Sherlock Holmes Final

Pastiche

A serious imitation of another work

Parody

A work imitating another, usually serious, piece in a comic or nonsensical way. Often makes fun of some familiar style; a humorous or satirical imitation. Similar to a caricature in art.

Antagonist and Examples

Antagonist: the character opposed to the protagonist. Include Col. Moran, Dr. Roylott, and Stapleton

Three Best Actors

Basil Rathbone, Jeremy Brett, and Benedict Cumberbatch.

Archetypal Hero Roles

Byronic, Epic, and Chivalric

Four Cultural Icons

Deerstalker Cap Pipe Inverness Cape Magnifying Glass

Other crimes than murder

"A Scandal in Bohemia"—blackmail "The Red-headed League"—attempted bank robbery "The Musgrave Ritual"—found Charles II's crown (as well as body of the butler) "The Dancing Men"—deciphered code

"David"

"The Crooked Man" features a similar plot to the biblical account of David lusting after Bathsheba and killing Uriah. Col. James Barclay and Henry Wood both loved the same woman, Nancy, and Barclay sent Wood off a mission and had him ambushed, allowing Nancy and everyone else to believe Wood had been killed. Years later, Nancy and Wood—now a "crooked" man because of his brutal treatment—reunite, and when Nancy confronts him in private, the servants overhear her yelling "David!" and Holmes deduces she is accusing her husband (and, in fact, said he deduced the whole case from that word alone).

Holmes narrates...

"The Lion's Mane"

The Moonstone Novel

Wilkie Collins 900 pages, jewel theft, Sergeant Cuff

Others

William Gillette (stage actor); Eille Norwood (silent films); Jonny Lee Miller; Robert Downey, Jr.; and Sir Ian McKellen are also prominent actors who have portrayed Holmes.

Bowl of Milk, Bell Pull, Speckled Band

Dr. Gimesby Roylott in "The Speckled Band" fed his poisonous snake, a swamp adder, from a bowl of milk and trained him to slither down a dummy bell pull from his room into his step-daughter's room. Using this method, he killed his step-daughter Julia, but Holmes solved the case before the other step-daughter, Helen, was killed. When Holmes attacked the snake, it slid back up the bell, attacking and killing Roylott. These items were used to advance the plot and to show the craftiness and wickedness of Roylott. Because he had lived abroad in India, there are also allusions to how living in exotic places can negatively affect one's psyche. There is situational irony in the fact that the snake killed its owner, and "The Speckled Band" title refers to the snake. (Julia called the snake this with her last breaths.)

The Real-Life Inspiration for Holmes

Dr. Joseph Bell, Doyle's instructor at medical school. Doyle was also clerk for Bell.

Author of Dupin

Edgar Allen Poe Father of Modern Detective Stories

Detective Lecoq

Emile Gaboriau, Doyle borrowed Lecoqu's use of disguises.

Freytag's Pyramid

Exposition Rising Action Climax Falling Action Resolution

Watson fills these character functions

Foil: one who accentuates, by contrast, the attributes of another character (Holmes) Raisonneur: a voice of reason Narrator: the one telling the story Confidant: the one in whom another character confides (again, Holmes) Symbol: one who stands for an ideal, a principle, a group (Watson represents the "everyman," the traditional Victorian gentleman who has a moral code) Companion: a role, similar to confidant, that is specific to the detective story

Holmes' Eccentricities

He has many! Uses cocaine in the early stories, keeps tobacco in his slippers, shoots the wall, needs constant stimulation, writes numerous, extraordinary strength and senses, complex personality: a rationalist and an asthete ("art for art's sake"), can be extremely languid but then has bursts of energy, etc. While not strictly eccentricities, he is also noted for his violin playing, smoking, going for long stretches without food while working, wearing dressing gowns, etc. NOTE: this is not a comprehensive list—you may have observed others, and those may certainly be listed on the final exam.

Judge and Jury story

In "The Abbey Grange," Holmes listens to Capt. Crocker's account of how Sir Brackenstall, the abusive husband of Lady Brackentall and Capt. Crocker's love, died. Given the abusive circumstances and Crocker's overall noble attitude, Holmes declares him "not guilty."

Wax Bust

In "The Empty House," Holmes commissions a wax bust of himself to set up in his 221B apartment, thus tricking Col. Moran into thinking he's there. Although Holmes commissioned his wax bust from Milner, Madame Tussaud's wax models were known during the Victorian period.

Doesn't Solve in Time

In "The Five Orange Pips," John Openshaw, Holmes' client, was on his way home when he was killed. Holmes did discover that Ku Klux Klan members, led by James Calhoun, were behind the murder. To avenge Openshaw, Holmes sent a letter with five orange pips to Capt. Calhoun, but the ship he was on was lost at sea, resulting in some sense of "justice." In "The Dancing Men," Holmes deciphers the code of stick figures ("dancing men") that Mr. Hilton Cubitt found written around his property, scaring his American wife, Elsie. Mr. Cubitt is unfortunately killed before Holmes arrives, and Elsie tries to kill herself. Abe Slaney was the culprit leaving the code—he had loved Elsie but refused to leave the American gang, led by Elsie's father, and she fled to London where she met Mr. Cubitt. Because Cubitt fired first, Abe Slaney was not convicted of murder, and Elsie recovered.

