How does Arthur Conen Doyle manipulate the conventions of the genre and an audiences expectations and deliver the moral messages that Victorian society would have expected?

Authors Avatar

English Coursework

How does Arthur Conen Doyle manipulate the conventions of the genre and an audiences expectations and deliver the moral messages that Victorian society would have expected?

The two stories that I have studied, ‘The Man with the twisted lip’ and ‘the adventure of the Speckled Band’ are both written by the author, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle between the years 1859 – 1930. They also both feature in the story Sherlock Holmes, along with a side kick, Doctor Watson.

Sherlock Holmes stories were not initially published in books, they were printed in Serial form in the Strand magazine. The Contempory audience at the time would have been familiar with the characters and the story being told from Doctor Watsons point of view, and the way in which the investigations are carried out.

The Generic expectations of murder mystery stories is that there would be a villain and a victim, the crime is usually by an aggressive man who has a motive and is violent, short tempered and known as a “gold digger. The villain is also expected to be male and clever. The victim is usually a female and is typical of the generic expectations of a murder mystery. She would be vulnerable and an hairness who had money. The detective would not be part of the law and would conduct his investigation in an appropriate manner. The crime is usually atypical and would usually be a weapon and well planned and executed and crime solved by Holmes, and justice is always done, and the person who commits the crime is always punished. The clues and the evidence of the story would be to entertain, following clues and the reader predicting the end. The scene and the setting of the crime would be a quiet place, enclosed and dark. The investigation of the crime would be atypical, it would be how and not who did it and the investigator does the investigation as a hobby. An audience would also expect to find evidence, clues and a motive that leads to an investigation and usually a solution. The investigation and crime would be solved by a detective, with an assistant at his side.

Join now!

The Villains in the two stories appear to be typical of the conventions or expectations of a murderer, a typical murderer in a murder mystery story is male, aggressive, shrine, unpleasant and has something to gain from the death of his victim. In ‘the Adventure of the Speckled band’ the villain is Dr. Roylott, uncle to the first victim. Helen Stoner who was his stepfather and stood out to Doctor Roylott as her mother was well off so Helen stood to inherit money which made her a target for Doctor Roylott. Helen Stoner describes Doctor Roylott as “Uncontrollable in ...

This is a preview of the whole essay