The Typical Detective Genre Portrayed in Sherlock Holmes' Literature

The Typical Detective Genre Portrayed in Sherlock Holmes' Literature

The late Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was a phenomenally successful writer,

not only in the Victorian era but is still popular today; his Sherlock

Homes stories were perhaps his most successful, in which he combines

realistic situations of murders and scandals with the improbable

situation of such a successful detective. Victorian London was an

exceptionally dangerous place to live. Prostitution, opium dens and

murders were inescapable. A women's role within the household was very

much dependent on her class and her husband, purely due to the fact

was that herr husband was the breadwinner. They were to stay at home;

sex was supposedly purely for reproduction. London's police force was

around but famously was rather ineffective with solving crimes. This

is one of the reasons Holmes was extremely popular; almost a fantasy

world where a character with such an inquisitive mind could solve the

most challenging misdemeanours. Conan Doyle sets his stories in the

heart of England, London. Perhaps this is because the busy bustling

town is ideal for such a character, London Is the most important place

in England, and therefore surely Holmes must be the most important

detective?

Conan's Doyle's stories are all in some way alike; they all have a

villain, or somebody who is believed to break society's rules. This

helps the audience to gain interest in how the villain will survive

with Holmes on their case, how they will be punished in the context of

the story. Neville St Claire in 'The man with the twisted lip' was

found guilty of dressing as a tramp, to deceive people to give him

money. Maybe he did this for greed; he obviously was not in favour of

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...chievous scheme;

"I surprised you by beating upon the pavement with my stick. I was

ascertaining whether the cellar stretched out in front or behind."

No reader would have predicted this was the reason for the beating of

this stick. This is the type of fascinating unpredictable actions,

which make detective stories almost addictive until the end and

appealing to the reader.

Conan Doyle made sure that all questions during the story are answered

and no queries left hanging. This is alluring to all readers as the

endings are moral and all dilemmas are resolved. Detective story's

have become one of the most popular genre, authors such as Sir Arthur

Conan Doyle manage to make even the most straightforward storylines

interesting and appealing to all readers simply because of false

trails, red herrings and the way information is with held to the

reader.