He is very interested in ancient man: ‘“No, they are homes of our worthy ancestors. Prehistoric man lived thickly on the moor and you can even see his hearth and his couch if you have curiosity to go inside’” and Watson asked Stapleton who inhabited it. Stapleton tells him it was ‘“ Neolithic man-no date; he grazed his cattle on these slopes, and he learned to dig for tin when the bronze sword began to supersede the stone axe. Look at the great trench in the opposite hill. That is his mark. Yes, you will find some very singular points about the moor’”. He is also interested in extinct primal and primitive creatures: ‘“It’s a very rare bird- particularly extinct in England now, but all things are possible on the moor. Yes, I should not be surprised to learn that what we have heard is the cry of the last of the bitterns, Dr Watson. Oh, excuse me an instant. It is surely Cyclopides’” ‘Stapleton was rushing with extraordinary energy and speed in pursuit of it’.
Stapleton is like the moor, dangerous and evil, ‘ a long, low moan, indescribably sad, swept over the moor. It filled the air, and yet it was impossible to say whence it came. From a dull murmur it swelled into a deep roar and then sank back into a melancholy, throbbing murmur once again’. He controls it and his ‘nerves seemed to be stronger than mine.’ He is also associated with the hound ‘like a madman’ and those ‘lights eyes of his were blazing with fury.’ Stapleton has some very good skills ‘“ foreseeing her as much more useful character when she is free’” and with other skill as well such as ‘I seemed to see something of a terrible creature with infinite patience and craft, with a smiling face and a murderous heart.’ His ingratiating, smooth, deceptive manner is seen in:‘“ A moderate walk along this moor-path brings us to Merripit House, perhaps you will spare an hour that I may have the pleasure of introducing you to my sister.’” The moor is a metaphor for Stapleton: ‘It is a vast and so barren, and so mysterious’. His death is interesting because he dies from his own evil: ‘Stapleton never reached the island of refuge towards which he struggled through the fog upon that last night. Somewhere in the heart of the great Grimpen Mire, down in the foul slime of the huge morass which had sucked him in, this cold and cruel- hearted man is for ever buried.’
Stapleton is well respected, as he is feared by Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson, because he is an upper class criminal. As a character, Conan Doyle uses him to illustrate the idea that aristocratic people could be just as devious and criminal as the lower classes. Conan Doyle suggests that prejudice existed against the working class and that education and money could lead to horrific crimes.
A Victorian reader would think of Selden as a dangerous criminal in society. Although Conan Doyle makes references to his animal-like appearance and manner, suggesting that he is linked to the ‘beast in man’ theory, the emphasis is really on his being hunted like a beast. He symbolizes ‘ the determination of man’ because he never ever gives up; he always tries to avoid the police. It is also made clear that he is a danger to society and Conan Doyle presents him in such a way that we know the general public would have had little pity for him. Selden’s mind is as fragile as an egg, if he keeps on trying the mind would eventually break from the stress. He should be pitied because he is corrupted in prison so he doesn’t know what is right and what is wrong. To society he is a dangerous villain, to his sister he is child who has lost his way. His heart has total darkness in him but inside that darkness there is little bit of light trying to show, like ‘Pandora’s box’ when Pandora releases all the evil then she seals hope. Pandora told hope She would never let hope go, but hope says it would be a grave mistake so she released hope. Pandora is Selden; the sins are the darkness in his heart and hope is the light in his heart. Conan Doyle deliberately doesn’t give us any information in the novel about his crimes. Perhaps he is doesn’t tell us preciously about the nature of the crime but, it’s possible it’s a murder. His demise also illustrates the way the poorer classes were made into scapegoats and there was little value attached to their lives. This shows, always give a second chance to criminals because it’s not them, it’s their bestial side. His longing to get out of the country and begin anew implies that many lower class criminals had simply become embroiled in crime against their better nature. The description of his close bond with his sister, Mrs Barrymore, also suggests that criminals were ordinary people who had simply gone astray but the Victorians’ lack of compassion meant he was treated as an outcast. When Mrs Barrymore says “We humoured him too much when he was a lad, and gave him his own way in everything, until he came to think that the world was made for his pleasure, & that he could do what he liked it” Conan Doyle suggests there was often a psychological reason for people’s crimes. The educated people who began to consider this possibility went against popular opinion, which felt that ‘the man was a danger to the community, an unmitigated scoundrel for whom there was neither pity nor excuse.’ In‘ To the world he was the man of violence, half animal and half demon; but to her he always remained the little wilful boy of her own girlhood, the child who had clung to her hand. Evil indeed is the man who has not one woman to mourn him’ Conan Doyle shows that mankind had two sides.
