Coursework Question: Why is Sherlock Holmes stories still popular today? In 1891, Sherlock Holmes was a character very much of his time and place, who appealed to British readers directly by confronting the messy, changeable world they lived in.
It was the time in which science challenged long-held beliefs and the status quo was threatened by social and economic changes. Holmes was grounded squarely in Victorian London. The Victorian city of London was a city of startling contrasts and bustling industries. New building and affluent development went hand in hand with horribly overcrowded slums where people lived in the worst conditions imaginable. Physically, London could be a place of disturbing contrasts, a cosmopolitan city where the middle class drank tea in comfortable drawing rooms while epidemics of typhoid and cholera ravaged the squalid, which was seen in the man with the twisted lip at Upper Swanden Lane.
During the 20th Century Holmes was a great success because of his scientific way of thinking. He had many interesting and different characteristics, which he used to solve the crimes, and mysteries. One characteristic that Sherlock Holmes has is being very observant, he makes very detailed mental notes about items and objects, he sees things that others wouldn’t see because they don’t look as closely as he does. In the Red Headed League Holmes observes assistant of Jabez Wilson, he looks closely at his knees observing every detail and also in the Speckald Band when he observes foot marks on Dr Roylots Chair. This shows us how attentive he is in the surroundings. Another characteristic that Holmes possesses, is his ability to work out what has happened and how.
In the man with the twisted lip Holmes figures out that the beggar Boone was actually Mr Neville St. Clair confirming us, that his ability deduces things is out of the ordinary. Watson is the accomplice of the famous detective Sherlock Holmes. Watson is one of the main characters & Holmes.
