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Sherlock holmes character analysis sparknotes
Analysis of Sherlock Holmes
Describe Sherlock Holmes personality
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In The Hound of the Baskervilles, various factors of Arthur Conan Doyle’s early life, popularity, perspective, and status were all expressed in multiple ways. Spiritualism played an crucial role in his life, greatly impacting his work, specifically “The Hound.” Additionally, his birthplace and upbringing, along with the time period, inveigled his writing. Furthermore, Doyle characterized the people in the story in along with real life scenarios.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle had an interesting life, full of ups and downs, but regardless, he made himself a man worth remembering. Doyle was born on May 22nd in 1859 in Edinburgh, Scotland. This town had an eerie atmosphere, providing inspiration for the setting of The Hound. Additionally, Edinburgh has moors similar to those surrounding Baskerville Hall. As he grew up in the atmospheric city, he attended a Jesuit school. “Doyle began his writing career while at The University of Edinburgh, where he started medical studies in 1876” (“Arthur Conan Doyle”). He spent a vast majority of his childhood in his ominous hometown, therefore it greatly influenced the setting of The Hound of the Baskervilles.
Additionally, Doyle became fascinated with spiritualism. Many theorize that he became obsessed while he was grieving over his lost kin. (“Arthur Conan Doyle”). After World War I, he spiraled into depression after the deaths of his wife Louisa, his brother Innes, his two brother-in-laws, and his two nephews. He favored Christian Spiritualism, however he studied multiple branches of the religion. (“Arthur Conan Doyle”). Because he fascinated by different faiths and communication with the deceased, he was inspired to add various supernatural elements to his novels. In “The Ho...
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...ed, and continued to inspire people today. Multiple
aspects of his life heavily influenced his inspiring works, including his family life, his obsession with spiritualism, his upbringing and early career in Edinburg, and his distorted perspective of society
Works Cited
“Arthur Conan Doyle.” Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit: Gale, 2008. Literature Resource
Center. Web. 16 Dec 2013.
“Arthur Conan Doyle.” EXPLORING SHORT STORIES. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Student
Resources in Context.
Doyle, Arthur Conan. “Sherlock Holmes - The Hound of the Baskervilles.” New York: Dell,
1964. Print.
Heller, Terry. “Arthur Conan Doyle.” British Fantasy and Science Fiction Writers Before World
War I.” Ed. Darren Harris-Fain. Detroit: Gale Research, 1997. Dictionary of Literary
Biography Vol. 178. Literature Resource Center. Web. 16 Dec. 2013.
The Hound of the Baskervilles, a novel written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, gives off the feeling of eeriness and spookiness. These characteristics fit into many different types of writing. But, Gothic literature is a prime genre for this novel because of the atmosphere of decay; the mysterious, sin, crime, guilt, and secrets of the novel; and, lastly, the woman with a threatening atmosphere. All of these points refer to The Hound of the Baskervilles as one example of Gothic literature.
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan. The Hound of the Baskervilles. Great Britain, Penguin Groups, 2004. New York, Berkley Publishing Group,1993.
King Arthur’s Britain, a vastly different Britain than we know today, is revealed through many timeless classics in literature. Two of these pieces of literature are Thomas Malory’s seriously toned Le Morte D’Arthur and Mark Twain’s satirical A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court. These works show distinctly different visions of the Arthurian legend. King Arthur’s Britain in Twains A Connecticut Yankee and Malory’s Morte D’Arthur may be compared through the unique portrayal of living conditions, chivalry, knightly adventures and the role of magic and mystery.
Take Arthur Conan Doyle's detective, Sherlock Holmes, for example. Holmes quickly became one of the most famous detectives of that time and his stories were, and still are, loved all around the world. But not forgetting all of the other detective writers of that time too. To an extent, most detective stories of the 19th century have copied the original aspects of Poe's 'The Murders in the Rue Morgue.' This essay will examine Poe's influence on his successors.
Edgar Allan Poe was born on January 19, 1809. He is considered a part of the American Romanticism period. He is best known for his works of mystery and psychological terror. Poe is recognized for his gothic tales of mystery, death, terror, puzzles, and psychological problems (poets.org). He has influenced many writers including Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the author of the Sherlock Holmes series. Poe was different than other authors in that he was influenced by his own current life. He had endured many deaths and dark periods. His mother died of tuberculosis and so did his foster mother later on. His wife, Virginia Clemm, also died from this terrible disease. This especially was evident in his works. She influenced him in his works of “Annabel Lee” and “The Raven” (poets.org). Poe uses the themes of terror and the mystery of the mind to show that under the circumstances anything can happen to anyone. In “The Tell-Tale Heart”, “The Murders in the Rue Morgue”, “The Purloined Letter” and “The Fall of the House of Usher”, Edgar Allan Poe explores horror, the mystery of psychology and puzzles in order to show the depth of the human mind and the consequences of it.
