Compare And Contrast The Hound Of The Baskervilles

The Hound of the Baskervilles is a classic mystery novel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle that was written in 1901. The same story is retold in The Hound of the Baskervilles movie, directed by David Attwood in 2002, with different details that changes the storyline. The Hound of the Baskervilles movie is a prime example of how certain details can differentiate the movie from the book. The novel written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle had examined the story as a way to portray the life he had lived in, the English Victorian era. The movie, on the other hand, was to appeal to a modern and larger audience, thus changing the story to further entertain the audience. Therefore, the novel and the movie have many differences and similarities. To make the storyline

First, director David Attwood portrays characters differently in his production of The Hound of The Baskervilles, than Sir Arthur Conan Doyle does in his novel. For example, the character Stapleton, who is the villain in this story, is seen to be a bit strange, but not at all a murderer. He is seen as a suspect just like the rest of the suspects, although the reader knows about his crazy antics. For example Stapleton is meeting Dr. Watson and Sir Henry Baskerville when he sees a moth-like bug and chases after it. Watson recalls, “A small fly or moth had fluttered across our path and in an instant Stapleton was rushing with extraordinary energy and speed of pursuit of it” (Doyle, 100). The reader is aware of Stapleton’s strange qualities, but this certainly does not characterize him as a murderer. On the other hand, in the Hound of the Baskervilles movie, Stapleton is seen almost strangling his wife at a Christmas party when she does not cooperate with his “plan” (Attwood). Another character that was characterized differently by the novel and movie was Dr. Mortimer. In the novel, Dr.

First, after Sir Henry leaves the Stapleton’s house, he is chased by the hound and before the hound can get to him, Holmes shoots the creature. Sir Henry tells Holmes “You saved my life” (221) because he escaped unscaved from this incident. In David Attwood’s depiction of the story, however, Sir Henry is attacked by the hound while running from it and Holmes is reluctant to shoot it (Attwood). This is different because Sir Henry is bloodied and hurt by this incident. Second, Stapleton escapes his house into the fog on the moor, to escape punishment (Doyle, 219). However, in the movie, when Stapleton escapes to the moor, Holmes chases after him and gets stuck in a quicksand-like mud on the moor. Stapleton then tries to shoot Holmes, but Watson comes up behind Stapleton and shoots him. (Attwood).

To conclude, the novel and movie production of The Hound of the Baskervilles were very different in terms of characters, character relationships, and the resolution of the story. This is mainly because these two works were made in different centuries and for different audiences. The takeaway from this is that whenever there is a retelling of a classic tale, details are changed and the different versions will not be the same. The character portrayal, character relationships, and resolution were altered by David Attwood to make the movie appeal to