Sherlock Holmes is known as the World’s Greatest Detective; however, Irene Alder may just be the only person, male or female, that has ever defeated Holmes’ thinking machine of a brain. In his short story, “A Scandal in Bohemia,” Sir Arthur Conan Doyle challenges traditional social perceptions and gender assumptions toward British women in the 1890’s by creating tension with his characterization of female antagonist, Irene Alder, as a powerful intellectual equal to male protagonist, Sherlock Holmes. Irene, or The Woman, as she is known in future Sherlock Holmes stories, is a surprisingly full character with a quick wit and amazingly sharp manipulation skills. She is characterized as a elegant and talented opera singer from New Jersey living …show more content…
By choosing this adversary to be a woman, in a time when women were not regarded as capable to do anything outside of home and family, creates tension. Sherlock Holmes, World’s Greatest Detective certainly should be smarter than the average woman. In Britain during the 19th century Victorian era women were expected to be passive, demure, and appreciative of their male counterparts. "Men and Women inhabited separate spheres: women the private world of home and family; men the public world of the market place, citizenship and civil society," (Gordon & Nair, pg. 1). The character of Irene Alder breaks the mold of Victorian womanhood, showing herself to be remarkable, resourceful and intelligent, more than qualified to compete in a man's world. She impresses Sherlock with her ability to outwit him by thwarting his investigation and staying one step ahead of his unmatched thinking processes. One evening, Irene wears a disguise going undetected by Sherlock when she walks by him, dressed as a "slim youth in an [cloak]," and bids him “good evening” in a low tone of voice, (Conan Doyle, pg. …show more content…
She is a powerful, intelligent Victorian woman, with a mind of her own, which is unusual for the times. Irene Alder torments Sherlock’s brilliant mind in subsequent Sherlock Holmes stories. He never really recovers from being out witted and manipulated by a woman with superior intellect to his own. Eventually, Sherlock Holmes asks the King only for her photograph as payment for his services. He holds her in a place of reverence, as an intellectual equal. John Watson remarks, “To Sherlock Holmes she is always THE woman. I have seldom heard him mention her under any other name,” (pg. 1). She was a triple threat to the male gender, a rare combination of unforgettable beauty, undeniable grace and unsurpassed intellect. Irene Alder is a woman to remember: strong, bright and capable of
Claudia Valentine is a character that is an enigmatic and codified by the crime fiction genre. She is cleverly introduced in such a manner which is stereotypical of the traditional hard boiled detective with the alcohol, cigarettes and ‘blonde’ in the bed. These crime fiction conventions re-contextualized her in terms of her gender so to explore a more sinister aspect of humanity and the qualities that she possesses. Within Claudia, Day has created a strong and independent woman, creating a new voice for females in crime fiction. This can be seen in the encounters between Claudia and Dr. Angell, where she contrasts her personalities.
Irene Redfield is a morally reprehensible woman with an ironic twinge to her character. While claiming she is proud of who she is and her race she simultaneously hides who she is for convenience. She looks down on those who do the same for the sake of being able to live without persecution.
When Irene finally realizes that this woman is Clare, someone who chooses to “pass” and hide all traces of her black heritage, Irene’s opinion of her changes. She no longer wants to be involved with Clare in any way, and “had no desire or intention of making the slightest effort about Tuesday. Nor any other day for that matter. She was through with Clare Kendry.” (p. 31) Irene is appalled that someone can so easily throw away her background just for the sake of gaining privilege over another race. When Clare asks her if she had ever thought of passing, Irene replies, “No. Why should I? You see, Clare, I’ve everything I want.” (p. 28) She is happy with what she has, not even having to give up anything to get there. Or at least that’s what she convinces herself to believe. Irene is again hypocritical in her beliefs. Even when she opposes Clare’s view of passing, she is still very interested in the idea. “The truth was, she was curious. There were things she wanted to ask Clare Kendry. She wished to find out about this hazardous business of ‘passing’…” (p. 24) She even admitted that she held for her “a fascination, strange and compelling.” (p. 28) Irene doesn’t seem to be able to decide if she accepts passing as reasonable. She forces herself to disagree with passing, allowing her to hate Clare for doing it. This shows us that sexuality and race are two matters that conflict with each other, at least in Irene’s opinion. She uses race to
Irene wants to control her relationship with Clare and seems frustrated as she loses control when Clare is around. One occasion, Irene tries hard not to accept Clare’s invitation to meet her but ends up going. Later, Irene’s anger goes away just by the power of Clare’s smile, "And under her potent smile a part of Irene's annoyance with herself fled”. This constant loose of power makes Irene vulnerable and the possible affair between Clare and Brian gives Irene a motive for hating her instead of admitting her lesbianism and losing the life she has worked so hard to build.
