0015: The Noble Bachelor

DATE

September 24,2011 
11:00 a.m.

LOCATION

Hedberg Public Library Public Meeting Room

MEMBERS PRESENT

Carol Beilharz, Tamara Bower, Ron Del Ciello, Tom Drucker, Herbert Emmel, Resa Haile, Gayle Lange Puhl, Victor Rufer.

CHARTER MEMBER

James Haile

QUIZ AND MISCELLANY

Tom provided the quiz. Gayle took first place, Ron, second, and Tamara, third.

STORY: THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR

Gayle said she felt “The Noble Bachelor” presents one of the most disagreeable clients ever. She also added that it should have been “Lord Robert,” not “Lord St. Simon,” as he had an older brother. Resa suggested Watson might not have realized that. Tamara said St. Simon had an inflated idea of his own importance. She noted that Holmes was having fun with Watson the entire time. He teases Watson twice. Resa asked if Lord St. Simon’s expectation was really out of line? From his point of view, he usually is the hottest thing. Flora Millar was a “kept woman.” She drew a comparison between Irene Adler and the king and Lord St. Simon and Flora. Tamara noted the “jumping the claim” misdirection. Gayle said St. Simon was a jerk. Resa questioned if people would have thought of him as a jerk. He kept a mistress, but he took care of her, and he gave her up when he was about to be married, which he didn’t have to do.

Tamara said it was his case that was of moment to Holmes, not his position. Ron said that the story showed Doyle’s attitude towards class and towards Americans. Resa noted the two countries were close allies. Gayle said that Doyle was very influenced by American writers: James Fenimore Cooper, Edgar Allan Poe, Oliver Wendell Holmes. Doyle’s family had connections to members of Parliament, writers, and artists, yet Doyle grew up poor, because his father drank. His sisters had to go out and work as governesses. Governesses were powerless. Resa mentioned “Thor Bridge.” Gayle said Doyle showed it wasn’t just the poor who commit crimes. Tamara noted that, unlike in the Brett series, they all bow to each other. Gayle said Holmes snubbed the king. Resa felt sorry for St. Simon; he made a fair deal, title for money. The marriage market. Gayle ticked off some examples of these types of marriages.

Ron thought the writing was excellent. One of the best examples of Doyle’s writing. “You really got to know some of the characters.” Yet Doyle rated it low among his stories. Resa asked what everyone thought of Hatty’s actions. Tamara noted that at first, Hatty thought she was seeing a ghost. Ron said she was just a kid, intimidated. Gayle thought she sort of went into shock. Resa said, “But afterwards, they’re just going to leave.” Tamara said to think of her first marriage; it reflects back to that. You marry, you fly. Resa noted that Lord St. Simon needs a wife with a fortune to keep up his property. Tamara said he faced a bleak future. Resa felt there were no villains; everyone deserved sympathy. Gayle thought he would be looking for another wife. Herb mentioned that the Rhodes Scholarship performs a function of bringing cultures together now.

Minutes prepared by Resa Haile.

Readings from The Original Tree Worshippers of Rock County

Stories and Articles Discussed at our Meetings So Far: 

Sherlock Holmes Stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

A Study in Scarlet
The Sign of Four
"A Scandal in Bohemia"
"A Case of Identity"

"The Adventure of the Red-Headed League"
"The Boscombe Valley Mystery"
"The Five Orange Pips"
"The Man with the Twisted Lip"
"The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle"
"The Adventure of the Speckled Band"
"The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb"

"The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor"
"The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet"
"The Adventure of the Copper Beeches"
"The Adventure of the Silver Blaze"
"The Adventure of the Cardboard Box"
"The Adventure of the Yellow Face"
"The Adventure of the Stockbroker's Clerk"
"The Adventure of the 'Gloria Scott' "
"The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual"
"The Adventure of the Reigate Puzzle," a.p.a. "The Adventure of the Reigate Squire(s)"
"The Adventure of the Crooked Man"
“The Adventure of the Resident Patient”
"The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter"
"The Adventure of the Naval Treaty"
"The Adventure of the Final Problem"
"The Adventure of the Empty House"
The Hound of the Baskervilles
"The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire"
"The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle"
"The Red-Headed League"
"The Boscombe Valley Mystery"
"The Five Orange Pips"
"The Man with the Twisted Lip"
"The Adventure of the Speckled Band"
"The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb"
"The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor"
"The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet"
"The Adventure of the Copper Beeches"
"The Adventure of the Silver Blaze"
"The Adventure of the Cardboard Box"
"The Adventure of the Yellow Face"
"The Adventure of the Stockbroker's Clerk"
"The Adventure of the 'Gloria Scott' "
"The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual"
"The Adventure of the Reigate Puzzle" (a.p.a. "The Adventure of the Reigate Squire(s)"
"The Adventure of the Crooked Man"
"The Adventure of the Resident Patient"
"The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter"
"The Adventure of the Naval Treaty"
"The Adventure of the Final Problem"
"The Adventure of the Empty House"
The Hound of the Baskervilles
"The Adventure of the Norwood Builder"
"The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist"
"The Adventure of the Dancing Men"
"The Adventure of the Priory School"
"The Adventure of Black Peter"
"The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton"
"The Problem of Thor Bridge" 

