In Captain Murderer by Charles Dickens the author, Dickens, approaches the villain much differently. In this story the villain is considered immediately a diabolical person (his name is a huge clue). Also the villain is unsuspected until the end of the story; where as the villains in the speckled band and the black cottage are found out towards the beginning of the stories. There fore in ‘Captain Murderer’ there is a strong case on dramatic irony, where the audience knows more than the victim. In this case the audience knows how disturbing and violent captain murderer is but his victims don’t.
As well as the villains there is also always a hero in each story. In the Black Cottage the farmer is the one who marries Bessie, although Bessie rescued herself, in Victorian stories there should always be a male hero. In Victorian times females were considered in capable and men were dominant over them. They also believe that women should be powerless therefore not allowed to vote or have a say, this belief is brought from Victorian tradition to the story; quotes to show this includes:
“…enough to gasp out a few words, telling him what was the matter, and then fell down at his feet, for the first time in my life in a dead swoon.”
On the other hand in ‘Captain Murderer’ there is no male hero. The closest to a male hero is the dark girl at the end of the story, although she also becomes a victim at the end. In Victorian Traditions women are traditionally known to be less significant than males, they are also supposed to be a frail and faint a lot of the time. Females also don’t have the right to vote and have their own opinions. Often beautiful women were considered s threat and murdered in a traditional Victorian novel.
The Speckled band is spoken in the third person, In Dr. Watson’s point of view. By doing this Sir Arthur Conan Doyle enables Sherlock Holmes to be able to not expose his methods. Holmes is portrayed as a stereo typical hero, moral, intelligent and courageous who is cast in rescuing women, i.e. Helen. In the story Holmes is shown as a brilliant detective, he makes clever deductions without informing the reader and side kick, Watson. As well as being a brilliant detective he can also be very patronising towards Helen at the start of the story, he treats them as if they were lower in society than himself.
“‘You must not fear,’ said he soothingly, bending forward and patting her forearm.”
“We shall soon set matters right, I have no doubt. …”
Bessie in the ‘Black Cottage’, is a very unusual Victorian female, as in that she appears; A fighter, Resourceful and Independent. Bessie appears to the reader that she is brave and determined and not afraid to put her life in front of her belongings. This is very unlike the stereotypical image of Victorian women. Quotes to back the idea up:
“I saw no reason to feel afraid of being left alone for the night…”
“‘You cowardly villains!’ I screamed at them through the door.”
“I was determined to defend my property confided to me with my life.”
Towards the end of the story the author transforms a very masculine lady, Bessie, into a very stereotypical feminine Victorian woman.
“… Tears at the last beginning to wet my cheeks… I must save my life by running for it, while there is yet still time.”
“… and I fell down at his feet, for the first time in my life, in a dead swoon.”
These two quotes shows Bessie beginning to show sense and thinking that she isn’t going to win so running away is the only thing she can do. The second quote explains how she collapsed at the farmer’s feet in tears, when she does this she acts like a traditional stereotypical Victorian female.
Stereo typical Victorian women placed great faith in bodily image; they also admired the strong statuesque lady and the weak fainting beauty. Also it was believed that women should be powerless, in the Victorian era women’s rights movements were just starting to take hold but any woman who wanted independence from men were considered unstable and insane. Therefore not taking Bessie’s power away, Bessie would be too unconventional and the audience would find the story too hard to accept.
In captain murderer the women do not have any names; this could be because no matter who they are their actions describe their personality. They all seem to be stupid, to marry a man called ‘Captain Murderer’. Victorian beliefs follow that sexually attractive females are a threat and they are generally murdered in a Victorian novels. The way that captain murderer gets them to make their own pastry without realising that they are actually in danger is very patronising and assuming they are not very clever.
“The dark twin would have prevented the marriage if she could, but she couldn’t…”
“…, and looked in at his window through a chink in the shutter, and saw him having his teeth filed sharp.
This quote shows how the dark twin sensed danger and didn’t want to marry captain murderer. It also shows how the Victorian females had no choice in marrying men, in this case ‘Captain Murderer’. Victorian beliefs show that females generally have no choice in the man that she marries. The second quote shows that the dark twin has suspicion over Captain Murderer, she shows this by spying on him and the suspicion is aroused even more by
After sensing danger to seek revenge she has to sacrifice herself, this is very unordinary for a Victorian lady, a stereotypical Victorian lady are very feminine and faint a lot near danger.
