Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes (1854–1957, according to William S. Baring-Gould) is a fictional detective of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, created by British author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Holmes is famous for his prowess at using logic and astute observation to solve cases.

Profile

Holmes was said to have lived from 1881 at 221B Baker Street, London (an upper-storey flat at 221 Baker Street; in early notes it was described as Upper Baker Street), where he spent many of his professional years with his only friend Dr. John H. Watson, with whom he shared rooms for some time, before Watson's marriage (1890). The residence was maintained by the landlady Mrs. Hudson.

Related Topics:
221B Baker Street - London - Dr. John H. Watson - Mrs. Hudson

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In many of the stories Holmes is assisted by the practical Watson, who is not only Holmes's friend but his chronicler (his "Boswell"). Most of Holmes' stories are told as narratives, by Watson, of Holmes' solutions to actual crimes; in some later stories, Holmes criticizes Watson for his writings, usually because of Watson's decision to tell them as exciting stories rather than as objective and detailed reports. In an early plot outline, Doyle apparently intended for the role of Watson to be filled by two junior detectives named Sandifer and Phillip; who would write to one another concerning the details of the case.

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Holmes also has an older brother, Mycroft Holmes, who appears in three stories—"The Greek Interpreter", "The Final Problem", and "The Bruce-Partington Plans"—and is mentioned in a number of others, including "The Empty House".

Related Topics:
Mycroft Holmes - The Greek Interpreter - The Final Problem - The Bruce-Partington Plans - The Empty House

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In three stories, including The Sign of Four, he is assisted by a group of street children or urchins he calls the Baker Street Irregulars.

Related Topics:
The Sign of Four - The Baker Street Irregulars

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In the very first Holmes story, A Study in Scarlet, something of Holmes's background is given. On March 4, 1881 he is presented as an independent student of chemistry with a variety of very curious side-interests, almost all of which turn out to be single-mindedly bent towards making Holmes superior at solving crimes. In another early Holmes story, "The Gloria Scott", more background on what caused Holmes to become a detective is presented: a college friend's father complimented him very highly on his deductive skills.

Related Topics:
A Study in Scarlet - March 4 - 1881 - Chemistry - The ''Gloria Scott''

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In A Study in Scarlet, Dr. Watson makes an evaluation of Sherlock's skills:

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"Sherlock Holmes–his limits"

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• Knowledge of Literature.—Nil.
• " " Philosophy.—Nil.
• " " Astronomy.—Nil.
• " " Politics.—Feeble.
• " " Botany.—Variable. Well up in belladonna, opium, and poisons generally. Knows nothing of practical gardening.
• Knowledge of Geology.—Practical, but limited. Tells at a glance different soils from each other. After walks has shown me splashes upon his trousers, and told me by their colour and consistence in what part of London he had received them.
• Knowledge of Chemistry.—Profound.
• " " Anatomy.—Accurate, but unsystematic.
• " " Sensational Literature.—Immense. He appears to know every detail of every horror perpetrated in the century.
• Plays the violin well.
• Is an expert singlestick player, boxer, and swordsman.
• Has a good practical knowledge of British law.

Later stories make clear, however, that the above list is misleading, and that Holmes—who has just met Watson—is pulling Watson's leg. Two examples: Despite Holmes' supposed ignorance of politics, in "A Scandal in Bohemia" he immediately recognizes the true identity of the supposed Count von Kramm. Regarding non-sensational literature, Holmes' speech is replete with references to the Bible, Shakespeare, and even Goethe.

Related Topics:
A Scandal in Bohemia - Bible - Shakespeare - Goethe

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Holmes is also a competent cryptanalyst; he relates to Watson that he is "fairly familiar with all forms of secret writing, and am myself the author of a trifling monograph upon the subject in which I analyse one hundred and sixty separate ciphers." One such scheme is solved in "The Adventure of the Dancing Men" which uses a series of stick figures, for example:

Related Topics:
Cryptanalyst - Secret writing - Cipher

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Elsewhere Holmes himself mentions that he has "some knowledge" of baritsu, "the Japanese system of wrestling", by means of which he escaped the death-grip of his arch-enemy Professor Moriarty

Related Topics:
Baritsu - Professor Moriarty

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(who, however, figures in only two of the stories, despite his later reputation).

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In this same first story, Doyle presents a comparison between his debuting character and two earlier established and better known at the time fictional detectives: Edgar Allan Poe's Auguste Dupin and Emile Gaboriau's Monsieur Lecoq. Dupin had first appeared in "The Murders in the Rue Morgue", first published in 1841, and Lecoq in "L'Affaire Lerouge" ("The Lerouge Affair") in 1866. The brief discussion between Watson and Holmes about the two characters begins with a comment by Watson:

Related Topics:
Edgar Allan Poe - Auguste Dupin - Emile Gaboriau - Monsieur Lecoq - The Murders in the Rue Morgue - 1841 - L'Affaire Lerouge - 1866

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"You remind me of Edgar Allan Poe's Dupin. I had no idea that such individuals did exist outside of stories."

