Sherlock Holmes is one of, if not, the most iconic literary character ever in text due to the fact that this character has been adapted and recreated from the original texts by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to films, stage plays, television series’ etc. The first text to be printed was in 1887 but due to Sherlock Holmes signature key elements, he has been endured enough to stay relevant to this very day.
Sherlock Holmes is a fictional character created by British author, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a “consulting detective” in the stories, Holmes is best known for his proficiency with observation, forensic science, and logical reasoning. There have been countless adaptations derived from Conan Doyle’s original text. Approximately over 2500 remakes of the film and text have been making Conan Doyle’s character a very adaptable one.
This essay will go into detail into how Sherlock Holmes became a signature icon in literature. Firstly, the discussion of how Sherlock Holmes is portrayed across different time periods, social contexts, times and how the character may …show more content…
have been changed throughout the years. Secondly, the discussion of how Watson is always the peripheral narrator and how he is an anchor for the stories to progress. Finally, we will go into detail, of how the success of Sherlock Holmes is mainly due to Conan Doyle’s amazing writing powers using aesthetic features and stylistic devices.
Conan Doyle was originally born in Edinburgh, Scotland, and this is where the Victorian era influenced Doyle’s writing. Sherlock Holmes’ signature gabardine trench coat, his neck collar being turned upwards and his scarf around his neck has stayed with him throughout all the adaptations and remakes. Sherlock Holmes character has been portrayed in different ways during different eras. From Conan Doyle’s original texts made in the 1890’s to the BBC’s television series, Sherlock, which first aired in 2010 the character, has seen minimal change. The main difference from the books to the television series is that the BBC has turned the Sherlock universe into a modernized version of Conan Doyle’s. For example, in the BBC version, Sherlock uses modern technology to his advantage, using his phone to communicate with others, using tracking devices, researching information on his computer etc. Although it is more modern, the characters have still stayed the same. In the texts, Irene Adler stole the photos, and in the television she has done the same. She is always very sexualized in the television series, this is an adaptation straight from the texts, and “she eclipses and predominates the whole of her sex.”
In the TV series, Irene tries to seduce Sherlock by stripping down for him but it didn’t seem to work, as he already knew her plan from the start. She had tried to prove that she was more intelligent than him. This is a clear adaptation from the original text. In the text she does the same thing, trying to prove to be more intelligent than Sherlock. Irene’s representation from the book to the TV series hadn’t changed, she would still be the very sexual, very deceiving, Irene Adler. The characters have been portrayed the same way in the texts and TV series; this makes all the characters more enduring.
Sherlock’s endurance is quite significant, one of the reasons he stays so adaptable is due to the fact that Dr Watson is the peripheral narrator. Most of the stories were told from his point of view, something that other remakes of Sherlock could easily pick up on. As soon as Sherlock met Dr Watson there was an instant spark between them, after Sherlock took him under his wing, they soon became a dynamic duo, his Batman to his Robin. Watson is also a strong anchor for the stories to progress. He always compliments Sherlock’s intelligence and he can also see his flaws as well, recognizing that Sherlock is addicted to cocaine in the original texts. This was how Conan Doyle was able to master his Sherlock character and make him easily be adapted.
Sherlock Holmes has been without a doubt a massive hit throughout the years due to how enduring he is, but none of that would be possible if Conan Doyle’s writing hadn’t been so on point.
The way he wrote the stories, the way he described everything. He always made sure that the audience was up to speed with Sherlock’s brain. For example, in the TV series, when Sherlock would find something out the whole world would go in slow motion as a cinematic played of every little detail he found out. This was a reference to how in the books, the reader, Sherlock and Dr Watson would find things out at the same time. Conan Doyle never left any plot holes in his story, he always gave background information and one story would seamlessly blend into the next. Without the amazing writing powers Conan Doyle had possessed, the world wouldn’t be able to see the many adaptations of Sherlock
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Sherlock Holmes has stayed relevant and enduring due to the fact that he has been adapted over thousands of times throughout the decades. The way Sherlock had been portrayed in different settings, time periods and social contexts had been discussed. Dr Watson, being the peripheral narrator and how he is a strong anchor for the stories was listed. And how Conan Doyle mastered his writing powers and used aesthetic features, stylistic themes in his stories was also noted. Sherlock Holmes isn’t just the definition of a detective; he is the most prolific literary character ever because of the countless remakes and adaptations. Sherlock Holmes will continue on being remade and adapted for many more years to come.