Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Research Paper

Grubbs 1
Austin Grubbs

Mr. Andrzejewski

English IV

3 May 2013

The Life and Works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was a Scottish writer and physician best known for his captivating stories about the mischievous Sherlock Holmes. Conan Doyle, as he was casually known, lived a somewhat interesting life and made many advances in the world of literature. Personal experiences greatly influenced Doyle’s novels and short stories. From actively investigating real life criminal cases, to being a prominent member of a supernatural organization known as The Ghost Club, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was a very interesting man. Conan Doyle’s life spilled out through his pen and into his writing and the people of England ate it up.
From 1871 to 1875 Doyle attended Stonyhurst College. Boarding school was rough for Doyle: a large majority of his classmates bullied him, and the school practiced ruthless corporal punishment against its students. Doyle eventually found comfort in his passion for storytelling and even managed to develop an interested audience of underclassmen.
In college Doyle found himself in a whole new environment. He endured relentless teasing from his classmates and experienced life on his own for the first time. When Doyle began to feel hopeless and uneasy with his surroundings he drifted away into his imagination and, over time, shared his stories with others. Just like his mother had once shared stories with him, Arthur was now sharing them with younger students who found themselves increasingly interested with Conan Doyle’s fascinating tales.
After graduating from Stonyhurst, Arthur Conan Doyle surprised his parents by going on to pursue a medical degree rather than following in their footsteps and studying art. Doyle decided to attend the University of Edinburgh. He would meet
Doyle was a very spiritualistic person. He wrote many books on his beliefs and even attempted to spread his beliefs to others. Upon graduating from the University of Edinburgh, Doyle officially denounced his previous Catholic faith. Doyle was very interested in communication with the dead and openly spoke about it. Many people wondered what inspired Doyle to create such a super-rational character in Sherlock Holmes when Arthur was so spiritualistic himself. Doyle became increasingly involved with paranormal phenomena and even developed an interest in the Society for Psychical Research. He eventually became disinterested however because he did not believe scientific experiments were necessary to prove what he believed to be true. (“More Intelligent Life”) Doyle and his wife reportedly held séances at their home. He claimed to have communicated with the spirits of the dead. Arthur Conan Doyle practically abandoned the mass amount of Sherlock Holmes tales and began solely writing about Spiritualism. (“A Brief Biographical