By PATRICIA PIXLER, Student Reporter
Dr. Richmond Adams, assistant professor of English, has published an academic article about three particular portrayals of Sherlock Holmes. These portrayals include Basil Rathbone’s Holmes in “Sherlock Holmes in Washington” (1943); Christopher Plummer’s Holmes in “Murder by Decree” (1979); and Jonny Lee Miller’s post-9/11 Holmes in the American TV series “Elementary” (2012).
Adams proposes that in his article “‘No More Greed and Grab’: Sherlock Holmes and the ‘Decency’ of Gentlemen,” all three depictions answer the question of why Sherlock Holmes captivates audiences even now, 140 years after Sir Arthur Conan Doyle first published the story about the British detective.
“[…] it is my contention that a part of the answer resides in just that connection between Holmes as a defined “gentleman” who exhibits a moral code which transcends an adherence to the strict legal or cultural expectations of a given era,” Adams said.
Adams used an etiquette book from 1877 Victorian England as a basis of definition for what precisely is a gentleman and gentleman like behavior. Amongst other points, the etiquette book notes, “A true gentleman is always himself at his best. He is inherently unselfish, thinking always of the needs and desires of others before his own.”
Having received his PhD in American Literature from Southern Illinois University- Carbondale, Adams is known for his expertise lies in American literature. When asked why he had chosen to write about such a quintessential British character, Adams points to his childhood.
Familiar with both actors Christopher Plumber and Jason Mason from previous films, Adams saw “Murder by Decree.” “I remember being affected. Not overwhelmed, but affected by it ‘Murder by Decree’,” Adams said.
Years later, this would be followed by Basil Rathbone’s, “Sherlock Holmes in Washington,” as well as “Elementary.” Following viewing of episodes of “Elementary”, Adams was stuck by how, despite the depictions, similarities existed between the Holmes characters.
“I was taken by the differences in their presentations and their themes but mostly by the common links between the stories. I saw them as cultural documents reflecting the issues and assumptions of each of their times,” Adams said.
From a WWII Nazi-fighting detective in “Sherlock Holmes in Washington” to a post-9/11 recovering drug-addict in “Elementary” and to a Holmes serving, as a “Janus, like January looking both ways, figure right in the middle, virtually splitting the time” in “Murder by Decree,” Adams said.
“Murder by Decree” serves as an axis point of interest, for Adams, due to the looking back at the WWII-era depiction of Holmes and the looking forward at the post-9/11 New York depiction in “Elementary.” In “Murder by Decree” is, “There’s a new spirit in the land. We will not have any subjection of one person to another. But in ‘Elementary,’ that is the assumption. Of course we are going to be subjected to one another by powers beyond our control,” Adams said.
There is another link between Holmes portrayal pf being a gentleman. In Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s original portrayal of Holmes, the detective is a serious opium-addict. In an appropriate parallel, Holmes in “Elementary” is a recovering drug addict. Yet in each story form, Holmes continues to define a gentleman despite the vices, seemingly going against what the casual observer, in both Victorian and modern times, would decry as ungentlemanly.
In “Elementary,” Holmes’s Dr. John Watson is portrayed by the female, Dr. Joan Watson. Though initially angry and embittered toward Watson, Holmes still continues to insure all males Watson has any form of relationship with, conduct themselves in gentlemanly manners. Holmes does not do this out of any self-gain, but to ensure that a woman is treated properly.
“Such demonstrations of respectful care toward a woman and more broadly to all those who stand vulnerable to the natural and savage state of human potential represent the definition of gentleman still operative in 1940s Britain and the United States,” Adams said.
Though the quote specifically concerns the actions Holmes took in protecting a woman in “Sherlock Holmes in Washington,” the meaning exceeds timelines. Holmes successfully manages to navigate gentleman like conduct and behavior, though each of his incarnations.
Adams sums up his own definition of a gentleman as thus, “Treating people, all people, […] with honor and respect.”
Adams himself is known for being a gentleman around the NWOSU campus. Adams explained his gentleman demeanor in such a way, “I have a Southern mother who was raised in the gentile environment of Georgia and Mississippi in the 20s, 30s and 40s. I was raised by her and her blessed Baptist mother, with velvet jackhammers. I shall, not will, shall conduct myself like a gentleman.”
Adams notes how taken aback most young women are when he displays more gentlemanly behavior, such as opening doors for them around campus. “It’s not just holding a door. It’s a code of moral conduct. It provides a moral structure to my view of the world. How I see myself in the world. How I try to conduct myself. I’m proud to conduct myself like that,” Adams said.
Shelby Pittser, Freshman Accounting Major, agrees that Dr. Adams is always a gentleman. “He’s really nice. He remembered my name after I only met him once. When he sees me, he asks how I’m doing. I’m not even in any of his classes but he’s always really polite to me,” Pittser said.
Charlie Wylie, senior English Education major and student worker in the English Department, said, “Dr. Adams is one of the most polite people I have met. He is very aware of etiquette.”
For more information about Dr. Richmond Adams or his work, you can contact him at rbadams@nwosu.edu or (580) 327-8428.
Sources:
Shelby Pittser, slpittser82@rangers.nwosu.edu
Charlie Wylie, cawylie63@rangers.nwosu.edu
Dr. Adams, rbadams@nwosu.edu
Duffey, E. The Ladies’ and Gentlemen’s Etiquette (1877)
Adams, R. No More Greed and Grab’: Sherlock Holmes and the ‘Decency’ of Gentlemen (2016)