This thesis examines attitudes towards feminism and the New Woman movement in the 1890s and 1900s in relation to the representations of female criminal characters in the following works: Thomas...Show moreThis thesis examines attitudes towards feminism and the New Woman movement in the 1890s and 1900s in relation to the representations of female criminal characters in the following works: Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urbervilles (1891); Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories; and Joseph Conrad’s The Secret Agent (1907). The thesis argues that the texts all contain a paradox considering the agency of criminal women. On the one hand, Hardy, Doyle and Conrad depict the criminal woman as a symbol of choice and agency. On the other hand, the texts also cast doubt on the idea that agency is possible for anyone when the criminological (often deterministic) explanations for the crime are taken into account.Show less
This thesis is aimed at following the evolution of the character of Sherlock Holmes throughout three works : the original Conan Doyle's canon, the spinoff Enola Holmes series written by Nancy...Show moreThis thesis is aimed at following the evolution of the character of Sherlock Holmes throughout three works : the original Conan Doyle's canon, the spinoff Enola Holmes series written by Nancy Springer (2006-2010) and its recent film adaptation on Netflix (2020). Taking the famous detective's change in emotionality as basis, the thesis covers a number of topics in order to understand the reasons behind that change. Those topics include adaptations, feminism, the evolution of detective fiction and our relationship to emotions as a society.Show less
Bachelor thesis | Film- en literatuurwetenschap (BA)
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Studies show that literature is highly affected by the context in which it is written. Therefore, literature can be analyzed as a case study in order to identify the tendencies of thought in the...Show moreStudies show that literature is highly affected by the context in which it is written. Therefore, literature can be analyzed as a case study in order to identify the tendencies of thought in the time that a story is written. The purpose of this study was to "analyze" how the scientific discourse in (post)modern detective fiction can be related to the changing scientific and philosophical context of the twentieth century. Through an extensive textual analysis of a detective character’s methodology, a picture could be painted of their scientific beliefs. By going through this process for two detective characters, the Victorian Sherlock Holmes and the postmodern William of Baskerville, a comparison between the two may then reveal how the shifts in the philosophical field of science and theory could have affected their methods of theoretical thought that they utilize to interpret the world and subsequently solve cases. The study showed that Sherlock Holmes never questioned the objective and observable nature of evidence and universal causality, whereas in William of Baskerville’s methodology the elusiveness of any attempt to interpret the world was a major focus. Relating these findings to the philosophical ideas that were most dominant in the beginning and the end of the twentieth century showed that this shift correlates with the manner in which society’s confidence in the objectivity of science and knowledge has diminished.Show less
This thesis analyses how the character and stories written by Arthur Conan Doyle have been adapted in season three and four of the BBC’s Sherlock and how the character of the detective develops...Show moreThis thesis analyses how the character and stories written by Arthur Conan Doyle have been adapted in season three and four of the BBC’s Sherlock and how the character of the detective develops throughout these two seasons. This analysis was performed through the lenses of both Adaptation Theory (Hutcheon, Joyce, Kline) and Character Studies (Eder, Jannadis & Schneider, Redmond), in order to achieve a complete picture as to how the character of Sherlock Holmes was adapted from Doyle’s stories and further developed for the television series. This study, first critically explores the stories and the character of Holmes in Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories and how the detective handles the situations in which he finds himself as well as how he interacts with other characters. The second chapter studies the development of the character of Sherlock throughout both seasons of the series, with an emphasis on season three, as well as explore the cases Sherlock gets involved in, since they are starting to bleed into his personal life. The third chapter focuses on season four of BBC Sherlock, in which the character of Sherlock and his relationships completely overshadow the cases, shifting the series towards the genre of melodrama. The series is compared to the content of Doyle's stories throughout all chapter in order to explore how the creators of the television series adapted the Victorian Holmes to a twenty-first century Sherlock.Show less
Dr Watson is usually seen as Sherlock Holmes's less intelligent helper. However, Watson adds more to the "Sherlock Holmes" canon than one might expect because of the twisted views created by...Show moreDr Watson is usually seen as Sherlock Holmes's less intelligent helper. However, Watson adds more to the "Sherlock Holmes" canon than one might expect because of the twisted views created by Hollywood movies. Watson is a unique, likeable and round character whose imperfections help provide a contrast between him and Holmes. Close reading analysis has shown that Watson’s presence is important to the stories (especially The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes), as it adds dimension and depth as well as a close connection to the reader. The variety in Watson's character is shown by his ability to change Holmes, but also by his allowance to be changed by Holmes. Watson is the only character in the "Sherlock Holmes" canon to have multiple roles (narrator and character), which makes him a unique character.Show less
This thesis focuses on the representation of masculinity in the Sherlock Holmes character, both in the original stories written by Arthur Conan Doyle in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as...Show moreThis thesis focuses on the representation of masculinity in the Sherlock Holmes character, both in the original stories written by Arthur Conan Doyle in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as well as in the modern BBC interpretation which first aired in 2010. It employs a Foucauldian notion of gender, which sees masculinity as a socially constructed concept and as such perceptible to change. The Sherlock Holmes stories were written over a forty-year time period. Two major historical events from this period could be said to have influenced the definition of masculinity, namely the Oscar Wilde trials and the First World War. Furthermore, Joseph Kestner has argued that Conan Doyle’s Holmes stories aimed to promote an ideal form of masculinity, which led us to consider the representation of Victorian masculinity in the Holmes character. Moreover, this thesis analyses the adaptation of Victorian Holmes in BBC’s Sherlock. Having defined Victorian and twenty-first-century masculinity, we will see that Conan Doyle’s Holmes aligns with numerous Victorian traits that were seen as masculine, and is portrayed as the ideal man. He is heroic, strong, brave, moral, rational and creative. Similarly, BBC Holmes aligns with masculine ideals of the twenty-first century but does not seem to personify the ideal man. He is strong, rational and creative, but his heroism is ambiguous, as well as his morality.Show less
There are few literary characters who speak to the imagination such as Sherlock Holmes and his faithful companion Dr John Watson. The city in which these stories are set has an equally strong grasp...Show moreThere are few literary characters who speak to the imagination such as Sherlock Holmes and his faithful companion Dr John Watson. The city in which these stories are set has an equally strong grasp on the imaginations of the masses: the moment Sherlock Holmes and London are mentioned within the same breath, a very iconic and somewhat stereotypical image of the city comes to mind. A foggy, smoke ridden city, congested with traffic, populated by exotic figures, which in the nineteenth century has become the heart of a global Empire.1 This of course, is a stereotypical image of the city, a way of describing the city by authors in order to gain some form of control over the immense city. This will be discussed in greater depth in the following chapter. The characters Sherlock Holmes and John Watson are still quite as popular as they were in the nineteenth century, maybe even more so. In the recent years the two iconic characters have starred in movies, various TV-shows as well as new books. There are some authors who have tried to recapture the magic of Sherlock Holmes.2 Whether they have succeeded is another matter, and does not fit within the scope of this research. Though the stories have always focussed on the world’s only consulting detective and the good doctor, they are always connected to capital of an Empire, London. This connection between Sherlock Holmes and London is precisely the subject of this research. The question which has been centralised in this work is: What was the message that Conan Doyle was possibly trying to send his contemporary readers through his description of London and his use of the genre of crime fiction?Show less
