This is an essay for the gothic unseen section of the A Level English Literature 'Comparative and Contextual Study' exam (the 2.5 hour long one). This essay is in response to a passage from Arthur Conan Doyle's 'The Hound of the Baskervilles'. This essay will help you understand what to include in ...
“Write a critical appreciation of this passage, relating your discussion to your
reading of the gothic.” (The Hound of the Baskervilles – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
– DARCY MCDERMOTT
“The Hound of the Baskervilles” though published in the 20 th century, comes off the back of the
Victorian gothic era, being published only five years after Bram Stoker’s “Dracula”. This extract
presents many tropes typical to the gothic genre including horror, the sublime and obscurity.
These combine to accentuate tension and fear in the characters and reader.
The stereotypical gothic trope of horror serves to increase the uneasiness and fear of the
reader. The visceral image of “his head doubled under him at a horrible angle” makes the
reader feel uncomfortable due to the vivid description of the unnatural positioning of the body.
The mystery surrounding what or who did this to Henry Baskerville creates fear in the reader
and the other characters in the extract, not knowing the aggressor’s full capability or if
Baskerville was their only victim. The reference to blood through the image of “his clotted
fingers” immediately repulses the reader through the abhorrent nature of the word “clotted”. It
creates a clear, graphic image in the reader’s mind making them feel on edge about what they
will read next. The blood on his fingers demonstrates that the unknown figure was not just
physically assaulted to end up in that position, but something has penetrated his skin making
him bleed. This increases fear as it increases the mercilessness of the attacker. Blood has
strong associations with death presenting the figure as rapidly increasing in weakness and
probably nearing his end, which adds to tension in the extract and again fear to what was the
cause. The blood being described as a “ghastly pool that widened slowly” shows it to be an
endless torrent and that this attack was recent. This increases fear as it means that the
assailant may still be close and therefore Holmes, Watson or the narrator may be the next
victim. The onomatopoeia of “crushed” epitomizes the barbarity of the aggressor’s attack,
making the reader feel uneasy and disturbed. The word “crushed” connotes force and
destruction which portrays the aggressor as something of immense power and violence, that
should be greatly feared.
Doyle’s use of the sublime, paired with isolation, increases tension and fear due to the
characters being overwhelmed by the overpowering, dangerous force of nature. The setting of
the extract being a “moor” immediately renders the characters vulnerable due to a moor’s wide-
open environment. Being so vast and open means that the characters are susceptible to any
attack, possibly from nature or the supernatural, from any direction as there is nowhere for
them to hide, making them insignificant. This increases tension as the reader becomes weary
of their defenseless state, and increases fear in the characters due to their lack of power. The
isolated nature of a moor further increases the tension and fear as it is so detached from cities
bustling with life, that if anything was to happen then there is no one there to help, meaning the
characters are completely on their own. Being overwhelmed by the isolated, open setting of a
moor is common to the gothic as seen in Collin’s “The Woman in White”. The “windless night”
that the characters are experiencing is unsettling due to the unnaturalness of it. It creates the
idea that things are not normal and as they should be, therefore foreshadowing evil and the
characters’ discovery of the body. The “heavy silence” that this night brings is additionally
unsettling due to the oppressive and powerful nature of the adjective “heavy”. It creates the
idea that the silence is overwhelming the characters, therefore putting them in a state of
weakness against nature. Nature is presented as an antagonist as the characters have to
“blunder” and “force” their way through boulders and bushes, trying to locate the sound. This
shows nature to be powerfully opposing the characters as they struggle to fight against it,
presenting the three men as being overwhelmed by nature. The characters’ “blundering…
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