Bohemia Essay, Research Paper
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes was written by Sir Arthur ConanDoyle. The novel was first published in 1892. A Scandal in Bohemia was a short story about a woman who has pictures of herself and a high Englishnobleman. She used them to blackmail him. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was a novelist, a detective-story writer, and aphysician. He was born on May 22, 1859 and died on July 7, 1930. He beganwriting The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes in 1890 and finished writing it in1892. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was so successful in his writing that he gave uphis career as a physician only five years after the creation of Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson were created by Sir Arthur Conan Doylein a bar in England when Doyle was having legal problems. The story took place in March of 1888. Sherlock Holmes resided at 221BBaker Street in London, England. Inside his room were all the materials heneeded to use to solve his cases: One night, it was on the twentieth of March 1888, I was returning from a journey to a patient, when my way led me through Baker Street. His rooms were brilliantly lit, and, even as I looked up I saw his tall, spare figure pass twice in a dark silhouette against the blind. The second half of the story took place at Briony Lodge. This is where IreneAdler resided. Her house had a small garden and was two stories high. The story began when Doctor Watson visited Sherlock Holmes. Holmestold Watson that he needed his help on a case. The case involved pictures ofthe King of Bohemia and a woman named Irene Alder. The King of Bohemiawas going to marry a woman he loved, but Irene Alder blackmailed him withthe pictures. Irene Alder was in love with the King and did not want him tomarry another woman. Sherlock Holmes came up with a plan to get the pictures back from IreneAlder. Holmes had a group of his friends cause a commotion with Irene in frontof her house. Then, Holmes dashed into the crowd to pretend that he wasprotecting the woman and was punched by one of the men. He had concealed asmall amount of red paint in his hand. When the fight was broken up, Holmeswas on the ground with the paint on his face. He pretended that he wasseriously injured and was brought into Irene’s house. While Holmes was being cared for by Irene and a small crowd of people,Doctor Watson sent a smoke rocket into her house and started yelling “fire!”.Irene ran to a sliding panel just above the right bell-pull in order to save thepictures from the fire. When Holmes saw the place where she had run, he knewwhere the pictures were and told the people that it was a false alarm. The next morning the King of Bohemia and Sherlock Holmes found out thatIrene Alder married a man named Godfrey Norton. Irene had left England thenight before with her husband. Holmes went to her house and opened the slidingpanel to find only a picture of Irene and a letter adressed to Sherlock Holmes.The letter said that the King of Bohemia did not have to worry about thepictures, for she loved another man better than he. It also said that she kept thepictures only to protect herself. The King of Bohemia then asked SherlockHolmes what he wanted for his services and offered him a ring. Holmes told theKing he did not want the ring, but only the picture of Irene. Count Von Kramm was the King of Bohemia. He was extremely tall andwas a well built man. His clothes were that of the best fabric available at thetime. He wore a broad brimmed hat with a black vizard mask that concealed theupper part of his face: A man entered who could hardly have been less than six feet six inches in height, with the chest and limbs of a Hercules. His dress was rich with the richness which would, in England, be looked upon as akin to bad taste. He carried a broad brimmed hat in his hand, while he wore across the upper part of her face, extending down past the cheekbones, a black vizard mask, which he had apparently adjusted that very moment, for his hand was still raised to it as he entered. He had a long, straight chin. His lips were thick and his teeth were pearlywhite. He had short brown hair and blue colored eyes. The novel was written in an old English dialect. The story was difficult tounderstand at some points because of the dialect. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle usedverbose phrases and gave lengthy descriptions of the characters. He gave moredetail to the characters’ descriptions and less attention to the setting in whichthe story took place: Heavy bands of astrakhan were slashed across his sleeves and fronts of his double-breasted coat, while the deep blue cloak which was thrown over his shoulders was lined with flame- coloured silk and secured at the neck with a brooch which consisted of a single flaming beryl. The setting of the novel was in the same time period in which it was written.This may be why Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote more about the characters andless about the setting. The theme of A Scandal in Bohemia implied that no human is perfect.Many people believed that Sherlock Holmes was the perfect detective and thathe would never lose a case. This short story proved these people wrong.Sherlock Holmes was able to find out where the pictures were and was able toexecute his plan. However, Irene Alder outsmarted Holmes by leaving thehouse before being caught. Fortunately for both the King of Bohemia andSherlock Holmes, she found a man that she loved and did not blackmail theKing anymore. If she did not love this man, it is probable that she would still beblackmailing the King and tSherlock Holmes would have to begin the caseagain. A Scandal in Bohemia is a short story that received more attention thanany other one written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It received this attentionbecause Sherlock Holmes, for the first time, is outwitted. Sir Arthur ConanDoyle uses deductive reasoning, which is when reasoning is used to form themost likely conclusion. He also used irony, which is a contrast between the waythings seem to be and the way they turn out. Irene Alder thought that SherlockHolmes was injured and had blood running down his face, but he really was justpretending to be hurt and red paint was on his face.