Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote both “Charles Augustus Milverton” and “A Scandal in Bohemia” in which he portrayed the infamous Sherlock Holmes as both a criminal and a detective. These dueling roles Holmes plays within the stories is unique for characterization of any character. The introduction of “A Scandal in Bohemia” illustrates Dr. Watson visiting Sherlock Holmes, as a casual friendly encounter, when a client enters with the gravest of problems. The client is a wealthy king, who has recently become engaged to a princess, but has had a previous affair with the beautiful and cunning Irene Adler. Miss Adler is in possession of pictures of the king in a compromising position, and she Miss Adler is threatening to send the scandalous pictures to the king’s perspective in-laws. The king quickly tasks Holmes with finding and destroying the pictures Miss Adler is in possession of, to protect the king and his new fiancee from embarrassment.
In order for Holmes to acquire the pictures, he must con Miss Adler into letting him into her home and tricking her into showing in the location of the pictures, making Holmes a criminal in the short story (Doyle 11-25). In Doyle’s short story “Charles Augustus Milverton,” Sherlock Holmes again participates in criminal activity by breaking and entering into someone’s home with the intention of stealing documents. In this short story, Lady Eva Blackwell contacts and employs Holmes to steal indecent letters she had previously written to a former lover, from a man blackmailing her for money. The man blackmailing Lady Eva Blackwell is Charles Augustus Milverton, who is a blackmail specialist currently, blackmailing several people around town for large sums of money! While Holmes and Watson are inside of.
References:
- Krumm, Pascale. “‘A Scandal in Bohemia’ and Sherlock Holmes’s Ultimate Mystery Solved”. English Literature in Transition, 1880-1920 39.2 (1996): 193-203. Academic Search Complete. Web. 14 April 2014.
- Mason, Emma. “Dogs, Detectives and the Famous Sherlock Holmes.” International Journal of Cultural Studies 11.3 (2008): 289-300. Academic Search Complete. Web. 25 April 2014.
- O. Berg, Stanton. “Sherlock Holmes: Father of Scientific Crime Detection”. The Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology, and Police Science 61.3 (1970): 446-452. International Security and Counter Terrorism Reference Center. Web. April 09, 2014.
- Yang, Amy. “Psychoanalysis and Detective Fiction: A Tale of Freud and Criminal Storytelling”. Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 53.4 (2010): 596-604. Project Muse. Web. 14 April 2014.
