LEOPOLD-FRANZENS-UNIVERSITÄT INNSBRUCK Philologisch-Kulturwissenschaftliche Fakultät Institut für Anglistik Female Agency in 21st Century Adaptations of Sherlock Holmes Diplomarbeit zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades einer Magistra der Philosophie (Mag.a phil.) eingereicht von Maria Rigato bei PD Dr. Dorothee Birke Innsbruck, April 2020 Leopold-Franzens-Universität Innsbruck Plagiarism Disclaimer I hereby declare that this diploma thesis is my own and autonomous work. All sources and aids used have been indicated as such. All texts either quoted directly or paraphrased have been indicated by in-text citations. Full bibliographic details are given in the list of works cited, which also contains internet sources including URL and access date. This work has not been submitted to any other examination authority. April 2020 (Signature) Acknowledgements First of all, I would like to thank Professor Dorothee Birke for her immense support, patience and constructive feedback. She guided me through the entire process and whenever I did not know how to continue, I could always count on her advice. Then, I would like to thank my family, especially my parents, who supported me throughout the entire time and never stopped believing in me. A special thank you goes to Hannah Lackinger who provided me with emotional support, valid criticism as well as amazing ideas when my head was too clouded and I could no longer see the bigger picture. Finally, I am grateful for my partner and my friends who were always there for me when I was frustrated and needed either a distraction or a motivational speech, as well as for Johnny Ray DeMaine for proofreading my thesis Thank you for your support! Table of Contents 1. Introduction 1 2. Female Detective Fiction: Origins, Development and Typology 3 2.1. Characteristics of Detective Fiction according to Vera Nünning 3 2.2. Origins of Female Detective Fiction and the Pre-Golden Age Era 6 2.3. The Golden Age and 20th Century Detective Fiction 11 2.4. Typology of Female Detectives 18 3. The Representation of Women in Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes Stories 25 3.1. Sherlock Holmes – Detective Extraordinaire 25 3.2. From the Angel in the House to the “New Woman” 28 3.3. The Oppression of Women due to Victorian Morals and the Patriarchal System 32 3.4. Portrayal and Agency of Conan Doyle’s Villainesses 38 3.4. Proactive Women and The Woman 41 4. Re-Interpreting Sherlock Holmes from a Female Perspective in Birkby’s The House at Baker Street: Behind Every Great Detective Stands a Great Woman… 46 4.1. Re-centering Female Characters – Moving Women to the Foreground 46 4.1.1. Narration from a Female Perspective 46 4.1.2. Female Characters’ Development 55 4.2. De-centering Male Characters – Pushing Men into the Background 67 4.3. Birkby’s Views on Marriage 72 5. Sherlock’s Re-Interpretatiorn of Gender Roles and Female Stereotypes 78 5.1. Molly Hooper and the Professionalization of Women 78 5.2. Mrs Hudson and the Art of Manipulation 86 5.3. Irene Adler and the Sexualisation of the Female Body 89 6. Conclusion 96 7. Teaching Sherlock Holmes in the EFL-Classroom 100 7.1. The Importance of Teaching Literature in EFL-Classrooms 100 7.3. Didactic Approach and Class Description 101 7.4. Description and Analysis of the Proposed Lessons 103 7.4. Teaching Materials / Handouts 109 8. Works Cited 112 8.1. Primary Sources 112 8.2. Secondary Sources 113 8.3. Digital Images 121 1. Introduction This thesis focuses on the agency of the female characters portrayed in three selected works of the Sherlock Holmes canon. The works in question are Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s original Sherlock Holmes series, Michelle Birkby’s The House at Baker Street and the BBC’s TV series Sherlock. The first part of this paper functions as the theoretical foundation for the analytical chapters. Thus, it deals with the emergence of female detective fiction and its development from the 19th to the 21st century. The initial chapter analyses the struggles female detectives were faced with, since it was thought that being a women and being a detective meant being either an unwomanly woman or a second-rate detective. This binary is reflected in several crime novels, in which the starring female detective had to choose between a successful personal life or a career. Throughout the years different types of female detectives developed such as the amateur sleuth, the academic woman detective, the hard-boiled female investigator, the police woman, and the lesbian detective. This typology of female detectives will be outlined and discussed in detail. The third chapter is dedicated to the original Sherlock Holmes series by Arthur Conan Doyle, and more specifically to its representation of women. Thus, it will focus on the secondary characters of the series, with particular attention dedicated to their function and agency. This