Victoria Luangrath
Professor McCluskey
English 2020
20 September 2018
Social Class in Sherlock Holmes
Sir Author Conan Doyle was well renowned for his detective series which shocked readers with pressing matters on the issues of the social classes during the Victorian era. Social class in the Victorian era played a significant part to how men and women were supposed to behave based on which class they were in. In England, there was a growing strain between the high society and middle class and lower class. Doyle additionally invests a decent measure of energy discussing a "criminal class" who are inclined to take to an existence of wrongdoing and are frequently made up of individuals of the lower and regular workers. There are many facetious entries all through the Sherlock Holmes genre and I trust Conan Doyle was utilizing Holmes to address the issues of social imbalance during the Victorian era. As I would like to think, Arthur Conan Doyle was scrutinizing existing conditions by utilizing different villains who didn't fit in with the criminal class of the time, exhibiting ladies as sexual objects that could match men, and by delineating individuals from the privileged as silly and additionally gutless.
During the 18th century, ladies were frequently thought of as less astute than their male partners. Addressing that women were weaker and needed men to help solve their problems and issues. In the story, “A Scandal in Bohemia,” Doyle used Irene Adler as a female character who did not comply to the standards of contemporary society. Adler was a woman of admiration and wisdom of which men thought no female were capable of. The king of Bohemia admired Adler and even confessed to Holmes about his admiration towards her. "Did I not tell you how quick and resolute she was? Would she not have made an admirable queen?” The king went on to say that if she was compatible to his class than she would’ve made a perfect queen. The story went on to Holmes losing the case to Adler even saying that she was at a, “different level than your majesty.” Throughout the story, you can tell that the king was damaging Adler’s daily life. For example, ransacking her house multiple times, and even sending muggers after her when she walked the streets. The king was thought to even kill Adler to get rid of their past. The character of the king made me analyze how Doyle wanted the readers to see that the upper class will do anything to save their reputation. Including ruining the life of an innocent woman who was of lower class than himself. Another social issue that Doyle used in the story was women and their role in society. Again, in the Victorian era women were portrayed as damsels in distress and were judged harsher. Doyle used Adler as a female character who did not fit into society standards. Even letting Adler win against Holmes which made it a shocking turn in the Holmes series.
In the story of the, The Man with the Twisted Lip, Holmes antagonist was a man name H...
