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There are two main reasons people should read The Hound of the Baskervilles. First of all, it is one of Doyle’s most literary works. The book is a detective story, but it ascends to a much higher...
- Critical Essays
Thus, The Hound of the Baskervilles is a compilation of the...
- The Hound of The Baskervilles
The Hound of the Baskervilles is a novel by Sir Arthur Conan...
- Critical Essays
Jul 31, 2024 · In The Hound of the Baskervilles Conan Doyle uncharacteristically emphasized the eerie setting and mysterious atmosphere rather than the hero’s deductive ingenuity. One of the all-time classic mysteries, the novel was hugely popular as readers rejoiced at the return of Sherlock Holmes.
The Hound of the Baskervilles is the third of the four crime novels by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle featuring the detective Sherlock Holmes. Originally serialised in The Strand Magazine from August 1901 to April 1902, it is set largely in Dartmoor , Devon , in England's West Country and follows Holmes and Watson investigating the legend of ...
- Arthur Conan Doyle
- 1902
A list of important facts about Arthur Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles, including setting, climax, protagonists, and antagonists.
- Introduction
- Author Biography
- Media Adaptations
- Plot Summary
- Characters
- Themes
- Topics For Further Study
- Style
- Historical Context
- Compare & Contrast
The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was published in serialized form from August 1901 to April 1902 in the British magazine the Strand. The novel was wildly popular with the public, which had been waiting for a new Sherlock Holmes story for eight long years. The story's Gothic setting in Dartmoor, England, the murky depths of th...
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, on May 22, 1859. His father was an architect who illustrated magazines and children's books in his spare time; his mother had been educated in France and was a voracious reader. Conan Doyle graduated from Edinburgh University in 1881 with a degree in medicine and received his doctorate from Ed...
A silent film version of The Hound of the Baskervilleswas made in 1920. It was directed by Maurice Elvey and stars Eille Norwood as Sherlock Holmes and Hubert Willis as Dr. Watson. The novel was ad...A 1939 film adaptation of The Hound of the Baskervilles by Ernest Pascal was directed by Sidney Lanfield and stars Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Dr. JohnH. Watson.A 1959 film adaptation of The Hound of the Baskervillesby Peter Bryan was directed by Terence Fisher and stars Peter Cushing as Sherlock Holmes and André Morell as Dr. Watson.An abridged audiobook of The Hound of the Baskervilleswas released by HarperCollins Audiobooks in 2000.Chapter 1: Mr. Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson start the day at 221B Baker Street with an exchange regarding a walking stick left behind the day before by an unknown visitor. Holmes astounds Watson by determining that the stick belongs to a country doctor who received it as a retirement gift from Charing Cross Hospital. His pronouncement is verified by the appearance of Dr. James Mortimer, who returns for his walking stickand to consult the detective regarding the strange circumstances surrounding the death...
Chapter 2: The Curse of the Baskervilles
Dr. Mortimer produces a letter, dated 1742, outlining the legend of the Baskerville curse. The letter was written by Charles's ancestor, Hugo Baskerville, and recounts the legend of his great-grandfather, also named Hugo. The elder Hugo fell in love with a farmer's daughter, kidnapped her, and held her captive at Baskerville Hall. While Hugo and his cronies drank the night away downstairs, she climbed out a window and ran across the moor toward her home. Hugo quickly discovered her escape and...
Chapter 3: The Problem
Holmes asks Mortimer a few questions about the weather on the night Sir Charles died, the position of his body, and characteristics of the hound's paw prints. It becomes apparent that Holmes does not believe in the curse but that Mortimer does. Furthermore, Mortimer states, several people have previously seen the spectral hound wandering along the moor at night. However, Mortimer states that he does not want Holmes's help in discovering what happened to Charles, but rather to counsel him on w...
Mrs. Eliza Barrymore
Mrs. Barrymore is the housekeeper of Baskerville Hall, the wife of Mr. Barrymore, and the older sister of Selden, the escaped murderer. She is secretly aiding her brother with the help of her husband, but comes clean when Henry Baskerville threatens to fire her husband for his subterfuge. She takes pity on her brother and his plight. Her nocturnal sobs are Watson's first indication that something is amiss at Baskerville Hall.
Mr. John Barrymore
The butler of Baskerville Hall, Mr. Barrymore is faithful to the recently deceased Sir Charles Baskerville and tells Henry Baskerville that he and his wife intend to leave their positions as soon as replacements are found. Barrymore's midnight activities look suspicious to Watson and Baskerville, who follow the butler one night and discover him sending signals to the escaped convict on the moor.
Sir Charles Baskerville
The former head of Baskerville Hall, Charles's suspicious death sets the events of the novel in motion. Charles Baskerville was a philanthropist who assisted many residents of the local village with the fortune he acquired from investing in South African gold mines. He had a weak heart and was extremely superstitious, especially when it came to the supposed curse of the Baskervilles. As a rule, he did not wander beyond the gates of the estate at night, which made his presence in the Yew Alley...
