"The Hound of the Baskervilles" in the Context of Gothic Fiction and the Detective Story

Seminar paper from the year 2013 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 2,0, University of Bayreuth (Sprach - und Literaturwissenschaftliche Fakultät), language: English, abstract: When enthusiastic readers and fans around the globe think of Sherlock Holmes, they do not necessarily associate the stories of the detective with Gothic fiction. Holmes is rather linked to be the supreme example of the classic detective story. Ever since the first Sherlock Holmes story "A Study in Scarlet" has been published, numerous adaptations such as theatre plays, films and a recent BBC series followed. Adding scholarly texts to the adaptations, one can certainly argue that most of the publications deal with Holmes in his role as a detective. Thus, Nils Clausson claims that "the myth of the scientific detective was born" (61).
Certainly, it is more likely to associate Sherlock Holmes with crime fiction than with vampires or zombies. However, Gothic fiction is far to complex to reduce the term only to this associations.
Thus, the purpose of this seminar paper is to lay the focus on Gothic elements and detective fiction in one particular Sherlock Holmes story, The Hound of the Baskervilles. Hence, the structure of the paper will be as follows. In the first chapter, the paper will be concerned with the term Gothic. This implies an attempt to both define as well as limit the notion to Gothic fiction. Moreover, the paper deals with common motifs or features of the classic Gothic fiction, which developed in the 18th century. In the next sub-chapter, the paper sets the focus on the so - called Gothic revival, which occurred in the late - Victorian era of the 19th century. As it is of peculiar interest for The Hound of the Baskervilles, some characteristics of the late-Victorian Gothic will be implied. The third and the fourth chapter will illustrate the main aspects of the paper. Subdivided into characters, setting and plot, the third chapter will discuss some Gothic elements in The Hound of the Baskervilles. Could The Hound of the Baskervilles either be considered as Gothic fiction or a detective story? Based on this question, the paper will incorporate several scientific statements to find an answer. Finally, the paper will give a conclusion as well as a bibliography.