The allure of the unforgettable novel by Arthur Canon Doyle has not faded through the century and remains an ingenious piece of literature. The Hound of Baskervilles, with its unique blend of Gothic tradition and mystery presents Victorian ideals to the best remains undiminished in popularity in the fictional mystery novel genre.
The plot of the novel is the decisive raison d’être for its popularity: a masterful blend of a detective story and a Gothic tale. The Hound presents a mythology related to the late-Victorian paranoia about reversal of humanity towards primitive, animalistic behavior as well as mysterious family identity. All these elements are amalgamated into the story to present a scary creature that symbolizes the evil one himself who is out for human blood. This paper presents a few more reasons why this inimitable piece of literary art is so successful.
The Hound first appeared serially in August 1901- April 1902 in the Strand Magazine, republished in hardcover in March 1902, and run in the American Strand 1901-02. Some version of the novel has been kept in print for centuries and demonstrates the essence of its popularity.
The main popularity of the novel rests in Arthur Conan Doyle’s creation of a perfectly positivist embodiment of the Victorian faith in rationality, method, and reason. In the Hound Doyle quintessentially presents the scientific detective methods to mollify the Gothic myths surrounding the mystery of Baskervilles.
The Hound presents a hero-detective who acts as the champion of empirical science facing the biggest challenge faced by most of the scientific minds of the Victorian era i.e. of the supernatural. Sherlock Holmes, the protagonist of the novel, is more than a detective who exposes a crime or criminal, but exhibits the competence of reason. The plot expands on the primary element of Victorian ideal – rejection of the supernatural explanation of Sir Charles’s death by Holmes as fairy tales: “I have hitherto confined my investigations to this world” .
The stress of rejection of the supernatural is omnipotent in the novel and through Holmes, this is emphasized ever more: “And you a trained man of science, believe it to be supernatural?…I see you have quite gone over to the supernaturalists” . The aura of importance of science in Victorian life is reemphasized when one observes that almost all the male characters of the novel are men of science.
Though Holmes constantly reminds the readers of the importance of rational science in negating irrational supernatural myths, he seldom uses scientific methods in solving the mystery. He often is seen as a man of arts who interprets human emotions, paintings, sculptures like a pristine art connoisseur.
In the process of solving the baffling murder of Sir Charles Baskerville and the plot to murder Sir Robert, Holmes brings forth the artistic element of mystery solving. As they keep on collecting the slightest hints regarding the murder and proceed in their investigation by means of extraordinary efforts and their incredible investigator genius, Holmes and Watson keep on raising the audience’s interest and thrill the readers with an unusual course of events that take place.
The thrill of the novel is increased through the constant juxtaposition of talks of reason and artistic display of Gothic imagery that create a contrasting and intriguing picture for the readers thereby increasing their interest. As a result, the readers are in a constant pressure that creates a kind of addiction to the story. All the talk about scientific reasoning and portraying of Gothic imagery has helped Doyle create a classic detective fiction and is one of the main reasons for its popularity as a mystery novel.
Artistic sense of Holmes and his scientific rational keeps the readers constantly guessing onto the next move that the hero-detective was about to pose.
As the readers proceed in grasping the whole picture of the events that are related to the mysterious death of Sir Charles Baskerville, their interest becomes only heated because of the abundance of details and figures that are connected to this crime. The great quantity of potential suspects boggles the imagination of any person who decides to ponder him- or herself into a secret world of this brilliant story by Conan Doyle.
In addition, the mysteries of ancient lineage of Baskervilles, the dark moor, and the huge black hound that appears near the moor at night and makes horrible sounds are among the other factors that keep the attention of the readers too their utmost (Conan Doyle 15, 27, 42).
Doyle’s categorical mixture of the legend of the hound of hell of Dartmoor into the novel is the classic sphere of bringing together the scientific mind of the Victorian era and their rejection of myths and legends one heard as child. Doyle created an imaginative village with a purely fictitious Baskerville Hall.
