Discussion Post: A Scandal in Bohemia

[spacemutineer.livejournal.com]

Hello again! Welcome to Sunday and A Scandal in Bohemia! What did you think of it? This is a really rich one, with lots to toy with, so I think we're going to get some terrific 60s from it. I'm looking forward to it! As always, here are a few thoughts and questions of mine to get the discussion flowing. Please add your own!

-- We find Holmes and Watson here at a strange, sad point in their relationship. Watson is married, out of Baker Street, and they are absent from each others' lives entirely, to the point that Watson refers to Holmes as his "former friend". What really happened between them? Was it merely the marriage or was it something else too? Is Watson's home life as blissful as he lets on? He seems to miss the life of adventure with Holmes, willing to go with him into any danger and spending the night spontaneously as needed. Certainly we can tell Holmes has very much missed his Boswell. Cocaine was not an adequate substitute for his friend during his long absence. Being Holmes, though, he does still insult Watson about his weight as not-so-subtle revenge.

-- The fact that Doctor Watson carries his stethoscope around hidden in his top hat may be my all-time favorite random detail from one of these stories. There is something fantastically perfect about that.

-- Holmes' role as accidental best man is amusing. Seems like he enjoyed it too, wanting to keep a permanent memento from the experience. Why do you think he wanted to wear the coin Irene gave him? Did she say something to him to affect him so?

-- The lovely Irene dies young, it seems. Watson describes her as the "late Irene Adler". A Scandal in Bohemia takes place in 1888 and was published in 1891, giving her three years maximum as a happily married woman. How tragic. Any theories on what happened to her? And is her memory really all that "dubious and questionable", anyway?

-- I've been gradually developing a personal theory about Holmes and women and SCAN brings it to the fore. Holmes and Watson make a great deal of fuss over Holmes' inherent dislike of women, but that isn't exactly the right way to describe it, I think. He doesn't respect the vast majority of women, because they don't generally earn his respect. Holmes believes strongly in meritocracy (based upon his own measures, of course). Given women's prescribed roles in Victorian society, however, there is virtually no way for most to ever impress Holmes enough as clever people. Most who do it are criminals. But when he encounters a woman who is capable and decent, combining intellect and a strong sense of justice, he is unusually and noticeably moved by them. It happens here with Irene Adler and it happens with Violet Hunter later. In a different society with different roles for women, in a different time perhaps, in a place where women could better prove their intelligence and worth to him, Holmes would likely not see women in a negative light at all. They would be simply be judged by their own individual merits as people, exactly as men are. This is a personal theory; your mileage may vary.

Comments

[hisietari.livejournal.com]

My stethoscope is certainly too heavy to be carried under a top-hat. An admirable skill!

I don't think that Holmes generally dislikes women either. At least I never got that impression from what I've read, and it wouldn't be logical at all. After all, he observes first, then draws conclusions. Not the other way round. On the other hand, not wanting a romantic relationship with a woman, and disliking women, are two very different things.

[spacemutineer.livejournal.com]

Are you a doctor or nurse or [insert medical job here]? Neat!

And agreed 100% on your point about any romantic interest. Holmes seems repelled by the concept, although open to the idea of women succeeding as people. I think the issue is that Watson tends to conflate the two ideas, giving the reader a bit of a skewed perspective.

[hisietari.livejournal.com]

I once wanted to and started the training, but nope. I'm still darn good at guessing anamnesis games though. Saves a lot of time and effort at the vet's. ;P

A lot of people do, and I guess that in their time this attitude was even more widespread than today.

[fenm.livejournal.com]

I agree; I think Holmes dislike/distrust/dismissal of women is often overstated. A few times he even praises women; not just Adler, but Violet Hunter from "Copper Beeches". And as thesmallhobbit says, he doesn't hold many men in high esteem, either. It reminds me of a line from My Fair Lady (paraphrased from memory): "It's not whether I treat you badly, it's whether you've ever seen me treat anyone any better".

[thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com]

I think Holmes admired Irene Adler - for a start she outsmarted him, without doing him an injury. And I imagine he appreciated her beauty; he enjoyed going to concerts and to art galleries so there is no reason to suppose he wasn't aware that she was attractive.

Holmes was scathing about many men too, so his low opinion of most women is not surprising especially where, as you say, they were unable to demonstrate their abilities.

[wytchcroft.livejournal.com]

but i think of the Reigate Squires and remember how Holmes only agreed to the holiday on condition that there were no women in the place!

[thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com]

I suspect on that occasion he wanted to be left in peace (apart from the odd murder, of course) and didn't want to deal with chatter. Also if there were women present there would be a degree of formality, like having to dress for dinner.

[wytchcroft.livejournal.com]

quite so :)

[spacemutineer.livejournal.com]

Agreed. In fact, I took it that more than anything, he didn't want to visit a house run by a woman. Victorian women would be expected to keep things in a certain order and he didn't want to have to deal with the conventions there, exactly as thesmallhobbit points out.

If he expected it would be a more... unconventional house run by an unconventional (and there for un-Victorian) woman, I think he might have been more amenable.

[wytchcroft.livejournal.com]

quite a lot of weddings in the first series of stories, i'm always surprised by that! :)

[spacemutineer.livejournal.com]

I wonder if that reflects the times as well. Maybe there were statistically more marriages as death was a relatively high risk at all times. Seems like there are a lot of widows and widowers in these stories too. Of course, with a detective, you're going to get quite a bit of that... ;)

[wytchcroft.livejournal.com]

and i suppose* Conan Doyle was still a (relatively) newly wed whose 'bohemian' days were still fresh in his mind - perhaps the early stories reflect some of that.

* i.e. i haven't checked!