Essay about How Is Doctor Roylott Presented in The Speckled Band?

In ‘The speckled band’ written by Arthur Conan Doyle, Dr Roylott is represented as an overall villain through his physical appearance but also in his intelligence and overwhelming similarity with the seven deadly sins. Throughout this short story Dr Roylott uses not only his large figure to show signs of dominance but he also manipulates everyone he meets with his outstanding intelligence and cunning thoughts. Conan Doyle makes Dr Roylott stand out as a villain by making his character have outbursts of anger and extreme emotions and actions towards Mrs stoner, Holmes, and the general public.

Firstly, the reader gets the impression that Dr Roylott is a villain when Doyle describes his physical appearance. Roylott has an exceptionally large stature which he uses cunningly to dominate and manipulate people. Such as when Roylott first met Holmes, he ‘framed himself’ in the doorway to intimidate and threaten him this shows how Roylott can use his body language and general appearance to give people a frightening first impression. To continue Dr Roylott carries a ‘Hunting crop’ which shows that he could be using it to make people scarce but in general as a reader you know his evil character would not be afraid to use his hunting crop as a form of weapon. As well as this he is described as a ‘fierce old bird of prey’. When the simile is used it links back to the prior knowledge of him keeping exotic, predatory animals as ordinary pets. This creates a sense of immense danger as the exotic animals are a great threat to the public with their unpredictable powers and the fact that they have been taken away from their natural habitats.

Furthermore, the date the book was written had a massive impact on how many readers interpreted Dr Roylott’s evil characteristics. When this book was written in 1892 many murders were occurring at the same time such as ‘jack the ripper’ and the fictional character ‘sweeney Todd’. This meant that many Victorian’s reading this short story would have got a clear vision of the monstrous man Roylott represented as most of the population were living in fear and paranoia which was increased due to these unsolved murders. This make’s Roylott’s character seem more believable and sinister as the people of the 1890s were facing a similar problem at the time meaning Roylott was more of a gripping character back then. However, the 21st century reader may look upon this novella in a different way due to the decrease in unsolved murders and a safer built society. This means that they are not likely to relate to Roylott’s character with their own fears and experiences making it harder to believe that Roylott is a genuine villain. The 1892 reader would have found it easier to see that Roylott was being presented as a villain compared to a modern-day reader. To continue not only has the date of the book changed the way the reader is influenced but it may also mean that Doyle was fascinated by real murders at the time (1892) which means Dr Roylott’s character could be largely influenced and made to seem more realistic and villainous from true experiences. 

At a first glance of Dr Roylott’s character, the impression of him is a wise intelligent man. This is then proven as he trained as a medical doctor and set up a practice in India. The skills Roylott is equipped with is extremely surprising however it shows a sly and callous side to him as he only trained to become a doctor for the wealth. This creates a juxtaposition as most doctors are typically caring and show an immense passion for their job and looking after others however Roylott is the opposite (antithesis) to this as he only became a doctor for the wealth and has no intentions of caring or looking after anybody except himself. However, Roylott’s downfall is his large ego as it takes over the genuine intelligence, he has at the worst of moments. Even though Roylott may be extremely intelligent his common sense and general stupidity can get the best of him which makes Holmes often question whether he has any genuine intellect at all. An example of this is his over-confident and arrogant introduction of himself to Holmes “I am Dr. Grimsby Roylott, of Stoke Moran.” This shows his oversized ego and how he may suffer from a ‘God complex’. As well as this his arrogance is also portrayed at the end of the short story due to his poor observation of the people surrounding him. Roylott thinks of himself as superhuman and invincible however this is proven to defeat him when he is killed by the exotic pet snake. This takes away his power and shows his clear stupidity and lack of knowledge as Holmes would easily been able to tell that the snake was a dangerous creature to have as a pet. 

To conclude Doyle uses many aspects to make Dr Roylott come across as a true villain. Not only does Dr Roylott seem sinister in his physical appearance but he also has a clear connection with the seven deadly sins due to his ego, greed, anger and many more. This obviously shows how Roylott has a villainous persona as many people who commit one of the seven deadly sins are said to be led down to hell. Lastly, he possesses similar traits know to those of a typical villain this shows a clear connection to the cunning personality he has showing he is a true villain.