sunlit_music (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
sunlit_music) wrote2013-04-13 04:15 pm
sunlit_music) wrote2013-04-13 04:15 pm
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The *real* Irene Adler.
Many people are fascinated by Irene Adler, from the Sherlock Holmes canon. I love the most recent movies, but their portrayal of irene is completely inaccurate. First,let's get things straight. Irene Adler was *not* a villain. So who was she, do you ask? Well. She first appears in the short story A Scandal in Bohemia. The titular king hires Sherlock Holmes to steal a photograph of Irene and himself from Irene. Long story short, the King believes that Irene plans to use the photograph to ruin him and prevent him from marrying his fiance.
Irene eventually aquits herself through leaving a letter for Sherlock Holmes explaining her side of the story. She flees England with her husband Geoffrey Norton (it's hinted in the story that the King can be dangerous and vengeful, after all).
Watson has mentioned that Holmes spoke of love contemptuously, but the only person he came even *close* to loving was Irene. "To Sherlock Holmes, she is always THE woman." Holmes admires her for her beauty, intelligence, daring and generosity.
It makes me laugh when I see fanfics where Irene is Holmes'student. People, please! She needs no lessons from him. This is the woman who outwitted Holmes and convinced him that women can be as intelligent as men! Since he had met Irene, Holmes no longer mocks women's cleverness and refers to Irene's title respectfully as a married woman.
When the King offers to pay Holmes for his assistance with an emerald ring, what does Holmes ask for instead?Irene's photograph.
One of my favourite parts in A Scandal in Bohemia is when the King says, "Oh! What a pity she was not on my level!She would have made a marvellous Queen!"(implying that Irene was inferior to him). Holmes,then defends Irene, saying coldly, "From what appears to me, she seems to be on an entirely different level to your Majesty."
Irene eventually aquits herself through leaving a letter for Sherlock Holmes explaining her side of the story. She flees England with her husband Geoffrey Norton (it's hinted in the story that the King can be dangerous and vengeful, after all).
Watson has mentioned that Holmes spoke of love contemptuously, but the only person he came even *close* to loving was Irene. "To Sherlock Holmes, she is always THE woman." Holmes admires her for her beauty, intelligence, daring and generosity.
It makes me laugh when I see fanfics where Irene is Holmes'student. People, please! She needs no lessons from him. This is the woman who outwitted Holmes and convinced him that women can be as intelligent as men! Since he had met Irene, Holmes no longer mocks women's cleverness and refers to Irene's title respectfully as a married woman.
When the King offers to pay Holmes for his assistance with an emerald ring, what does Holmes ask for instead?Irene's photograph.
One of my favourite parts in A Scandal in Bohemia is when the King says, "Oh! What a pity she was not on my level!She would have made a marvellous Queen!"(implying that Irene was inferior to him). Holmes,then defends Irene, saying coldly, "From what appears to me, she seems to be on an entirely different level to your Majesty."
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But anyway, yes, I totally agree with what you're saying about her -- she's not a villain. And she absolutely did impress Holmes and that's a central point in the original story.
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Irene definitely made strong impression on Holmes. And that's saying something. He's not easily impressed!
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