The Adventure of the Speckled Band

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   gbeatty Teacher
   College - Freshman

   It is fair to say that women are largely presented in a secondary role in the Holmes stories. To be more specific, they are usually treated with respect by Holmes and Watson, but they are usually seen as needing help. You might think of this is being a fairly straightforward representation of period attitudes. Men were assumed to be the ones in charge, the ones creating problems, and the ones solving them. If a woman came to Holmes with a problem, he rushed in to help. Helen Stoner is a good example. She brought Holmes a problem and he was glad to help—but the resulting portrait is largely one of passive helplessness.

   The exception, of course, is the wonderful Irene Adler, whose brain is shown to be every bit as sharp as Sherlock's in the wonderful story "A Scandal in Bohemia."

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   Posted by gbeatty on Saturday April 14, 2007 at 7:47 AM
   
   

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