The women in the speckled band are stereotypical victims, they correspond to Victorian beliefs; women should be less significant than men and should be scared easily and need to rely on another man. The writer emphasises Helen’s fear and agitation by using similes and metaphors.
“‘It is not the cold which makes me shiver.’… ‘It is fear Mr. Holmes. It is terror.’”
“…, her face all drawn and grey, with restless, frightened eyes, like those of some hunted animal.”
“… a woman of thirty, but her hair was shot with premature grey,…”
The settings in these stories play a huge part and help the desired genre to take affect. Examples of this would be;
Happy stories – Sun, Blue Sky, Daytime, Meadows and young animals.
Horror – Thunder Storms, Grey sky, Night time, Remote House and Bats and Wolves
If these elements from each genre were to be mixed up then the story would be too unconventional for the reader to accept. The setting in ‘The Black Cottage’ complements the story and the action. The story is set on Dartmoor; the atmosphere is bleak and the isolation of Bessie’s cottage also adds to the eeriness of the story. As the story progresses the atmosphere worsens whilst Bessie makes the decision to run away from the intruders, this is called pathetic fallacy as the story gets more dramatic so does the atmosphere and setting, this is called pathetic fallacy. Quotes to back up this idea show how the author describes the weather in the beginning and at the end.
“One cloudy autumn day …”
“…, and to go on resolutely through the darkness. I reached the farmhouse with my clothes wet through …”
The setting in ‘Captain Murderer’ is not as significant as the setting in ‘The Speckled Band’ and ‘The Black Cottage’. The important setting factor is that Captain Murderer is set high in society. He marries all upper class, pretty women who don’t trigger what is going to happen before it is too late.
In ‘The Speckled Band’ the setting reflects the story, emotions and the actions of the characters. The manner of Stoke Moran is described in a gothic way.
“The building was of grey, lichen – blotched stone, with a high central portion, and two curving wings, like the claws of a crab, thrown out on each side.”
This quote shows how Conan Doyle described the Stoke Moran manor in a gothic way. This quote could also be related to the extension of Dr. Roylott’s character. The crab simile helps the reader to understand the first impression of the manor would be it imprisons everyone that walks into it.
In ‘The Speckled Band’ and ‘The Black Cottage’ the author has included many complex sentences to add to description and to make the story more enjoyable to the reader. The language is very formal and there are many words that are not in use anymore.
- Dog-cart – light two wheeled carriage
- Defray – make good, repay
- Would fain – would like to
- Aperture – opening
- Gaiters – protective leggings
- Pittance – small allowance of money
- Reverie – meditation
- Breaches – gaps
- Affected – preferred
Captain murderer’s language is slightly different, it is deliberately told a fairy tale style for a younger audience. Although it has language designed for younger children it also has language designated for adults. Captain murderer is a story that Charles Dickens is repeating for an adult readership after hearing the story when he was younger.
The idea of good triumphing over evil is recognisable in all stories; ‘Captain Murderer’, ‘The Black Cottage’ and ‘The Speckled Band’. Although good triumphing evil is evident in ‘Captain Murderer’, in this case evil is the captain and good is society. In order for society triumphing over the captain there had had to be a human sacrifice (the dark twin).
In ‘The Speckled Band’ there is also a case of good triumphing over evil, evil being Dr. Roylott and good being Helen and the Heroes being Holmes and Watson. This story is the most conventional because through out Helen, the woman, is always the victim and Holmes, the man, will always be the hero.
However ‘The Black Cottage’ is an unconventional story because to start with the Hero is a woman, at the end of the story the Bessie gets transformed from a hero to a victim then the farmer is the hero because the reader would have not accepted an unconventional ending i.e. Bessie defeating the evil.
I preferred ‘The Black Cottage’ because it was more exiting than ‘Captain Murderer’ because in ‘Captain Murderer’ there was a lot of repetition and you knew what would happen next, where as ‘The Black Cottage’ the reader would be kept on the edge of their seats because they didn’t know what would happen next. The reader would also be sub-consciously asking questions about the story, therefore the reader never gets bored. Therefore the ‘Black Cottage’ is my favourite story. The speckled band is my least
