Masaryk University Faculty of Arts

Home , Irene Adler, Sherlock Holmes, The Sign of the Four

Department of English and American Studies

English Language and Literature

Adéla Červenková

Sherlock Holmes as a Phenomenon of the 21st Century Bachelor’s Diploma Thesis

Supervisor: Jeffrey Alan Smith, M.A., Ph.D.

2016

I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently, using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography.

…………………………………………….. Author’s signature

Acknowledgment: I would like to thank my supervisor, Jeffrey Alan Smith, M.A., Ph.D., for his patience, valuable advice and encouragement. I would also like to thank my family and friends for their constant support.

Table of Contents

1 Introduction ...... 5

2 Sherlock Holmes and Film/Television Adaptations ...... 7

2.1 Evolution of the Character of Sherlock Holmes throughout History ...... 7

2.2 Sherlock Holmes of the 21st Century ...... 10

2.2.1 Sherlock ...... 12

2.2.2 Elementary ...... 15

2.2.3 Sherlock Holmes and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows ...... 17

3 The Sexualization of Sherlock Holmes ...... 20

3.1 Bromance or Romance? ...... 21

3.2 The One Who Is Desired and the One Who Desires ...... 26

4 The Development of Female Characters ...... 29

4.1 Mary Morstan ...... 31

4.2 Mrs. Hudson ...... 32

4.3 Irene Adler ...... 33

5 Conclusion ...... 37

6 Works Cited and Consulted ...... 40

6.1 Primary Sources ...... 40

6.2 Secondary Sources ...... 40

7 Resumé (English) ...... 45

8 Resumé (Czech) ...... 46

1 Introduction

Having been created almost 130 years ago, Sherlock Holmes is still a relevant character in the world of fiction. To this day there have been more than 250 screen adaptations making Holmes the most portrayed literary human character in film & television1. He has evolved into an archetype, a trademark and an icon in detective fiction.

Recent years have witnessed a certain boom of popularity of Sherlock Holmes creating a strong fan base of the detective among all ages and genders. This thesis focuses on what makes the modern adaptations popular in the 21st century and how the current situation shapes the characters. The aim of this work is to analyze the renditions, point out their differences from the original stories and how they reflect today’s society.

The first chapter provides a historical background of Doyle’s stories and the evolution of the character of Sherlock Holmes throughout history. The main focus is on a depiction of the detective in the 21st century, concentrating on the three chosen adaptations. The first is the British-American television drama from 2010 Sherlock, produced by British Broadcasting Corporation. The second analyzed rendition is an

American television drama Elementary from 2012 in production of Columbia

Broadcasting System. The last is Sherlock Holmes franchise, more precisely the movie

1 Guinness World Records. "Sherlock Holmes Awarded Title for Most Portrayed Literary Human

Character in Film & TV." Guinness World Records. 14 May 2012. Web. 23 Oct. 2016. www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2012/5/sherlock-holmes-awarded-title-for-most-portrayed- literary-human-character-in-film-tv-41743

Sherlock Holmes (2009) and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011), both from the Warner Bros. Pictures production.

The purpose of the second chapter is to elaborate the issue of sexualization of

Holmes in the modern renditions and how it reflects the current understanding of sexuality as such. The chapter also discusses the relationships of the detective, concentrating on the friendship between Holmes and Watson and the homoeroticism and homosexual subtext that the adaptations create to deal with the sexual politics of the

21st century.

The third chapter gives an overview of the female characters in Doyle’s stories and in the 19th century in general. Later it deals with the emancipation of women in recent renditions. Each subchapter focuses on one female character that stands out in the adaptations. The first is Mary Morstan, who is Watson’s wife to be and who serves as a tool to make Holmes jealous. The second is Mrs. Hudson, who fulfills the role of a mother for both Holmes and Watson. The last analyzed character is Irene Adler, the woman of the original stories, as well as, the renditions.

In the conclusion, the chosen adaptations are compared to each other and the highlights of the research are stated together with the key means that make Sherlock

Holmes the phenomenon of the 21st century.

2 Sherlock Holmes and Film/Television Adaptations

2.1 Evolution of the Character of Sherlock Holmes throughout

History

Arthur Conan Doyle started to write stories about Sherlock Holmes out of boredom during his medical practice. In 1887 he published his first novel A Study in

Scarlet. It was well received by the public and therefore three years later Doyle celebrated publication of his second novel The Sign of Four (Cheshire V). However, it was not until 1891, when Doyle started sending weekly short-stories to The Strand

Magazine, that Sherlock Holmes began his successful road down in history (Davies,

The Sherlock Holmes Book, 16). Between the years 1887 and 1927, Arthur Conan

Doyle wrote four novels and 56 short-stories about the Consulting Detective, “the only one in the world” (Doyle, The Sign of Four, 110).

Since his creation almost 130 year ago, Sherlock Holmes has been ever present on both screen and stage, thus securing a strong fan base. Even though many consider fandoms as a modern-day invention, the concept of it is far from new. Fans of Holmes started creating fanfictions right at the end of the 19th century and “there is no

Sherlockian . . . who has not, at least once in his life, taken Dr. Watson’s pen in hand and given himself to the production of a veritable adventure” (Lantagne 269). After killing Holmes in 1893 in the second series The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, not even

Doyle himself could predict the strong reaction from the readers. Men and women immediately went into public mourning and “more than twenty thousand people canceled their subscription to The Strand” (Lantagne 268). Doyle was bombarded with letters asking about details of Holmes death and requesting he continued his work. It eventually led Doyle into resurrecting his detective. In 1901 he published The Hound of

7 the Baskervilles. To this day, the third novel is the best one of all Sherlock Holmes stories, as well as, the most screen and stage adapted (Davies, “Introduction”, X).

Holmes fans “were among the earliest groups of fans to inspire sequels where no sequel would otherwise have occurred” (Lantagne 269). Their fascination with Holmes and their thirst for new adventures contributed to creation of other renditions. The character of Holmes as one knows him today has been shaped throughout more than a century of his existence. However, as Thomas Leitch suggests, both written and screened adaptations and sequels “often [chose] to remain faithful to unauthorized later versions” rather than to Doyle’s originals. Instead of focusing on one adventure, they set their stories around the Holmes franchise (208, 213). In fact, many specific Sherlock Holmes attributes, such as a deerstalker, do not originate in Doyle’s stories “but from a mixture of visual texts, from illustrations to earlier film and television versions” (Hewett 193).

The deerstalker and his cape were introduced in Sidney Paget’s illustrations for The

Strand Magazine while the calabash pipe and the line ‘Elementary, my dear Watson.’ appeared for the first time in William Gillette’s play Sherlock Holmes in 1899 (Hewett

204).