Essays by Others
"A Search for Truth and the Elusive Woman in 'The Adventure of the Copper Beeches' " 
(from The Secret Marriage of Sherlock Holmes and Other Eccentric Readings) by Michael Atkinson

"Studies in the Literature of Sherlock Holmes" by Msgr. Ronald A. Knox

Pastiche

A Slight Trick of the Mind by Mitch Cullin
The Seven-Per-Cent Solution by Nicholas Meyer
"A Study in Emerald" by Neil Gaiman

Non-Sherlockian Works by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
"The Case of Lady Sannox"
"The Brazilian Cat"
"The Jew's Breastplate"
The Lost World
The White Company
Sir Nigel 
Poems
Letters relating to Doyle's mother
"J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement"
A Duet, with an Occasional Chorus

The Tragedy of Korosko

NOT THE ONLY WOMAN: THE POINT OF IRENE ADLER by Resa Haile

Irene Adler isn’t the only woman Holmes respected, and indeed, what kind of point would it be if she were? Then it just says that Holmes met one woman who was worthy of respect; the end. But turn it another way; look at it under this light: Holmes met a woman who made him realize that there was more to women.

Before this (chronologically), he had been sympathetic to women, always ready, with Watson, to take on the role of knight-errant. Mary Morstan even refers to them as such in The Sign of Four. Holmes says of Miss Morstan, now Watson’s fiancée, “I think she is one of the most charming young ladies I ever met, and might have been most useful in such work as we have been doing. She had a decided genius that way; witness the way in which she preserved that Agra plan from all the other papers of her father.”

There is little evidence in the stories of an active “dislike” of women; although Watson might have been fooled, the reader seldom is. As for a distrust, Holmes didn’t trust anyone, and I would go so far as to say there are examples that show he didn’t trust Watson completely, nor was he worthy of being so trusted himself, which he probably knew. He knew the proscribed conditions of women’s lives, and, because of this, he was not unsympathetic to them.

If meeting Irene Adler opened Holmes' eyes a little further to the fact that women could reach beyond their assigned roles, that’s a much more exciting concept than her point being that she was the one woman who equaled or approached equaling or beat him.

(In fact, there is debate about whether she was the woman mentioned in “The Five Orange Pips,” when Holmes says, “I have been beaten four times—three times by men, and once by a woman.” The case is dated earlier than “A Scandal in Bohemia,” so we are left with the possibilities of misdating or a woman who beat Holmes before Irene Adler, perhaps not such an honorable woman or one so worthy of respect.)

But say that Adler’s narrative function is to make Holmes more aware of the possibilities of women. Mary Morstan had a decided genius for detective work, but she married Watson and was happy with that kind of life. Perhaps it was so for all women. 

Then there is Adler, enjoying playing the game against him, someone with whom he is ultimately more sympathetic than his client. And in the end, she shows the king mercy when she has him in her power; this is what puts her on a “different” (higher) “level” from the king. Holmes is not in love with Adler, but he sees her more clearly in the end, understands and admires her. His education in the matter of brave, intelligent women is underway.

In “The Copper Beeches” (a case usually dated by chronologists as 1890, two years after the date given for “A Scandal in Bohemia”), Violet Hunter functions very much as the investigator on the scene (in his fascinating book, The Secret Marriage of Sherlock Holmes, and Other Eccentric Readings, Michael Atkinson writes that “Violet is as bright and observant as Holmes—and is the better detective”) and wins praise from the consulting detective: “You seem to me to have acted all through this matter like a brave and sensible girl, Miss Hunter. Do you think that you could perform one more feat? I should not ask it of you if I did not think you a quite exceptional woman.”

As late as “The Lion’s Mane,” when Holmes has retired to keep bees in Sussex, he says of Maud Bellamy that “she possessed strong character as well as great beauty” and would “always remain in [his] memory as a most complete and remarkable woman.”

The only woman Sherlock Holmes ever respected? Not by a long shot. An important part of the evolution of his character? Hell, yes.

