Hello! Late to the party as usual, but I just thought I'd stop by and cast my vote for Watson's second wife. I've always interpreted these lines in a straightforward manner to mean that Watson remarried in the years shortly before Holmes retired. Holmes clearly resents this, perhaps because he had hoped or expected that Watson would come with him into the country for their leisure years. With a new wife, Watson would need to go back into more regular practice to support her and also stay in London for the forseeable future. With Watson going back into full-time practice, he would have much less time and ability to join Holmes for cases, and little prospect of retiring to Sussex anytime soon.
Holmes was incredibly lucky that Watson's first wife was quite unconventional in her approach to money and not only did she not mind Watson spending his time on cases, she actively encouraged him to do so! I imagine that the second Mrs. Watson not unreasonably wanted her husband to actually do his job on a regular basis, and possibly come home to her every night. Of course Holmes was outraged at such demands :) And, to be fair to him, I think he may have been shocked and hurt at unexpectedly facing a lonely retirement, and perhaps even been angry at himself for taking Watson's company so much for granted that he had never actually confirmed any of his retirement plans with him and was blindsided when Watson took a different path.
So, yes, I think the writing of this story is tinged with some unfortunate resentment on his part -- it seems quite unlike his gentlemanly soul to actually print a criticism of Watson's marriage in a public document like this. I imagine it must have hurt his wife, and heaven knows it must have made the gossip rounds among her friends and acquaintances.
And as for Holmes's "back-handed compliment," I read it as one half sincere emotion toward Watson, followed immediately by a cynical mockery of the same. I think the first half of his reflection, in which he says that Watson has remarkable qualities of his own to which he has called too little attention amid his praise for Holmes is a genuine and heartfelt expression of how Holmes truly feels. But then he instantly undercuts it with a blisteringly caustic joke about how Watson's most remarkable quality is how he never, ever figures anything out.
To me, this is a living, breathing embodiment of one of Watson's keenest observations about Holmes, which he recorded in The Devil's Foot. At that time, they had a sweet and rather intensely emotional moment together, after the horrible experiment, wherein Holmes gave Watson his heartfelt thanks and a sincere apology, and Watson assured him of how privileged he always felt to be allowed to help. And then Watson very accurately observed:
He relapsed at once into the half-humorous, half-cynical vein which was his habitual attitude to those about him. "It would be superfluous to drive us mad, my dear Watson," said he. "A candid observer would certainly declare that we were so already before we embarked upon so wild an experiment..."
When Holmes expresses emotion too directly or vulnerably, he instinctively and quickly appends a caustic joke to undercut the previous sentiment. This is how he works. It's how he's always worked, and Watson sees it for what it is from a mile off. I think it might be harder for his wife to let it roll over her without taking offense. But I have faith that any woman Watson loved and married must have been exceptional, so I hope she and Holmes eventually reached a rapprochement. But I do get the sense that Watson to some degree had to 'take sides' more in his second marriage and wound up seeing less of Holmes in retirement than either would have liked, just because he had a lot of commitments and not much chance to spend a lot of time away from home.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2016-03-01 05:31 am (UTC)Holmes was incredibly lucky that Watson's first wife was quite unconventional in her approach to money and not only did she not mind Watson spending his time on cases, she actively encouraged him to do so! I imagine that the second Mrs. Watson not unreasonably wanted her husband to actually do his job on a regular basis, and possibly come home to her every night. Of course Holmes was outraged at such demands :) And, to be fair to him, I think he may have been shocked and hurt at unexpectedly facing a lonely retirement, and perhaps even been angry at himself for taking Watson's company so much for granted that he had never actually confirmed any of his retirement plans with him and was blindsided when Watson took a different path.
So, yes, I think the writing of this story is tinged with some unfortunate resentment on his part -- it seems quite unlike his gentlemanly soul to actually print a criticism of Watson's marriage in a public document like this. I imagine it must have hurt his wife, and heaven knows it must have made the gossip rounds among her friends and acquaintances.
And as for Holmes's "back-handed compliment," I read it as one half sincere emotion toward Watson, followed immediately by a cynical mockery of the same. I think the first half of his reflection, in which he says that Watson has remarkable qualities of his own to which he has called too little attention amid his praise for Holmes is a genuine and heartfelt expression of how Holmes truly feels. But then he instantly undercuts it with a blisteringly caustic joke about how Watson's most remarkable quality is how he never, ever figures anything out.
To me, this is a living, breathing embodiment of one of Watson's keenest observations about Holmes, which he recorded in The Devil's Foot. At that time, they had a sweet and rather intensely emotional moment together, after the horrible experiment, wherein Holmes gave Watson his heartfelt thanks and a sincere apology, and Watson assured him of how privileged he always felt to be allowed to help. And then Watson very accurately observed:
He relapsed at once into the half-humorous, half-cynical vein which was his habitual attitude to those about him. "It would be superfluous to drive us mad, my dear Watson," said he. "A candid observer would certainly declare that we were so already before we embarked upon so wild an experiment..."
When Holmes expresses emotion too directly or vulnerably, he instinctively and quickly appends a caustic joke to undercut the previous sentiment. This is how he works. It's how he's always worked, and Watson sees it for what it is from a mile off. I think it might be harder for his wife to let it roll over her without taking offense. But I have faith that any woman Watson loved and married must have been exceptional, so I hope she and Holmes eventually reached a rapprochement. But I do get the sense that Watson to some degree had to 'take sides' more in his second marriage and wound up seeing less of Holmes in retirement than either would have liked, just because he had a lot of commitments and not much chance to spend a lot of time away from home.