The constant evolution of the famous detective has been a result of attempt to approach new audiences. The original adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor

Watson appealed to the late-Victorian2 readers because they capture the worrying reality, “[they] need him for reassurance in a turbulent world” (Taylor, 100). They see him in a way as a savior, “the belief in Holmes’s powers is largely a faith-based practice.” (Poore 159) “Intellect and ability . . . are the very highest attributes that humans strive to achieve” (La Paz 81). And therefore, when everyone fails, Sherlock

2 The Victorian era was a period of rule of the Queen Victoria from 1837 to 1901.

Holmes is the one to solve the mystery and to save the world. To retain the same effect, any rendition should adjust to the development of the world, whether it means letting

Holmes use new technologies and inventions, putting him in a world of new social norms or challenging his intellect with new types of terrors and crimes. For instance, the famous Basil Rathbone’s film series, which was released between 1939 and 1946 during the Second World War, shows the main duo fighting Nazis3. Through the years,

Sherlock Holmes has dealt with many personas such as Jack the Ripper, Phantom of the

Opera, Sigmund Freud, Wizard of Oz, Oscar Wilde, as well as has faced many mysteries from Little Red Riding Hood to Martian invasion (Leitch 210). The

Consulting Detective has also appeared in number of works aimed at children. The

Adventures of Shirley Holmes4 tells a story of a young girl, the great-grandniece of

Holmes, solving mysteries in her hometown. Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century5 brings Holmes back as an animated character and lets him solve mysteries in the 22nd century. In 1941, Rex Stout6, when speaking at Baker Street Irregulars Society7 event,

“speculated that Watson may have been a woman, thus explicitly raising gender swap and the idea of a romantic relationship between Holmes and Watson, two enduring tropes of the fandom” (Lantagne 270). This opened new possibilities in exploring the

3 There are fourteen movies in the series, Nazis theme appears in Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror

(1942), Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon (1943) and Sherlock Holmes in Washington (1943)

4 The television series aired from 1997 to 2000 and was produced by YTV, a Canadian network.

5 The animated television series aired from 1999 to 2001 and was produced by Fox Kids Network and

STV, a Scottish network.

6 Rex Stout was an American author of detective fiction, well-known for creating a fictional detective

Nero Wolfe and his assistant Archie Goodwin.

7 “The literary society dedicated to the study of Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and the Victorian world.” ("The Baker Street Irregulars™")

9 world of Sherlock Holmes and gave an idea for new adaptations to come. Sena Jeter

Naslund explored Holmes’s love life in her novel Sherlock in Love (1993). Larry

Townsend’s novel The Sexual Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1993) “assumes physical relationship between Holmes and Watson” (Redmond 254). These modernizations brought the Victorian Holmes into the 21st century making him the modern detective hero popular among different ages and genders around the world.

2.2 Sherlock Holmes of the 21st Century

The 21st century has witnessed a certain boom of popularity of Sherlock Holmes.

There have been various renditions of the famous detective’s stories, as well as works about the life of Arthur Conan Doyle. For instance, in 2007 BBC8 released TV movie called Sherlock Holmes and the Baker Street Irregulars that follows a group of witty children helping Jonathan Pryce as Holmes solve mysteries. In 2010 an independent

American film studio, The Asylum, released a direct-to-DVD film Sherlock Holmes, casting Ben Syder and Gareth David-Lloyd as the detective duo that investigates monster attacks in London. In 2015 the British television network ITV released 3- episode miniseries based on Julian Barnes novel Arthur & George (2005) that tells a story of two men, half-Indian solicitor George and Arthur Conan Doyle, whose life journeys bring them together. The miniseries, starring Martin Clunes and Arsher Ali, is set at the beginning of 20th century and follows Doyle’s relationship with his wife and his platonic lover. The same year, Ian McKellen portrayed the retired 93-year-old detective in a British-American film Mr. Holmes as he tries to solve his last case. The drama is based on Mitch Cullin’s novel A Slight Trick of the Mind (2005). In 2016 ITV

8 British Broadcasting Corporation is a British television network

10 in co-production with FOX9 and Global10 released a 10-episode series Houdini & Doyle, it cast Michael Weston as Doyle and Stephen Mangan as Harry Houdini, an American illusionist, and focuses on their friendship. Among these renditions, the best known are

BBC’s Sherlock, CBS’s Elementary and Warner Bros.’ Sherlock Holmes, that are discussed in detail later in the chapter.

The idea of genius hero appears in many other works that do not follow the original. In the last twenty years, the popularity of detective shows has risen and although they try to be unique, many bear resemblance with the Victorian detective.

“Drawing from Sherlock Holmes stories, which prioritize the collection of trace evidence as well as deduction, … [detective and crime] shows present a reliable detective formula” (La Paz 84). The characters face difficult cases and just like Holmes they “manage to pull through, often at the last minute” (La Paz 84). In the original stories, Watson often states his admiration for Holmes’ skills – “you have brought detection as near as exact science as it ever will be brought in this world” (Doyle, A

Study in Scarlet, 29). He excels in many scientific branches, uses all modern technologies available for him. Together with his deduction powers, wide knowledge and lack of emotions it makes him the great Sherlock Holmes (La Paz 85). Shows like

CSI11, Law & Order12, Psych13 and others are all loosely based on this principle. They use advanced technologies; the characters are highly intelligent, at least one of them is also less emotional, and thus they can apply the results of technologies to forward the

9 Fox Broadcasting Company is an American television network

10 Global Television Network is a Canadian English-language television network.

11 an American police drama broadcast on CBS from 2000 to 2015

12 an American police drama broadcast on NBC (National Broadcasting Company) from 1990 to 2010

13 an American detective comedy-drama broadcast on USA Network from 2006 to 2014

11 investigation. Holmes astonishes police and his clients with his brilliant expertise in every field. With today’s development of science and technologies, it is not possible for one human being to gain such an amount of knowledge. Therefore, many detective series, such as Bones14, show a group of investigators, in which each of them with their specialization helps to solve the case (La Paz 86).

Furthermore, the character of Sherlock Holmes as such inspired some well- known television eccentrics. For instance, Adrian Monk, lead in a television show

Monk15, is an intelligent detective, who works as a police consultant after nervous breakdown following his wife’s death. Television show House, M.D.16 also offers

Sherlock-like character – Dr. Gregory House, a pain-medication addict, whose unconventional genius methods save many seemingly unsolvable cases. The world is full of Sherlocks, even though they often carry different names.

2.2.1 Sherlock

Sherlock is a British-American crime television drama from BBC and PBS17 created by Steven Moffat and Mark Gattis. There are three seasons consisting of three episodes each and one special episode. The first season aired in 2010, the second in

2012, the third in 2014 and the special in January 2016. The fourth season is currently in post-production and is set to be released at the beginning of 2017. Benedict

Cumberbatch stars in the show as Sherlock Holmes and Martin Freeman as his assistant and friend John Watson. Despite being set in modern day London, the series follows the

14 an American crime drama broadcast on FOX from 2005 to 2016

15 an American detective comedy-drama broadcast on USA Network from 2002 to 2009

16 an American medical drama broadcast on FOX from 2004 to 2012

17 Public Broadcasting Service is an American network

12 original Doyle’s stories faithfully with every episode at least loosely based on one of

Holmes’s adventures.

The first character one meets in the first episode is John Watson, who recently returned from military service in Afghanistan. Through Watson the viewer is introduced to other characters including Sherlock Holmes, the consulting detective for Scotland

Yard. Just like in the original, Holmes amazes Watson with his deduction skills when he guesses almost everything about Watson just from his phone. He joins Sherlock in his investigations and soon they become essential tool for the British police as well as gain popularity that brings them many private paid cases. This is where the adaptation differs from the original stories, in which Holmes refuses to get payment for his work.

