling contrast to Holmes's refined London world. Reason seems to break down, and the atmosphere becomes eerie when it appears that a supernatural creature is responsible for the terrifying happenings on the moors. Conan Doyle carefully recreates both the Baskerville family history and the outlying areas around Baskerville Hall. The myth of the hound itself is reproduced through Dr. Mortimer's efforts and acts as necessary background. As the story progress, the Grimpen Mire comes to symbolize an ominous mire of evil, where, to his horror, Dr. Watson hears the panic-stricken cries of moor ponies, captured by the muck that lurks beneath the deceptive vegetation. One false step means death, both in the moor where what looks like solid ground may suddenly give way and in a society where a seeming friend could be a clever murderer, or even a demon with a frighteningly huge hound at his command. For Holmes, the setting becomes as much of a clue to the nature of the crime as other physical clues. The middle passages of The Hound of the Baskervilles are among the most suspenseful in literature in large part because of the unrelieved atmosphere of doom that surrounds the well-drawn, appealing characters of Watson, Sir Henry, and Holmes. IV THEMES AND CHARACTERS Sherlock Holmes is a private investigator who operates out of his rooms at 221B Baker Street in London, England. Well-to-do, he takes only the cases that interest him. He is high-strung and restless, and, although he finds a creative emotional outlet in playing the violin, it is often not enough to amuse his troubled mind when he is not on a case. He then injects himself with cocaine. It takes years for his associate, Dr. Watson, to wean him away from his addiction but Watson is ultimately successful. Holmes is tall and obsessively clean. His voice is 'cold, incisive, ironical.' A brilliant thinker, his education is at once broad and narrow. For example, although he is able to identify different brands of tobacco at a sniff, he knows nothing about astronomy until Dr. Watson explains to him that the earth orbits the sun. In The Hound of the Baskervilles, Holmes displays his love of the chase; he is delighted at the opportunity to outwit the clever villain and foil his schemes. He is given to dramatic flair; he amazes listeners with his deductions from seemingly slight clues, and he enjoys disguising himself, as though he were an actor. For all his genius, however, he is fallible. In the stories, Professor Moriarty eludes him more than once, and sometimes he fails to adequately protect a client. In The Hound of the Baskervilles, he is at one point convinced that he has allowed the heir, Sir Henry Baskerville, to be killed. This element of uncertainty in Holmes's character enhances the appeal of his stories by allowing for genuine suspense because he occasionally makes mistakes. Dr. John Watson is a robust man of action. He meets Holmes when looking for lodgings after serving as a military physician in Afghanistan. His steady temperament balances Holmes's own edgy one. As a physician, Watson's skills often come in handy when people are injured. Intelligent enough to understand Holmes's genius, robust enough to provide muscle when needed, courageous enough to follow Holmes into any adventure, and unswerving in his loyalty, he is an ideal companion for Holmes. It is Watson who narrates nearly all the tales of Holmes's adventures. He asks the questions that readers want answered and often remains in the dark alongside the readers because of Holmes's infuriating habit of keeping his plans secret until he has seen whether or not they will succeed. Stapleton is a good example of Conan Doyle's archfiends who prey on the innocent. He is introduced as an eccentric naturalist and a highly respected authority on insects. Of uncertain origin and ancestry, he is described as a 'small, slim, clean-shaven, prim-faced man, flaxen-haired and lean-jawed, between thirty and forty years of age.' Physically unimpressive, he seems too frail and too naive to be a villain, but his mind is a keen one. He has plotted carefully, using the legend about a curse on the Baskervilles to further his devious designs. V LITERARY QUALITIES The techniques in The Hound of the Baskervilles are common to most Holmes mysteries. First, a client visits Holmes, and Holmes makes some clever deductions about him. Then the client introduces the problem that Holmes must solve. In this case, a country doctor, James Mortimer, tells Holmes of the strange death of Sir Charles Baskerville. An unusually observant man, Mortimer noted a giant paw print near the body and the cigar ash near the gate—both important clues and enough to arouse Mortimer's suspicions. In a typical case, Holmes would go to the scene of the crime, sift through clues, and decide on a course of action. These steps make for a suspenseful and fast-paced narrative. In The Hound of the Baskervilles, however, Holmes sends Dr. Watson to work on the case at Baskerville Hall, while he announces that he must stay in London to work on another case. This would seem to derail the novel because its main character is absent for several chapters. Nonetheless, the device works. Dr. Watson, a level-headed man, pursues his assignment and begins to uncover a sinister scheme. When Holmes reappears to solve the mystery, there is no sense of the reader being cheated for he has been working behind the scenes all along. Even after Holmes explains everything to Watson and identifies the murderer, he must still out-think the villain and catch him in the act. Conan Doyle drew on many sources for his own well-wrought detective stories. The most important precedents for the Holmes adventures were Edgar Allan Poe's tales of 'ratiocination' and the novels of Wilke Collins. Poe's tales feature the great French detective Auguste Dupin, who uses his intellect to solve bewildering crimes. As in the Holmes stories, someone brings Dupin a mystery; then Dupin sifts through the clues and devises a plan to unmask the villain. Conan Doyle's stories