Human or Infallible? Does Sherlock Really Hold the Power?

Within the Sherlock Holmes short story “A Scandal in Belgravia” we have seen two different interpretations: the BBC series edition and The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Although these two interpretations are derived from the same story, the way they depict the relationship between Irene Adler and Sherlock Holmes is extremely different.

Throughout the Sherlock Holmes book we see Holmes making deductions, carrying out his plans, and everything going in his favor. We, as readers, believe Sherlock is in control throughout the entire story. Despite this preconceived notion of who holds the power, we realized that Ms. Irene Adler has outsmarted Sherlock. This shift in power is not yet known until the closing of the story when Sherlock receives a letter clearly stating Irene’s deductions and reasoning’s.

Contrary to the book Irene Adler, in the BBC series, is in control for most of the story. She figured out Sherlock’s case before he was able to which, proved her dominance over him. She later tricked him into giving away the information about a government plan regarding a terrorist bomb on a British airplane. These situations allow the audience to see, and think, that Adler has bested Sherlock, similarly to in the written interpretation. Despite these situations regarding Irene’s control, Holmes does ultimately outsmart her. He steals her cell phone and figures out her pass code by reading her pulse. When he notices her heart rate increase when they are in close contact, he gained the evidence that she has feelings for him and figures out her password is “SHER”. This strand of events plays into the Sherlock stereotype of him being an infallible genius.

The BBC edition holds more firmly to the ‘typical’ Sherlock Holmes stereotype. Despite being bested in a situation or two, he will always come out the smartest, the winner. The written story gives Holmes more human characteristics; we see that he is capable of failure. By letting Irene Adler be the smarter of the two in the book, shows that Homes is human. He becomes more relatable when he does not always win or come out on top. The BBC edition plays on the stereotype of always being correct which feeds into the perception of Holmes being incredibly reliable. The idea of Holmes having human attributes is only touched on in the BBC edition of Sherlock. These different portrayals further the debate of Sherlock Holmes as a human or infallible character.  Unknownfile://localhost/Users/sarahsackman/Desktop/images-1.jpegfile://localhost/Users/sarahsackman/Desktop/images-3.jpeg

4 thoughts on “Human or Infallible? Does Sherlock Really Hold the Power?”

  1. I agree with your argument here but do you think that Adler allows Sherlock to figure out things about herself like the safe password and her phone password on purpose? Is she manipulating him in that way or is Sherlock really outsmarting her? And if Sherlock is outsmarting her more often in the BBC edition than would you consider that Irene more human in the tv series?

  2. With this argument, could the same be said about Grace and jeffries character in “The rear Window”?

    Several points could be made in the sense that Jeffries never really influenced his love’s outlook on the fashion or outdoor world.

  3. I greatly agree with your argument, especially about the book version of Holmes being more human. I also agree with in the BBC version Irene Adler is absolutely in charge. The book allowed Sherlock to carry on throughout the entirety of the novel, with her surprising him at the end, but the cinema version made it seem as if Sherlock was following her lead. My question is does this make Irene a femme fatale in both versions or just one? And if so which one?

  4. I like how she used the example of how “this shows Sherlock is human”. He feels bad for Irene Adler at the point where she almost is kills and jumps in to save her. This also has to do with my argument because we both talk about the power that each of them hold.

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