The book A Scandal in Bohemia by Arthur Conan Doyle and the book The Purloined Letter by Edgar Allan Poe both present cases where the lead detectives must procure a lost or stolen item. Although both authors use almost congruent plots, characters and situations to expose readers to great tales of ratiocination, the contrast in the characters’ behavior, the fluctuation in plots and the slight difference in situations lead to Doyle’s A Scandal in Bohemia to be a more thought provoking and cultural questioning tale. In both Poe’s and Doyle’s works the lead detectives share similar personalities. Both detectives, Poe’s C. Auguste Dupin and Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes, are unconventional, withdrawn from society, have a love of solving problems beyond
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In The Purloined Letter the missing item is a stolen love letter that belongs to the queen. The thief is known to be the minister and the questions that need answering are where did he hide the letter and how is it to be recovered. In A Scandal in Bohemia the missing item is a portrait of Irene Adler and the King of Bohemia and the questions that needs to be solved are how to recover the portrait and where is Adler hiding the portrait? Both Dupin and Holmes use similar methods to discover the location of the missing articles, however; their successes deviate because of difference in plot. Dupin out maneuvers the minister and the letter is recovered and Dupin happily receives his reward. Holmes’ adversary Irene Adler outmaneuvers him and successfully keeps the portrait. This variance in plot does not make the results of both stories different though because both people whose reputation are at risk are saved, but by different …show more content…
Doyle sets up the story to be Sherlock Holmes versus Irene Adler with the person in peril being the King of Bohemia. In contrast Poe’s work consists of a female being in trouble because of a stolen letter and Poe sets the plot up for two cunning males to mentally battle it out to either hurt or help the female. Poe follows the classic gender roles of the literary world in his plot, while Doyle challenges the classic gender roles in his plot, which leads to an unexpected
In The Purloined Letter the missing item is a stolen love letter that belongs to the queen. The thief is known to be the minister and the questions that need answering are where did he hide the letter and how is it to be recovered. In A Scandal in Bohemia the missing item is a portrait of Irene Adler and the King of Bohemia and the questions that needs to be solved are how to recover the portrait and where is Adler hiding the portrait? Both Dupin and Holmes use similar methods to discover the location of the missing articles, however; their successes deviate because of difference in plot. Dupin out maneuvers the minister and the letter is recovered and Dupin happily receives his reward. Holmes’ adversary Irene Adler outmaneuvers him and successfully keeps the portrait. This variance in plot does not make the results of both stories different though because both people whose reputation are at risk are saved, but by different …show more content…
Doyle sets up the story to be Sherlock Holmes versus Irene Adler with the person in peril being the King of Bohemia. In contrast Poe’s work consists of a female being in trouble because of a stolen letter and Poe sets the plot up for two cunning males to mentally battle it out to either hurt or help the female. Poe follows the classic gender roles of the literary world in his plot, while Doyle challenges the classic gender roles in his plot, which leads to an unexpected