Holmes’ character is very addicted to work and is clearly wealthy, this can be told by him wanting his expenses paid for only, not his service. He also can afford professional clothing and a moderately sized house, the fact that he is wealthy and an upper class gentleman is reinforced by him being a cocaine addict, cocaine was a drug generally taken by upper class people. Watson is also shown to be a wealthy character in the book, he works in a doctors which is generally not very busy, this maybe because it could be a private surgery which shows that he is wealthy.
Holmes shows that he very professional by making such good observations such as, the fske bell rope, the bed being clampd to the floor and the fake ventilator which led into Helens’ room.and the safe which contained the snake . He also notices things that are very vital to the investigation. Holmes also shows that hw can cope very well under pressure when Dr Roylott is threatening him on page 60 he remains calm even when Roylott proceeds to bend a poker in half to demonstrate his strength, his strength is then shown when he bends the poker back into its original shape.
Lifestyles of other characters that are met throughout the stories.
Mr. Neville St Clare
Neville St Clare is met by Holmes and Watson in The man with the twisted lip, he is a very proud man , and is respected by the people of the local area. He has many friends, he has a wife and children. He is described as ‘a loving father, who is popular with every one whom he meets’. He is an opium addict, as is shown in ‘the man with the twisted lip’ on page 32, this page talks about his wife spotting him in the opium den just before his disappearance. It shows on page 45 that he is a very well educated man; ‘my father was a schoolmaster in Chester field, where I received and excellent education’.
His character is a once an actor and is skilled at the art of make up and disguise, ‘I traveled in my youth…., ‘, ‘when an actor I had, of course, learned all the secrets of make up’ this is shown on page 46.
Hugh Boone
Hugh Boone is another character from ‘the man with the twisted lip’. He is a professional beggar in the story, he is well known locally for this, page 36 demonstrates this with the text; ‘he had for years been known as a professional beggar’ . he also is addicted to opium. Because of his begging, he earns quite enough money to find a lodging in the opium den. He is suspected for the murder of Neville St Clare. When the disappearance of St Clare is described on page 34 it describes St Clare’s coat pockets ‘full of pennies and half pennies’, this was to ensure its sinking into the Thames. This shows me that Boone must have enough money to be able to comfortably throw large amounts of it away. This shows that although a beggar, he is good enough at it to earn sufficient funds for himself.
Helen Stoner
Helen Stoner is a character in story ‘The speckled Band’ She is the stepdaughter of Dr Roylott, who I will write about in a minute. Helen Stoner is a wealthy young woman, she lives in a large manor house with her stepfather. she has come to Holmes about the death of her sister. Many things can be told about her from the first scene of her appearance. She is said to be wearing a black dress and veil, this shows her wealth and also that she is still in morning for her sister. She travels by horse and carriage to Holmes’ residence, she does this at early hours of the morning, showing that she feels safe doing this and that it is acceptable for her to do so. this is shown on page 50 in her first encounter with Holmes and Watson. In this first encounter, it also quotes that ‘her face is drawn and gray’ and that ‘she has restless eyes’ this shows the hour t which she awoke must have been early and that she e has something bothering her.
Her wealth is shown in a few different ways, by her residence, and by her connections with respected people. The text on page 51 shows that she knows Mrs. Farintosh, it then goes on to say that Mrs. Farintosh owns an opal Tiara, Tiaras are usually worn at balls and important events, this shows that she is a respected member of the community.
Later in the story, it goes on to say about her stepfather beating her. this shows that she may be insecure and this could be what she is worried about.
She tells Holmes that she can pay him but only within the next two weeks, this is because of her marriage. This is because in Victorian England, once a woman became married all of her possessions became her husbands.
Dr Roylott
Dr Roylott is the stepfather of Helen Stoner. He lives in a manor house, which suggests that he is wealthy, the text says that he is a farmer, yet he wears a tailcoat, this shows that he is professional and wants to give off a good impression. His temper is very short, in one part of the story he threatens Holmes because of his daughter, he follows his daughter to Holmes’ residence because he does not trust her, this suggests that he has something to hide. He also demonstrates his strength by bending a fire poker in half, this proves that he is dangerous and willing to go to any length to get what he wants.
Because of his butch, scary description in the first part of the story, he may come across and un-educated. He is actually very cunning, he thinks of all the fake things in his room, these lead to the deaths. He is very clever, even Holmes addresses him as cunning.
Jabez Wilson
Jabex Wilson is a character in the story ‘the red headed league’ he is the owner of a local pawnshop, he is given a false job in the story.
The fake job he is given, although simple pays very good money, he takes the job and leaves his partner in charge of his pawn shop, him taking the job shows that, like anybody in Victorian England, he would do anything for money, he also took on his assistant , Vincent spaldling, because he offered to come at half wages.
Vincent Spalding
Vincent Spalding is the character of Wilson’s’ assistant in ‘the red headed league’. He tricks Wilson into leaving him the shop so that he can dig to a nearby bank. He is actually john clay in disguise, john clay is a famous bank robber who is wanted by the police. he is very cunning with the way he works, he fixed a fake advertisement, fake job, fake identity all for one job, this in some ways shows that he has determination and devotion to what he does.
The place of servants
The place of servants throughout these stories, is not very obvious. in ‘the speckled band’ the manor house in which Helen Stoner and Dr Roylott live, is said to have a room for the maid. this shows that housing was provided for servants. It shows that although there is a definite hierarchy between master and servant, considerations are made on the part of food, and housing.
The role of women
In the three stories which I studied the role of women varies, in ‘the man with the twisted lip’ Mrs. St Clare comes across as the type of woman that stays in and cooks and cleans at her husbands demands, she has dinner for him at his arrival home in the evening and doesn’t ask where his money comes from or what he does, she just accepts that it is money. Whereas is ‘the speckled band’ Helen Stoner is much more independent of her self, she rides on the train and dog cart in the early hours of the morning without permission, she tries to find out for herself the cause of her sisters death and seeks out her own help even though she is fully aware of her stepfathers capabilities.
The nature of Law and Order
Compared to real Victorian England the police in the stories come across as very laid back, in ‘’the red headed league’ they are fully aware of the happenings and still offer to make all of it ‘disappear’ even though it is a very large investigation, and is very important. Although the police are satisfactory to the community, Holmes always seems to outsmart them, as it were, always get there first. But yet he is not a part of the police service, he isn’t running a private service for money because he only asks for the expenses to be paid. this shows his devotion to the service and how he doesn’t do it for the money.
Transport and communications
The transport in the stories is quite modern in some parts, in the speckled band, Helen stoner uses a train to reach Holmes, this shows that train run at all hours, because she was traveling at early hours of the morning. she also used a ‘dog cart’ or horse and carriage.
Communication was not really mentioned in the stories but telephones are mentioned a few times, this shows more than telegram communication is used .