How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Story.Paragraph)
Quote #1
He was, I take it, the most perfect reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen, but as a lover he would have placed himself in a false position. He never spoke of the softer passions, save with a gibe and a sneer. They were admirable things for the observer – excellent for drawing the veil from men's motives and actions. But for the trained reasoner to admit such intrusions into his own delicate and finely adjusted temperament was to introduce a distracting factor which might throw a doubt upon all his mental results (Scandal.1.1).
The equation here seems to be Holmes = rational and Holmes = passionless. So rational = passionless. To be a good detective, you can't feel the "softer passions" for fear of distracting yourself from correct "mental results." What does this have to do with women? This is Watson's explanation for why Holmes seems to avoid love relationships with the ladies. Holmes often helps women as clients, but anything more would be "a false position." With the notable exception of Irene Adler (see our "Characters"), Holmes's interactions with women seem really hierarchical: he's the brainy guy who's going to solve the emotional little lady's problems. But once her problems are solved, it's back to Baker Street with Watson.
Quote #2
It was all-important. When a woman thinks that her house is on fire, her instinct is at once to rush to the thing which she values most. It is a perfectly overpowering impulse, and I have more than once taken advantage of it. In the case of the Darlington Substitution Scandal it was of use to me, and also in the Arnsworth Castle business. A married woman grabs at her baby; an unmarried one reaches for her jewel-box. Now it was clear to me that our lady of to-day had nothing in the house more precious to her than what we are in quest of. She would rush to secure it. The alarm of fire was admirably done. The smoke and shouting were enough to shake nerves of steel. She responded beautifully. The photograph is in a recess behind a sliding panel just above the right bell-pull (Scandal.2.86).
Many of us here at Shmoop are, in fact, of the female persuasion. And we feel that this piece of reasoning right here… is not true. Why on earth would it be a specifically womanly trait to run for things that are precious to you when you think your house is on fire? This presents a little bit of a problem in the Holmes thing as a whole. Holmes makes these brilliant observations that (almost) always turn out to be true. But the things he's observing are creations and assumptions of Conan Doyle. They're correct in the world of the Holmes stories, but they're not necessarily true in the real world. So while Conan Doyle is going for the effect of reality, he's using all of these convincing details to mask the fact that all of this "truth" in his stories – about women, about people of different classes and nations, and so on – is all really fiction.
Quote #3
Even after I became suspicious, I found it hard to think evil of such a dear, kind old clergyman. But, you know, I have been trained as an actress myself. Male costume is nothing new to me. I often take advantage of the freedom which it gives […].
Well, I followed you to your door, and so made sure that I was really an object of interest to the celebrated Mr. Sherlock Holmes. Then I, rather imprudently, wished you good-night, and started for the Temple to see my husband (Scandal.3.28).
This is a tiny excerpt from Irene Adler's letter to Holmes explaining how she has outsmarted him. It's a very small detail, but we were struck by the fact that Adler enjoys cross-dressing for the "freedom which it gives" her. Implicitly, women's clothing is too restrictive for Adler. What gives her this degree of mobility, something that pretty much all other female characters in these stories lack? Her training as an actress. Not only does she have the skills to break out of the social restrictions on women at the time, but she's already a little bit outside of mainstream society thanks to her profession – much like Holmes himself.
Quote #4
"I have seen those symptoms before," said Holmes, throwing his cigarette into the fire. "Oscillation upon the pavement always means an affaire de coeur. She would like advice, but is not sure that the matter is not too delicate for communication. And yet even here we may discriminate. When a woman has been seriously wronged by a man she no longer oscillates, and the usual symptom is a broken bell wire. Here we may take it that there is a love matter, but that the maiden is not so much angry as perplexed, or grieved. But here she comes in person to resolve our doubts" (Identity.13).
Once again, we see Holmes assigning certain character traits to womanhood. In this case, we get romance and heartbreak. We can't help but be struck by the fact that there is a parallel between "A Case of Identity" and "The Noble Bachelor," in that both clients are searching for their missing partners. But Mary Sutherland, as both a woman and a member of the working class, is characterized by her emotion and her faith to Mr. Hosmer Angel. Lord St. Simon, on the other hand, as both a man and a member of the upper class, is cold and highly preoccupied with the social consequences of losing his wife – the blows to his reputation and his finances. Do men and women generally bring different kinds of cases to Holmes? What might explain such differences, if there are any?
Quote #5
The nobleman swung his glasses a little faster and stared down into the fire. "You see, Mr. Holmes," said he, "my wife was twenty before her father became a rich man. During that time she ran free in a mining camp and wandered through woods or mountains, so that her education has come from Nature rather than from the schoolmaster. She is what we call in England a tomboy, with a strong nature, wild and free, unfettered by any sort of traditions. She is impetuous – volcanic, I was about to say. She is swift in making up her mind and fearless in carrying out her resolutions. On the other hand, I would not have given her the name which I have the honour to bear" – he gave a little stately cough – "had I not thought her to be at bottom a noble woman. I believe that she is capable of heroic self-sacrifice and that anything dishonourable would be repugnant to her" (Bachelor.73).
Lord St. Simon's marked in the text as a giant snob, so we can't assume that anything he says represents the views of Holmes or of Conan Doyle. But there's a curious opposition in this passage that seems to say something about the social ideas of Holmes's time. St. Simon creates this contrast: Hatty Doran is "swift in making up her mind and fearless in carrying out her resolutions." But, he wouldn't marry her if he didn't think that "at bottom [she is] a noble woman." The "on the other hand" there is significant because it indicates that noble women are not typically supposed to be decisive, fearless, or impetuous at all. Women of different classes are certainly portrayed differently in Conan Doyle's stories – compare, for example, colorfully-clothed Mary Sutherland and terrified, oppressed Helen Stoner.
Quote #6
As he spoke the door opened and a young lady entered the room. She was plainly but neatly dressed, with a bright, quick face, freckled like a plover's egg, and with the brisk manner of a woman who has had her own way to make in the world (Beeches.18).
Lower-class women have their own mannerisms, which can be pleasing (a "bright, quick face" and "the brisk manner of a woman who has had her own way to make in the world") but still incompatible with upper class modes of femininity (see Helen Stoner). But this kind of characterization doesn't work when you have women who are operating outside traditional English class systems – witness the unexpected freedom of the two non-English adventurers, Hatty Doran and Irene Adler.