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Choosing an Approach and Creating an Outline
I would like to map a Sherlock episode, The Hounds of Baskerville, against the characters defined in Joseph Campbell’s theory (The Hounds of Baskerville). Thus, I will analyze the episode to find the following characters therein: the hero, the herald, the mentor, threshold guardians, the trickster, the shape-shifter, and the shadow (“The Hero’s Journey”). Since the hero and the herald in this story are obvious, I will need to discern the other characters. The following bullet list will help me to do it:
- Watch the episode and try to see who or what presents the biggest trouble to find the trickster in the story.
- Pay attention to the character whose mood and attitudes change for the episode to identify the shape-shifter.
- Become aware of the character who is not shown a lot, but who has deep feelings and emotions toward the hero to find the shadow in the episode.
- Pay attention to who presents the greatest obstacles to discern the threshold guardian.
The Hero’s Journey in The Hounds of Baskerville
I chose The Hounds of Baskerville to discuss this assignment because it has always been one of my favorite stories. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was one of the greatest detective story writers, and Paul McGuigan is one among many directors who gave Doyle’s characters live on the screen. The characters’ names in the episode are borrowed from the book (Doyle 3–10). However, in the movie, they do not always belong to the same people as in the book. I highly appreciate the possibility of reading or watching detective stories, and I thought that analyzing The Hounds of Baskerville using Campbell’s theory would be a great idea.
First, it is necessary to point out the hero of the episode. I think that even those who have never read the books or watched movies about Sherlock Holmes must realize that he is the main hero here. He is the one who passes the three stages (separation, initiation, and return) and whose talent and wisdom solve the mystery in the episode.
The same thing concerns the herald—quite predictably, this role belongs to Holmes’s friend and colleague Watson. According to Campbell’s theory, the herald encourages the hero to take action. This is exactly what John Watson does in the episode: He persuades Sherlock that he should take the case suggested by Henry Knight. However, the latter may also be called a herald in this episode. Knight is so persistent in his request that eventually, he persuades Sherlock to become interested in his case.
Watson also plays another role—he is the mentor of the story. According to Campbell, this is someone who acts as the conscience of the book (“The Hero’s Journey”). Undoubtedly, in this case, Watson is the mentor. Even when Sherlock offends him by saying that he is not smart enough or that he does not consider him his friend (The Hounds of Baskerville), Watson remains polite and considerate. There are many instances in the episode when we see that Watson is the only one who practices consideration toward other people’s feelings.
The threshold guardians are represented in the episode by the workers and the security surrounding the Baskerville government research station. The most important of these is Major Barrymore. He prevents the hero and the herald from obtaining the secret information that is necessary for them to find the truth. Barrymore is a classic threshold guardian: He is not amicable, he is reserved, and he does not want the hero to get what he wants. However, using his wit and his brother’s ID, Sherlock manages to overcome the power of Barrymore.
The trickster in the story is the villain who makes everyone suffer and whom the hero eventually defeats. In the episode The Hounds of Baskerville, this character is represented by Doctor Frankland. He pretends to be a friend, but in fact, he is the one who killed Henry’s father twenty years earlier. While this character seems to fit the description of the shape-shifter, I think another character matches it better. Doctor Frankland is the trickster who organized a terrible experiment involving life-threatening gas many years ago. He killed Henry’s father and tried to kill Henry.
The shape-shifter of the story is Doctor Stapleton. At first, she seems to be unfriendly and suspicious. It looks as if she is the one doing the deadly experiments, and Sherlock starts to suspect her. However, it soon becomes clear that her interests are purely scientific, and she has no intention of killing anyone. As soon as Sherlock and Watson explain the situation to her, she becomes their ally and helps them to find out more about the things happening in Baskerville. Thus, Dr. Stapleton is the shape-shifter of the story, which helps the hero and herald.
Finally, every story has a shadow. In the episode, that is the shadow of Moriarty—Sherlock’s oldest and cruelest enemy. Moriarty’s “shadow” appears at the moment when the hero thinks that he is losing his senses and is about to die. As usual, the character of Moriarty is portrayed as full of evil and malice.
Thus, as we can see that a representation of each character from Campbell’s theory appears in The Hounds of Baskerville, some of them are predictable or even obvious—such as the hero (Sherlock Holmes), the herald (Doctor Watson), and the shadow (Moriarty). Other characters are different in each episode, so it was interesting to watch the episode while paying close attention and looking for them. The most interesting character introduced in theory is the shape-shifter. This character is usually the most unpredictable, and it is interesting to follow that character’s development. Since it is possible to discern each of the archetypes suggested in Campbell’s theory, a conclusion can be made that it is applicable to classic stories. In all, The Hounds of Baskerville is a great illustration of Joseph Campbell’s hero’s journey.
Works Cited
Conan Doyle, Arthur. The Hound of the Baskervilles. Xist Classics, 2015. Web.
“The Hero’s Journey.” YouTube, uploaded by Glove and Boots. 2013. Web.
The Hounds of Baskerville. Directed by Paul McGuigan, performances by Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman, Russell Tovey, Amelia Bullmore, Clive Mantle, and Mark Gatiss, BBC One, 2012. Web.
“What is the Hero’s Journey?: Pat Soloman at TEDxRockCreekPark.” YouTube. 2013. Web.
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