Poe's creativity was, perhaps, due to the lifestyle in which he lived. It was obviously different, much more harsh and filled with heartache and death. His influence on the arts was different from that of his contemporaries as well. "He influenced the course of creative wiring and criticism by emphasizing the are that appeals simultaneously to reason and to emotion and by insisting that the work of art is not a fragment of the author's life, nor an adjunct to didactic purpose, but an object created in the cause of beauty—which he defined in its largest spiritual implication" (1236).
The life of Edgar Allan Poe, was stuffed with tragedies that all affected his art. From the very start of his writing career, he adored writing poems for the ladies in his life. When he reached adulthood and came to the realization of how harsh life could be, his writing grew to be darker and more disturbing, possibly as a result of his intense experimenting with opium and alcohol. His stories continue to be some of the most frightening stories ever composed, because of this, some have considered this to be the reason behind these themes. Many historians and literature enthusiasts have presumed his volatile love life as the source while others have credited it to his substance abuse. The influence of his one-of-a-kind writing is more than likely a combination of both theories; but the main factor is the death of many of his loved ones and the abuse which he endured. This, not surprisingly, darkened his perspective considerably.
Throughout history, there have been genius minds that have changed our lives, whether we know it or not. These masterminds, such as Isaac Newton, Leonardo Da Vinci, and Albert Einstein, have all contributed to society with their vast knowledge on different subjects. Some genius minds are not recognized for their effect on society until well after their lives have ended. One of the individuals in particular goes by the name of Edgar Allan Poe. Most people when asked what they know of the man conjure up images of horror and darkness that they have learned to associate with the man. Many thought of him as a tortured alcoholic and drug addict, but so much more is to be said of the man who single handedly created so much literary success, though he did not reap many benefits from it. He was ahead of his time with his inspiring looks into the human experience, delving into the world of dreams and the mind's eye and opening up a whole new world for readers. He was a literary genius, but that genius was a blessing and a curse. From his tortured life of loss through his constant failures, it has been said that he lived a mysterious life that led to an even more mysterious death. The story of Edgar Allan Poe can be
Thousands of readers made complaints and the once well known cult figure had been feared to be gone forever. For a couple of years Conan Doyle avoided the reader's. complaints but Doyle eventually buckled under stress and wrote a book. called "The Hound of the Baskervilles". A story set before the tragic ending of Sherlock Holmes.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, is the third book in the trilogy of J. K. Rowlings other Harry Potter books, though she is coming out with four more books in the coming years.
his life where it has influences of his writing and how it did impact many people.
Edgar Allan Poe is known for his many works that are dark and mysterious. He became known as America’s first great literary critic and theoretician. Poe had a dark, troubled life growing up. Both his biological parents died when he was a young boy and was separated from his siblings when another family adopted him. His foster father was in the tobacco industry, but Poe did not want to be involved in that business. He wanted to write. He went to college with very little money. He was so embarrassed by his poverty that he came back home, only to find that his fiancée got engaged to someone else in his absence. He left again, before finding out that the only mother he had ever known was dying of tuberculosis. By the time he returned she had already been buried. Allan, his foster father, helped Poe get into the United States Military Academy at West Point. Allan remarried and did not invite Poe. Poe was angry and wrote Allan detailing all the wrongs Allan had committed against him and threatened to get himself kicked out of the academy. Poe’s wife got tuberculosis, which had already taken the lives of his mother, brother, and foster mother.Because Poe had such a dark, difficult life, he used his poems to reflect his life.
Their is a use of supernatural elements that they could led into a murder with a logical path of events. A hound is used as the center of the family curse based upon the symbolism, and themes, even though Doyle used the hound as a monstrous killing machine. The hound of the Baskervilles is based upon the concept of a family curse that has been involved during attempted murders. The curse is based upon a gentleman named Hugo Baskerville.
The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, continues the curse of the Baskervilles with the legend of the hound. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson must solve the mystery before the Baskerville family comes to an end. Therefore the author explains the theme of not being ruled by fear through characters dying, research being affected, and characters changing throughout the novel.
Supernatural occurrences in The Hound of the Baskervilles are deeply rooted throughout the narrative as Doyle presents Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson as characters who uncover the truths and mysteries behind the myth of Hugo Baskerville along with the curses that follow him in a demeanor of both natural and supernatural occurrences. The characters amidst these issues were quite conflicted when it came to accepting these events. In this essay I will argue that Holmes fights through his struggle with the supernatural events along with the Gothic culture presented in The Hound of the Baskervilles in order to solve a case that had been the curse of a family lineage for over one hundred years.