The Hound of the Baskervilles - Women of the 18th Century Essay

Sherlock Holmes novels are the face of mystery, featuring literature’s greatest detective, but one might ask, how does The Hound of the Baskervilles fit into the genre’s common conventions? Mystery being a sub genre of genre fiction novels, it has many common conventions found throughout the majority of the novels. In the average mystery, the plot focuses around a crime, commonly a murder or a robbery, in which the culprit must be found by the protagonist. The crime in Sherlock Holmes and the Hound of the Baskervilles is that Sir Charles Baskerville has been murdered, or frightened to the point of death. Generally the protagonist who solves the mystery, has a dominant character flaw and/or defining characteristic which aids them in cracking

The classic mystery novel, Sherlock Holmes, features a murder-mystery detective Sherlock Holmes, and his army doctor colleague Dr. John Watson. The story revolves around the main character, Sherlock Holmes, and his unique method to solving crimes. The story is mainly all about Sherlock and his abilities, which then rises the question about the importance of the character of Dr.Watson, both to the chaarcter of Sherlock Holmes, and towards the readers.

Prior to and throughout the late middle ages, women have been portrayed in literature as vile and corrupt. During this time, Christine de Pizan became a well educated woman and counteracted the previous notions of men’s slander against women. With her literary works, Pizan illustrated to her readers and women that though education they can aspire to be something greater than what is written in history. Through the use of real historical examples, Christine de Pizan’s, The Book of the City of Ladies, acts as a defense against the commonly perceived notions of women as immoral.

Sir Gawain and The Green Knight is an example of medieval misogyny. Throughout Medieval literature, specifically Arthurian legends like Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the female characters, Guinevere, the Lady, and Morgan leFay are not portrayed as individuals but social constructs of what a woman should be. Guinevere plays a passive woman, a mere token of Arthur. The Lady is also a tool, but has an added role of temptress and adulteress. Morgan leFay is the ultimate conniving, manipulating, woman. While the three women in this legend have a much more active role than in earlier texts, this role is not a positive one; they are not individuals but are symbols of how men of this

Suddenly, a low sound seems to ring through each of our ears, a moaning howl that I heard that I heard on the moor that afternoon with Stapleton. Sir Henry keeps questioning the sound and wondering what the locals say about that sound, but I try to change the subject, finally admitting that it is the howl of the Hound of the Baskervilles. As Sir Henry starts to sound very superstitious about the Hound, we spot Selden just as he seems to realize that he has been found. He took off and ran across the moor, and we chased after him we realized that he had too much of a head start. Standing on the moor, I gaze out into the distance on the moor and spot another tall figure of another man outlines against the moor. But then, a split second later, the man was gone. I am quite interested in who the tall figured man out on the moor was, and who might've been helping Selden. And why Stapleton acts so strange at times, but then covers it up and is all normal again. They are many suspects that I have thought up and a lot of mystery going on at this time Holmes, I wish you were here to investigate along with me. I will check in with you soon with much more information I

Analyse the use of Dr Watson as the narrator of The Hound of the Baskervilles

must “have eyes in the back of [his] head,” since he saw what he was

The Book of Martha by Octavia Butler portrays a black woman, Martha, who is affected by society. God visits Martha and gives her a task to help save humankind from their destructive ways. Throughout the short story, Martha struggles to help find a solution that will be less disastrous and through this, she discovers more about herself. The book opens with God saying, "You're truly free for the first time", showing that Martha was free from society's input, barriers, and judging eyes. Society is the source of Gods transformations, how race, class, and gender.

The Book of the City of Ladies During the renaissance many different views of leadership surfaced. Christine de Pizan’s The Book of the City of Ladies, Niccolo Machiavelli’s The Prince, and William Shakespeare’s Richard III each present distinct views of what would make a good leader during the renaissance period. Shakespeare and Christine de Pizan’s views align most closely with Plato’s.

He chases butterflies and studies the moor and it’s inhabitants. In the book mortimer is a very creepy person and studies humans and skulls. While in the film mortimer is a acts in a more serious manner while Stapleton is incredibly creepy, he asks would you have an objection to me running my finger along parietal fissure? Also he makes more points about Holmes’ skull (Attwood, The Hound of the Baskervilles). This ends up making Stapleton a very creepy character for the suspense of the movie. In the book Watson looks up to Holmes with great respect and takes his smallest compliments and appreciates them greatly. Holmes states with great pride, “It may be that you are not yourself luminous, but you are a conductor of light.” (Doyle 3). By saying this he means, Watson is such a fool that he makes Homles seem even smarter than he is. In the film, however, Watson stands up to Homles at the end when he saves Homles from drowning in the moor pit even though he got shot by stapleton (Attwood, The Hound of the Baskervilles). Also, when Watson finds out Holmes has been investigating the case after Holmes told him that Holmes had work to do in london, He was outraged. There is also other small details in the story that do not have a huge effect on the plot but still change it slightly. For example, Laura Lyon does not exist in the film, even though in the book

Every woman would want to be Lady Marguerite Blakeney, née St Just. Having recently made her debut at the Comedie Francois, Marguerite married Sir Percy Blakeney alias the Scarlet Pimpernel. Charming, clever, beautiful, with childlike eyes and a delicate face, Marguerite captures everyone’s attention. Yet Marguerite is portrayed as a stereotypical woman who is weak, impulsive, and whose identity revolves around her husband.

In the Sherlock Holmes stories “The Red-Headed League” and “A Scandal in Bohemia” Sir Arthur Conan Doyle explores mysteries through the eyes of Dr. Watson, Sherlock Holmes’s assistant. Holmes is able to amaze the people around him with his deductive abilities and can quickly determine aspects of a person’s life by just looking at them. This allows him to solve mysteries that others cannot wrap their heads around. He uses his skill to first help the King of Bohemia recover a picture of him with a former lover. Next, he investigates the disappearance of the Red-Headed League. In both of these mysteries he experiences a unique challenge due to the intelligence of his opponents and the unusual situation surrounding the case. The cunning and cleverness of Holmes, Irene Adler and the conspirators of the Red-Headed League are shown in the stories “The Red-Headed League” and “A Scandal in Bohemia”.

is one of the slaves of Ms. Watson, the sister of the widow that took

An unlikely candidate to dispute the unfair, misogynistic treatment of women by men and society, Christine de Pizan successfully challenged the accepted negative views that were being expressed about women by the all-male literary world of her era. Part of Christine’s uniqueness stems from the time in which she lived, the middle to late 1300’s. The lack of a positive female role model to pattern herself after made Christine a true visionary in the fight for the equal rights of women. Her original ideas and insight provided a new and more intelligent way to view females. Pizan’s work, The Book of the City of Ladies, provided women much needed guidance in how to survive without the support of a man.

Two very powerful female figures are presented in Error of The Faerie Queene, and Sin of Paradise Lost. These two characters are quite similar in description, Milton making a clear tribute to Spencer's work. Both characters have the same monster qualities, and both posses allegorical names and qualities.