Discuss what "The Man with the Twisted Lip" and "The Speckled Band" Reveal about Life and Beliefs in Victoria Society.

In many of his stories Sherlock Holmes was always very well prepared because in The Speckled Band when he heads up to Miss Stoner's house he takes his gun and cane with him because he knows it will be very dangerous. He was also intelligent because he was able to solve crimes instantly like in The Twisted Lip he works out that Mrs St Clair was actually Hugh Boone. He has a lot of knowledge because in The Speckled Band he could tell that the Speckled Band was a snake. In The Speckled Band he shows that he is very observant by how he noticed all little clues about the case, like the fake bell pull and the bolted bed.

Sherlock Holmes was never afraid of any of his villains. He would always confront them and when he did he knew how to treat them, like in The Twisted Lip when he confronts Hugh Boone he knows he has not done anything wrong so he is willing to give him another chance but he treats Dr Roylet very differently. Dr Roylet was a murderer so he did not show him any mercy. When he puts the snake back through the vent he probably knew that it would kill Dr Roylet. Dr Roylet and Hugh Boone were both villains but they were both very different to each other. Hugh Boone never meant to hurt anybody but Dr Roylet planned to kill both his step-daughters.

In contrast to Sherlock Holmes the villains were hated by the Victorians, they despised villains; they were the complete opposite, an ideal gentleman.

In The Speckled Band Dr Roylet was the villain that the Victorians hated. He was very aggressive, impolite and very rude, especially to ladies. That was the complete opposite to Sherlock Holmes. He was aggressive because the way he threw the butler over the wall. Dr Roylet threatened Sherlock Holmes, he bent his poker and he mistreated his daughters.

He never had visitors because no one liked him. When he was in India he killed a butler. He was always unkind to his servants so they did not want to work for him. He owned a Cheetah and a Baboon and he had Gypsies on his land. That is why the Victorians hated people like Dr Roylet.

He did not treat his property the way other Victorians expected him to. Parts of his house were falling down due to his lack of care. He did not dress like other Victorians; he went around wearing farmer type clothes instead of suits and top hats. Letting Gypsies hang around your land was very low in Victorian times. Dr Roylet had everything going for him, he had a medical degree, and he also owned his own practice. He was also very well off. Due to his anger and behaviour he let it all go.

In another of Sherlock Holmes' stories there was another villain but he was totally different to Dr Roylet. His name was Neville St Clair. He was a real example for a Victorian gentleman; he dressed well, spoke well and behaved well. He was also a very rich man. In the story he had not actually done anything wrong compared with Dr Roylet, he did not kill anyone, all he did was beg. He did this because he was sent to do a report on begging. He found the money was so good compared to his original job so he decided to continue begging.

When Neville St Clair talks to Sherlock Holmes after the case he tells him how sorry he was for doing this to his wife and all the people he hurt by disappearing. He wanted to be given another chance, as he had not really done anything wrong.

This shows the Victorians attitude towards people who had gone wrong like Neville St Clair who was really a Victorian gentleman who believed that they should be given another chance unlike real Victorian villains.

In many of the Sherlock Holmes stories there were always women playing a main part, like in The Speckled Band and The Twisted Lip. In these stories there were two main women, they were Miss Stoner and Mrs St Clair.

Like most Victorian women they were well dressed. They wore long dresses with veils. Most Victorian women were not very strong so they needed people like Sherlock Holmes to depend upon because he was strong and safe.

Many Victorian did not have control over their own lives. In The Speckled Band Helen Stoner had to ask permission off her stepfather is she could marry. She came from a very rich family but she did not have any money and would have none until she was married. Helen Stoner was not allowed to go out and have a social life without Dr Roylet, like when she went to Sherlock Holmes Dr Roylet follows her to find out what she is doing.

Victorian woman often had to cover up for men like in The Speckled Band where Sherlock Holmes spotted the bruises on her arms. She said that she had had an accident, but he knew that Dr Roylet had done this to her. When Dr Roylet killed his butler Helen tells no one because she knew that if she did he would have beaten her up or even killed her. All she does is collect money and pays the butler's family.

Overall the Victorian women had no independence, money or life so it was not all that good for them.

In Sherlock Holmes stories the settings gave a very accurate description about Victorian times. The Twisted Lip is set in London in a street called Swandom Lane. Swandom Lane is a very dirty, rough and smelly place. The main part of the storey was located in an Opium Den, and either side of it was a Sex Shop and Off Licence, but in The Speckled Band the setting was set in a very different place. It was placed in the Wealthy Outskirts. This was out in the Countryside where it was very quiet and peaceful. There were lots of wealthy Victorians living in big houses.

These two books show two very different places in Victorian times.

In the Victorian times Britain was a ruler of a huge empire. This is shown in a range of references as in The Twisted Lip there was a Lascar, which is an Indian Seaman, working in an Opium Den in England and in The Speckled Band you have Dr Roylet living in India and working as a Doctor.

The transport in Victorian times was very different to nowadays. In The Twisted Lip Mrs St Clair visited Sherlock Holmes in a Hansom Cab and in The Speckled Band Sherlock Holmes and Watson rode in a Dog Cart, unlike nowadays when people travel about in motor vehicles. In the Speckled Band Helen Stoner travelled to see Sherlock Holmes by train. Trains were one of the most common modes of transport in that time, like they still are today.

In conclusion these stories tell us a lot about what the Victorians believed in and what they thought the ideal Victorian Man was ie Sherlock Holmes. Also what they thought a real villain was like. These stories give a clear view about what London was like in Victorian times.

Martin Emms