Various Sherlock Holmes Stories example essay topic

During the Victorian era as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle created various adventures of Sherlock Holmes, he was surrounded by a patriarchal society. The assumption that women were inferior to men was true of that period. Women were expected to stay inside, raise the children, and perform "social" tasks. Men ate meat while women ate cake, strawberries, and custard (Bird 1). In various Sherlock Holmes stories featuring females, Doyle devises plots that depend on women, however they are often silent or physically absent even though they are vital to the narrative. Females are marginalized, controlled, and contained like colonized foreign subjects (Favor 398).

Conan Doyle's views pertaining to women colored Sherlock's as he created three damsels- in - distress stories, "A Case of Identity,"The Copper Beeches", and "The Speckled Band", however, Doyle's first story, "A Scandal in Bohemia" reveals opposite outlook of women (Harrison 1). According to Redmond (82), "all the women of the canon were victims-of the times they lived in... there was no need to be actually a victim, in 1895; it was quite enough to be a woman". It is not surprising that these women are not upper-class women as they would hardly find themselves in the sitting room of a middle-class detective. Sherlock Holmes's victims are the outcasts and prostitutes who are socially vulnerable enough to have problems that Holmes can solve; therefore they are the perfect damsels-in-distress (Redmond 82). "A Case of Identity" is the first so-called damsel-in-distress story in which Sherlock Holmes's role is to rescue a female victim (Redmond 81). Miss Mary Sutherland arrives to 221 b Baker Street to meet Sherlock Holmes as her fianc " ee had disappeared on the way to the church (Doyle 48).

Mary Sutherland's stepfather Mr. Windibank, had committed fraud as he disguised himself as an eligible bachelor, scheming to claim her income. His disguise involves false whiskers, dark glasses, a whispering voice, and he does not allow Miss Sutherland to see his hand writing. The interest of the story is of Mary Sutherland, and Holmes's and Watson's attitude towards her. Dr. Watson, depicted so far as a ladies man, shows no interest in her. Holmes's however, falls hard for Miss Sutherland, and takes an intense interest in solving her troubles but also in soothing the lady.

This is the only damsel-in-distress story in which Sherlock Holmes refers to his client as the "maiden" which carries a sexual connotation of sexual eligibility. Holmes is sympathetic towards Miss Sutherland as he says, "You have been shamefully treated", and when he is outraged with Mr. Windibank, he shouts, "there never was a man who deserved punishment more". Watson reveals that Sherlock Holmes works hard to help the women, to prevent them from danger as they are vulnerable and require protection (Redmond 83-85). Conan Doyle's second damsel-in-distress story "The Speckled Band", is quite similar to "A Case of Identity" as it is a tale of action whereas its predecessor requires only ratiocination.

It is also a story of a young woman whose stepfather covets her profits, and is prepared to go to great lengths to prevent her from marrying. Helen Stoner's stepfather, Dr. Grimesby Roylott, is much more violent than James Windibank as he stoops to the murder of his older daughter Julia. She was to be married, and in order to prevent access of her income this had to be stopped. He does so through the use of his "speckled band", the deadliest snake in India. Mr. Roylott also attempted to murder his younger daughter Helen as she was to be wedded, however Sherlock Holmes rescued this damsel-in-distress from the danger of her stepfather. Holmes and Watson exchange rooms with Miss Stoner and prepared for the snake to enter from Mr. Roylott's room through the convenient ventilator and up the dummy belt.

Holmes drives "The Speckled Band" back into Mr. Roylott's room turning on its owner and killing him. Through this extreme plot, Helen Stoner's exaggerated feminine qualities and Sherlock Holmes's macho behavior contributes to the stories effectiveness of the rescuing of this damsel-in-distress (Redmond 83-87). Holmes is presented as the masculine hero of this innocent female victim, while Mr. Roylott is seen as the villain, tainted by the East due to Doyle's imperialistic views. Doyle has justified the villain's death, thus, satisfying the reader's desire for justice in this patriarchal society (Favor 399-405). "The Speckled Band" was published in 1892, and four months later the third damsel-in-distress story, "The Copper Beeches", was presented.

