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Hounding Holmes: Holmes as the foil of the Hound of the Baskervilles

Pemberton compares Holmes to a hound, pointing out similarities between his detective skills and the tracking skills of a bloodhound. A point worth noting, was Holmes role as a “protector of the English upper middle classes.” 

“And like the bloodhound, who had guarded and protected baronial estates, Conan Doyle depicted Holmes as the protector of the English upper classes, becoming their loyal and sympathetic hound,” (pg. 465). 

However, in the Hound of the Baskervilles, the bloodhound was used as a oppositional force against the English upper classes. 

“For Stapleton, canine sleuthing represents an ideal murder weapon against members of the upper classes who remain vulnerable to sleuthhounds hunting their scent. In this story, the dog works for evil rather than the good of tracking dogs,” (pg. 464). 

Holmes is the loyal “hound” protecting the Baskervilles and their estate and Stapleton’s bloodhound is used as an evil force to aid in his acquisition of Sir Henry’s wealth. Doyle could be using the hound as a foil to Holmes’ character, an animal just as good at playing the same game that Holmes has mastered. Notice the hound’s usage is determined by the will of its owner. 

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Petra Dierkes-Thrun on Incest and trafficking of women

Thrun makes a good argument, showing how Vivie is an object of sexual desire but I find Vivie to be imprisoned by more than just her gender. Crofts desires Vivie because he is attracted to her youth and beauty but Frank desires Vivie not only because of her beauty, but because of her education and wealth. This brings a whole new problem to light, a problem that usually men deal with: exploitation of wealth. Not only does Vivie have to worry about being objectified due to her gender and looks, now she has to worry about being used for her status and money. Is Vivie’s education something that frees her or does it add more obstacles in her life during this specific time period? 

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Mrs. Warren’s Profession

Mrs. Warren and Crofts are juxtaposed with Reverend Gardner and Frank. I believe Mrs. Warren and Crofts live a more laid-back lifestyle whereas Reverend Gardner is uptight and judgmental. Vivie seems to fall in the middle since she is educated but also somewhat sheltered from the real world, in the sense that she has never had to court or inquire about marriage. Her wisdom seems to come from her naïveté. This is demonstrated in Act 2 when Vivie’s and Mrs. Warren’s ideas of a “good for nothing” are contrasted. To Mrs. Warren Crofts is good for “something” because of his wealth and title. However, Vivie deems Crofts good for nothing because his wealth was inherited, not acquired through work that had any real meaning or purpose. 

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A Horse of a Different Color: “Black Beauty” and the Pressures of Indebtedness by Robert Dingley

The first picture is Stubbs painting of a horse being attacked by a lion and this was included in Dingley’s article, as imagery after he discusses the sublimity of the horse. I don’t think it was completely explained though. The sublime and the beautiful are concepts explained by Edmund Burke in his essay, A Philosophical Enquiry into the Sublime and Beautiful. The Sublime and the beautiful is essentially a theory of opposites or correlatives. The sublime is characterized as something masculine in nature, large, intimidating- something the might incite terror or fear. The beautiful is characterized as something feminine in nature, small, fragile- something that is submissive or vulnerable. Humans perceive horses as both sublime and beautiful. Sublime when wild, beautiful when tamed. 

I think Stubbs painting is symbolic of a horse in captivity. The lion could be representative of mankind which is why I included the second photo of the horse being tamed by a human. The painting is captivating because it shows a sublime creature being forced to submit to something more sublime. But the difference between the first and second photograph, is that the lion attacks as a result of its nature. The human has a choice to be animalistic or compassionate. This is something we see in Black Beauty. Whenever he moves to a new home, there’s a 50/50 chance he will end up with a human that acts more like an animal- like the lion in the first photo. This just emphasizes Sewell’s message: we should do the right thing as humans, because 1) we have the power to and 2) it is our nature. Dingley states in his article that, “the subjection of horses to the whim of their human owners is thus simultaneously deplored as an injustice and celebrated as a natural bond.” This is where human choice comes into play, the wrong choice on man’s part is the injustice but the “celebrated natural bond” happens when man chooses to be compassionate. 

