Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's writing style in “The Hound of the Baskervilles” utilizes trends from opposite ends of the Victorian Era. Doyle is well known as a late Victorian author and yet he has characteristics in his writing style of the early Victorian era. The literature in the Victorian era had a variety of commonalities focusing on behavior of a man and how views changed over the era. The drive for social advancement, what it is to be an “Englishman”, and rebellion against idealized notions and codes of conduct are the most prominent factors in “The Hound of the Baskervilles” and representation of the Victorian era through the writings of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
The Victorian Literary Movement that took place in England during the reign of Queen Victoria is what lead to the prominent factors that can be seen across the era of writing. From 1837 to 1901 Victorian Literature evolved from a heavy focus on proper behaviors, to a high level of rebellious acts against the proper Englishman. The code of conducts and push towards social advancements that once moved literature forward soon fell victim to change. This era started out in poetry and moved towards novels as being the dominate form of writing. The Victorian era, being so large in and of itself, has always been thought of as the time when Queen Victoria ruled. Through the years however, there are three major ideas that have been seen in writing that can really help to break this era down. As the audience for writers changed, the stigma of reading only for pleasure began to dissipate. People began to see how social advancement could be a positive thing, and from there aspired to be proper Englishmen. Authors such as Charles Dickens, William Thackeray, Charlotte and Emily B...
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...model. When one considers a role model there must be a level of reverence and awe. “He was, I take it, the most perfect reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen.”(Doyle 250) This line spoken by John Watson to Sherlock is that of a child speaking with a superhero. He see's the role model within Sherlock even if he hides it well, though John is not the only one who can see him for who he really is.”Watson: So why do you put up with him? Lestrade: Because I'm desperate, that's why. Because Sherlock Holmes is a great man, and I think one day – if we're lucky – he might even be a good one.” (Doyle 302) There are two sides to every coin and two sides to being an “Englishman” as well. One part of this is indeed playing the part. Being an example of what an Englishman is but also dressing the part. Sherlock does not skip a beat when it comes to his appearance.
For it is a commonplace of our understanding of the period that the Victorian writer wanted above all to “stay in touch.” Comparing his situation with that of his immediate predecessors, he recognized that indulgence in a self-centered idealism was no longer viable in a society which ever more insistently urged total involvement in its occupations. The world was waiting to be improved upon, and solved, and everyone, poets, included had to busy themsel...
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Hound of the Baskervilles is the third of four novels written about his world famous detective, Sherlock Holmes. However, unlike the other books written about Sherlock Holmes, much of The Hound of the Baskervilles is absent of the detective. Instead, the audience is left to work through the mystery of who murdered Mr. Baskerville with Sherlock Holmes’ assistant and friend, as well as the narrator of the novel, Dr. John Watson. There are multiple reasons Doyle may have decided to make Watson the narrator, and to remove Holmes from a large portion of the novel. First, as Holmes is such a dry and clinical person, by making Watson the narrator, Doyle is able to employ more descriptive and entertaining writing. Second,
...r Conan Doyle loathed writing Sherlock Holmes. He would write the wrong name for major reoccurring characters and not care if the reasoning in his stories was completely illogical, yet he ironically created his own genre of mystery novels that are recognized even to those who have never read them. Doyle unwillingly created the most insane fanbase that is still alive and thriving today. Doyle’s stories are still popular even eighty-four years after his death because they keep readers enthralled with the story. He wrote war stories based on his own exciting experiences, stories that he believed brought him to the height of his writing capabilities, and stories that sent him crashing back down when a frenzy into Spiritualism crumbled his prestige as a writer. His stories manage to capture the reader’s attention, making them timeless classics in the world of literature.
The aim of this article is to explore the tensions of English masculine identity in The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle in which men often feel entrapped by emotional, social and psychological roles imposed upon them during times of economic depression, imperialism and foreign competition.
in a diary kept by Watson. This adds a new dimension to the book and
Making connections between texts that explore similar values enhances our understanding of the impact a composer’s context has on the way in which they are able to convey ideas to their audience. Through a comparative study of Jane Austen’s classic prose text Pride and Prejudice and Fay Weldon’s epistolary novel, Letters to Alice on First Reading Jane Austen, it becomes clear that each composer’s context significantly affects the way in which they discuss the evolution of social expectations of women and the importance of literature to their audience. Moreover, an analysis of Weldon’s text, which looks back on Austen’s context through a postmodern lens, serves to further develop our understanding of Austen’s milieu and how it impacted her ability
Writers throughout history have always influenced or have been influenced by the era that which they live in. Many famous authors arose during The Age of Discovery and The Romantic Period all of whom had very distinctive writing styles that held true to their era. To find the differences between the two eras, it is important to understand the era at which time the literature was wrote, the writing style, and the subject matter.
