The upper class were strict and there were rules in Victorian Britain that governed behaviour. Manners and morals were of great importance to Victorians, along with the Church and religious beliefs. Victorian society believed that an English gentleman should have certain mannerisms, and dress and speak ‘properly’. His intentions were consistently good, and his manners impeccable. A gentleman should uphold laws and society’s rules; leading a respectable life, not squandering it. As far as Victorians believed, gentlemen were superior, although they should never give offence to anyone, even lower classes. They should not be arrogant or of a snobbish disposition, yet should act wisely at all times.
Victorians had a strong view of morality and behaviour, and believed that society should uphold these beliefs. In Victorian times Victorian virtues were centred on the home and the family. In Sherlock Holmes this idea is portrayed as Isa Whitney, the doctor and husband of Kate Whitney, “He [had] not been home for two days” to the dismay of his wife. Victorians would have found this morally unacceptable as he should have remained at home. As it was believed that men should care for and look after the women, and when Kate is confronted with the idea of returning her husband from an opium den it is shown in the story that this is not what a woman should be doing, “How could she, a young and timid woman make her way into such a place, and pluck her husband out from the ruffians who surrounded him.” It was seen in these times that a woman of her class should not be expected to venture into such a place, and saw it as morally wrong for a gentleman to let her do so.
Upper class men were expected to be stereotypical ‘gentlemen’. They were to be courteous at all times and especially respectful of women. Sherlock Holmes showed himself to fit the idea of a gentleman. In “The Man with the Twisted Lip” whilst addressing Mrs St. Clair he is polite, “Frankly then madam I do not. Please don’t be frightened.” Gentlemen were also expected to be morally strong, and uphold their appearance of knowledge and wisdom constantly. The job that Sherlock Holmes has relates to this idea of strong morals and makes him be seen as an upstanding member of society throughout the stories. Along with this, Victorian gentlemen were seen t be brave, strong and reliable and had an expectancy of them to protect the innocent and confront villains. Sherlock Holmes is seen by the reader as ‘stereotypical’ when it comes to his actions, as he is seen to have all of the expected qualities of a ‘gentlemen’. In “The Speckled Band,” Sherlock Holmes, when confronted by the burly Dr. Roylott, “Picked up the [bent] steel poker and straightened it out again.” This shows him to be physically strong as well as mentally.
The villains of the stories contrast this idea, and have qualities which do not fit the idea of gentlemen. In “The Speckled Band” we learn that Dr. Roylott is an aggressive man, and descends from a line of violent men, “Violence of temper approaching to mania has been hereditary in the men of the family.” We discover he is a solitary man, and, “He shut himself up in the house, and seldom came out.” Victorians would have disapproved of his behaviour as they were not recognised as qualities of a gentleman or upper class man and did not fit their morally upholding standards. Another disapproval Victorians would have had with Dr. Roylott is his ownership of imported foreign animals, a baboon and cheetah. They were not keen on anything unusual, and would have thought him to be a strange man. The fact that Dr. Roylott descends from gentry may have improved Victorians’ thoughts of him, but the loss of the family fortune by past ancestry of Dr. Roylott, leaving the last squire as “an aristocratic pauper” would have appalled upper class Victorian society as the Roylott family almost lost their aristocratic status.
Neville St. Clair in “The Man with the Twisted Lip” is seen, on surface, to be a very respectful member of society. His facade would have been seen as ‘gentlemanly’ as he is seen to have morals and take care of his family, going out to work and providing for them. Yet, under this exterior cloak St. Clair was busking under a different identity, Hugh Boone. Neville St. Clair is described as, “A good husband, an affectionate father, and a man who is popular with all who know him.” This is indicative of the Victorian view of him as a gentleman within society. When discovered of busking illegally St. Clair is unlike Roylott when founded of criminal offences and wants to hide his shame from publicity. Whereas, in “The Speckled Band” it is Roylott’s daughter who pays using her saving to save her fathers’ name from public humiliation rather than Dr. Roylott himself, “It was only by paying over all the money that I was able to gather together that I was able to avert another public exposure.”
Sherlock Holmes is seen to reassure the readership as, I believe, the stories are purposefully true representations of the Victorian era. By using familiar scenes, characters and beliefs of that of the upper class Victorians I feel that they would have a sense if relief with a character like Sherlock Holmes to reassure them, especially with rising crime rates. I also feel that the popularity of the stories are also due to this. The use of realistic settings, and also by setting it in the period of the time, the stories seem very ‘real’ and seem to depict stories of cities in that time, with upper class reading these stories they would have felt encouraged by these stories that they were ‘safe’.
