The characters in “The veiled lodger” and “The Speckled Band” have similarities between them, for example Helen and Mrs. Render both have a dominant male in there life’s who they fear. Helen goes behind Dr. Royllot’s back to see Holmes and does not confront Dr. Royllot. Mrs. Render also describes Mr. Render as being the “devil”. But there are still some similarities with “The silver blaze”, for example the victims wife in “The silver blaze” and Mrs. Render in “The veiled lodger” both have men which don’t stay faithful to them.
In “The veiled lodger” Mrs. Render is a middle aged widow, she got married young to the circus manager and found out too late it was a wrong decision because he physically abused her. This drove Mrs. Render to her limits and she planned his murder. She did this with Leonardo a lover of hers he was the strong man in the circus. He came up with the killing method but when the plan did go wrong he ran from the scene. When the other people heard Mrs. Render they came to help and Leonardo came to. This shows what judge of character Mrs. Render has, it is clear that she has a poor judge of character. It is ironic that she used to look after beasts and now she is the one in the cage. This feeling of entrapment is similar to that of Helens where she can’t go where she wishes because of the reputation that her step father. He is feared in the town because he “hurled a black smith”. The two women have the same problem that they both fear what other people think and so will keep themselves confined. In the Victorian times women did not have any control over the money that was left to the man. If they did divorce their husband or leave their parents they would become social out casts which is what Mrs. Render and Helen feared. These two stories give an idea of the times view of women, the way that the two women are described and how unhappy they are may reflect the views of the author.
Helens family back ground is clearly given, they were originally a wealthy family but a run of gambling predecessors wasted this money and now they own a large run down estate. Her mother dies when she was young and you don’t hear much of her father. Helen has lived with her step father ever since. This life is more luxurious than that of Mrs. Render’s, Helen has had a place to live with not needing to work where as Mrs. Render had to work from a young age. Mrs. Render is the older of the two but Helen has already shown signs of early ageing for instance her hair has already started to go grey from the stress caused by Dr. Royllot . Mrs. Render on the other hand was at one time a beautiful woman but after the lion attacked her she had a deformed upper face apart from her eyes. They show “the beatify which was once there”. They are both referred to as been the hunted or similar when it talks about Helen it says “like those of some hunted animal” and when it talks about Mrs. Render she is referred to as “become herself a beast” or that she is “in a cage” her self. The two have had negative impacts from a man in there life Helen finds it difficult to make friends in the town and Mrs. Render was abused by Mr. Render. The two have different family back grounds Helen from a modestly wealthy family and Mrs. Render “ brought up on saw dust” and performing in the circus from the “age of 10” . I think that the author did this she that people felt for Mrs. Render and didn’t take notice so much that she is a murder.
Mr. Render’s and Dr. Royllot’s both act very similarly they both are aggressive. Dr. Royllot came after Helen carrying a “hunting crop” he then bent a metal poker. The evidence that Mr. Render is viscous is the way that he treats people the other circus men left the show fro the way that he acted. They both are short temped evidenced for this is because of the way that Dr. Royllot rose to Holmes although Holmes you could say was provoking Dr. Royllot in that he was not answering Dr. Royllot properly and keeping his voice quiet. Mr. Render would strike Mrs. Render if she commented on his relationship with other women. Both of them were cruel and Mr. Render miss treated the animals he would be prosecuted for this but fines had no effect on him because he could pay them off with no problem. When Dr. Royllot “hurled a local black smith” the only reason that he didn’t meet any big problems was because Helen paid the man enough so that he would not report the matter. The both of them did not learn from there mistakes Dr. Royllot became the “terror of the village” and Mr. Render carried on miss treating the animals.