Phyllis Dorothy James (1920 - ) is one of the greatest English novelist of all times, and unquestionably, the greatest mystery writer alive. She is often compared to Agatha Christy because of her mastery to accomplice suspense and to make the reader addictive to her stories, but the fact is that her writing goes higher than that. She has said that her influences include Jane Austen, Graham Greene and Evelyn Waugh. Her first novel Cover her face became an unexpected success and her reputation rose instantly. Today, every book she publishes with her name on the cover sells millions of copies around the world.
Arthur Conan Doyle’s legacy rests heavily on one Victorian creation: the character of Sherlock Holmes. Holmes's attitude of intelligence and originality continues to keep fans inclined and fascinated ever since the Victorian era. Holmes persists as remakes and reincarnations of the Sherlock character keep the mastermind relevant. While the modernization of Sherlock creates a personal connection between the reader and Sherlock in “A Scandal in Belgravia,” the BBC adaptation dilutes Sherlock’s character from a distinguished genius to a mere detective.
In British Victorian society, women were the nurtures and the protectors of the children, and what some deemed as only monetarily valuable items. This female instinct to nurture is one stereotype that is greatly reflected in the personality of Irene Adler. Adler’s willingness to help is a quality that Watson, as well as other men in society, felt all women should possess. Watson acknowledges this nurturing tendency when he says, "but I know that I never felt more heartily ashamed of myself when I saw the beautiful creature against which I was conspiring, or the grace and kindliness with which she
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle utilizes many/several detail-oriented literary elements to develop the many adventures of the famous fictional British detective Sherlock Holmes and his partner, John Watson. Long winded description and complex vocabulary are infused into Doyle’s writing to accentuate Holmes’s great intelligence. By incorporating such a heavy, educated tone upon the mysteries, the tales of Sherlock Holmes are expressed as very complicated stories that challenge readers in comprehension as well as encourage curiosity through puzzling cases.
Rather than surrendering to the trickery of Sherlock Holmes, Irene Adler outsmarts him using his own tricks and makes her escape right under his nose. The narrowly defined roles of women were evident for the only means to discuss women in this story is through their relations with men. No woman, not even Irene Adler, has her own story. After all in the end, even Irene Adler runs away with a man. Out of the five female characters mentioned or referred to in this story, only one is given a name and a personality. This lack of female representation shows how dominant males were in the society of the story and in the society of the real world.
The story ‘Scandal in Bohemia’ starts of very odd, “To Sherlock Holmes, she is always the woman’. This has already given the reader a hint of suspense as it is something unusual. It was always thought that Holmes had no feelings and no emotions for anyone, but according to this opening the above phrase is
Coulson, 2004). Sherlock is a part of the upper class while Watson is seen as a middle class citizen while he is respected but he isn't on the same level as Holmes. He is also respected for his work as a doctor and is known for being hard working. Sherlock is portrayed as a troubled but brilliant detective who is often troubled and socially awkward with people. He also deals with psychological noise with the fact that he sees everything he call it both a gift and a curse at the same time. Holmes and Watson both have different degrees of perceived self and presenting self. In Watson case his is more concerned with his presenting self than Sherlock is (C. M. Shaw& R. Edwards, 1997).
In the novel Emma, the author, Jane Austen, uses many different techniques to characterize Miss Bates as a woman with no intellect, but a very kind heart. Miss Bates in a humorous character who is loved and loving.
Agatha Christie is one of the most successful crime novelists and theater writers of the 20th century. Agatha Christie's shy life led her to a world of fantasy and has helped her to evoke many personalities, including famous detective such as Hercule Poirot and Miss Marble.
The legendary fictional character Sherlock Holmes was constructed by a basis of a French criminal expert and a famous police investigator. He is known for his prowess in perception and analysis. On the other hand, Holmes sympathy towards people is near absent. Holmes loves to breakdown the story of each person he comes in contact with it. However, he does make a mistake occasionally. Although, there are many positive representations of Holmes, the Downey-Holmes is the best.
As quoted “Most people, if you describe a train of events to them, will tell you what the result would be. They can put those events together in their minds, and argue from them that something will come to pass. There are few people, however, who, if you told them a result, would be able to evolve from their own inner consciousness what the steps were which led up to that result.” Sherlock excelled at latter. He has a keen eye for finding a needle in haystack. This Quality of his merely human and it often appears as if he is a clairvoyant, I personally found that very intriguing. The Fact that his intelligence is glorified and depicted as of a superhuman distinct him and gives him that superiority complex which taps into our subconscious mind as deep down we all crave and desire