However, 21st century detective must find a way for an income, as “those who work without pay are considered freaks” (Bochman 162).

Both main characters share appearances and characteristics with the canonical idea of the famous duo. Sherlock is tall and slim; he wears a long dark coat that resembles the cape and later in the series he adopts the famous deerstalker. He is highly intelligent, considers himself married to his work, lacks empathy and social skills and plays the violin. Doyle’s Holmes is an occasional drug user; he proclaims it is “so transcendently stimulating and clarifying to the mind” (Doyle, The Sign of the Four,

109). BBC rendition deals with this topic differently making Holmes recovery addict and ex-smoker, who uses nicotine patches to stimulate his mind. He relies on technology that is essential for his deduction work. John Watson is shorter than his partner, in the first episode he limps, however, later it is revealed it was only a psychosomatic injury. At the beginning of the third season he wears a mustache, that has been a trademark of Watson. He starts a blog, where he publishes stories about their cases. The blog is available for fans at the official BBC web page, as well as, Sherlock’s

The Science of Deduction blog.18 This way the creators follow the original Watson’s hobby in publishing their cases in The Strand Magazine.

Throughout the three seasons, Moffat and Gattis introduce most of the important characters of the original story. Mrs. Hudson, portrayed by Una Stubbs, takes care of their apartment at 221B Baker Street. Greg Lestrade, played by Rupert Graves, is a detective inspector at Scotland Yard who relies on Sherlock in difficult cases. Mycroft

Holmes, portrayed by the show’s creator and co-producer Mark Gattis, is Sherlock’s older brother, who works for the British government and often tries to outsmart his brother. The third season also introduces the character of Mary Morstan, Watson’s wife- to-be, portrayed by Amanda Abbington. When it comes to villains, all Jim Moriarty, played by Andrew Scott, Irene Adler, portrayed by Lara Pulver, and Charles Augustus

Magnussen, starring Lars Mikkelsen, make appearance in the show. The creators also brought to life new characters, non-existent in Doyle’s world, the most significant being

Molly Hooper, played by Louise Brealey, a pathologist working in a morgue at St

Bartholomew’s Hospital.

Sherlock has been well received both by public and critics. An average 11.82 million people watched the third season in January 2014, making it the broadcaster's most watched drama series in the UK since 200119. In 2011 the series won BAFTA

Award20 for Best Drama Series and Martin Freeman won for Best Supporting Actor in

Television. A year later, Andrew Scott won in the same category beating Freeman, who

18 Watson’s blog is www.johnwatsonblog.co.uk, Holmes ‘s blog is www.thescienceofdeduction.co.uk

19 Jones, Paul. "Sherlock Is Most Watched BBC Drama Series for over a Decade." RadioTimes. 22 Jan.

2014. Accessed 25 Oct. 2016. www.radiotimes.com/news/2014-01-22/sherlock-is-most-watched-bbc- drama-series-for-over-a-decade.

20 The British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards

14 was nominated for second time.21 The show’s Primetime Emmy Awards nominations in

2012 were followed by many wins in 2014 and 2016 including Outstanding Supporting

Actor for Freeman, Outstanding Lead Actor for Cumberbatch and Outstanding

Television Movie.22

2.2.2 Elementary

Elementary is an American crime television drama created by Robert Dohetry and originally broadcast on CBS. Since its first release in 2012, four seasons, each with

24 episodes, have aired with the fifth season premiering in October 2016. The show, set in modern-day New York, stars Jonny Lee Miller as Sherlock Holmes and Lucy Liu as

Joan Watson. It is loosely based on the Holmes franchise, adopting mostly just main characters, who also slightly differ from those in Doyle’s stories.

Sherlock Holmes is a recovering drug addict, who moves to New York after his drug collapse in London and following rehab, looking for a new start. He resumes his work as a consulting detective for New York City Police Department. His father hires a sober companion, Joan Watson, to help Sherlock with his sobriety. She is a former surgeon, who gave up this job after failing to save a patient. She is fascinated by

Holmes’ investigations and quickly picks up his deduction skills. After the companionship is over, Sherlock offers Watson paid position as his assistant and she accepts. Due to the large number of episodes, the series offers more cases and investigations than the BBC rendition, though rarely based on Doyle’s adventures.

The character of Sherlock Holmes is as peculiar as his Victorian counterpart, though they differ greatly. Elementary’s Sherlock is tall, his body is covered in tattoos

21 BAFTA. Accessed 25 Oct. 2016. www.awards.bafta.org.

22 Television Academy. Accessed 25 Oct. 2016. www.emmys.com/awards.

15 and he wears jackets and scarfs. He is a genius who excels in modern advanced technologies but fails at social skills. He is a passionate beekeeper. He stays rather sexually active to stimulate his mind as he explains in the first episode of the first season “I actually find sex repellent. … My brain and my body require to function at optimal level so I feed them as needed” (00:04:29-00:04:38). Apart from the obvious difference in gender, Elementary’s Joan Watson lacks military experience and does not practice medicine throughout the series. In season three she opens her own investigating company and helps the police department when Holmes leaves for London. The rendition adapts the publishing activities of Watson to the point that Joan writes about their cases, but never officially releases it.

When it comes to other Doyle’s characters, the show adopts most of them.

Thomas Gregson, portrayed by Aidan Quinn, serves as a New York substitute for

Gareth Lestrade, for whom Sherlock worked in London. Gregson is a captain of the

New York City Police Department and he met Sherlock briefly in London before his collapse. Lestrade, played by Sean Pertwee, appears in the second season of the show in an episode set in London. Mycroft Holmes, starring Rhys Ifans, wants to reconcile with his brother while working for MI6, the Secret Intelligence Service. Later seasons also introduce Sherlock’s father Morland Holmes, played by John Noble. One of the recurring characters is Irene Adler, portrayed by Natalie Dormer, Sherlock’s seemingly dead girlfriend. The end of season one reveals she staged her death and kidnapping and is in fact Jamie Moriarty, Sherlock Holmes’ ultimate villain. Doherty brings another gender swap character to life in Elementary, defining Holmes by the women that surround him. There are new characters who are significant for Sherlock’s personal development, one of them being detective Marcus Bell, starring Jon Michael Hill, who is an assistant detective to Gregson.

The show has been well received by both public and critics, fifth season airing this fall serving as a prove. However, the ratings have decreased throughout the seasons.

Almost 12 million viewers23 watched the first season on average while the fourth season dropped 3 million with only 9 million views.24 Critics praised actors’ performances as well as the fresh approach to the Victorian detective and an innovative writing.25

2.2.3 Sherlock Holmes and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

Sherlock Holmes and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows are period mystery dramas from Warner Bros. Production directed by Guy Ritchie. They originally aired in

2009 and 2011 respectively. Viewers meet Sherlock Holmes, portrayed by Robert

Downey Jr., and John Watson, played by Jude Law, as an already well-known detective duo that helps Scotland Yard with the most mysterious cases. Even though the movies are set in the 19th century London, they differ from the original stories in importance of supporting characters, as well as, plot changes to make them more attractive for audiences.

