For thousands of years in patriarchal cultures women were looked down upon and thought to be the weaker gender. While men were the protectors and providers, women were expected to focus on child bearing and rearing. Although women as a whole have more freedom of choice and a more equal social status today, as well as even by the Victorian Era, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote stories giving women the role of damsel in distress, with the exception of Irene Adler. Cassandra Poole, in her article discussing women in the Sherlock Holmes canon, writes, “She is ‘the woman,’ Irene Adler, whose strength, intelligence, and independence have made her a recurring star in extra-canonical books, television shows, film adaptations, and Sherlock fan fiction” …show more content…
In “A Scandal in Belgravia,” Irene Adler sends Sherlock her most prized possession and he immediately realizes she is in trouble and, his brother, Mycroft, is going to find her dead. He goes through a period where he does not eat or sleep, instead he somberly composes music and plays the violin. In both the original canon novel and the Sherlock episode adaptation “A Scandal in Belgravia,” Sherlock Holmes refers to Irene Adler as “The Woman.” Arthur Conan Doyle’s A Scandal in Bohemia begins with John Watson saying, “To Sherlock Holmes she is always the woman. I have seldom heard him mention her under any other name.” In many of the adaptations that have been written since the original story, each character develops individual interpretations of the meaning behind the nickname he gives her. In “A Scandal in Belgravia,” The very nosey and powerful Mycroft Holmes shares with John Watson that Irene was captured by a terror cell and killed and they discuss what to tell Sherlock. John says Sherlock “despised her at the end” because she used him and “won’t even mention her name, just The Woman.” Mycroft says, “Is [calling her ‘The Woman’] loathing or a salute? One of a kind, the one woman who matters?” John disagrees and says, “He’s not like that. He doesn’t feel things that way.” However, throughout the episode Sherlock sees …show more content…
When we first see Irene and Sherlock in the same room, Sherlock goes into her home and tries to retrieve the compromising pictures. She walks into the room completely naked which keeps Sherlock from being able to deduce anything about her from clothing. She also uses their first meeting to give Sherlock the password to her safe, which is her measurements. This act shows what a cunning person she is and further develops her character into this impressive intellectual equal. It also establishes how comfortable and powerful she is because although Irene is completely vulnerable physically she controlled and owned the room intellectually. In a Baker Street Babes podcast, Curly asks Laura Pulver, the woman who plays Irene Adler in Sherlock, “What was the most important thing you wanted to get across about her character when it was your turn to play her?” to which she replies, “The mischief and the game aspect and the match between the two of them psychologically that really intrigued me because I think in 2012 we get really caught up in the physical aspect of things.” Since there is not a physical relationship between Sherlock and Irene, it is important for her character to be an intellectual equal to the consulting detective. Without her brilliant mind, he would not have this great respect for her. Sherlock beats all criminals, even Moriarty, the greatest consulting criminal in
...When Clare talks to the maid and cook, Irene feels this is “an exasperating childlike lack of perception” because you are not supposed to be friends or associate with servants. She wants to feel superior to the help she has hired, even though they claim the same racial identity. Irene, being only half white lives in a community where everyone identifies as black, however she desperately wants the white half of her to hold some sort of weight in her life. Although she identifies as black, Irene’s actions display nothing but her wanting to assimilate into white culture. She tries to fuse both races together in an attempt to attain some sort of racial identity, but fails to do so. Ironically, throughout the whole book, Irene tries her best to stay loyal to one race, but the actions she takes constantly clashes with the identity she claims in her black community.
The empowerment of women is the major factor in the two pieces written by Susan Glaspell. The male detectives couldn’t figure out what may have happened, but when the women try to bring all the pieces together, they are thrown aside and not substantive. Glaspell shows how the women acted as if they were detectives, much more than the men by being contributing to the fact that they solve the case, showing they were just as valuable as the men, and actually much more.