Dr. Royllot seems t have been the older of the two he was married and had two step daughters where as Mr. Render was married yes but did no have any children this may have been by choice but it does give an vague age on them. The age of Dr. Royllot must mean that his character must be strong for I estimate him at about 60 going on 70 if he had daughters a 32 years old. I think that Mr. Render is older than Mrs. Render because of the control he ha over her. There isn’t much family background on Mr. Render but I gather that he has been in the circus business for a while for the circus he works in is called “Render’s wild beast show” and he has people come and work for him and leave and the way that Mrs. Render talks it sounds like she was brought up on the same circus. The author reveals a lot more history on the Royllot family. It is said that they came from stoke Moran they are one of the oldest saxon families they were extremely rich at one point but a succession of heirs unwisely spent the money. The physical description of Dr. Royllot is very clear. He is described as a “ huge man” he filled a door way, the way that he was describe would make you cower in front of him. Mr. Render is described as a “huge porcine person” meaning that he has similarities to a pig he is later described as a “ wild boar”. He is also described as been “murderous”. Both are big and strong men but they are not just face Dr. Royllot knows that if his step daughters leave him then he will only have a very little amount of money, to keep him feed and repair the building so I think that its probable that he would of killed his step daughters. Mrs. Render describes Mr. Render as the “ devil” and that when she married him she “was in hell” and that Mr. Render was the one “tormented me” this would only be said if someone truly loathed someone and her situation at home must have been bad if it was to be related to as “hell”. The relationship between hell and Dr. Royllot is different to that of Mr. Render and Mrs. Render. Mr. Render had a lust for Mrs. Render where as Helen was Dr. Royllot’s income.
All the descriptive language used in the stories makes it easy for the reader to imagine what is happening and the expressions. Examples of the language used are “snarled” this makes the reader imagine a face looming up at them “snarling” others are, “fierce” and “evil”, this language hints to the character of the person in question. For instance you can know guess that this person is violent and aggressive. You can guess that it was used to describe Mr. Render or Dr. Royllot.
You can tell that the three stories are pre 20th century because of the language used. In the stories the language used is mainly old standard English examples of this are words like “ porcine” and “buxom”. These words make the story complicated if you don’t understand the narrative the sentence length does not help the matter. Holmes and Watson both use standard English which I think suits the characters they play in the stories they are supposed to be the more intelligent in the stories and language and intelligence are often linked. I think they use this language because they are middle classed with that up bringing. This is a contrast to the language of the land lord in “The veiled lodger” she has a lower class vocabulary examples of this language is “she is that anxious” and examples of the middle class language is spoken by Holmes when ever he specks some words like “alias” make the stories difficult to understand. Another way that you can tell that the stories are pre 20th is that the stories are dated for example “The veiled lodger” is dated 1896. they also travel in older methods such as a horse and carriage or dog cart in “The Speckled Band”. Some of the ways that modern English language describes things is also different even thought we still use some the words. for example “ smoke-laden” modern English still use smoke and rarely use laden but we still know what is meant by the phase but we would now say “Smokey”. I think that one of the reasons why these words and phases are not used is because the class system is no longer in use. So the language has merged into one. The sentences used are a lot longer and more complexed, this make the reader read at a faster pace. The author uses more descriptive words which creates images in the readers mind, getting them involved in the story and making them want to carry on reading. The main images created are those of the characters and the events which are taking place, for example the description of Render as having a “dreadful face” and of Holmes “darting” forward in “The Speckled Band”. The reason why there is such good description is because Holmes is renowned for observing details and explores everything in full depth, for example in “The Speckled Band” where he explains his logic for his findings. Some of the description is used to portray attacks or deaths in the stories. An example is the violent deaths in “The Speckled Band” where words like “shrieked” and “terrible cry” are used to make the scene very pictorial. The lion attack on Mrs. Render also creates a vivid image as it too uses descriptive words for example “slain” and “great steaming blood stained jaws”. Tension is created by the language used for example “shrieked”, “terrible cry” these create images in the readers minds and they become involved in the stories and want to know what happens to the characters. Another way tension is created is by the use of red herrings, such as when Holmes and Watson believe that Dr. Royllot is chasing them but it turns out to be a baboon. Also not knowing what is happening creates tension for example when Watson and Holmes are waiting in Helens room in “The Speckled Band”. The reader and Watson don’t what they are waiting for and are sitting in the dark room, not talking and with a gun on the side, Watson is unaware that they are waiting for Indies most deadly snake.