In Sherlock Holmes, Watson is a practicing doctor with a mustache, who limps because of the injury he suffered in Afghan war. He is about to move out from an apartment at 221B Baker Street to live with his soon to be wife Mary Morstan. Holmes

23 The Deadline Team. "Full 2013-2014 TV Season Series Rankings." Deadline. 22 May 2014. Accessed

05 Nov. 2016. www.deadline.com/2014/05/tv-season-series-rankings-2013-full-list-2-733762

24 Moraes, Lisa De. "Full 2015-16 TV Season Series Rankings: ‘Blindspot’, ‘Life in Pieces’ & ‘Quantico’

Lead Newcomers." Deadline. 26 May 2016. Accessed 05 Nov. 2016. www.deadline.com/2016/05/tv- season-2015-2016-series-rankings-shows-full-list-1201763189.

25 O'Neill, Phelim. "Elementary – Box Set Review." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 17 Jan.

2014. Accessed 05 Nov. 2016. www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/jan/17/elementary-box-set- review.

17 deals with the change in his peculiar way through various eccentric experiments and increased recreational use of cocaine. After a mysterious resurrection of a serial murderer, whom Holmes and Watson helped to catch, a secret society hires the consulting detective and his assistant to solve the case again as the villain Lord Henry

Blackwood, portrayed by Mark Strong, threatens to kill the whole government. Irene

Adler, played by Rachel McAdams, also affects the story as she is hired to steal from

Blackwood. In the movie, Adler and Holmes already have a history together and their feelings for each other complicate the investigations. With the help of all participants,

Inspector Lestrade of Scotland Yard, starring Eddie Marsan, manages to save the members of Parliament. In the final fight between Holmes and Blackwood, the detective pushes him in to the Thames river while saving his love Adler, who confides she was hired by Moriarty.

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows revolves around the ultimate nemesis

Professor Moriarty, played by Jared Harris. Holmes and Watson travel around Europe to reveal his plan and prevent a world war that Moriarty threatens to start. The second movie brings back the character of Adler, who is killed by Moriarty as her feelings for

Holmes stand in the way for his plans. Sherlock’s brother, Mycroft Holmes, portrayed by Stephen Fry, helps the detectives with his government influence. New characters appear in this rendition, as well. Simza, Gypsy fortune-teller played by Noomi Rapace, whose brother gangs up with Moriarty, travels with Holmes and Watson to Switzerland to stop an assassination of a government member at a peace summit. The movie climaxes with fight between Moriarty and Holmes that ends with the famous jump into the Reichenbach Falls, killing both. However, the last minute of the adaptation reveals

Holmes survived the fall and implies a possible sequel.

The adaptations take most of the significant characters and features connected with the Holmes canon and add different twists to the character of Sherlock Holmes to make the movies more attractive for contemporary viewers. Both Sherlock Holmes and

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows were well-received by critics and public. The movies became first and second respectively in Ritchie’s box-office successes and together earned more than 100 million dollars in the opening weekend.26 Critics praised the actors’ performances, especially by Downey Jr., although they criticized Ritchie for making Holmes the Hollywood action hero.27 Hans Zimmer’s soundtrack was nominated for multiple awards, including Academy Awards.28 Robert Downey Jr. won a Golden Globe for his portrayal of the consulting detective in Sherlock Holmes29.

26 "Guy Ritchie." Movie Box Office Results. Accessed 05 Nov. 2016. www.boxofficemojo.com/people/chart/?view=Director&id=guyritchie.htm.

27 Scott, A. O. “The Brawling Supersleuth of 221B Baker Street Socks It to ’Em.” The New York Times,

24 Dec. 2009. Accessed 05 Nov. 2016. www.nytimes.com/2009/12/25/movies/25sherlock.html.

28 “The 82nd Academy Awards | 2010.” Oscars.org, Accessed 05 Nov. 2016. www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2010.

29 “Robert Downey Jr.” Golden Globes, Accessed 05 Nov. 2016. www.goldenglobes.com/person/robert- downey-jr.

3 The Sexualization of Sherlock Holmes

As Cassandra Poole points out, “love is a natural human need; … so it only

makes sense that fans look for it in what they read and watch. That is why every hero

has to have a love interest, even Sherlock Holmes” (22). The need for a romantic

relationship for Sherlock Holmes originates with the sexualization of the character

itself.

As it is mentioned earlier, many specific features of Holmes do not come from

Doyle himself but from the constant evolution of the character through adaptations.

Sidney Paget’s illustrations of the detective in The Strand Magazine were inspired by

his brother, “making him much more dashing than the raptor-like gent of [Doyle’s]

description” (Graham and Garlen 25). The first stage adaptations maintained this

handsomeness. William Gillet with his career of romantic leads charmed audiences with

his “clear-cut features, the deep-set eyes, looked out from under a deerstalker cap”

(Riley and McAllister 65). Screen audience thought of Sherlock Holmes as a graceful

man thanks to Basil Rathbone and Jeremy Brett, who together portrayed the character

over fifty times. The evolution of Holmes as an attractive man moved forward with

recent renditions making Holmes a heartthrob30 material, partly as a result of casting

choices. Cumberbatch, Downey Jr. and Lee Miller represent a textbook example of an

appealing British gentleman and are considered heartthrobs themselves. Even though

Downey Jr. is an American, he has been praised for his ability to duplicate the

Britishness of the character.

However, the main reason behind the sexualization of Sherlock Holmes is the

creation of a new masculine ideal. In “A Scandal in Belgravia” while Holmes is

30 Merriam-Webster dictionary defines heartthrob as “an attractive and usually famous man “.

20 explaining his deductions on a case to Adler, she, astonished by his skills, points out

“brainy is the new sexy” (00:26:47). The geek culture and the fascination with

“scientific smarts and eccentric habits” transformed the idea of masculine beauty

(Graham and Garlen 25). Audiences long for the mysterious, Byronic type of a hero so much that “the sexualization of the great detective has become a major element of his representation” (Graham and Garlen 30).

3.1 Bromance or Romance?

The sexualization is not new, it started right after the detective’s creation and has been ever present since. “But the cultural appropriation of Holmes as a romantic hero has only increased … with the most recent adaptations” (Graham and Garlen 25). The idea of romantic Holmes is an outcome of making the detective more human. Once he is seen as a person of affection towards his friends, he immediately becomes an object of desire. That is why the relationship between Sherlock Holmes and John Watson has always been a significant part of the stories. Their chemistry brings an essential dynamic into any rendition of the famous detective stories and in fact many adaptations are built solely on the duo’s friendship. Sherlock’s creator Steven Moffat said that the individual characters and their cases are not a key to a success – “people fall in love, not with Sherlock Holmes or Dr. Watson, but with their friendship. … It is the most famous friendship in fiction. … It is a moving and affecting one, and best of all, it [is] a great portrait … of a male friendship” (Porter 183). The so-called “bromance” has become a part of the Holmes canon as much as the deerstalker and Watson’s mustache.