The Encyclopedia Britannica

In "The Red-headed League," Jabez Wilson copies out the A section of the encyclopedia, which is a ruse by his assistant, Vincent Spaulding (aka John Clay) to keep him away from the business so Spaulding/Clay can dig a tunnel from his business to the bank. It reveals that Wilson is rather gullible (or at least willing to go along with it because he's being paid), as well as Spaulding/Clay's craftiness.

Irene Adler

Irene Adler—she is an antagonist to the King of Bohemia since she possesses a photograph of the two of them, and she threatens to make it public, thus ruining his engagement to a Scandinavian role. (This could also make her a perpetrator of the "crime," though no crime apart from blackmail takes place.) She is also a foil to Holmes since she is the only one to "outsmart" him. She is symbolic of the "new woman"—a term developed in the early 1890s that referred to more independent women. Although Irene Adler fulfills the ideals of a beautiful, winsome Victorian woman (all the men who see her comment on her beauty, and she shows concern for Holmes when he is "hurt" in his clergyman disguise), in contrast to the "angel of the house" model that women were expected to fulfil in the Victorian era, she exerts control over her own life by blackmailing the King of Bohemia, disguising herself as a man, etc. Irene may also be considered a victim to the King of Bohemia; she says in her letter she has been "cruelly wronged" by the king, and Holmes says she "seems to be on a very different level indeed" than the king, expressing his admiration in this statement and by calling her "the woman."

Doyle = Holmes

Love of Boxing Love of Art Gentlemen Imperialists

Character symbolized by spider and lizard

Moriarty—he is described as a reptilian character and a spider: "He sits motionless, like a spider in the centre of its web, but that web has a thousand radiations, and he knows well every quiver of each of them" and "His shoulders are rounded from much study, and his face protrudes forward, and is for ever slowly oscillating from side to side in a curiously reptilian fashion. He peered at me with great curiosity in his puckered eyes" (ch. 1)

Five Types of Conflict

Person v. person person v. self person v. society person v. God/fate person v. nature

Conflict in "The Resident Patient"

Person vs. Person: humans struggling against each other. In this case, Blessington is fending off members of the gang he was formerly part of. Person vs. Self: internal/psychological turmoil; "a struggle for mastery by two elements within the person" (Harmon and Holman 123). In this story, Blessington suffers from acute paranoia. Person vs. Society: humans struggling against society (as entity/institution) as a whole. Dr. Trevelyan (like Doyle himself) did not have the finances to support his own medical practice, so Blessington gave him sufficient funds. Person vs. God/Fate: metaphysical; clash between human and fate/destiny or deity/God. It could be argued that, because of his misdeeds, Blessington's death was fate meting out justice.

Reichenbach Falls

Using Baritsu, Holmes overcame Moriarty, and Moriarty plummeted over the falls. Col. Moran was there, though, and hurled rocks at Holmes to try and kill him. Holmes realized that even if Moriarty was dead, others would no doubt want to kill Holmes, so it was better for everyone to believe him dead. For the "three year hiatus," only Mycoft knew he was alive, and Holmes traveled in Europe and Asia, pretending to be a Norwegian explorer named Sigerson.

3 Character Foils to Holmes

Watson—There are numerous ways Watson is a foil to Holmes; see the "Holmes and Watson as Foils" handout on Moodle for a more comprehensive list. Moriarty—The two are equally matched in intellect. Moriarty is what Holmes could have been if he chose to commit crimes rather than solve and prevent them. Mycroft—Holmes freely admits that Mycroft has greater deductive abilities than he does, but Mycroft doesn't use them.

Doyle = Watson

Writer Doctor Moral Men

Holmes in different mediums

stage, radio, TV, film

Chivalric

• Almost superhuman in strength and skill in fighting • Little romantic interest in women • Deeds narrated by singer/bard at ceremonies and feasts (e.g., Watson records his victories) • On his shoulders the fate of cities/nations rests (we see this in "The Final Problem" when he sees it as his final goal to protect the streets of London from Moriarty) • Descends to the underworld and returns (his supposed "died" at Reichenbach) • Embodies the values of his country (justice)

Byronic

• Melancholic temperament • "Ennui" - bored with life at times • Defiantly proud • Isolated, wandering • Above the common man

Epic

• Strong in battle • Protects the weak, especially women • Extremely courteous in manners, especially to women • Loyalty to lord/King (e.g., shooting "V.R." for "Victoria Regina" in to the wall) • Many ceremonies in his life (being knighted) (Holmes was offered but declined a knighthood) • Often has a squire/servant (e.g., Baker Street Irregulars) • Often fights under the banner of his lady