In “The Sandman”, Clara and Olympia are symbols of the enlightenment and the industrial movement respectively (Hoffmann). Clara can be viewed as the “voice of reason”; she has her own ideas pertaining to the well being of her fiancé, Nathaniel. Olympia on the other hand is an automaton that agrees with everything Nathaniel does. With the exception of Olympia, Clara and the rest of the women and Frankenstein share a small relevance to their respective stories. All of these women are seen as individual thinkers, but have not reached a full understanding of being independent. This means that the importance of women was small, but the size of their role was increasing during the early 19th century.
Watson than there is in the short story. In the case of Helen Stoner, the movie allows you to see aspects of her character that you do not see in the written story such as her relationship with her sister and stepfather. While it does say in the book that the sisters were “chatting about her approaching wedding,” more development is present in the movie because it shows the sisters together reminding the audience that they were close companions and that the loss of Julia was devastating to Helen. Another example of this character development is with Dr. Watson. In the movie adaptation, a short clip was added while Holmes and Watson investigated the house in which Julia had died. In the clip, Dr. Watson is shown examining foot prints on the lawn and explains to Holmes that he is trying to be as observant as he is. Though this clip may not seem like an important part of the story, it adds to Watson’s character by showing him as a student of Sherlock Holmes. While the movie does make the characters more dynamic, it also removed some of the suspense that the written version created.
Reading literature, at first, might seem like simple stories. However, in works like William Faulkner's “A Rose for Emily,” Katherine Mansfield's “Miss Brill,” and Kate Chopin's “The Storm,” the female protagonists are examples of how society has oppressive expectations of women simply because of their gender.
Although Irene appears to be satisfied with her life, prior to the arrival of the radio, the outside lives of others, prompt her to question her personal satisfaction. After eavesdropping on the radio, Irene starts to question things, “Life is too terrible, too sordid and awful. But we've never been like that, have we, darling? Have we? I mean we've always been good and decent and loving to one another, haven't we? And we have two children, two beautiful children. Our lives aren't sordid, are they, darling? Are they?" (189) This quote proves that the trouble in other people’s lives begins to impact Irene and ultimately influences her to question her love towards her husband and the overall quality of her children. Eventually, Irene would go on to ask the demoralizing question, "We're happy, aren't we, darling?” (189) These external difficulties she’s hearing about on the radio have driven her into a state where she actually needs to question her own happiness! Clearly the radio has persuaded Irene to question the satisfaction of her own life, and ultimately, it drives her into a rocky mental
Within Frankenstein, the level at which a female is portrayed is quite low. Like we have heard in class, women were not necessarily respected as much as men were when the novel was written. Published in 1818 by Mary Shelley, her story tells of the adventure of young Victor Frankenstein and the creation of his creature. Though deep within this narration of Frankenstein’s life, there seems to be an underlying theme seeping through Shelley’s writing. Shelley seems to venture into the idea of feminism and grotesquely show how men are treated much better than women. Her novel includes various concrete examples to support this hypothesis.
And Sherlock easily catches where Irene has hidden the photograph. John is amazed of Sherlock’s work and he esteems Sherlock. From the beginning of the story, John is amazed by Sherlock’s work and how he keeps that up. John feeling esteem about Sherlock’s work makes him want to follow Sherlock’s crime situations. It makes the story flow in a respectful way. But in the text John’s esteem moves on to Alder, because she is the woman who tricked the great Sherlock Holmes. However, in the film, Irene gets defeated by Sherlock and John’s esteem does not move away like the text. John remains to respect Sherlock’s ability to
From the beginning of time in history, women have always been portrayed as and seen as the submissive sex. Women especially during the time period of the 1800s were characterized as passive, disposable, and serving an utilitarian function. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a prime example displaying the depiction of women. The women in Frankenstein represent the treatment of women in the early 1800’s. Shelley’s incorporation of suffering and death of her female characters portrays that in the 1800’s it was acceptable. The women in the novel are treated as property and have minimal rights in comparison to the male characters. The feminist critic would find that in Frankenstein the women characters are treated like second class citizens. The three brutal murders of the innocent women are gothic elements which illustrates that women are inferior in the novel. Mary Shelley, through her novel Frankenstein, was able to give the reader a good sense of women’s role as the submissive sex, through the characters experiences of horrific events including but not limited to brutal murder and degradation, which is illuminated by her personal life experiences and time period of romanticism.
