Dr Grimesby Roylott Compare And Contrast Essay

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Aadya Sharma
Skalisky
Language Arts
15 February 2023
Dr. Grimesby Roylott: Compare & Contrast
The Adventure of the Speckled Band: Compare and Contrasting Dr. Roylott
“The Adventure of the Speckled Band” is considered to be one of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's best works, with all the best elements of a Victorian murder mystery and unique gothic elements. Dr. Grimesby Roylott is the antagonist of “The Adventure of the Speckled Band ” in both the original book by Arthur Conan Doyle and the 1984 movie adaptation, part of the series of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, directed by John Bruce. In “The Speckled Band ”, sleuthing detective and Sherlock Holmes and his associate Dr. John Watson met Helen Stoner, the stepdaughter of Dr. Grimesby …show more content…

In the film, he has a more cruel and brutish personality, often spoke of in hushed and fearful tones by Helen Roylott. During her meeting with Holmes and Watson, she states that he had taken part in “a series of disgraceful brawls” and describes him as “the terror of the village”. These details greatly shaped how the audience perceived him as these are the first details revealed about him, not including the fleeting scene at the very beginning. In comparison, the text does not go into much detail about him or his personality in the so he is almost never portrayed like that. Due to his lack of appearances, he seems to be more of a cunning and reclusive antagonist in the book, quietly plotting in the shadows. These small but noticeable details can cause a big difference on the type of villain the audience sees him as. The fact that even his own stepdaughter found him scary greatly transformed the way he was represented in the …show more content…

Sometimes these changes are minor, other times these changes can drastically change the perception of the characters. An example can be noticed in the movie when Dr. Roylott barges into Holmes’ office and exclaims, “Which of you is Holmes?” According to the movie, he said it in a very demanding manner, and was clearly outraged. This was shown in the text as well, however, he did not seem to be as furious as the movie. This may be due to a change in perception, as the text is shown from Watson’s point of view while the movie was in third person. However, his behavior in many scenes in the movie was still exaggerated when compared to the