Examples Of Reality In The Hound Of The Baskervilles

   Mary Shelley's novel, Frankenstein, sheds light on the importance of appearance through the tale of an unwanted creation that is never given a chance by society. Ironically, the supposed beast was initially much more compassionate and thoughtful than his creator, until his romantic and innocent view of the human race was diminished by the cruelty and injustice he unduly bore. Not only does the creature suffer the prejudice of an appearance-based society, but other situations and characters in the novel force the reader to reflect their own hasty judgment. The semi- gothic novel includes several instances of societal prejudice that include the isolation and outcast of Frankenstein's creation,

“Everything is not what it seems,” while this lyric may seem trite, it holds great truth. People, places, activities, each can be viewed in more than one way depending on the circumstances. From these viewpoints spring complexities and mystery in the shape of differing facades.

In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, a selfish Scottish thane becomes over-ambitious and commits several murders in order to gain and stay in power. After the murders, Macbeth evades suspicion by hiding his guilt and intentions, therefore deceiving others into thinking that he is innocent. Other characters including Lady Macbeth, the witches and the Scottish thanes also use their appearances to hide the truth and deceive others. With these examples, Shakespeare shows that appearances can be deceiving.

The topic of appearance and judgment is greatly exemplified in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein as it becomes apparent that

The novel Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse exemplifies the idea behind appearance. The novel is able – through dialogue, events, and descriptions – to show how appearance does not exemplify the world as a whole, yet how appearance does not symbolize nothing, but instead how appearance matters in the sense that it changes and tells a story. Appearance matters in a way that all objects of the world portray their story through their appearance. Appearance allows someone or something to see nooks and crannies within objects in order to see that objects past, present and future. For example how the scratches on rocks show weathering while wrinkles on a human show stress. Take that even further and see how deep those

Throughout history there has been a general understanding that appearances can be deceiving. A person may go through life without anyone understanding the true reality of their character. William Shakespeare, one of the greatest writers of all time, understood the relationship between appearance and reality and often gave characters two sides to their personality.

In the tragedy Macbeth; the reader witnesses the inevitable downfall of the tragic hero Macbeth as he attempts to do the impractical. While Macbeth turns from an admirable nobleman into the traitor fiend that is the result of his wife’s relentless coaxing, the reader distinguishes more and more of the “appearance versus reality” or the “things are not what they seem” theme that intertwines with Macbeth’s hubris thus leading to his downfall. As Macbeth furthers his plans, which fall in step with the weird sisters’ prophecy, he uses, “False face must hide what the false heart doth know,” (Macbeth, Act1.Scene7.Line82) in order to deceive his fellow noblemen and fulfill the prophecy of his becoming the Thane of Cawdor and the King of

They see all facets of perception: Don John’s deceptive plan, Claudio’s irrational blame, Dogberry’s sobering, humorous perspective, and Beatrice, Hero, and Ursula in conversation. Audiences learn perception cannot be trusted by sight,

Is someone’s appearance an accurate definition of who they are? Do people’s circumstances affect the way they interact with themselves and others? Are we products of our environments? Arguably, it is human nature to be shaped and formed by our surroundings, to be changed by our environments in ways that we may not expect. The same can be seen in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, novella written by Robert Louis Stevenson, and Psycho, a film directed by the renowned Alfred Hitchcock. The basis of both stories is the duality of the mind, and how society molds the alter personality. Thus, in both Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Psycho, Robert Louis Stevenson and Alfred Hitchcock use diction and symbolism to illustrate how society shapes an individual’s mind, leading to the creation of two personalities.

From the inside looking out or the outside looking in things may seem a lot different. Appearances can be deceiving, especially when the reality is not accepted. This is shown in Tennessee William's “A Streetcar Named Desire”, Shakespeare's “Much Ado About Nothing”, as well as Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird”. All three of these texts show an overall theme of appearance vs. reality. The appearance as perceived by those of these three pieces differs greatly from the reality and is shown through the illusions concealing the truth.

The theme of appearance versus reality is very important in William Shakespeare’s Macbeth. The characters of Duncan, Macbeth, and Lady Macbeth are unable to differentiate between appearance and reality, resulting in tragic consequences. Poor judgment is evidenced by Duncan, who trusts Macbeth too much; Lady Macbeth, who is fooled by the witches; and Macbeth, who is tricked repeatedly by others.

Shakespeare examines the theme of appearance and reality in his book-Hamlet. The dilemma of what is "real" is established at the very beginning of the play. Hamlet doesn’t know what to believe and devises a plan to find out. The old king Hamlet appears to be bitten by a snake, but in reality he was poisoned, the ghost appears as an apparition, but it’s actually real, and the play-with-in-a-play strongly depicts the theme of appearance vs. reality.

In the beginning of the novel The Hound of the Baskervilles, there is an unexplained curse on the Baskerville family; through discovering the mystery of the curse, Dr. Mortimer, a medical practitioner and family friend of the Baskervilles, has an early eighteenth century manuscript explaining the curse. He briefly mentions it to Holmes and Watson, and then he reads the manuscript aloud. It is because of Sir Hugo Baskerville, that the family is cursed. Sir Hugo is described in the memo as “a most wild, profane, and godless man” (Doyle 21). According to information in the manuscript, Sir Hugo became utterly obsessed with the daughter of a yeoman; “But the young maiden, being discreet and of good repute, would ever avoid him, for she feared his evil name” (Doyle 21). The yeoman’s daughter was kidnapped by Sir Hugo, and was taken with him and his friends; “With five or six of his idle and wicked companions, stole down upon the farm and carried off the maiden, her father and brothers being from home, as he well knew” (Doyle 21). They brought the maiden to the Hall, and

The Theme of Appearance vs. Reality in William Shakespeare's Works Characters within one of William Shakespeare's greatest tragic plays,

The book The Hound Of The Baskerville was written in 1901. The novel was published in serial form from 1901 to 1902. It has proved to be a great success even today and is considered by some Sherlock Holmes scholars to be Doyle’s best work. It has inspired more than twenty film and television reinterpretations, made in diverse places such as Germany, Australia, Canada, the United States, and also the United Kingdom. The most recent such reinvention of this story can be seen in the BBC series Sherlock, although this is in fact very much different from the original novel.