The Bachelor in Victorian Literature. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson

Selina Schuster

• Publisher: GRIN Verlag
• Year: 2013
• eBook ISBN: 9783656494331
• Edition: 0
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: English Literary Criticism
• Index: Literature

Seminar paper from the year 2012 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 2, 0, University of Paderborn (Institut für Anglistik/Amerikanistik), course: Hauptseminar: The Bachelor in British and American Literature and Culture, language: English, abstract: 'But love is an emotional thing, and whatever is emotional is opposed to that true cold reason which I place above all things. I should never marry myself, lest I bias my judgement.' With these words Sherlock Holmes comments rather derogatorily on the marriage plans of his close friend and fellow bachelor Dr. John Watson when the latter reveals his engagement to Mary Morstan to him. While Watson's existence as a bachelor is about to end after the novel 'The Sign of the Four', Sherlock Holmes never had any intention to change his lifestyle from being a bachelor to become a husband and father. He never was married or engaged in any form and obviously didn't miss it. It is due to that attitude that the character of Sherlock Holmes became one of the most famous and best known examples of the bachelor in Victorian literature. But what exactly is a bachelor and how was this term defined during the time when the Sherlock Holmes stories were written?In this term paper I will point out how the life of unmarried men was depicted in Victorian literature and which images and stereotypes arose when it came to the term 'bachelor' in general. In order to do this it is essential to take a closer look at the society during the time the fictional characters of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson were invented – the end of the 19th century. Which characteristics were typical for a bachelor of that time except for being an unwed male? In order to show how the bachelors stood out and differed from their married fellows it is necessary to examine the role of Victorian men in general. Which moral values were associated with the life of a bachelor and did they differ from the generally accepted values of the time? What was their status in society? After this quite general examination I shall take a closer look at the two bachelors invented by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Were Sherlock and Watson typical bachelors of their time? What were their reasons for being unmarried and how were their attitudes and interactions towards women? Did they simply had no luck with the ladies or were there other reasons for them to be unwed? I will try to answer these questions on the basis of the Sherlock Holmes novels 'A Study in Scarlet', 'The Sign of the Four' and the short story 'A Scandal in Bohemia'.