In “The veiled lodger” there is a lot of talk about the appearance of Mrs. Render for instance the “milkman gets a glimpse of her once” “ and he drops his tin of milk”. The fact that Mrs. Merilow, the landlord of where Mrs. Render now lives has only scene her face once in seven years and she wishes she had not. When Mr. Watson and Holmes enter the room it is described as a “musty, ill ventilated place”. The room has a certain amount of irony in it, as the circus keeper is know the caged one. The objects in the room are all in disrepair and seems that the room has been neglected for a long time.
Watson is important to this story because he is the one that lets the reader know what is happening. Holmes keeps is theories to himself and the reader only finds them out when Watson ask questions.
The structure of the stories are all similar because they come from the same source, Watson’s diaries. We only know what Watson knows, which means that we only find out exactly what happens at the end of the investigations when Holmes tells him. The stories all start differently for example “The veiled lodger” starts with Holmes being invited to hear the story of the Renders where as “The silver blaze” and “The Speckled Band” start with the victims contacting Holmes and Watson, in “The Speckled Band” Helen comes to Holmes and in “The silver blaze” the story starts straight away with Holmes saying he has to go to Dartmoor. All the stories end with Holmes explaining what happened and in the middle of “The silver blaze” and “The Speckled Band” Holmes is investigating the crimes. But in “The veiled lodger” Holmes is told the true story in parts. First we are told who is dead, then we have Holmes description of what he thought happened and finally we get Mrs. Render telling us her plan and the outcome.
In all three stories the conversation is between Holmes and the victims. In “The Speckled Band” Dr. Royllot will start a conversation but Holmes will not comment on it but on something such as the weather. When Helen comes to find Holmes, he shows his powers of deduction by explaining how she arrived. This could be to show the reader that Holmes is able to take something as oblivious as mud splatters on Helens coat and tell that she travelled by dog cart sat by the driver. A little of this intelligence can be seen in Helen, for she notice that she could hear the same noises as her sister did before her death and figured out that this may be linked it.
“The Speckled Band” and “The silver blaze” are detective stories where as “The veiled lodger” is a unusual case where Holmes is being the events which took place, rather than him finding them out. In the stories there is a element of Victorian melodrama, they where written to stir the readers emotion, for instance make the reader horrified by the description of the murder weapons, the deadliest snake in India. Poisons were a big murder weapon in the Victorian times as they were almost undetectable, the only way you could find out is if you tested it on another.
The stories also have gothical elements to them as in “The Speckled Band” the setting is a big, dark run down castle. The unpredictable characters in the story, for example the gypsies, create a certain gothic effect as we don’t know much about them. The whistling sound in the tale adds to the effect because we don’t know the source which gives the reader the impression that it could be something super natural.
These stories are set in the Victorian period at this time prostitutes, drug abuse and murder were come place, this caused many people to live in poverty. They lived in cramped, dark, damp condition. The thick smog from the factories polluted the air making it an event worse place to live. There was no electrical light and places where light by gas lights which flickered and created eerie shadows. If the reader is aware of this history there is an added effect to the story which would get them more involved. The police at this time were disliked because they seemed to be doing nothing to fight crime and some were even found to have been corrupt. With murderers like Jack the Ripper around and not being court many Victorians lived in fear. This maybe why Sherlock Holmes stories where so popular, everyone liked him as he away court the criminals. The stories could have been reflecting real life situation and therefore people could relate to them and the characters.
The roles of women at this time were defined by men, when a woman was not married her father had control of her money and property and when she got married this control was passed onto the husband. A woman never had the right that men had, for instance a woman could not divorce her husband because she would become a social outcast, even with friends and family. Holmes however treats Mrs. Render as an equal, the only time he seems superior is when he guess she wishes to committee suicide. When Holmes encounters Dr. Royllot he act in a totally opposite manor, he aggravates Dr. Royllot by speaking politely. Holmes could have done this because he dislikes Dr. Royllot’s attitude towards woman. It seems that the author shares Holmes views and is using the character Holmes to voice his opinion on the bad treatment of women at this time.
Out of the three short stories I personally prefer “The Speckled Band” because it is a on going investigation and has more suspense and tension to it. The reader does not know whether Helen will survive where as in “The veiled lodger” we know the outcome at the beginning. The story of “The Speckled Band” is to me more involving than “The silver blaze”, as in this story we are kept in the dark about the investigation and what Holmes is finding out until the end when he reveals all.