On Sherlock Holmes and emotion:

He wants to be a calculating machine but he really isn’t. He really absolutely properly isn’t. He’s a quite a moody difficult emotional man is the truth, even in the original, and it’s really fascinating to read the real Doyle and you realise if he thinks a man has wronged a women he’s dragging a riding crop off the wall to beat him up ’cause he’s so angry. He’s actually not at all cold and aloof, he just wants to be and presents that way, but he isn’t, he isn’t at all. But he would like to be.

http://www.universityobserver.ie/2012/02/22/steven-moffat-the-full-transcript/

I mean, he thinks he can solve everything by being sort of cold and remote. Our Sherlock even entertains the idea that he’s above emotion. He’s actually a terribly emotional man and he’s a desperate show-off. And far from being cold and remote, he’s got a bunch of people who look after him. The support team is enormous. He doesn’t quite realize that far from being the invulnerable ice king, he’s actually perceived by his friends as a wonderful, amazing man, but one you have to look after.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/03/sherlock-season-2-steven-moffat_n_1472139.html

The first set of comments relate to Holmes in the Canon; the second to BBCSherlock, but I think the line “He’s actually a terribly emotional man and he’s a desperate show-off” really applies to Holmes in the Canon. He is shy yet loves to have his dramatic moments or surprise people with his disguises. He is touched by being appreciated. I’m not going into the long discussion of whether Moffat and Gatiss’s Sherlock delivers this, but Moffat’s statements here are very true to the character in the Canon, and I love that it’s a complete rebuttal of the concept that Holmes is some kind of heartless machine.

Yes, Virginia, He Did Say Elementary

“Before turning to those moral and mental aspects of the matter which present the greatest difficulties, let the enquirer begin by mastering more elementary problems. Let him on meeting a fellow-mortal, learn at a glance to distinguish the history of the man, and the trade or profession to which he belongs.”

–Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, A Study in Scarlet, “The Book of Life” article by Sherlock Holmes

“All this is amusing, though rather elementary, but I must go back to business, Watson.”

–“A Case of Identity”

“Interesting, though elementary,” said he, as he returned to his favourite corner of the settee. “There are certainly one or two indications upon the stick. It gives us the basis for several deductions.”

–The Hound of the Baskervilles

“The detection of types is one of the most elementary branches of knowledge to the special expert in crime, though I confess that once when I was very young I confused the Leeds Mercury with the Western Morning News. But a Times leader is entirely distinctive, and these words could have been taken from nothing else.”

–The Hound of the Baskervilles

“Elementary,” said he. “It is one of those instances where the reasoner can produce an effect which seems remarkable to his neighbour, because the latter has missed the one little point which is the basis of the deduction.”

–“The Adventure of the Crooked Man”

“I’m sure, Watson, a week in the country will be invaluable to you,” he remarked. “It is very pleasant to see the first green shoots upon the hedges and the catkins on the hazels once again. With a spud, a tin box, and an elementary book on botany, there are instructive days to be spent.” He prowled about with this equipment himself, but it was a poor show of plants which he would bring back of an evening.

–“The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge”

“The train of reasoning is not very obscure, Watson,” said Holmes, with a mischievous twinkle. “It belongs to the same elementary class of deduction which I should illustrate if I were to ask you who shared your cab in your drive this morning.”

–“The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax”

Still, elementary as it was, there were points of interest and novelty about it which may excuse my placing it upon record. I now proceeded, using my familiar method of logical analysis, to narrow down the possible solutions.

–“The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier” (narrated by Sherlock Holmes)

The Elementarian on Tumblr:Yes, Virginia, He Did Say Elementary

*

A Sherlockian 

Visits the U.K.

by Elaine Yao Khan

Part One:

 "I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere"

I didn't bring umbrella.
My hat helped me
but I was wet.

Baker Street is a very busy street.
The tour guide told us that it was the same
noisy street at Sherlock Holmes' time
because of the cobblestone roads
and the wooden wheeled carts.

Cobblestone road

Baker Street Station



Baker Street Station--tube in London: 

Many small silhouettes form a big one

The Mews is like the real
Sherlock Holmes style house.

There are several spots to be considered
as Sherlock Holmes' living spaces.
This is one of them.

Sherlock Holmes Hotel
is also considered as a possible 221B.
The arch door is just the Victorian style.

It's an expensive hotel
and there is decoration
of Victorian style in the rooms.

2nd floor,
another possible Sherlock Holmes
original living spot

Sherlock House

Sherlock's Bar & Grill

Sherlock Holmes pub and restaurant

The restaurant's menu

I ordered "Shepherd's pie." It was OK.
The waitress was not very friendly
and the restaurant was not very busy
 on that Saturday lunchtime.

Pub's collection

A caricature of Sherlock Holmes

Jeremy Brett and Edward Hardwicke
as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson

Some of the collection in this restaurant
used to belong to the Conan Doyle family.

I tried twice to take Holmes' picture,
but "he" wouldn't let me have a clear one
with the light.

Holmes collectibles

The Hound!

 



The biggest fictional statue in the U.K.

     It 

        is

   outside

     the

   Baker

   Street

  Station.

This is the outside of
Sherlock Holmes Museum.
The Victorian police guard the door.

The Beatles store just next to the
Sherlock museum!

This is our tour guide.