The+Hound+of+the+Baskervilles

=**Title:**= //The Hound of the Baskervilles// =Author:= Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

=Nationality/Ethnic Background:= Setting: England's West Country United Kingdom

=Genre and Sub-genres:= Mystery, Detective fiction

=Pertinent Biographical Information:= Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was a Scottish writer and physician, most well known for his short stories and novels based on the detective Sherlock Holmes. Conan Doyle is generally considered a major innovator in mystery novels and crime fiction. He was born on May 22nd, 1859, the third of ten children. Once he was nine years old, Conan Doyle was sent to Hodder Place, a Roman Catholic Jusuit Preparatory school in Stonyhurst, to study. After his time at Hodder Place, he went to Stonyhurst College until 1875. Conan Doyle began writing short stories while he was studying. His first short story to be published was in //Chamber’s Edinburgh Journal//, before he was twenty. From 1876 to 1881 Conan Doyle attended the University of Edinburgh where he studied medicine. In 1885 he received his doctorate. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle died of a heart attack he suffered on July 7th, 1930. He was 71 years old.

=Literary Historical Period/Movement and Pertinent Background= Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote //The Hound of Baskervilles// shortly after returning from volenteer work in Africa, which is why some of the charcters in the novel most likely either were came or were going to exotic places like South America. One of only four novels Sir Arthur Conan Doyle ever wrote about Sherlock Holmes.

=Major Characters, Their Relationships, Their Conflicts​:=
 * Sherlock Holmes-** Head of detective agency and protagonist of the story. In this story, Holmes takes more of a "back seat" to Watson, whom he leaves to Sir Henry in Devonshire while he investigates in London supposedly. Holmes must figure out what or who frightened the late Sir Charles Baskerville to death while keeping Sir Henry Baskerville alive.


 * Dr. Watson-** Assistant to Sherlock Holmes. This novel is viewed through Watson's eyes after he is sent to Devonshire by Holmes. Watson, eager to prove his own skills to Holmes attempts to solve the complex mystery of who or what killed Sir Charles Baskerville.


 * Sir Henry Baskerville-** The only living relative of Sir Charles Baskerville and heir to the large amount of the Baskerville fortune. Supposedly inherits the curse of the hounds of the Baskervilles as well. Falls for Miss. Stapelton but is kept from courting her by her brother/husband Jack.


 * Jack Stapleton- E**ntomologist and husband/brother of Miss. Stapelton, hides his marriage bye refering to his wife as his sister. Sharp-tempered and strange, he runs around the moor looking for insects and butterflies.Knows the Moor better than most.


 * Miss Stapleton-** Wife/Sister of Jack Stapleton, forced by her husband to hide their marriage. Courted by Sir Henry and constantly warns, Sherlock, Watson, and Henry to go back home.


 * Laura Lyons-** Aquaintance of Sir Charles Baskerville, disowned daughter of Frankland. Abandoned by her husband, she asked Charles to meet her the night of his death.


 * Mr. Barrymore-** Butler for the late Sir Charles Baskerville,Husband of Mrs. Barrymore. Secretive and quiet, arouses the suspicions of Holmes and Watson when Watson sees him sneaking around the house.


 * Mrs. Barrymore-** Housemaid for the late Sir Charles Baskerville, Wife of Mr. Barrymore. Constantly heard crying at Baskerville Hall at night, and is observed to have puffy red eyes but denies crying when asked by Watson.

