Victorian society Essay Example for Free

Victorian society Essay 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. 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 his anger, this makes the reader think that he is frightening to this because she doesnt know how he will react at any particular time. Through Watsons narration of Roylott, Conan Doyle creates an image of a wild animal, a hunter, a savage beast. Roylott is described as a fierce old bird of prey and on leaving the apartments, he snarled at Holmes at Watson like a vicious dog. In the man with the twisted lip the villain is Hugh Boon, whom the author describes him as having a bull dog chin which makes the reader believe that he is dog like, savage and vicious. He is a typical villain with a violent and rough past, he seams unreal with inhuman features. The quotes like bile shot eye gives the reader the impression that he is very angry and furious. Thoughout the story Boon is described as a perputial snarl by Doctor Watson, a old Scar by Watson and repulsive ugliness by Doctor Watson. The writer was subverting our generic expectations because we do not expect to know who the villain is at the start, however, the writer conforms our generic expectations because of the setting, the motives and the murder method. In The Adventure of the speckled band the victim is Helen Stoner, step daughter of Dr Roylott. Her mother was quite well off so Helen stood to inherit money income of à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½250 which made her a ideal target for her stepfather. In the man with the twisted lip Neville St Clare, who was an atypical victim was the apparent victim. He was an atypical victim because of the financial gain. Neville St Clare was also a villain, and he wanted to cover this up, he was saw in a window looking very agitated. The crime and investigation in both stories subverts the generic expectations. In The Adventure of the speckled band the investigation is atypical because Holmes in investigating how not who. There is no weapon in the crime, its a snake which does the damage and subverts the generic expectations, so its atypical to the generic expectations. In The Man with the Twisted Lip, there is no crime committed even though it is a murder mystery. Sherlock Holmes investigates the mystery and finds the villain was the victim. The detectives in both stories are atypical because Holmes does it for a hobby, the enjoyment and mental stimulation. In the end, Neville St. Clare was barred from begging ever again and Doctor Roylott was hoist by his own petard.  In Conclusion, I think that these two stories are both typical in the majority of the ways in a murder mystery genre because they both adhere to the generic expectations of a murder, detective story.