When reading Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, one cannot help but notice that the women characters seem to have little substance compared to the male characters. This may have been caused by the time period in which she wrote: one in which females were considered inferior to males. This difference between the sexes can be looked at using a variety of different perspectives. Johanna M. Smith, a professor at the University of Texas at Arlington, discusses this issue using feminist eyes in her essay entitled "'Cooped up': Feminine Domesticity in Frankenstein." The main points in Professor Smith's essay are that the female characters are there only to reflect the male characters, and that the Frankenstein family has a weird style of living, which she describes as a "bookkeeping mentality" (Smith 279).
They had to sacrifice their motherhood in some form or another in order to gain success in other aspects of their lives. Joan, a young girl wanted to have an education and so she ran away from home under the disguise of a boy to gain higher knowledge which was not an option for a girl in her time. Joan stated, “I dressed as a boy when I left home”… “I was only twelve. Also women weren’t/allowed in the library. We wanted to study in Athens” (8). Joan having to disguise herself as a boy, showed that women were not allowed to have an education; they had limited opportunities. However, under the disguise as a male, Joan was given the opportunity to be a pope, a role generally reserve for a man. Nevertheless, it was discovered that she was a female when she gave birth in public and hence, she was stoned to death. Even other women who did not have to choose between motherhood and career, were unable to get promoted even if they were more qualified than men. This is due to the gender gap and the historical male domination. Louise, who came for a job interview at Marlene’s employment agency stated, “Nobody notices me, I don’t expect it, I don’t attract attention by making mistakes, everybody takes it for granted that my work is perfect” (52). This illustrates that even though the feminist movement had made significant advances in gender equality, there are still limitations in inequality concerning
I don't know why some people calling Irene is fake. I dont think she's fake, she just shy or have timid personality, Irene is beautiful and she's bae , so please stop calling her fake.
In the Eighteenth and Nineteenth centuries, the idea of patriarchy ruled the many societies all over the world. Particularly in Britain, its “overarching patriarchal model” (Marsh) had “reserved power and privilege for men” (Marsh). Also during this time period feminist literature began to arise and was invaded by, “the complex social, ethical, and economic roots of sexual politics… as testimony to gender bias and the double standard” (“Sexual Politics and Feminist Literature”). In Jane Austen’s writing, readers have been aware of her constant themes of female independence and gender equality. However, many have criticized the author for the fact that many of her “individualistic” female characters have ended up
Conan Doyle decided to kill off Sherlock Holmes. This made the public furious, and they let him know. When he figured out he had to bring Sherlock Holmes back, he did in one of his most famous short stories ever, called “A Scandal in Bohemia.” Doyle introduces Holmes when the King comes to him for “the purpose of consulting you” (Doyle 6). In “A Scandal in Bohemia” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes battles a formidable foe named Irene Adler. Still, Adler is a victim in this story as evidenced by, how the King manipulates her, how
“Girls wear jeans and cut their hair short and wear shirts and boots because it is okay to be a boy; for a girl it is like promotion. But for a boy to look like a girl is degrading, according to you, because secretly you believe that being a girl is degrading” (McEwan 55-56). Throughout the history of literature women have been viewed as inferior to men, but as time has progressed the idealistic views of how women perceive themselves has changed. In earlier literature women took the role of being the “housewife” or the household caretaker for the family while the men provided for the family. Women were hardly mentioned in the workforce and always held a spot under their husband’s wing. Women were viewed as a calm and caring character in many stories, poems, and novels in the early time period of literature. During the early time period of literature, women who opposed the common role were often times put to shame or viewed as rebels. As literature progresses through the decades and centuries, very little, but noticeable change begins to appear in perspective to the common role of women. Women were more often seen as a main character in a story setting as the literary period advanced. Around the nineteenth century women were beginning to break away from the social norms of society. Society had created a subservient role for women, which did not allow women to stand up for what they believe in. As the role of women in literature evolves, so does their views on the workforce environment and their own independence. Throughout the history of the world, British, and American literature, women have evolved to become more independent, self-reliant, and have learned to emphasize their self-worth.