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Sherlock Holmes rose and lit his pipe. "No doubt you think that you are complimenting me in comparing me to Dupin," he observed. "Now, in my opinion, Dupin was a very inferior fellow. That trick of his of breaking in on his friends' thoughts with an apropos remark after a quarter of an hour's silence is really very showy and superficial. He had some analytical genius, no doubt; but he was by no means such a phenomenon as Poe appeared to imagine."

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"Have you read Gaboriau's works?" I asked. "Does Lecoq come up to your idea of a detective?"

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Sherlock Holmes sniffed sardonically. "Lecoq was a miserable bungler," he said, in an angry voice; "he had only one thing to recommend him, and that was his energy. That book made me positively ill. The question was how to identify an unknown prisoner. I could have done it in twenty-four hours. Lecoq took six months or so. It might be made a textbook for detectives to teach them what to avoid."

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Sherlock seems convinced that he is superior to both of them, while Watson expresses his admiration of the two characters. It has been suggested that this was a way for Doyle to pay some respect to characters by writers who had influenced him, while insisting that his character is an improvement over them.

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Holmes' arch-enemy, and popularly-supposed nemesis was Professor James Moriarty ("the Napoleon of Crime") who fell, struggling with Holmes, over the Reichenbach Falls. Conan Doyle intended "The Final Problem", the story in which Holmes and Moriarty fell over the cliff, to be the last that he wrote about Holmes; however the mass of mailings he received demanding that he bring Holmes back convinced him to continue. "The Adventure of the Empty House" had Conan Doyle explaining that only Moriarty fell over the cliff, but Holmes had allowed the world to believe that he too had perished while he dodged the retribution of Moriarty's underlings. Notably, Moriarty never appears directly in the stories; Watson never encounters Moriarty, and so the encounters between Holmes and his nemesis are described by Holmes.

Related Topics:
Professor James Moriarty - Napoleon - Reichenbach Falls - The Final Problem - The Adventure of the Empty House

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Irene Adler was always referred to by Holmes and his fans as "The Woman". She appeared only in "A Scandal in Bohemia", but she is often thought to be the only woman who broke through Holmes' reserve. In one story, "The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton", Holmes is engaged to be married,

Related Topics:
Irene Adler - The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton

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but only with the motivation of gaining information for his case.

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He clearly demonstrates particular interest in several of the more charming female clients that come his way (such as Violet Hunter of "The Adventure of the Copper Beeches", who Watson thought might become more than a client to Holmes). However, the context implies that Holmes found their youth, beauty, and energy (and the cases they bring to him) invigorating, as opposed to an actual romantic interest, as Holmes inevitably "manifested no further interest in her when once she had ceased to be the centre of one of his problems."

Related Topics:
Violet Hunter - The Adventure of the Copper Beeches

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If he was able to turn on a certain amount of charm, as indicated by these episodes, there is no indication of a serious or long-term interest apart from the case of Adler. Watson states that Holmes has an "aversion to women" but "a peculiarly ingratiating way with ." Holmes stated "I am not a whole-souled admirer of womankind." His dislike may have stemmed from the fact he found "the motives of women... so inscrutable... How can you build on such quicksand? Their most trivial actions may mean volumes... their most extraordinary conduct may depend upon a hairpin"; this resistance to his deductive processes may have annoyed him.

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Watson, on the other hand, has a perhaps justifiable reputation as a ladies' man: he spoke favourably of some women and actually married one, Mary Morstan of The Sign of Four (and another following Mary's death (1892), according to Holmes, and possibly one more according to some interpretations of the text).

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However Holmes is not at all a stuffy strait-laced Victorian gentleman; in fact, he describes himself and his habits as "Bohemian". He apparently suffers from bipolar disorder, alternating between days or weeks of listless lassitude and similar periods of intense engagement with a challenging case or with his hobby, experimental chemistry, "extreme exactness and astuteness... poetic and contemplative mood", "outbursts of passionate energy... followed by reactions of lethargy". Some Holmes researchers, however, believe the symptoms to be closer to those of ADD, since his mood swings have causes and are not completely arbitrary. Modern readers of the Holmes stories are apt to be surprised that he is an occasional user of cocaine, though Watson describes this as Holmes's "only vice". Watson might not have considered as a vice Holmes's habit of smoking (usually a pipe) heavily, nor his tendency to bend the truth and break the law (e.g. lie to the police, conceal evidence, burgle, housebreak, but not, say, murder or rape) when it suited his purposes; in Victorian England these were probably not considered vices as long as they were done by a gentleman for noble purposes. Since a large portion of the plot revolved around doing such things, a modern reader must accept actions which would be out of character for a 'law-abiding' detective living by the standards of a later time.

Related Topics:
Victorian - Bohemian - Bipolar disorder - ADD - Cocaine

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