The Barrymores are criminals in the sense that they aid and abet Selden, the brother of Mrs Barrymore. Conan Doyle presents them in a positive light and through them we realise that criminals were often vulnerable people. The question of punishment or help is raised. Through their kindness and loyalty, we are reminded of the unforgiving attitude to crime in the Victorian era. They also hide information about the death of Sir Charles. They symbolise ‘ The loyalty of man’. They are not criminals because they help their brother and help Sir Henry after Watson and Henry find out about Selden. Mr& Mrs Barrymore care about Selden: “‘ When he dragged himself here one night, weary& starving, with the warders hard at his heels, what could we do? We took him in and fed him and cared for him. Then you returned, sir, and my brother thought he would be safer on the moor than anywhere else until the hue and cry was over, so he lay in hiding there. But every second night we made sure if he was still there by putting a light in the window, and if there was an answer my husband took out some bread and meat to him. Everyday we hoped that he was gone, but as long as he was there we could not desert him.’” They help Selden without trying to harm Sir Henry Baskerville. That’s why The Barrymores are actually more innocent than guilty because they help Selden, Henry and Watson; providing information for Watson, Henry and providing food for Selden. They are guilty though, of not telling Watson and Henry about Selden and the information they desire. But they help solve the mystery.
Miss Stapleton aids and abets her brother/ husband in the crimes; she is an accomplice to Stapleton. She is innocent because she always tries to warn Sir Henry Baskerville, about the hound. Her husband bullies her because she is always spoiling the plan of Stapleton, by telling Sir Henry Baskerville to go back to London, as he will be safer. She is a criminal in the eyes of law but to the readers she is seen as a victim or a puppet to the puppet master. She always conspires along with the plan but under pressure. She symbolises ‘ the kindness of man’ because she is very caring of Sir Henry Baskerville because she knows that if he dies, this would be on her conscience. This is why she always warns Sir Henry Baskerville to go back to London. She is in between good and evil because she is good because of her warnings to Watson and Henry Baskerville. She is evil because, she always plays along with Stapleton’s plan, she is twilight. She knows what’s right and wrong. She is always trying to do the right thing but sometimes she has to do the wrong so her husband Stapleton won’t punish her.
Sherlock Holmes can be seen as someone who breaks the law, but to capture the criminals. He is morally wrong when he manipulates Watson because he uses Watson making him a decoy and when he is on the cliff, he looks down on Watson and Henry. Conan Doyle is suggesting that Holmes thinks he is better Watson and Henry. He symbolises ‘the brains of man’ because no matter how difficult the job is, he always figures it out in the end but sometimes he figures out in the beginning but never reveals it to Watson or his client. Also when he tries to figure out things, he uses logic to figure out things, for example the portrait of Sir Hugo Baskerville and in the end he figures out that Sir Hugo just looked like Stapleton.
Sherlock Holmes also aids and abets Selden: ‘“ I guess we are aiding and abetting a felony, Watson? But, after what we have heard, I don’t feel as if I could give the man up, so there is the end of it.”’ This is ironic because when they say it’s the end of it, in matter of fact it is the beginning for both Watson and Henry because Sherlock knows this was the beginning of the truth, he keeps Watson in the dark. He manipulates Watson: “‘ Then you use me, and yet you do not trust me”’ He thinks of Watson as nothing more than a pawn in his game and thinks Watson’s reports are useless: “‘ He has given me an extra pair of eyes upon a very active pair of feet, and both have been invaluable… Then my reports have been wasted! As my voice trembled as I recalled the pain and prides with which I had composed them.’” He uses Henry for his own gain and to capture the criminal: ‘“ It had not crossed my minds, however, that he would wish me to go with him, nor could I understand how we could be both absent at a moment which he himself declared to be critical.”’
The Victorians’ attitude to crime was ruthless to people who committed crimes particularly murders. Crimes carried out could be caused by the influence of family background, how these people were treated as youngsters; for example in ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles,’ Rodger Baskerville was regarded by his brother as useless, incompetent, a bit of a fool and was removed from the family. Later his son known in
the story as Stapleton wants revenge on the family for what he sees as the betrayal of his father- Rodger.
Of all characters in the story, I find that Stapleton is the most interesting because he is not a pure villain in my opinion. He wants to avenge his father which is probably a good reason but he goes about in the wrong way, for example scaring Sir Charles to death and wanting to kill Sir Henry. In my opinion the meaning of this book is we are not purely good or evil; we are twilight or in between such as ‘The Darwin Theory’ on the beast in man. Another meaning is always give a second chance to everyone.
Sherlock Holmes’ attitude to crime is not to show mercy and not to be forgiving. Watson, on the other hand, is good, forgiving and always tries to give the enemy a second chance. Watson and Holmes are like two-sides of a coin; they are different yet they make one whole. Holmes and Watson would not be as good crime solvers as they are if they were with anyone else.