chapter also includes an overview of the position of women in society in the Victorian Era, their role within the domestic sphere, and the emergence of the New Woman. Several female characters portrayed in Doyle’s stories are depicted as weak and oppressed by male authoritative figures. However, various women do not simply accept their victimization and react by becoming perpetrators. Particular attention will be given to proactive characters such as Irene Adler, Violet Hunter and Mary Morstan. The main part of this thesis deals with Michelle Birkby’s The House at Baker Street. While it is still set in the Victorian Period, it has a more feminist approach as it is written from the perspective of a woman and clearly shows an increased female agency compared to Doyle’s version, since the lead detectives Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson are substituted by Mrs Hudson and Mary Watson with the occasional help of Irene Adler. This chapter will be analysed through the lens of Ansgar 1 Nünning’s concept of the revisionist historical novel, thus, the representation of the female characters as well as the setting and narrative techniques play a vital role for the analysis. The interplay between these feminist female characters and the strong influence of the rigid Victorian social systems highlights the problems faced by women in the late 19th century in England. Furthermore, the perception of space is quite different compared to Doyle’s version. For example, Mrs. Hudson’s kitchen functions as her study and becomes the backdrop for a great deal of scenes, whereas in Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes it is never mentioned. Lastly, the female bond plays a key role in this novel, not only between Mrs. Hudson and Mary Watson, but also relations towards other women. The two protagonists are willing to go to extreme lengths to help other women and save their reputations. Mrs Hudson and Mary Watson take on the case merely out of compassion and not for monetary gain. The fifth chapter focuses on the BBC’s TV series Sherlock which is set in the present-day. Even though in SherlocK the leading detectives are men, women still play a vital role and have a strong influence on the male characters. The female characters are respected by their male counterparts and are not seen as inferior; for instance, Sherlock admires Irene not for her beauty but for her intellect, and considers Mary and Molly as an equal. Mrs. Hudson, on the other hand, functions as a motherly figure to Sherlock and Dr Watson. Furthermore, these women have all peculiar background stories - Mrs. Hudson was married to a drug dealer and murderer, Mary Watson is a former spy and hired assassin, and Irene Adler is a dominatrix. The last part of this thesis comprises a lesson plan, which includes a series of tasks dealing with the role of women in the Victorian period. The difficulties women had to face during this period of time are concretized and exemplified in Conan Doyle’s “A Case of Identity”. This short story will be discussed thoroughly and will function as the starting point for the writing task, which consists of the re- writing of “A Case of Identity”. 2 2. Female Detective Fiction: Origins, Development and Typology 2.1. Characteristics of Detective Fiction according to Vera Nünning Several scholars have attempted to define detective fiction, its characteristics and its subgenres. These different definitions vary in length and content, ranging from short ones, as for instance in the Encyclopædia Britannica where it is defined as follows: “[d]etective story, type of popular literature in which a crime is introduced and investigated and the culprit is revealed” (Luebering), to broad ones, where scholars dedicated entire books to the topic such as Martin Priestman’s The Cambridge Companion to Crime Fiction or John Scaggs’s Crime Fiction. For the purposes of this work, Vera Nünning’s definition was chosen for several reasons. Firstly, because it is concise and straightforward. Secondly, because the boundaries between the different sub-genres and their respective characteristics are clearly defined. Thirdly and most importantly, because the main features of the detective novel and the characteristics of the detective are not gender-specific. This is essential since in this thesis both female and male detectives will be discussed. According to Vera Nünning, the main characteristic of detective fiction is the eccentric detective who solves crimes by means of deduction, induction and sometimes intuition1 (5). The detective appears to be exceptionally intelligent and is thus able to solve the most complicated cases, as for instance Dupin in “The Murders of Rue Morgue”. Another characteristic of this detective is, according to Nünning, the detective’s expansive scientific knowledge (5). In most cases the character of the detective works independently from the police force.