What does the reader learn about detective stories and life in Victorian England through their reading of the Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle?

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What does the reader learn about detective stories and life in Victorian England through their reading of the Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle?

Consider the following…

  • The conventions of Detective stories.
  • The characters of Sherlock Holmes and Dr.Watson.
  • The narrative structure of the Sherlock Holmes stories.
  • The social and historical setting of the stories.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was born in Edinburgh on 22 May 1859, he died in 1930. He printed his first Sherlock Holmes book, “A Study in Scarlet” in 1887 in Beeton’s Christmas Annual. Sherlock Holmes soon became very popular amongst the people of their day, People immediately fell in love with Sherlock Holmes for several reasons. One of the main reasons was because he was a detective and detectives were new at the time, the police were very incompetent at doing their jobs. The public were very insecure, they knew the police were absolutely useless. The public felt very vulnerable, as if they were open to attack all the time. Sherlock Holmes, when compared to the incompetent police force of their time, was anything but incompetent. Watching an amazing and undisputed detective like Sherlock Holmes solve incredible mysteries that are seem complex enough to confuse people at first, then when they finally realise how simple the mysteries are, they shut the book with a “oh! So that’s what happened then!” Reading stories about someone great like Sherlock, he solves problems, he saves people, no criminals are safe from Sherlock! They cower at his feet! This really encouraged people to feel safer, as if Sherlock really did exist and he was going to solve all their problems, he was something along the lines of a personal Jesus, someone to turn to whenever anything happened.

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The Public loved Sherlock Holmes, they felt so close to him, as if he were something real. Almost as if he really did live at 221B Baker Street, at the time crime rates in London were high, and the incompetent police didn’t help much either that is why Sherlock was almost like a saviour to them, he was able to solve any mystery or crime no matter how difficult it may be. At the time, Jack the ripper was also a problem for people, he made life for women very insecure and unsafe seeing as they were his main ...

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