Science versus Superstition
The main theme of The Hound of the Baskervillesis the superiority and triumph of science—represented by Sherlock Holmes—over superstition, which is represented by the Baskerville curse. Sir Charles Baskerville was so consumed by superstition that he is manipulated into an untimely death. Holmes, in contrast, states definitively from the outset that a logical explanation is possible to explain Charles's death and "the footprints of a gigantic hound." Holmes's sense of logic and reason, while e...
Trust and Betrayal
Though Stapleton, as the villain, dishes out a fair amount of betrayal—against his wife, Charles Baskerville, Laura Lyons, and nearly everyone else he comes into contact with—the theme of trust and betrayal is most evident in the relationship between Dr. Watson and Sherlock Holmes. Holmes, claiming business in London prevents him from traveling to Dartmoor, instructs Watson to travel to Baskerville Hall to gather information on the case and has him send progress reports back to 221B Baker Str...
After reading The Hound of the Baskervilles, name three instances in which Holmes's deductive reasoning relies on stereotypes. In an essay, note what each instance reveals about Holmes himself.Mystery writer Ronald Knox formulated "The 10 Commandments for Detective Novelists," in 1928. Number nine on the list is, "The stupid friend of the detective, the Watson, must not conceal any thoug...Jack Stapleton exploits the legend of a supernatural, fire-breathing beast by using a phosphorus compound to achieve the effect of blazing eyes and jaws. Research phosphorus and its properties. Wou...The Great Grimpen Mire of the story is a fictional bog modeled on the Fox Tor Mire near the Grimspound ruins in Dartmoor. List three ecological characteristics of an English mire, or bog. Create a...Gothicism
The Gothic novel, which relies heavily on elements of horror and romance, originated in 1764 with Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto, flourished in 1818 with the publication of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, and culminated in the 1847 publication of both Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights and Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre. In the late Victorian era, Gothic literature was popularized by lurid "penny dreadful" stories, published serially in cheap booklets and magazines. But, in the emerging lite...
Cliffhanger
Conan Doyle wrote his Holmes stories for the masses, and The Hound of the Baskervilles was no exception. Because the novel was published serially in the Strand, it was important to keep readers excited enough to buy the next issue. Hence, the cliffhanger. Conan Doyle ended each chapter with an exciting revelation that made readers want to know what happens next. The most famous of these cliffhangers comes at the end of chapter two, after Dr. Mortimer has recounted the legend of the Baskervill...
Folklore
The Black Dog is a mainstay of British folklore, a beast who signifies evil and imminent death. The Black Dog is invariably nocturnal and sometimes associated with storms or the sea; often it is said to have red eyes. Different regions have developed different myths, many of which probably arose from ancient Celtic or Germanic traditions. In Yorkshire the black dog is named Barghest, in Lancashire Gytrash, and in Wales Gwyllgi. The central mystery of The Hound of the Baskervillesconcerns a re...
The Victorian Era and the Rise of the Popular Novel
The Victorian era in England commonly refers to the reign of Queen Victoria, which lasted from 1837 until 1901. The period coincided with the Industrial Revolution and the emergence of a middle class in England that enjoyed more leisure time and wealth than at any previous time in history. During this era, social stratification was strictly enforced. Wealthy people—the landed gentry especially—did not socialize with those who labored for a living. The underclass, mainly those who toiled in fa...
New Scotland Yard and the Rise of the Detective
By 1890, Scotland Yard was well established as the headquarters of the metropolitan London police, and it had just moved to larger quarters, a brand-new Victorian-style building just down the street from the Houses of Parliament. The organization employed many inspectors, or detectives, and prided itself on adopting the state-of-the-art Bertillon procedure used to identify criminals, which was based on anthropometry, a series of bodily measurements designed to eliminate unreliable eyewitness...
Late 1800s: The premiere U.S. research and publishing firm for the study and practice of phrenology (the interpretation of character through studying the shape of the skull), Fowler & Wells in New...Late 1800s: French criminologist Alphonse Bertillon's system of anthropometry, a scientific method of identifying criminals based on measurements of the head and body along with identifying tattoos...Late 1800s: Queen Victoria reigns in Great Britain and the British Empire extends across five continents, including Canada, where Henry Baskerville has been a farmer, and portions of Central Americ...Thus, The Hound of the Baskervilles is a compilation of the narrative and plot techniques that made the Holmes stories so popular. Further, it is a novel-length tale that is as cohesive as...
The Hound of the Baskervilles is a novel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in which Sherlock Holmes investigates a demonic hound that has been killing off the heirs to the Baskerville fortune. Holmes...
