Discovering Sherlock Holmes - A Community Reading Project From Stanford University

In the Sherlock Holmes stories, at least, the idyllic-seeming English countryside holds its own dangers. In Victorian England, small towns were still structured on the feudal model that had prevailed for centuries. In general, a large manor house, such as Baskerville Hall, dominated its village. And although the village people no longer led their lives serving the master of the manor, a strict social hierarchy still dictated that the master was the community leader in more ways than one. The health or dysfunction of the family living in the manor house could determine the whole character of a village. Holmes and Watson pursue many mysteries in the countryside surrounding London, where criminals carry on their nefarious activities away from prying eyes. As Holmes remarks,

"It is my belief, Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin than does the smiling and beautiful countryside.… The pressure of public opinion can do in the town what the law cannot accomplish. There is no lane so vile that the scream of a tortured child, or the thud of a drunkard's blow, does not beget sympathy and indignation among the neighbours, and then the whole machinery of justice is ever so close that a word of complaint can set it going, and there is but a step between the crime and the dock. But look at these lonely houses, each in its own fields, filled for the most part with poor ignorant folk who know little of the law. Think of the deeds of hellish cruelty, the hidden wickedness which may go on, year in, year out, in such places, and none the wiser."
—from "The Adventure of the Copper Beeches"

England has seen a century of upheaval since the first Sherlock Holmes stories burst upon the scene. The old, mysterious London has melted away with its "pea-soup" fogs and plagues of sewer gas; British colonies have gained their independence, one by one; manor houses are as likely to be museums or bed and breakfast inns as private residences. The problems faced by modern British society would seem to have left the Victorian detective behind. Not so: the character that Conan Doyle considered unworthy of his serious literary aspirations still strikes a chord with modern audiences. As the world changed around him, Sherlock Holmes, the reassuring protector of British superiority, transcended his time, and today is loved for his weaknesses and eccentricities as much as for his strengths. In the 21^st century, sequels and pastiches featuring the quintessential detective are still being produced at a steady rate.

Arthur Conan Doyle's original readers recognized their city and their time in the Sherlock Holmes stories. It was easy to imagine that he was just around the corner, riding in the next hansom cab. No wonder so many people believed that Holmes was real. Today, we can return to those stories to immerse ourselves in the dank vapors and dark alleyways of London, and glimpse another world in all of its splendor and squalor.