...rature and art. Industrial and technology advances were documented in numerous ways as both a good movement and a not so good movement. And the realism religious controversy also played a part in the changes in the Victorian Age that changed the views of some individuals. Although the Victorian Age did overcome the Romantic Period for some time, each has its part to play in literary education among students; whether it’s everyday life or imagination, a focus on industry and technology or nature, or it’s religious controversy and feelings/emotions.
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan. The Hound of the Baskervilles. Great Britain, Penguin Groups, 2004. New York, Berkley Publishing Group,1993.
“Girls wear jeans and cut their hair short and wear shirts and boots because it is okay to be a boy; for a girl it is like promotion. But for a boy to look like a girl is degrading, according to you, because secretly you believe that being a girl is degrading” (McEwan 55-56). Throughout the history of literature women have been viewed as inferior to men, but as time has progressed the idealistic views of how women perceive themselves has changed. In earlier literature women took the role of being the “housewife” or the household caretaker for the family while the men provided for the family. Women were hardly mentioned in the workforce and always held a spot under their husband’s wing. Women were viewed as a calm and caring character in many stories, poems, and novels in the early time period of literature. During the early time period of literature, women who opposed the common role were often times put to shame or viewed as rebels. As literature progresses through the decades and centuries, very little, but noticeable change begins to appear in perspective to the common role of women. Women were more often seen as a main character in a story setting as the literary period advanced. Around the nineteenth century women were beginning to break away from the social norms of society. Society had created a subservient role for women, which did not allow women to stand up for what they believe in. As the role of women in literature evolves, so does their views on the workforce environment and their own independence. Throughout the history of the world, British, and American literature, women have evolved to become more independent, self-reliant, and have learned to emphasize their self-worth.
Analyse the use of Dr Watson as the narrator of The Hound of the Baskervilles
The span of time from the Victorian age of Literature to the Modernism of the 20th century wrought many changes in poetry style and literary thinking. While both eras contained elements of self-scrutiny, the various forms and reasoning behind such thinking were vastly different. The Victorian age, with it's new industrialization of society, brought to poetry and literature the fictional character, seeing the world from another's eyes. It was also a time in which "Victorian authors and intellectuals found a way to reassert religious ideas" (Longman, p. 1790). Society was questioning the ideals of religion, yet people wanted to believe.
During the time that Charles Dickens lived, which was during the Victorian Age (1837-1901), “...1837 ( the year Victoria became Queen) and ends in 1901 in ( the year of her death),” (UNLV 1). It is important to realize that the Victoria’s reign over Britain is the second longest reign in British history, lasting for 63 years, only behind that of the current Queen Elizabeth. Many historians consider 1900 the end of the Victorian Age, “...since Queen Victoria’s death occurred so soon in the beginning of a new century,..” (UNLV 1). Even though Charles Dickens was born in 1812 and died in 1870, the Victorian Age is time period which most, maybe all, of his literature were published/read in. This era is often considered as “prudish, hypocritical, stuffy, and narrow-minded” (UNLV 2), because during this time, there were classes animosities between the “common man” and that of what was considered the “gentleman”, which was like as if they were two different species (Orwell 3.5). The advancement in literature during this period also was important, “...primarily financial, as in Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations…marrying above one’s station, as in Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre...[it] may also be intellectual or education-based,” (UNLV 4). Without the literature advancements, the Victorian Age wouldn’t have made such an impact on the world as it did literary-wise.
The Hound of the Baskervilles is one of Arthur Conan Doyle 's most famous works. The novel is the prime example of a Gothic Detective Story. Written during the first year of the 20th Century, the novel is a reflection of the concerns and issues that were prevalent at the time. The novel incorporates beliefs that were widely popular, including atavism and criminality. Although the novel is viewed as just another addition to the Sherlock Holmes canon, there are deeper philosophical conflicts that reflect the time period in which the novel was written.
During Queen Victoria's reign in England, ideals and the very thought of going against the “current” was born and passed along, embellishing into our mainstream personal views on practically everything. Throughout her reign of 64 years, till her death in 1901, England saw changes that changed their own way of doing things, their own way of thinking and refining their views to the point where it represented their work and no one could disagree with them. It was during her successful reign in England that incomprehensible things took place that changed history within such fields and specialties as art, literature, music, philosophy, sciences, and modern inventions. It is because of this time period, known as the Victorian Era, we have many of the modern conveniences, ideas, philosophies, and knowledge that we enjoy, and take for granted, on a daily basis. This period bridged the gap from the dark and medieval ages to our present and productive day. Authors, playwrights, and philosophers documented the changes that society underwent during the Victorian era. Oscar Wilde’s The importance of being earnest and even Charles Dicken’s works have included these such changes in society. This would not have come about without the influence of the ideas and works of several people from Britain, living under