The Oxford Dictionary defines bromance as “an affectionate but non-sexual relationship between two men”. The term was used for the first time in 2004 and since then it has become a popular phenomenon appearing in both small and big screen’s renditions. The relationships of Holmes in the adaptations make him more relatable in

21 terms of emotions and therefore more attractive for audiences. The popularity of

Doyle’s detective was built only on his intelligence and the cases he could solve.

Today’s audiences need more than that, they need Holmes to be not only genius machine but also human being affected by emotions. The glimpses of his feelings for

Watson and his determination to do the impossible for his best friend make Holmes the greatest detective in the world.

Holmes believes emotions make people weak. In “A Scandal in Belgravia”31 he manages to solve a mystery around Adler, who tries to outsmart him, thanks to her feelings for him and states “I’ve always assumed that love is a dangerous disadvantage.

Thank you for the final proof.” (01:21:24). However, where Adler fails as a criminal, she succeeds as a human being. Same pattern applies on Holmes himself. Even though the newly-developed emotions may make him a worse detective when it comes to his focus on facts and details, it ultimately makes him a better person, and thus, more relatable character for contemporary audiences.

Watson has also become Holmes’ personal Achilles heel, and everyone, including his ultimate nemesis Moriarty, knows that the only way to hurt him is through

Watson. In finale of season one32 in Sherlock, he places a bomb on Watson to make

Holmes negotiate with him and the second season climaxes with Holmes choosing his own death to save Watson and his loved ones as Moriarty proclaims “Your friends will die if you don’t.” (“The Reichenbach Fall”, 01:12:54). In Sherlock Holmes: A Game of

Shadows the villain threatens to hurt the doctor and his new wife so later the viewer watches Holmes interrupt their honeymoon to try to save them. Elementary puts Watson

31 “A Scandal in Belgravia“ is the first episode in the second season of Sherlock

32 The name of the episode is “The Great Game”

22 in danger on a season-basis, however, when the danger might come from Moriarty in an episode called “Risk Management”, Holmes promises her:

Holmes: “Watson, you know that there are risks entailed in the work that we

perform. You cannot do the work without undertaking those risks. But know

this, as far as Moriarty is concerned, I will never allow any harm to come to

you. Not ever.”

Watson: “You can’t promise that.”

Holmes: “And yet I have.” (00:27:00-00:27:19)

Moreover, Watson serves as his conscience (Lavigne 20). Before he met him, he had been solving cases purely for his enjoyment, the saved lives and nations had been only the result of his brilliance. After a start of their friendship, Holmes leads investigations not only with Watson, but also for Watson, “his dependable moral base” (Lavigne 20).

The phenomenon of bromance is similar to popular culture’s ‘buddy cop’ pattern, which is “a closely bonded platonic relationship between two men who share professional and domestic intimacy, who form two halves of the one powerhouse whole” (Lavigne 17). Holmes and Watson are dependent on each other in terms of their detective careers. Even though Holmes’ knowledge of anatomy is rather wide, he often relies on Watson and his medical education. The three adaptations show Watson as

Holmes’ partner rather than his assistant. The importance of both characters in the investigations is stressed usually with Holmes using his deduction skills and Watson focusing on the human aspects of their cases.

According to Lavigne, the buddy cop pairings “must constantly struggle against their own romantic implications” (17). The Victorian understanding of two bachelors living together differs from the one of the contemporary audiences. There is a “very thin

23 line between Victorian appropriateness and modern obsession with sexuality” (Porter

183). While today the idea of adult men in their forties sharing an apartment immediately raises a suspicion about their sexuality, the 19th century wifeless gentlemen often formed close relationships, which originated during an education process. Male- only boarding schools offered little but male-male friendships, that often continued into adulthood. “Although Holmes and Watson are not schoolboys, … they are well- educated gentlemen who would have matured during a time when male friendships were unquestioned and acceptable” (Porter 185).

The modern-day Holmes and Watson “are caught between the representational poles of homoeroticism and homophobia” (Lavigne 16) just like any other famous buddy cop partners, for instance in Hawaii Five-0 (1968, reboot 2010), Lethal Weapon

(2016) and Starsky & Hutch (1975)33. Frequently, the buddy cop stories show girlfriends and other love interests, as well as homophobic humor to reestablish the heterosexuality of the characters (Lavigne 17). This proves true in all three adaptations.

Sherlock’s creators bring up the homoerotic subtext only to disavow it later. For instance, when Mrs. Hudson is showing Watson the apartment for the first time, she questions the need for two separate rooms for him and Holmes and she is met with

Watson’s vocal disapproval – “Of course we will be needing two.” („A Study in Scarlet

“, 00:14:26). Same pattern appears in every episode throughout the series with Watson always defending his heterosexuality. Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes also brings up the innuendos, however, they are not immediately disproved the same way as in the BBC series. Instead, the movies make Holmes and Watson action heroes, often engaging in

33 American buddy cop series from CBS, FOX and ABC (American Broadcasting Company) production, respectively.

24 various fights, so that their masculinity, and thus their heterosexuality, cannot be tested.

One of many examples of the homoerotic subtext in the movie is a scene with Holmes appearing in woman’s clothes at Watson’s journey to his honeymoon. They are chased by Moriarty’s people who have been ordered to kill them. Holmes saves the newlyweds and prepares for the final fight by laying on the floor:

Holmes: “Lay down with me.”

Watson: “Why?”

Holmes: “I insist.” (Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, 00:46:55 –

00:47:00).

With the gender swap of Watson, Elementary avoided the homosexual subtext, however, the heterosexuality of both Holmes and Watson is emphasized by their dating history and active sexual life of Holmes, as it is mentioned earlier.

Bromance is closely connected to the term homosocial that is defined as “the seeking, enjoyment, and/or preference for the company of the same sex” (Thomas 40).

Sherlock and Watson frequently choose each other’s company over the one of women, even after Watson’s moving out. The recurring scene with Holmes tempting Watson to join him in investigations always shows the doctor’s rush of excitement about being on a case again. When it comes to Sherlock Holmes and his relationships in general, he tends to connect primarily with men. Apart from Watson, he works with Lestrade, he fights with his brother Mycroft and he competes with Moriarty (Lavigne 18).

In fact, his rivalry with Moriarty often resembles flirtation, that represents a

“carefully blurred, always-already-crossed line from being ‘interested in men’ and pursuing the interests of men” (Thomas 40). Although Sherlock’s Moffat and Gattis insist on the heterosexuality of their characters, in fact they agreed “Holmes’ asexuality

[is] overtly established within the narratives” (Lavigne 15), they build many scenes on the homoerotic humor. And not only concerning the main duo, but also in the interaction between the consulting detective and “the consulting criminal” (“The Great

Game”, 01:23:13). In “The Great Game”, the episode climaxes with Moriarty’s and

Holmes’ first face-to-face meeting that is built on innuendos between the two:

Moriarty: “Is that a British army Browning L9A1 in your pocket or are you just

pleased to see me?

Holmes: “Both.” (01:21:59 – 01:22:08).

Elementary’s Doherty went even further with the sexual tension between Moriarty and

Holmes by making the ultimate villain also Holmes’ love interest Irene Adler. Both renditions show Sherlock furious with Moriarty and the threats he brings, yet at the same time he is oddly fascinated by him, especially as the genius criminal is rather similar to the detective with his lack of emotions and an emphasis on facts and science.