The novel borrowed heavily from the geographical features of Dartmoor. Therefore, the novel in itself is a well-knit mixture of facts and legends connected with Dartmoor is clearly documented by many critics.
The connection of the novel with the legend has actually led many to believe that the novel actually does not contain or present no new piece of information or a startling subject (as many has shown that the subject of a supernatural hound had already been dealt by some Victorian fictions) but has been presented with the master skill of a storyteller who has presented the well-known legend into a new “structure, mood, and metaphor” .
Clearly, the content of the mystery of the supernatural hound in the novel is not the only reason for the sustained popularity of the novel but it was for the cunning fiction formation of the novel that has created the popularity of the novel.
Artistic details to the novel are the key to its continued fame. Holmes, though portrayed as a man with scientific bend of mind, shows high degree of knowledge of arts.
Watson too is mistaken in his blatant dismissal of Holmes’s knowledge of arts. Holmes with the flair of a true art expert identifies the paintings by Sir Godfrey Kneller and Sir Joshua Reynolds with a mere glance at the paintings: ‘“I know what is good when I see it”, he says to Sir Henry, “and I see it now. That’s a Kneller, I’ll swear, that lady in the blue silk over yonder, and the stout gentleman with the wig ought to be a Reynolds.”’
In many cases Holmes is shown as the eccentric detective rather than a man of science, for instead of inspecting the crime scene of Sir Charles’s death, Holmes goes about inspecting the family portraits and finds the uncanny resemblance of the Stapleton’s eyes (the evil villain of the novel) with that of his ancestors.
Therefore, Holmes probably senses that Stapleton was the villain while looking at the classical paintings and then confirms by investigating the heirloom portraits. Consequently, it can be said that Holmes does not employ scientific methods in his deduction and the solution to the case emerges through mere observation of the paintings.
In Adding to this, the author manages to create even more pressure in the story plot by means of a number of slight details such telegrams, warnings, candle signals, etc. For it can also be said that the solution to the case lay in the stolen letter that lay in plain sight if only one knew where to look for it. These tiny details make each page of this story very intriguing; thus, it is impossible to stop reading until one will reach the very last page.
However, even when the last page is read, and the evidences against the main suspected, Mr. Stapleton, is collected, and he is accused, the questions are still abundant. Therefore, readers usually have different points of view regarding the appropriateness of Mr. Stapleton’s conviction.
Doyle makes Holmes a contrast of the idea of an action hero. Holmes is mostly described in the novel as a static, motionless, figure that stands or sits in perfect attentiveness. Watson’s description of Holmes while he was inspecting the portraits: “He stopped suddenly and stared fixedly up over my head into the air…
The lamp beat upon his face, and so intent was it and so still that it might have been that of a clear-cut classical statue, a personification of alertness and expectation.” Then Watson’s description of the mysterious figure on the tor also shows the impressionistic description of the figure to Holmes as the “ebony statue” .
In the descriptive play of light and dark, Doyle presents the opposition of the Gothic darkness with the clarity presented in classical art. Although he presents himself as a man of science, in the novel Doyle presents him as an appreciator of art. The popularity of the novel lies in this juxtaposition of Gothic and classical era, of light and dark, of science and art.
In conclusion, The Hound by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle can be justly acclaimed as his best work and the reason for its popularity lay in its masterful creation of Gothic, mystery, and classical elements in the novel..
The popularity of the novel has been so immense that it has gained success not only through its reprints but also through adaptations as play, movie, as well as graphic novels. It is no wonder as beginning from the genre, that the author has chosen for this inimitable piece of literature, and ending with the slightest details aiming to boggle the readers’ minds, this story is a sort of perfection.
Works Cited
Doyle, Arthur Conan. The Hound of Baskervilles. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994. Print.
Fisher, Benjamin F. “The Hound of Baskervilles 100 years After: A Review Essay.” English Literature in Transition 47(2) (2004): 181-190. Print.