follow this pattern, even to the point of making Holmes analytical and arrogant like Dupin. Collins's influence may especially be seen in The Hound of the Baskervilles. In his two most famous novels, The Woman in White (1859) and The Moonstone (1868), Collins tells the stories through the letters and diaries of the characters. This technique creates a tone of immediacy, as if the reader were seeing the narrative unfold moment by moment. In addition, the mystery is enhanced because the reader can know no more than his characters. Yet, all the clues needed to solve the mystery are presented; the reader may sift through them and try to be a step ahead of the characters. Three chapters of The Hound of the Baskervilles are told through Watson's diaries and letters to Holmes, creating an effect similar to that in Collins's novels. In addition, Collins added the gothic atmosphere of the supernatural to his fiction, making even everyday scenes and events seem full of looming violence or evil. The Hound of the Baskervilles also uses this technique, making after-dinner walks in the yard seem ominous and dangerous. Some critics have gone so far as to assert that Sergeant Cuff from Collins's The Moonstone is the model for Sherlock Holmes because both men look alike, are analytical, and retire to the country to raise roses. Whatever the sources of the Holmes adventures, their ingenious blend of crime and day-to-day life, and their clear narratives make them original and engrossing reading. VI SOCIAL SENSITIVITY The Hound of the Baskervilles depicts the kinds of individual disorientation that are created by social disorder. For instance, love is perverted by evil in the novel. Selden, the notorious Notting Hill murderer, uses his sister's love to evade the law. Stapleton uses his own wife to lure Sir Henry Baskerville to his doom. He pretends love and offers marriage to Laura Lyons in order to persuade her to entice Sir Charles into a dark walkway where he meets the Hound itself. All who encounter these evil lovers are endangered because their relationships are as confused and misleading as the narrow paths of Grimpen Mire. Sir Henry in particular is tempted by the allure of another man's wife and is left with a disordered mind at the novel's end. But the steady, clear light of reason, as embodied by Sherlock Holmes, works throughout to pierce the chaotic darkness and unmask the sources of evil. VII TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION 1. What is your initial reaction after reading the manuscript that explains the myth of the 'Hound of the Baskervilles'? 2. Stapleton says, 'This is the great Grimpen Mire...a false step yonder means death to man or beast.' What is the significance of the moor? Is it an important element in the story? 3. Why does the novel include letters that Watson writes to Holmes? 4. Why does Watson go to Baskerville Hall without Sherlock Holmes? 5. In the opening chapter of the novel, how do Watson and Holmes characterize Dr. Mortimer from just his walking stick, before even setting eyes on him? 6. The narrative explains, 'One of Sherlock Holmes's defects...was that he was exceedingly loth to communicate his full plans to any other person until the instant of their fulfillment.' Why is this important? Discuss some examples of this in The Hound of the Baskervilles. 7. How does Holmes deduce where Sir Henry Baskerville's threatening letter came from? Does he make any similar deductions? If so, what are they? 8. What clues reveal Sir Charles Baskerville's actions the night that he is murdered? VIII IDEAS FOR REPORTS AND PAPERS 1. Compare The Hound of the Baskervilles to several of Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes short stories. Discuss the similarities. 2. Does the nature of the criminal and the crime itself become clear to you before the end of the novel? If so, where and when did you have suspicions? 3. Read one of Edgar Allan Poe's Inspector Dupin mysteries and compare his character to Sherlock Holmes. 4. There are quite a few film versions of The Hound of the Baskervilles and other Sherlock Holmes stories. Watch one or two of them and compare the two mediums. 5. Research Dartmoor, the English moor around which this novel centers. What are the legends that relate to the moor and its surrounding areas? IX RELATED TITLES AND ADAPTATIONS Although The Hound of the Baskervilles is the most popular of the Holmes adventures, the series consists of four novels and a multiplicity of short stories. The short stories are consistently entertaining and every Holmes enthusiast has a favorite. Most often included in anthologies and textbooks is 'The Adventure of the Speckled Band,' because it is a good example of Conan Doyle's style and skill in plotting. It was Conan Doyle's favorite Holmes story. The best-loved of the adaptations of The Hound of the Baskervilles is the 1939 film, starring Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Dr. John Watson. Directed by Sidney Lanfield, the black-and-white film includes Richard Greene as Sir Henry Baskerville. Rathbone plays Holmes as an impatient and stylish character, while Bruce plays Watson as a silly but courageous companion. The film has been criticized for dropping some of the novel's important themes. Even so, Rathbone's élan, the gothic atmosphere, and the brisk pace of the plot have won the motion picture a devoted following. In 1959 Hammer Films produced its own version of the novel, directed by Terence Fisher and starring Peter Cushing as Holmes, André Morell as Watson, and Christopher Lee as Sir Henry Baskerville. Although rich in Victorian costumes and settings, critics disliked the film because it took many liberties with the plot. A good version of The Hound of the Baskervilles is Universal's 1972 made-for-television movie, starring Stewart Granger as Sherlock Holmes, Bernard Fox as Watson, and William Shatner as Stapleton. Directed by Barry Crane, the movie is brisk and entertaining, if not particularly mysterious.
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