Essays - Victorian Era

Sherlock Holmes’ deductions depend on the stereotypes of different groups of people and the peculiarities and patterns presented in previous cases. While this method has its merits, it falls short when these assumptions are challenged and proved wholly incorrect. In Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s A Scandal in Bohemia, Sherlock Holmes makes this fatal mistake and ultimately loses in a battle of wits against Irene Adler.

In Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s “A Study in Scarlet,” detectives Gregson and Lestrade are portrayed as celebrities— heroes of sensational crime stories in the papers. Through Doyle’s exquisite use of amateur detective Sherlock Holmes as a foil to the Scotland Yarders, he exposes London’s detective force’s shortcomings in a hope to enact change. Doyle’s portrayal of Gregson and Lestrade demonstrates that Britons are misled by the papers regarding the exploits of London’s detectives. In reality, the adventures of detectives are a bit more complicated.