How we cite our quotes: (Chapter. Paragraph)
Quote #1
[This from Hugo Baskerville to his sons Rodger and John, with instructions that they say nothing thereof to their sister Elizabeth.] (2.24)
(A side note: the Hugo who is signing this note is writing in 1742, about a hundred years after the events in the manuscript Dr. Mortimer presents to Holmes. We find it funny that the Baskervilles have continued using the name "Hugo" when the first Hugo Baskerville in this manuscript appears to have brought down the vengeance of a hell beast on their heads.) Why do you think that Hugo Baskerville doesn't want to tell this story of the Hound to his daughter, Elizabeth? Why might Elizabeth get singled out for protection from this story, as opposed to her two brothers?
Quote #2
"By no means. You could not make a greater mistake. If they are innocent it would be a cruel injustice, and if they are guilty we should be giving up all chance of bringing it home to them. No, no, we will preserve them upon our list of suspects. Then there is a groom at the Hall, if I remember right. There are two moorland farmers. There is our friend Dr. Mortimer, whom I believe to be entirely honest, and there is his wife, of whom we know nothing. There is this naturalist, Stapleton, and there is his sister, who is said to be a young lady of attractions. There is Mr. Frankland, of Lafter Hall, who is also an unknown factor, and there are one or two other neighbours. These are the folk who must be your very special study." (6.6)
Here, Holmes lays out a list of people whom Watson should watch while he's staying with Sir Henry at Baskerville Hall. It's useful that there is a relatively limited list of people in the neighborhood who might be guilty of killing Sir Charles and threatening Sir Henry: it makes Watson's job a lot easier. We also know that at least one of these people must be lying, if they are on Holmes' suspect list. Clearly, any detective novel has to deal with the theme of "Lies and Deceit," or else there'd be nothing to detect.
Quote #3
"Go back!" she said. "Go straight back to London, instantly."
I could only stare at her in stupid surprise. Her eyes blazed at me, and she tapped the ground impatiently with her foot.
"Why should I go back?" I asked.
"I cannot explain." She spoke in a low, eager voice, with a curious lisp in her utterance. "But for God's sake do what I ask you. Go back and never set foot upon the moor again."
"But I have only just come."
"Man, man!" she cried. "Can you not tell when a warning is for your own good? Go back to London! Start tonight! Get away from this place at all costs! Hush, my brother is coming! Not a word of what I have said." (7.91-6)
Beryl Stapleton doesn't want Sir Henry to be murdered (in this scene, she's mistaken Watson for Sir Henry). But she also doesn't want to upset her husband or reveal his role in Sir Charles' death. Beryl wants the impossible: she wants to protect Stapleton and save Sir Henry. By the end of the book, she doesn't even care about protecting Stapleton any longer. What do you make of Beryl's character? Do we have any sense of her as a three-dimensional person from this novel?