A Scandal in Bohemia

The events of “A Scandal in Bohemia” take place at three prime locations in London: Holmes’s apartment on Baker Street, Adler’s Briony Lodge residence (bijou villa), and the Church of St. Monica. To traverse these different social spheres, characters adopt various disguises. Both the King of Bohemia and Adler don costumes to engage with Holmes on Baker Street. In turn, Holmes masquerades as a groom (stable worker) and a clergyman to explore Briony Lodge. His groom disguise also allows him to witness Adler’s clandestine marriage in the church. Doyle’s incorporation of these locations within the story develops the characters by demonstrating their social limitations. The King must lower his station to frequent Baker Street, just as Adler must raise hers to do the same. In tandem, Doyle has the action unfold at different locations to demonstrate Holmes’s resourcefulness and adventurous spirit. Unlike Holmes’s predecessor Monsieur C. Auguste Dupin of Poe’s “tales of ratiocination,” Holmes is always at the center of the action.

In the 19th century, letters were a chief means of communication, and letters frequently feature in Sherlock Holmes stories. Letters fundamentally allow readers access to outside perspectives of Holmes through characters other than the first-person narrator, Watson.