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Black Beauty: Part II

Throughout the novel there are lots of instances in which Beauty feels frustration due to the limited communication between man and horse. The limited communication is not caused by the horse’s inability to speak but mostly by man’s inability to listen. I think the ending was peaceful when Beauty was reunited with Little Joe Green, or not so little Joe Green- no communication was necessary. This was a moment of relief for Beauty and after so many horribly abusive homes, it was a relief for the reader as well. 

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Black Beauty: Part I

Beauty’s gentle nature as a full grown horse owes to his upbringing. His mother tells him to obey so consequences will not ensue. Perhaps this is a parenting advice message that Sewell intended to spread. Later in the novel, Sewell writes through the horse perspective of how aggressive little boys are. Sewell is using Beauty and his mother as an example of how little boys should be raised. As Beauty grows up, his compassionate side is much more developed than that of other horses and this makes his life easier than his more stubborn counterparts (not that his life was easy at all, but his nature allowed for less punishment than Ginger’s). 

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Hound of the Baskervilles: Ch. 15

The lack of Holmes throughout the series and Holmes’ role as the mysterious stranger in the moors, overshadowed the mystery itself, making it seem prosaic in comparison. I feel like the series was seemingly stagnant and then a lot happened in the last 3 chapters, after the mystery was already solved. Not that Watson is a bad narrator, but they work better as a team. 

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They Found the Boot! Ch. 13 & 14 in Hound of the Baskervilles

They finally found the boot. This has been irritating me the whole time. Holmes’ attention to detail helped solve this mystery, even though Stapleton was suspicious the whole time. I even suspected Beryl at one point, and was shocked to find out how abused she was. She and Laura Lyons were both used as bait in Stapleton’s schemes. 

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Hound of the Baskervilles: Ch. 12

Plot twist: Holmes is the mysterious stranger hiding out in the moors. However, I believe this limits his role in the mystery and this is a Sherlock Holmes mystery so I expected more of him. I wonder how much more Holmes will be able to contribute in the next few chapters. 

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Labouchere’s Perspective

Labouchere’s account of Newgate seemed too positive. The food was good, the staff were friendly- it sounded like a hotel. This was shocking after reading about his journalist reputation of outing scandal and corruption. He spoke very little of the women’s facilities. He spoke of many of the crimes of male prisoners, at some times questioning their convictions. 

“From subsequent inquiries, I learnt that their guilt is by no means certain. The evidence on which they were convicted was not conclusive,” (pg. 140). 

Of the one “florid-looking girl” whose story he spoke of, we get very few details of her crime and no questioning of her conviction. 

Labouchere was a politician and a journalist, but this article begs the question to be asked if one can truly be both. Journalism is about and should be about the pursuit of truth whereas politics is about agendas. When the two merge, we get propaganda spreading fallacy. Can we trust the narrative of a politician in this instance? 

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Mary Carpenter: On the Treatment of Female Convicts

Let’s go back in time to Joseph Swetnam’s, The Arraignment of Lewd, Idle, Froward and Unconstant Women, which he wrote in 1615. Swetnam’s commends wise, honest women but he suggests these are rare. Why? The Book of Genesis and the story of creation in which woman was made from man, woman tempted man, woman became man’s weakness. Swetnam opens chapter 1 of his essay with a inference he makes based off of the story of creation, specifically the story of woman’s creation” 

 “He also saith that they were made of the rib of a man, and that their froward nature shows; for a rib is a crooked thing good for nothing else, and women are crooked by nature, for small occasion will cause them to be angry.Again, in a manner she was no sooner made but straightway her mind was set upon mischief, for by her aspiring mind and wanton will she quickly procured man’s fall. And therefore ever since they are and have been a woe unto man and follow the line of their first leader.”