Furthermore, “new audiences may become fans of Holmes and Watson not because of the way in which Arthur Conan Doyle originally wrote the characters, but because of the recent adaptations’ sexual subtext in scenes like this” (Porter 184).

Therefore, it is clear the renditions create the homoerotic tension on purpose to attract more viewers. However, Sherlock Holmes has become a pop culture phenomenon of the

21st century and thus he must “deal with 21st century sexual politics as the homoeroticism inherent in its buddy bromance grows more and more explicit” (Lavigne

23).

3.2 The One Who Is Desired and the One Who Desires

Apart from the homoerotic subtext, the renditions offer also at least glimpses of heterosexual tension, desire and romantic relationship as a result of human Holmes. His

26 intelligence and competence together with good looks make him physically attractive.

However, it is his changed human side, which allows him to be affected by emotions, that draws women to him mentally. Sherlock’s original character Molly Hooper shows clear signs during the series that indicate her feelings for the detective. He does not reciprocate them in the romantic way, however, he still cares about her, as he expresses in “The Empty Hearse”: “Moriarty slipped up. He made a mistake. Because the one person he thought didn’t matter at all to me was the one person that mattered the most.”

(00:48:00-00:48:10). Elementary’s Holmes is desired by many women, which is emphasized with his active sexual life. In Sherlock Holmes movies, there is only one love interest for Holmes and that is Irene Adler. He is fascinated by her; he keeps her picture on his desk and once she appears in London he feels the need to follow her so that he knows everything about her errands.

The character of Adler shifted significantly since her appearance in Doyle’s stories. One could find hardly any rendition that does not adopt the character and that does not make her Holmes’ major love interest. Doyle never intended for his detective to love anyone and Holmes’ fascination with Adler comes from the fact she was the only person who managed to outsmart him. However, as Moffat suggests, in recent adaptations she “serves to fill the endless movie trope of putting Sherlock up against a femme fatale” (Lavigne 15). She has become ultimate romantic interest for the modern

Holmes as she, genius herself, can understand the complicated mind of the consulting detective. “It is a testament to the remarkable nature of her character, an ode to her status as the only woman to prove herself Holmes’ equal, and therefore, the only woman worthy of his romantic attentions” (Poole 22).

Nevertheless, neither rendition gives Holmes a happy ending, no matter with whom. The adaptations show Holmes incapable of a long-term relationship. “His desire

27 to chase the unknown may be what draws women to [him], and his brilliant mind might make them want to have his child to pass on that brilliance, but those features which ignite desire also make Holmes an inappropriate choice for a mate” (Graham and Garlen

28). The way he leads his life prevents him from keeping a strong, healthy relationship.

In the fourth season of Elementary, Holmes makes an effort to make his relationship work, however, he fails miserably as his work often keeps him occupied. The creators of Sherlock go even further and show Holmes being unable to keep even a fake relationship to help him in investigations.

Therefore, fans of the consulting detective often give Holmes their own happy ending. They search for the innuendos and the sexual tension, sometimes even in scenes in which it hasn’t been scripted. It inspires them to develop new storylines and to create various worlds where the famous Holmes is in a romantic relationship. Fan fiction34

“has become a worldwide public phenomenon reported on in global media and openly acknowledged by cultural producers” (Lavigne 14).

The idea of Sherlock Holmes has completely transformed through the years.

Doyle created a calculating machine, but the adaptations show a stylish, smart, witty detective. “Audiences have always sensed there is something seductive about Sherlock

Holmes, and the culture has persistently remade Holmes into the romantic figure of audience desire“ (Graham and Garlen 33). Ultimately, to make the consulting detective more attractive and relatable for contemporary audiences, the adaptations need to create a notion of Holmes engaging in a romantic relationship, whether it is with the man

Watson or the woman Adler.

34 Merriam-Webster dictionary defines fan fiction as “stories involving popular fictional characters that are written by fans and often posted on the Internet”.

4 The Development of Female Characters

Women in Sherlock Holmes’ stories have always been a controversial topic in the Sherlockian fandom. Even though “women appear in nearly every Sherlock Holmes novel and short story” (Poole 16), Doyle offered very few significant female characters for renditions to adapt. However, majority of those women are only victims of oppression. They go to Holmes with their cases and then barely appear in the story, and even less rarely help with investigations. “The presentation of so many women in the

Sherlock Holmes stories as shadowy, mysterious and magical figures is particularly interesting because it precisely contradicts the intended realism of the stories and

Holmes’ often-repeated pleas for scientific explicitness” (Poole 19). According to

Meghan R. Gordon, “Doyle firstly uses the women in his stories to further the impression that Sherlock Holmes is a man of unmatchable deductive skills. [He] contrasts the wit and knowledge that Sherlock Holmes possesses with female characters who are typically silent and reserved” (1). Women serve as a plot device to introduce the mystery and crime to the reader and then to disappear and let Holmes do the marvelous deductions. Doyle’s female characters come to Holmes also for a protection, emphasizing woman’s undeniable subservience to not only Holmes but to men in general (Gordon 1). Moreover, they cannot be their own protectors as their lives are in the hands of men, their fathers, their brothers and their husbands.

The Victorian woman was “thought to be less intelligent and more emotional than men” (Poole 17). Her purpose was to take care of children and the house while being obliged to her husband, a breadwinner of the family. It was unthinkable for her to have other goals and dreams. Woman’s worth was defined by her innocence, however, at the same time, she was seen as a lustful and sinful being (Poole 17). This originates in a Victorian approach to sexuality. As Christopher Redmond observes, “a person’s

29 sexuality was to be expressed chiefly in private, loving marriages, or else in certain other socially tolerated contexts, as gentlemen did with London’s thousands of prostitutes” (Poole 17). Both genders were greatly segregated from each other with woman often being the blamed one. “This perception that women are both innocent, naïve creatures and secretly lustful time bombs plays itself out in many of the Holmes stories” (Poole 17). Third of the stories are, in fact, build on love misfortunes of young ladies, who seek the detective’s help to preserve their innocence as they are usually being blackmailed because of “an imprudent letter written to a lover” (Poole 17).

As Cassandra Poole points out, the role of a woman changed dramatically during the years of publishing Holmes stories. They gained more confidence, strength and independence, which eventually created a lot of confusion among people, as their social norms have been changed radically. Doyle deals more with “challenges to the social and sexual conventions that insured the order in his world than … with challenges to official law and order” (18). By respecting the old norms and making his female characters fragile, “he offers the reassuring spectacle of woman’s predicable unpredictability controlled by chivalric conventions, either composed from without for their own good or internalized by the women themselves” (Poole 18).

Only a few female characters defy this structure in Doyle’s stories. One less- known is the character of Kitty Winter from “The Adventure of the Illustrious Client”

(1924). She helps Holmes in investigating Baron Gruner, who has been using young vulnerable ladies and eventually ruining their lives, just as he ruined Kitty’s as she was forced to become a prostitute after he left her for another woman. She is filled with hatred towards Gruner and she exacts her revenge when she pours acid in his face.

