Kathleen Nelson's Channel Firing Essay

Not Just a Woman

In the Longman Anthology’s introduction to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and his works, David Damrosch and Kevin Dettmar state that while Sherlock Holmes is not “the first detective in English fiction,” he is certainly “the detective” (Damrosch and Dettmar 1466). They acknowledge Holmes’s “extraordinary powers of reasoning and observation,” recognizing him as a genius (Damrosch and Dettmar 1466). Even so, in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s short story “A Scandal in Bohemia,” Holmes’s brilliancy and precise planning fall short as he is outwitted, not by a man, but by a woman; Irene Adler displays abilities of deductive skills that are even sharper than Holmes’s. She takes Holmes’s own deductive skill and preconceived notions of how she as a woman should act and twists them to her advantage. Holmes’s failure in this story, then, lies not so much in a lack of wit in his part, but an inability to recognize the equal wit in a woman.

Holmes’s foundation for outwitting Irene Adler lies not in any study of Irene’s character, but on the stereotype of how Victorian women should act. His task is to take from Irene a photograph that his employer, the king of Bohemia, has previously attempted to regain, but to no avail. Holmes assures the King that he may learn where Irene has hidden the photograph while other men hired have the King have failed. He explains, to Dr. Watson later in the story, that Irene “will not be able to [refuse]” showing the location of the photograph, believing that he understands how a woman works (Doyle 1477). Indeed, Holmes is correct in that “women,” or in this case Irene, “are naturally secretive,” and therefore he can pin the location of the photograph at least to her house (Doyle 1477). Holmes’s success at correctly anticipating Irene based on assumptions encourages him to continue his plan without actually analyzing Irene’s character as an individual.

Once Holmes is in Irene’s house, under the guise of an injured man, he again takes advantage of a stereotype of the Victorian woman. As Holmes puts it, “when a woman thinks her house is on fire, her instinct is at once to rush to the thing which she values most,” an instinct that Homes has “more than once taken advantage of” (Doyle 1479). Here Holmes states that in the past his success lay in the supposition of how a woman should act in a given situation, and he intends to continue relying on the generalization. In Irene’s case the generalization happens to be true; when Irene believes that her house is on fire, another part of Holmes’ plan, Irene rushes to a secret panel in the wall where she has hidden the photograph. Once again, Holmes’ assumptions of how a Victorian woman should act lead him in the right direction.

Irene, however, understanding Holmes’ intentions against her, takes his own game and uses it against him. Dressing in her “walking clothes [male attire],” Irene follows him to his address, to be certain that she is indeed “an object of interest to the celebrated Mr Sherlock Holmes” (Doyle 1481). As she informs Holmes in her letter, “I have been trained as an actress myself. Male costume is nothing new to me” (Doyle 1481). Her familiarity with Holmes’ techniques of disguise and trailing bring her to his own level, but she goes further: Irene “rather imprudently… wishe[s] [Holmes] good night” when she trails him to his front door, adding her own daring that, in a sense, outdoes Holmes’ style of completely disguising himself (Doyle 1481). Once Irene knows that Holmes is indeed trailing her and that he has seen her photo, she and her newly wed husband decide that “the best resource [is] flight,” and abandon the house, but not until Irene take the photo and leaves a replacement. Irene displays her wit as a rival to Holmes’s by not only acting more boldly than he when confronting a suspect, but by anticipating his next move and acting before he does, as he believes he does regarding Irene.

When Homes, Watson, and the King return to Irene’s house the next day to confront her, Holmes is startled, to say the least, that Irene has anticipated him. When the housekeeper informs the party that Irene and her husband left “for the Continent… never to return,” Holmes turns “white with chagrin and surprise” (Doyle 1481). After reading Irene’s note explaining her suspicions, which, unlike Holmes’s suspicions about how she would act, are based on Holmes’ actual character, Holmes has little to say on the matter, other to reply “coldly” to the King, and to offer an apology for his inability to “bring [the king’s] business to a more successful conclusion” (Doyle 1482). Despite this low-key reaction, after his initial shock, Holmes proves that he is impressed with Irene’s wit by asking one favor of the King. Instead of the large sum that Holmes could have had, in the form of an “emerald snake ring,” he asks instead for the replacement photograph of Irene.

Irene’s quick action should not come as much of a surprise to Holmes as it does. When the King first informed Holmes of the situation, he warned him that “[Irene] has the face of the most beautiful of women, and the mind of the most resolute of men,” making her a formidable opponent (Doyle 1472). After the three men realize that Irene understood their plan and acted before they did, the King reiterates, “Did I not tell you how quick and resolute she was?” (1482). Despite the fact that the King did tell Holmes, he showed no signs of taking caution in dealing with Irene, instead making plans based on how generalized women should act. This again shows the shortsightedness of Holmes’s own plans by failing to realize that Irene could have plans of her own.

This one incident of failure, in which “the best plans of Mr Sherlock Holmes were beaten by a woman’s wit,” seems to have a lasting effect on Holmes (Doyle 1482). According to Watson’s narration, Holmes “used to make merry over the cleverness of women, but [Watson has] not heard him do it of late” (Doyle 1482). What Homes feels for Irene Adler is not love; “all emotions, and that one particularly, [are] abhorrent to his cold [and] precise…mind” (1467). Instead, Holmes feels a lasting respect for her. Whenever he does refers to Irene Adler, from this point on, “under the honourable title of the woman” (Doyle 1482).

Sherlock Holmes as a detective is renown for his impressive skills of deduction and quick thinking in anticipating the next move of a situation. Even Holmes, however, happens to overlook the possibility that Irene could catch on to his plans against her. He shows so much confidence in his ability to outwit Irene because he guesses correctly how a woman should act; to him she poses little threat. He allows himself to be outsmarted himself, however, because of his underestimation of her and her abilities.