=Brief Plot Summary: = Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson finding a mysterious cane, deduce it belongs to one James Mortimer, who appearing at their doorstep enlists them to protect the new heir to Baskerville Hall, Sir Henry Baskerville from his family curse. According to Mortimer, Sir Charles Baskerville fell victim to the family curse shortly beforehand, dying of fright after seeing the same hellhound that first chased Hugo Baskerville, an ancestor who supposedly sold his soul to the devil in a drunken rage to catch a young maiden who escaped his manor, accidently unleashing the beast on himself as well. Holmes asks Mortimer to bring Sir Henry by the office in the morning, and though not asked to do anything but protect the new heir, he decides to work on figuring out who killed the late Sir Charles Baskerville as well. Upon his arival, Sir Henry produces a warning letter he recieved that morning telling him to stay away from the moor. After a quick inspection of the letter, Holmes discovers the letter was cut out of the previous day's newspaper, as well as learning Sir Henry lost one of his new boots. Suspecting the writer is trailing Sir Henry, Holmes follows him outside spotting a mysterious black-bearded man in a taxi, who quickly drives away before Holmes or Watson can speak to him. Holmes manages to catch the cab's number and plans to track it before lunch with Sir Henry, but beforehand he stops in a messager's shop to see an old client, requesting that he search for the cut up newspaper in the garbage from the hotel's in the area. Holmes and Watson arrive at Sir Henry's room to find he lost another older boot, later at lunch Holmes sends Watson along to Devonshire, the town where Baskerville manor is located, telling them he is going to stay behind and search for the letter. After departing, Holmes tracks down the taxi to no avail, but does rule out the initial suspect, Barrymore, A house servant in Baskerville manor, who has a black beard. Holmes also discovers the newspaper is not in the hotels trash. At the mansion Watson and Sir Henry hear a woman crying at night, suspecting it was Mrs. Barrymore, a housemaiden they ask her husband who denies it. Mr. Stapelton, an entomologist who lives on the moor, introduces himself to Watson and leads him on a tour showing him the Grimpen Mire. When Mr. Stapelton chases after a butterfly, Miss. Stapelton, his sister warns Watson that he must leave, mistaking him for SIr Henry. Watson, writing to Holmes, tells of an escaped convict lose on the moor and that Miss Stapelton and Sir Henry seem to be falling for each other despite Mr. Stapelton's disapproval. Watson also explains that Barrymore really could have been in London at the time and he has been sneaking around late at night to one window overlooking the moor. Sir Henry and Watson stake out the hallway attempting to catch Mr. Barrymore signaling someone from the window, when they find him out in the hallway they stop him and look out the window seeing a light. After confronting Mr. Barrymore, Mrs. Barrymore explains that the convict, is her brother whom she has been feeding and clothing until he could get to South America. Watson attempts to catch the convict but he gets away, Watson does see another figure sillouted on the moor. In order to convince them from going after the convict again, Mr. Barrymore reveals that the late Sir Charles was meeting a women with the initals L.L. the night he died. Watson discovers a women in town named Laura Lyons, and goes to meet her discovering Laura was to meet Sir Charles hoping he would get her out of a bad marriage but for a reason she won't disclose missed the meeting. Finding out that a man has been staying on the moor in an old hut, Watson investigates to find it was Holmes, who had been hiding so he could find more information. Holmes figured out that not only were Stapelton and Laura Lyons close but Miss Stapelton was actually Stapelton's wife. Holmes deduces that Stapelton used Mrs. Lyons to lure Sir Charles onto the moor, and after confirming it with her they hear a scream. Rushing out they find the convict dead in Sir Henry's old clothes, fallen over a cliff. Stapelton also rushes over but Holmes convinces him he thinks that the convict simply fell and is going back to London. Holmes does however call Lesturde, a detective to make the arrest later on. The next night Lestrude, Watson, and Holmes wait outside Stapelton's home for Sir Henry to appear after a dinner together. As Henry leaves a giant glowing hellhound falls upon him and after a chase Holmes shoots the dog, which they discover is no more than a dog painted with phosphorous. Mr. Stapelton in the meantime escapes, but when Holmes and Watson enter the house they find Mrs. Stapelton tied up. Too dark and foggy to search for Stapelton in the dangerous moor, they wait until morning when Mrs. Stapelton leads them through the moor to the Grimpen Mire. Footprints that match Mr. Stapelton's were found leading upon to the mire so Holmes deduces he must have been swallowed up in the quick sand. Holmes explains to the rest of the group that Stapelton was actually a long lost heir to the Baskerville fortune, and finding himeself on hard times killed off Sir Charles in order to obtain the fortune. =Motifs (Recurring Images, Ideas, Figures of Speech, Symbols, Colors) & Their Thematic Significance:= Superstitions- Through out the novel superstious elements of the appear such as the the family curse, different clues like a giant dog footprint Sir Charles was found by on the night of his death, and the hellhound that was chasing Sir Henry. These elements not only add an element of intrigue to the reader's but contrast Holmes and Watson's logical approach to things, as they rely on science and evidence to solve the crime.

Mysterious Figures- Many unidentifed figures are seen, especially on the moor, that add mystery and suspence to the novel. Holmes, the convict, and Mr. Stapelton all hide or disguise themselves at one point. The mysterious figures show that things are not always what they seem. =Other Significant Thematic Elements (Significant Character's Names, Significant Quotations, Significant Actions/Events):= According to the Curse of the Baskervilles, Hugo Baskerville was a drunken, vile man whom would often sleep with many women around the mire. When a Yeomen's daughter, very lowly in class ranking, turned him down he kidnapped her planning on raping her. He threw a party with some of his drunken friends first and while they celebrated she slipped away into the moor. Upon finding this out, Hugo chased after the girl, eventually making a pact with the devil, selling his soul to catch her. In doing so the devil released a hellhound that hunted down both himself and the girl. Much like Hugo

"But it was not the sight of her body, nor yet was it that of the body of Hugo Baskerville lying near her, which raised the hair upon the heads of these three daredevil roysterers, but it was that, standing over Hugo and plucking at his throat, there stood a foul thing, a great, black beast, shaped like a hound, yet larger than any hound that ever mortal eye has rested upon."

=Major Themes:= Appearence vs. Reality- Don't trust what you see, only what you know.- Mortimer, Sir Charles, Sir Henry and Watson often mistake their assumptions for facts and come to the wrong conclusions. All of them at some point wonder if the curse of the Baskervilles is indeed true, except Sherlock Holmes who often sees through the ruses like the Red Herring convict and the letter to the true culprit.