In Bed With Sherlock Holmes: Sexual Elements in Arthur Conan Doyle's Stories of the Great Detective

208 Pages·2002·13.15 MB·English

by  Christopher Redmond

In Bed With
Sherlock
Holmes
Other books by Christopher Redmond:
Between Knuckle and Palm; London: South Western Ontario Poetry, circa 1980.
In Bed With
Sherlock
Holmes
Sexual Elements in
Arthur Conan Doyle's Stories of
The Great Detective
by Christopher Redmond, B.A., M.A.
Illustrations by Sidney Paget
Simon & Pierre
Toronto, Canada
We would like to express our gratitude to The Canada Council and the Ontario Arts Council for their support.
Marian M. Wilson, Publisher
Copyright © 1984 Christopher Redmond
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying and recording, information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing
from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.
Acknowledgement is given for permission to quote from the following:
Introduction to The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (Arthur Conan Doyle) by Leslie Fiedler. Introduction Copyright
© 1976 by Leslie Fiedler. All rights reserved. Reprinted by permission of Schocken Books Inc.
Naked Is the Best Disguise by Sam Rosenberg. Copyright © 1974, Samuel Rosenberg, Publisher
ISBN 0-88924-142-2
12345-87654
Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data
Redmond, Christopher
In bed with Sherlock Holmes: sexual elements in Arthur Conan Doyle's stories of the great detective
ISBN 0-88924-142-2
1. Doyle, Arthur Conan, Sir, 1859-1930 — Criticism and interpretation. 2. Sex in literature. I. Title.
PR4624.R41 1984 823'.912 C84-098687-4
General Editor: Marian M. Wilson
Editor: Betty Corson
Assistant Editor: Jean Paton
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Printed and Bound in Canada
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Canada M5C 2J4
This book is inevitably and affectionately dedicated
TO KATE
and to the adventuresses whom, because of her,
I have come to know and love
Acknowledgements
I am grateful to the many people who have been the sources of my ideas, or who have
helped me to clarify and document them. In some cases that has happened through per-
sonal conversation, and in other cases through the printed word, the great mass of pub-
lished Sherlockian scholarship: I could not even attempt a full list, though footnotes
throughout the text give credit in many of the places where it is due.
My greatest debts are to two noted Sherlockians who are also members of my fami-
ly. One is my wife, Katherine Karlson Redmond, who not only stimulated my interest
in Sherlock Holmes and sex, separately and together, but helped in endless discussions
as the work took shape, and made her almost total recall of the canon available as an
indispensable reference tool. The other is my father, Donald A. Redmond, who has
guided my Sherlockian research as much as I would let him since my teen years, and
has given me, most of all, my approach to the text (Doylean rather than Sherlockian,
one might say). His Sherlock Holmes: A Study in Sources, which was on press as the
writing of this book began, has been of immense help to me, and so has his endless
personal encouragement and advice.
I am grateful to several of the Adventuresses of Sherlock Holmes for their help.
Ursula Moran and Marlene Aig, as close friends who love both Sherlock Holmes and
me, have been encouraging when I needed encouragement; Evelyn Herzog deserves
particular thanks for assistance in formulating the ideas behind Chapter IV. Maureen
Green, a dear friend and the president of The Bootmakers of Toronto during 1984, has
given good advice and support during the last stages of preparing the manuscript.
Indeed, I must give credit to the very existence of the Adventuresses, for several
reasons. By taking on canonical personae, they have given me a clearer picture of Eugenia
Render's unmarred face and Nancy Devoy's admirable curves. By raising questions about
the importance of women to Doyle and to Holmes, they have stimulated much impor-
tant scholarship. And by agitating for fair treatment in a largely male Sherlockian world,
they have impelled me, and I hope other people, too, to think about the proper roles
of men and women. I hope this book will make clear my belief that, in spite of the
beautiful differences between men and women, many sexual distinctions in fact have
nothing to do with sex and would better be done away with.
The attitudes of Sherlockians to sex—sex in the Holmes tales, and to a secondary
degree sex in the Sherlockian subculture—is in fact a topic of some interest in this book.
Much of Chapter V deals with the keen interest that Sherlockians have long shown in
a particular character, Irene Adler, and at many places throughout this book I have touched
on the generally held opinions of other (especially female) characters and sexual situa-
Acknowledgemen ts
tions. Partly in order to elucidate this aspect of my general subject, I have made reference
in the text or in footnotes to a very large number (indeed, I hope an exhaustive list)
of Sherlockian articles that touch on love or sex in some way.
Throughout my research I have received invaluable help at the Metropolitan Tor-
onto Library, where Cameron Hollyer and Janice McNabb preside over the world's largest
publicly owned collection of Doyle and Holmes material, and also at the library of the
University of Waterloo. At the university (which, as my employer, provides indirect
support for my Sherlockian research, perhaps more than it bargained for) I have had
generous assistance from many people, including some who are mentioned in footnotes
in connection with specific points, and Dr. Paul Beam, who was of great help on mat-
ters to do'with techniques of literary criticism.
To all these people I am deeply indebted, but that is not to say that they are to blame
for what resulted. I am the one who has been writing articles for several years pointing
to sexual elements in Sherlock Holmes, although of course such matters have been touched
on by others as well. Acknowledgements on specific matters will be found throughout
the book, and a general acknowledgement is due to Samuel Rosenberg for his brilliant
if off-centre book, Naked Is the Best Disguise. I am also the one who was convinced
that a book could be written on the subject. This book is my conviction, or obsession,
and nobody else's. Any misinterpretations and errors that it no doubt contains are also
entirely my responsibility.
Note on Illustrations
The illustration on the cover and those that head the chapters are chosen from among
the 357 drawings by Sidney Paget that were published in the earliest editions of the Adven-
tures, Memoirs, and Return of Sherlock Holmes and The Hound of the Baskervilles.
Arthur Conan Doyle wrote in his autobiography that he had imagined Holmes as a thin
and ugly man, but Paget "had a younger brother . . . who served him as a model. The
handsome Walter took the place of the more powerful but uglier Sherlock, and perhaps
from the point of view of my lady readers it was as well." One of Paget's contributions
to the popular image of Holmes was the deerstalker (fore-and-aft) cap, which is never
mentioned in any of the tales but along with the curved pipe has become a symbol of
Holmes's presence.
Contents
Acknowledgements 6
Introduction 10
I Sex as Well as Violence 16
II Looking for Miss Rachel 26
III Love, Detection, and Adventure 39
IV We Constantly Mention Aunt Clara 55
V Be Very Careful When You Say It in Ink 70
VI Sherlock Holmes in Love 82
VII The Man Behind the Characters 98
VIII The Things We Do for Love 113
IX A World Without Women 126
X There Is Always Romance 141
Reference Notes 155
Appendix I — Sherlock Holmes Reference List 180
Appendix II — A Note On Sources 182
Appendix III — Bibliography 184
Index 201