The Speckled Band Essay Example for Free

The Speckled Band Essay Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, in 1892, about Sherlock Holmes, his famous detective. Doyle was born in Edinburgh in 1859, and was a known as a keen pigeon-lover. He studied medicine there and eventually served as a physician in the Boer War, and many other battles. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle published his first Sherlock Holmes tale, A Study in Scarlet, in 1887. He was so successful in his writing that he gave up his career as a physician only five years after the creation of Sherlock Holmes. He wrote a total of fifty-six short stories and four Sherlock Holmes novels over forty years. The stories are realistic representations of the moral and cultural settings of this period of the Victorian era. The nineteenth century is known as the Victorian era due to Queen Victoria ruling between 1837 and 1901. Many changes came about during this period in Britain, and many discoveries were made. Inventions such as the steam train made travel more common, and journeys easier to pursue. There is evidence of this in The Speckled Band, when the daughter of Dr. Roylott is able to travel faster to the city to meet Sherlock Holmes as she took a train, You took a train I see. Along with this was the industrial revolution, which brought rising crime rates and pollution. As the cities were crowded, due to large amounts of working class going to towns to get work, the Victorian rich were scared for their safety. In The Man with the Twisted Lip Mrs St. Clair was to said to be, In the hope of seeing a cab as she did not like the neighbourhood. This shows how scared the upper class were of the neighbourhoods with working class. With the Industrial Revolution also came a transformation within the social landscape. New wealth was looked down upon by upper classes, and with capitalists and manufacturers being able to acquire great fortunes the upper class were in disgust. The upper class were strict and there were rules in Victorian Britain that governed behaviour. Manners and morals were of great importance to Victorians, along with the Church and religious beliefs. Victorian society believed that an English gentleman should have certain mannerisms, and dress and speak properly. His intentions were consistently good, and his manners impeccable. A gentleman should uphold laws and societys rules; leading a respectable life, not squandering it. As far as Victorians believed, gentlemen were superior, although they should never give offence to anyone, even lower classes. They should not be arrogant or of a snobbish disposition, yet should act wisely at all times.