Sherlock Holmes - A Scandal In Bohemia

'A Scandal in Bohemia' does not, as one may assume from the title, take place in Bohemia. Instead, it begins in the sitting-room of 221b. We find Holmes pondering a note from a prospective client. The client turns out to be the rather theatrical King of Bohemia.

The King has come to ask for Holmes' help with a delicate matter - a case of blackmail by an ex-lover. This is particularly problematic, as the King is about to marry to form an alliance, and his bride-to-be's family would not be pleased to discover his past indiscretion. It turns out that Irene Adler has a photograph of herself and the King together. Her plan, it seems, is to stop him from marrying another woman. We soon learn that she is a clever woman, having foiled several attempts to retrieve the incriminating photograph in the past.

After accepting a promise of any price he wished for the photograph, and a thousand pounds up front (a fantastic amount of money for the period), Holmes takes on the case and starts about his investigation.

As to how it all ends? Well, you'll have to read the story. Suffice it to say, results are mixed.

Otherwise known as Wilhelm Gottsreich Sigismond von Ormstein, Grand Duke of Cassel-Felstein, and hereditary King of Bohemia. Let's call him 'The King', for ease of reference. He is described by Watson as 'a man of strong character, with a thick, hanging lip, and a long, straight chin suggestive of resolution pushed to the length of obstinacy'. Of course, this is straight after he describes him as a barbarian. So we can all form our own conclusions.

He is interesting, because this is the only instance in which we see Holmes directly interacting with royalty - and this is notable, because it becomes fairly obvious to us that Sherlock Holmes, great literary detective, is not especially impressed by the King's position. Indeed, he is outright disdainful of the man at the end, pointing out that Irene Adler is on a much different level to the King, and implying that she is indeed on a much higher one. Considering Holmes' usual opinion on women in general, this is a truly damning insult. Luckily, the King doesn't seem to notice.

'To Sherlock Holmes, she is always the woman. I have seldom heard him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses and predominates the whole of her sex'.

It is not, as Watson dutifully points out, that Holmes has any romantic interest in Irene, but that even he, disdainful as he is of womankind, sees that she is a very clever woman.

Irene is a retired opera singer, born in New Jersey in 1958 and apparently very attractive. She was in a relationship of some sort with the King in the past, and is now apparently set on destroying his prospective marriage. In the end, though, love wins out, and she marries Godfrey Norton, and vows not to trouble the King if he leaves her be. Not so much of a villain, after all.

The last we see of her is outsmarting Holmes once again, bidding him goodnight dressed as a man.

As the first to be published of the short stories, 'A Scandal in Bohemia' is a story of some significance. Firstly, it does a neat job of rehashing Holmes' character for us, so it is not entirely necessary to go back and read A Study in Scarlet or The Sign of Four to avoid being lost.

Otherwise, there is the novelty of a female villain, a case that isn't entirely successful for Holmes, and a glimpse into the detective's particular brand of morality.