Winter is unusual character as “it is through her actions that the villain is repaid for his crimes and prevented from ever committing them again”, which makes her the hero of

30 the story, not Holmes (Poole 20). Elementary is the only rendition to adopt this character. She appears in season three and serves as a substitute for Watson after

Holmes leaves for London. He admires her for her strength and detective skills, however, she disappears from the show after Watson and Holmes reconcile their partnership.

The lack of strong female characters led to the evolution of minor ones, unimportant in Doyle’s canon, and to the creation of new original characters. Women in recent adaptations significantly intervene in the story and influence the life and decisions of Holmes. This results from the closeness between the female characters and

Holmes himself, which is closely connected to the newly-developed human side of the detective as his emotions and feelings for women in his life enable him to be influenced by them. At first, the renditions present Holmes seemingly unaffected by feelings as he considers emotions weak. As the story unfolds, they show his devotion to his close friends as he risks his life to either save them or revenge them. However, applying this pattern on female characters, it makes them fall to the “‘damsel in distress’ stereotype”

(Poole 21), even though they are depicted as strong individuals.

4.1 Mary Morstan

Sherlock’s Mary Morstan is a former CIA agent with an army training, who opted for a fresh start in London where she met Watson. When Charles Augustus

Magnussen, the master of blackmail, appears in season three35, her past surfaces and she tries to kill him, however, gets interrupted by Holmes. Later it is revealed that

Magnussen does not own any compromising materials, he only keeps the information in his mind. Therefore, to save Morstan from being exposed, Holmes shoots Magnussen

35 Magnussen appears in the third episode of season three called “His Last Vow”.

31 with words aimed at Watson: “Give my love to Mary. Tell her she is safe now.”

(1:22:02-1:22:07). He murders a man, yet he is still the hero of the story as he manages to save the fragile female, Morstan. In a scene that precedes the shooting, Magnussen points out “Sorry, no chance for you to be a hero this time, Mr. Holmes.” (01:21:27) only to be proved wrong. This shows the rendition’s constant attempt to make Holmes the ultimate hero, who even resorts to a crime if it brings a solution. What is more, he kills Magnussen to also protect Watson, which makes audiences forget the subtle belittling of Morstan’s abilities and celebrate the depths of their friendship.

Richie’s character of Mary Morstan is also caught up in this stereotype. In

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows she helps to decode Moriarty’s secret diary, yet she is prevented from participating in the close investigation by Holmes. He does so to save her as her fragile female frame cannot possibly undergo such danger. Richie also introduces an original character, Simza. She is a leader of an anarchist group, but at the same time he depicts her as a desperate sister, who needs Holmes’ help in saving her brother.

4.2 Mrs. Hudson

The character of Mrs. Hudson has taken a motherly role in recent adaptations.

She takes care of Holmes and Watson and their feelings for her are deep and genuine. In

Sherlock Holmes franchise the detective’s relationship with her resembles the one of a child who ostentatiously despises his parents for ruining his fun experiments.

Elementary’s approach to the character is rather 21st century like, she appears in the show as a transgender woman, whose husband has broken up with her. Holmes offers her a place to stay and she repays him by cleaning his house. BBC gives Mrs. Hudson more space to develop her character. She looks after Holmes when Watson moves out and a threat to her life is an immediate threat to Holmes himself. Consequently, she falls

32 to the victim stereotype easily. In “Scandal in Belgravia” she is tortured until Holmes arrives and revenges her by beating her tormentors. Nevertheless, the rendition benefits from this pattern, yet again, as the social and emotional aspects of Holmes actions are more acclaimed by the general audience than the rightness of them.

4.3 Irene Adler

If the Holmes’ female characters does not represent a motherly figure, or in case of Morstan a sisterly one, they are portrayed as possible love interests. As it is mentioned earlier, each rendition offers a woman that desires the affection of the detective. There is Molly Hopper in Sherlock and an unnamed female character per episode in Elementary. Nonetheless, the most significant female character in Holmes canon is, without a doubt, Irene Adler. Through the years, she has changed from “the only woman to ever outsmart Holmes” to “the only woman Holmes ever loved”.

However, the character’s importance in the original stories lays far from alluring

Holmes. Introduced in “A Scandal in Bohemia” (1891), she is described as having “the face of the most beautiful of woman, and the mind of the most resolute of men” (Doyle,

Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Illustrated Short Stories, “A Scandal in Bohemia”, 16).

She equals Holmes as the only female character in the original stories. He respects

Adler for her intellect and wittiness. She reflects the ‘New Woman’36 of the Victorian period that Doyle tried to avoid in his stories, yet failed as it is evident.

Nevertheless, Irene Adler of the 21st century frequently loses the spark of intelligent strong woman. In Richie’s adaptation, Adler works for Moriarty implying she is not independent and strong enough to be her own master. She is intimidated by

36 The term ‘New Woman’ was popularized by an American author Henry James “to describe the increase in independent, career-minded women toward the end of the nineteenth century” (Poole 18).

Moriarty as Holmes points out himself in the first movie: “She [is] scared of him.”

(00:35:38). Even though Watson states she is cleverer than Holmes: “She is the only adversary who ever outsmarted you. Twice.” (Sherlock Holmes, 00:32:12), she represents a textbook example of the damsel in distress. Throughout the movies, she is saved by Holmes from a certain death at least three times. For instance, he manages to unlock handcuffed Adler and save her from being cut into pieces in a slaughterhouse in

Sherlock Holmes and later rescues her from being thrown into Thames. However, it is clear he does so not only to protect her but also himself as her death would affect him deeply. Watson points out Adler is “the only woman [Holmes] ever cared about”

(Sherlock Holmes, 00:32:05) and the affection is mutual. In fact, it gets Adler killed as

Moriarty believes “[she] had succumbed to [her] feelings for him” (Sherlock Holmes: A

Game of Shadows, 00:10:00) and therefore cannot provide her full services. Richie took what the Victorian reader admired about Adler, her brilliant independence, and exchanged it for her feelings that are admired by a contemporary viewer.

Although BBC’s Sherlock follows the original stories rather faithfully, the modern Adler is nothing compared to her Victorian counterpart. She is London-based dominatrix who owns compromising materials concerning influential people. She seeks the counsel of Moriarty to help her make the most of them. Though she managed to collect the information, she was not clever enough to come up with the most efficient way to use it in her advantage. Even Holmes believes she is not that smart: “You cater to the whims of the pathetic and take your clothes off to make an impression. Stop boring me and think.” (“Scandal in Belgravia”, 00:28:03). Furthermore, her feelings for

Holmes make her lose even with Moriarty’s help. Holmes discovers that he is Adler’s weakness and states her defeat: “Sentiment is a chemical defect found in the losing side.

… This is your heart and you should never let it rule your head. You could have chosen

34 any number and walked out with everything you have worked for.” (“Scandal in

Belgravia”, 01:20:04 – 01:21:13). Her biggest significance, that is the ability to outsmart the detective, gets lost in translation. “The woman who beat Sherlock Holmes in 1891 fails to beat Sherlock Holmes in 2012” (Poole 22). To emphasize her failure, partly because she is a woman, Moffat and Gattis let Holmes rescue her minutes before her assassination, and thus, making Adler follow the pattern of damsel in distress, too.