This story had attracted much attention from various Sherlock ians as it was important in the revelation of Sherlock Holmes's love life. Holmes's client is Violet Hunter, not Alice Rucastle who does not appear in the story due to her imprisonment by her father as she was to be married. If Alice married her fianc " ee Mr. Fowler, similar to the previous story, "The Speckled Band", her father would not have access of her income. Hence, Miss Hunter has been lured into impersonating Mr. Rucastle's daughter, Alice. Mr. Fowler would perceive that Miss Rucastle was no longer interested in marriage and leave the premises of their home. Violet Hunter is presented by Doyle as a helpless woman, struggling to escape from a strong man.

"The Copper Beeches", contains the right combination of fear and excitement. The fear stems from the deserted rooms, the savage dog Carlo, and the imprisonment of Alice Rucastle behind the barred door. Miss Hunter's isolation in a male household creates excitement for the reader, however, Sherlock Holmes feels that this is no place for an innocent woman. Holmes is determined to save her from the danger of her surroundings, therefore, applies his masculine abilities, with the help of Watson and rescues her (Redmond 87-90). The three damsels-in-distress stories contrast Conan Doyle's first story, "A Scandal in Bohemia", as "Holmes had encountered a woman on the same intellectual plane as himself, someone to match his wits and never be sure of the outcome... someone from much the same mold [as himself] had entered and touched his life" (Redmond 58). Irene Adler is not like the average woman of looser morals, but attains an intellectual, patriarchal attitude believing men are smarter than women.

Adler's "tomboyish and assertive personality", allows her to triumph over Sherlock Holmes (Redmond 55-93). Miss Adler outwits Sherlock and escapes the country with the photo that he was set out to procure. Women are presented as potentially harmful in "A Scandal in Bohemia" (Favor 402). "The little Irish spy in her twenties gave him his first real taste of indomitable courage, resolution... that he was ready to rise above the most cruel privation and degradation" (Edwards 50).

To Sherlock Holmes Irene Adler was always "the woman", and while he remembers her with dubious affection who had outwitted him, he maintains an "aversion to women". Sherlock reveals that "women and their accompanying emotions are a distracting factor to male powers of reason and deduction" (Favor 402). The various adventures of Sherlock Holmes "were acts of creative partnership between Doyle and the women to whom he was closest - his two wives, his mother and his sisters" (Barsham 119). According to Redmond (15), Conan Doyle's mother should be given credit for her "son's triumphant belief in the superiority of women" as presented in the story, "A Scandal in Bohemia", as Irene Adler triumphs over Sherlock Holmes. This work is indeed a contrast of Doyle's patriarchal stories and also of the Victorian era as women were considered innocent victims, unable to solve their problems, therefore, depending on the help of men. Women were to be protected from the dangers of the world, thus, they were expected to stay inside and raise the children, while the male sex would go out into the world (Bird 1).

The patriarchal society in which Conan Doyle was immersed and his attitude towards women enabled him to create three damsels-in-distress stories to represent his views of life. Doyle saw women as victims of society who must be rescued by a male such as the typical Sherlock Holmes (Favor 398-405). Reference List Barsham, Diana. Arthur Conan Doyle and the Meaning of Masculinity.

Burlington: Ashgate Publishing Limited, 2000. Bird, Isabella. Theatre & Dance a tcu. 21 June 2003 Doyle, Arthur Conan.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. United States of America: Tom Doherty Associates Inc., 1988. Edwards, Owen D. The Quest for Sherlock Holmes: The Biographical Study of Arthur Conan Doyle. Totowa, New Jersey: Mainstream Publishing Company Edinburgh LTD, 1983. Favor, Leslie J. "The Foreign and the Female In Arthur Conan Doyle: Beneath the Candy Coating". English Literature Transition 43.4 (2000): 398-409.

Harrison, Michael. Miscellany. 21 June 2003 Redmond, Christopher. In Bed with Sherlock Holmes: Sexual Elements in Arthur Conan Doyle's Stories of The Great Detective. Toronto, Canada: Simon & Pierre, 1984.