Sherlock In Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Scandal In Bohemia

When we hear the name Sherlock Holmes, many people automatically think of the greatest detective known to man. However, in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s “Scandal in Bohemia” this is not the case. A woman by the name of Irene Adler is introduced or better known as the woman to Sherlock. Towards the end of the story Sherlock Holmes finds a letter that was left for him by Irene. The letter itself is a symbol for what had previously just happened throughout the entire story, and exemplifies a major role reversal. In this passage, Irene’s overwhelming confidence implies that she is a better detective than Sherlock Holmes.
Throughout the text Irene is constantly one step ahead of Sherlock. It starts out with the King coming to Sherlock requesting him to recover a photo of him and Irene that could …show more content…
The sole fact that she cross-dressed proves her confidence in herself as a detective. However, her saying “goodnight Mr. Holmes”(Doyle III) and his instinctual reaction to respond proves how she outwits him. If Sherlock was a better detective than Irene, he should know in the situation at hand, not to respond. Due to his lack of respect for women though, he did not think Irene was capable of coming up with something so mysterious or intellectual. The very end of the letter ultimately proves her assertion over Sherlock. In the paragraph “We both thought the best resource was flight, when pursued by so formidable an antagonist; so you will find the nest empty when you call to-morrow. As to the photograph, your client may rest in peace” (Doyle III). Thus concluding her dominance by her revealing that she already knew his plan and beat him to the spot. She was able to get exactly what she wanted out of it, and was able to escape the situation just how she intended to. In the end, Sherlock had to learn the hard way that there is indeed such a thing called girl