At first, Elementary’s Adler may seem the furthest from the original, yet the core of the character is the most faithful to it. Before the viewer meets Adler, it is hinted she has been murdered while being in a romantic relationship with Holmes. Later he finds out she has been only kidnapped and brainwashed, but otherwise physically unharmed.

The first season climaxes with a revelation that Adler staged both her death and kidnapping and is, in fact, Jamie Moriarty, a villain responsible for many murders.

Adler/Moriarty manages to outsmart the detective, at least for some time. By combining the ultimate villain and the woman, Doherty creates noteworthy character, who outdoes any other modern portrayal of it. She is not the victim of the story, she is very much capable of fighting for herself and protecting herself, just as the Victorian Adler, and even more so. Nevertheless, she does fall to the modern ‘failing due to emotions’ phenomenon. She cares for Holmes and is astonished by his brilliance: “[Your mind] seemed to be mind that rivaled my own, something too complicated and too beautiful.”

(“Heroine”, 00:01:45). Her love for Holmes makes her visit him after she learns about his overdose. Even though Holmes’ feelings for her are deep and strong, too, his sense for justice is stronger, so together with Watson he tricks her and gets her to confess for the crimes. Moriarty’s feelings make her weaker criminal, however, at the same time they make her more approachable for audiences.

Doherty’s gender swap not only in Holmes’ villain, but also in his closest friend, helps to tear down the traditional Doyle patterns for both characters. Joan Watson is as emotionally complicated as Holmes himself, therefore she is the optimal partner for him. Her ability to learn the deductions and to lead an investigation on her own makes her equal to Holmes like any other character. While other renditions show Watson teaching Holmes to open to others and to emotions, in Elementary they work through this progress together. And as they open to each other, their feelings become essential for their decision-making. Joan Watson tries to defy the stereotype of a female victim, even though there is an occasional threat to her life that requires the help of a man.

Nevertheless, her strength to fight for herself may resemble the one of a male character.

It is obvious that Elementary has done the most work of all adaptations in understanding the female characters in the Holmes stories, and therefore, it has been very popular among viewers. However, this is a result of the significant digression from the original stories, which caused a controversy among Sherlockians loyal to the consulting detective.

Even though the female characters developed from plot devices into supporting roles, the majority of them still retained the image of fragile beings in a need of saving that Doyle depicted almost 130 years ago. One can see the emancipation the renditions offered in the number of lines and scenes the characters are given. Yet, the need for

Holmes to be the ultimate hero of the stories often prevents them from being more than the damsels in distress. Nonetheless, this is partly the key to the popularity of Sherlock

Holmes adaptations among the audience of all genders, as the viewers either want to be saved or want to be the hero that saves everyone.

5 Conclusion

When Doyle created his consulting detective in 1887, no one could predict the

popularity of the character and the fascination with it in the years to come. Sherlock

Holmes has become a synonym for detective and many consider the character to be a

hero similar to Superman, Batman and others. However, Doyle never controlled the

actions of his detective, the outcome of Holmes’ death in Reichenbach Falls serving as a

proof. “The public, not his creator, had come to own Holmes” (Graham and Garlen, 24).

The fans ensured the consulting detective kept astonishing the world with his

deductions many years after Doyle’s passing.

Both screen and stage renditions, as well as plenty of literary works inspired by

Doyle’s stories, helped to develop the character as one knows it today. Many readers

and viewers would not become fans of the detective if it was not for the adaptations.

Throughout the years, they introduced the character to a wider audience and, thus,

securing the position of Holmes as one of the most popular fictional characters.

Recently, the popularity of Sherlock Holmes has increased greatly. Sherlock,

Elementary and Sherlock Holmes franchise have significantly added to the creation of a

modern phenomenon. Even though the public’s fondness of the character has put an

enormous pressure on them to maintain the legacy, they managed to make the stories

relatable and approachable to the contemporary viewer. At first, the Sherlock Holmes

movies may seem as the most faithful to the original. However, given the limited time,

they adopt mostly just the canonical idea of the detective making him a Hollywood

action hero and, thus, satisfying both new viewers and old Sherlockians. Sherlock might

be set in modern-day, yet the elaboration of the plot and the characters makes it the

closest to the original. Elementary is, without a doubt, only loosely based on the canon.

Nonetheless, the innovate approach to the characters emphasizes the qualities that they were given by Doyle himself.

Despite being set in different periods and stressing different features of the original canon, the main focus of the renditions are the relationships of Sherlock

Holmes, especially his friendship with Watson. Audiences long for the inseparable duo that can conquer the world. They often see a friendship that has evolved into a romantic relationship and they thrive on the subtext in every scene. The notion of Holmes in love, whoever with, is a common theme found in all the three adaptations and it opens the human side of the detective, his emotions and his feelings to the audience.

The emancipation of female characters is also evident in the recent renditions.

The number of recurring women who influence the plot and the characters has widened since the 19th century. Although they rarely depict them as equals to Holmes, their significance in attracting more viewers cannot be denied.

Ultimately, the key to popularity of the consulting detective in the 21st century does not reside in setting the story in modern times and cities around the world. It is not about letting him use the most advanced technologies available and seeing him fight current terrors. It is not about the physical attractiveness of the actors and how famous they are. It is not about the homoerotic subtext and the sexual tension. It is not even about the emancipation of women and their ability to allure the detective. Although these aspects certainly help enormously, the reason behind Sherlock Holmes becoming a phenomenon of the 21st century is simply making him more human. As Watson expresses in Sherlock: “You [are] the best man and the most human human-being that I have ever known.” (“The Reichenbach Fall”, 01:26:10). This is what the renditions strive for. They depict the character as a loving, caring individual who would do the

38 impossible to save the people he loves. Essentially, this makes him the greatest detective to ever exist.

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7 Resumé (English)

This bachelor’s thesis focuses on the phenomenon of Sherlock Holmes in the

21st century and analyzes three different renditions: the BBC series Sherlock, the CBS

series Elementary and the Warner Bros. Pictures Sherlock Holmes franchise (namely

Guy Ritchie’s films Sherlock Holmes and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows). The

purpose of this work is to present the key features in the aforementioned adaptations

that lead to the popularity of the famous detective among the contemporary audience of

all genders and ages, as well as how the current issues in culture and society shape the

story and influence the perception of the characters.

8 Resumé (Czech)

Tato bakalářská práce se soustředí na fenomén Sherlocka Holmese ve 21. století a zaměřuje se na tři následující adaptace původních povídek Arthura Conana Doyla: seriál z produkce BBC Sherlock, seriál z produkce CBS Elementary a filmy režiséra

Guy Ritchieho Sherlock Holmes a Sherlock Holmes: Hra Stínů z produkce Warner

Bros. Pictures. Cílem této práce je osvětlit klíčové prvky ve výše zmíněných adaptacích, které zaručují popularitu slavného detektiva i mezi současnými diváky všech věkových skupin a pohlaví. Práce se zaměřuje na popsání aktuálních problémů v kultuře a společnosti a analyzování, jak tyto problémy ovlivnily formování příběhů daných adaptací a pohled na všechny postavy jako takové.