Sherlock Holmes Compare And Contrast

Since the first story of Sherlock Holmes and his partner Dr John Watson was published in A Study in Scarlet in 1887, both of them and their stories has been one of the most popular fictional characters. At first, the story did not attract public interest and attention. However, it became a huge success after four years since it was published. This result made Conan Doyle decided to extent the story to a series of sequels(Porter 2012: 5). Actually, Holmes and Watson were featured in fifty-six short stories and published in four novels(Porter 2012: 145). Even though the first story of them is written nearly 130 years, the popularity is not declined. Thanks to modern media, such as television programs and films, and the Internet, the adaptations

His sign has built in people’s mind. The cloaked and hunting capped figure raises a blowing curved pipe; this image has deep planted in people’s mind. Although Holmes in those modern adaptations is different, they are observed the prototype of him from these characters. However, there are various interpretations of Watson in 21st century. Dr John Hamish Watson, the veteran war doctor (Porter 2012: 5), and the close companion of Holmes, his image is not as vivid as Holmes. In the most recent series and films I have mentioned above, every screenwriter, director, and actor/actress has their own image about Watson, the indispensable presence to Holmes and the whole series. To be frankly, the remarkable new images of Watson in Sherlock and Elementary are barely similar, even comparing them to the original. In these two, I am more interested in the latter, especially the adaptation and transformation of casting and interpretation of Watson because the producers chose Lucy Liu, a woman to play, although it is not the first attempt to replace Watson with a female as the well known sidekick of Holmes. It was a challenge when it broadcasted just after very recent adaptation in a film and a television show, which leaded it to either a revolution or a disaster. Now, in mid 2015, Elementary was just ended its third season, and the fourth is coming in