I think this serves as an explanation for the poor conditions and treatment of female convicts. Women during this era were already seen as “mischievous.” Their convictions served as proof of this. What was worse than a woman who was suspected of having no virtue, was finding a non-virtuous woman in the act of being non-virtuous. It was very common in the 1800s to believe that men did wrong because they were swayed by external forces to do so. Women did wrong because that was their “nature.” 

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Suspicions in Hound of the Baskervilles Ch. 10 & 11

The character Laura Lyons is a clue. Something is fishy about her correspondence with Stapleton. Stapleton seems to come up during the weirdest times in the story and this is one of them. However, Doyle characterizes Stapleton as this kind of childlike man who relies on his sister for companionship. This is the perfect guise for a murderer. What we don’t have is motive. How could the Baskervilles possibly pose a threat to Stapleton? Perhaps this has something to do with Beryl and his dependency on her. 

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The Forgotten Nurse: Final Analysis of Mary Seacole’s Autobiography

It surprises me that Mary Seacole is known as the forgotten nurse but in all honesty, I had never heard of her until I read this autobiography. I did more research on Seacole and her counterpart, Florence Nightingale, and their history as nurses. I found a timeline that shows there life events side by side and Seacole’s timeline is very sparse compared to Nightingale’s. There wasn’t as much documentation on Seacole’s life besides her own autobiography but Nightingale’s timeline was completely filled from year to year until her death. Here’s a link to the timelines below: 

http://www.maryseacole.info/?Introduction:Florence_Nightingale_and_Mary_Seacole_Timeline

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Modesty Trope Comparisons

Modesty tropes are a great indication of a writer’s social status. Many women wrote their own modesty tropes. Aemilia Lanyer, Mary Sidney, Katherine Phillips are examples of women writers who have written their own modesty tropes. All modesty tropes preface a work with an author “humbling” themselves before an audience. At the beginning of Wonderful Adventures of Mary Seacole, a modesty trope serves as a preface for her work but in a way, Seacole’s autobiography is a modesty trope meant to preface her entire life. She is constantly proving herself throughout the book, providing us with evidence of her accomplishments and status amongst the soldiers she took care of during the Crimean War. She knew she would be “the forgotten nurse.” This novel serves as a reminder to everyone of her existence. That is why the cover is so bold and the narrator is so self-assured. Her entire autobiography was a modesty trope meant to defend her accomplishments. 

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On Tan-Feng Chang: Mary Seacole ‘Playing Mother’

Chang describes Seacole as a maternal figure in the Crimean War, something soldiers are forced to leave behind when they go to battle. This leads us to question what Seacole’s motive behind all of her service was? Her medicine was science, but it was also home cooked meals and a warm disposition. Her marriage only lasted 8 years and she had no children with this man. There is little to no information regarding their marriage or why she had no children. Perhaps the soldiers took the place of children she wished to have. 

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Hound of the Baskervilles, Ch. 9:

Doyle is still using the “illusion of allusion” in Chapter 9, which is an element many authors use when writing mysteries. This is a technique that gives us clues and leads us to the wrong suspect. It could be foreshadowing in the wrong direction so that the reader is still surprised by the end. As a result, I’m still hooked and biting my nails until the next two chapters. Stapleton’s behavior is growing suspicious and Barrymore is “in the clear.” What about Beryl? She seems to be quite intelligent. Is there a reason she is getting too close to Sir Henry? 

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Hound of the Baskervilles, Ch. 1 & 2

I find the relationship between the narrator and the protagonist to be an extremely influential element in Sherlock Holmes stories. At first, I thought there was a “Batman and Robin” dynamic between Watson and Holmes, but through further reading, they parallel, in some ways, with Nick Carraway and Jay Gatsby from The Great Gatsby. Nick is Watson and Gatsby is Sherlock. Nick isn’t “inferior to” Gatsby in the same way Watson isn’t “inferior” to Holmes. But both narrators admire the protagonists they describe. And in some ways, even though the books are titled after their protagonists (Gatsby and Sherlock), the key players are really Nick and Watson.