Gender in Victorian England in the BBC's Sherlock

Victorian England was a place with many societal, social, and cultural constructs, specifically with regards to gender, race, and class (Ridgeway and Kricheli-Katz, 295-296).  These constructs are dramatically apparent in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's canon.  And, interestingly enough, many of these constructs from the canon have been depicted throughout various adaptations of Sherlock Holmes and his cases.  Today, I will be discussing the Victorian cultural values of gender with the BBC's Sherlock series.

In this era, men were seen as the superior sex.  It was assumed that men had specific natural characteristics that made superior to women.  These characteristics were held to such a high value that males and females were seen as being at completely "separate spheres" of society (Hughes).  Men were characterized by being strong, hard-working, independent, rational, brave, and focused on their own self-interest while women were characterized as being passive, emotionally, submissive, dependent, and selfless (Kent).  The BBC's Sherlock has illustrated these characteristics in its episodes to an extent.

Image of Molly Hooper.  Image retrieved by
https://metro.co.uk/2013/12/09/sherlock-
writer-mark-gatiss-even-benedict-
cumberbatch-fangirls-like-molly-4223394/.

The first women that we see in the BBC's Sherlock series is Molly Hooper, who works in the morgue at St. Bartholomew's Hospital in London, England.  She is in love with Holmes, and he actually uses this to an advantage throughout the series.  She is very emotional in the series and shows dependence in that she seeks to find male companionship in spite of Holmes.  Check out this link for a good scene that shows Hooper's femininity is Molly Hooper - Christmas Scene.

Another way the BBC's Sherlock series has depicted female inferiority is by having Irene Adler, or "the woman," lose to Holmes in "A Scandal in Belgravia" (first episode, season two) when she originally beats Holmes in Doyle's canon.  And, she makes a mistake and is defeats by Holmes as a result of her love for Holmes.  For more information about Adler's defeat, check out one of my previous posts, Who is Irene Adler?.

Now, it is interesting to note that the BBC's Sherlock directing team attempts to highlight the struggles of women during the Victorian Era in the "The Abominable Bride" (Christmas special, fourth episode, season three).  Here, the episode is set in during the Victorian Era (1865 to be exact).  The storyline is that a woman commits suicide around the time of her wedding, apparently comes back from the dead, and shoots Mr. Ricoletti and other men.  This episode brings in a secret group of closely resembling the suffragette and women's rights movement.  Even though the bride originally gets away with the murders, Holmes solves the case in the end.  As a result, the series depicts that men are still superior to women even though this episode does give women's rights a platform. 

Bride about to commit suicide in "The Abominable Bride." 
Image retrieved from https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/
news/sherlock-mansplaining-feminism-to-feminists-dressed-
in-kkk-hoods-in-the-abominable-bride-has-annoyed-a6794416.html.

Moreover, Dr. Watson's new wife, Mary Elizabeth Morstan/Watson, takes on more of an independent role throughout the BBC's Sherlock series.  In the third season, it is discovered that Mary hid a very dangerous life as an assassin from her husband (John Watson) and Holmes.  Throughout this season as Mary's life is explained, the agency and independence of her previous life is apparent.  She moved to London and successfully pulled off a facade while Watson and her were dating and a few months into their marriage; however, Holmes found that she was a part of A. G. R. A., a former assassin team after being shot by her in the previous episode involving Charles Augustus Magnussen.  Unfortunately, she shows her feminine characteristics when she becomes pregnant and gives birth to a child named Rosamund and, later, selflessly gives her life by jumping in front of a bullet for Holmes in the aquarium.  Check out this link that shows Mary's dramatic death:  Mary's Death Scene.

Mary as an assassin.  Image retrieved from
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2538272/Another-fake-
death-Holmes-Watsons-wife-shoots-Holmes-
girlfriend-Moriarty-dead-Sherlock-usual-tricks-Jim-Shelley.html.

Even though the BBC's Sherlock series did attempt to show women in a more empowered role, the feminine characteristics of women in the series eventually succumbed to the traditionally inferior characteristics of the Victorian Era.

Word count:  450 words (excluding the background information on the Victorian Era, the links and citations, and the works cited sources)

Works cited

Hughes, Kathryn.  "Gender roles in the 19th century."  Gender and sexuality.  15 May 2014.  https://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/gender-roles-in-the-19th-century.

Kent, Susan.  "Gender Roles of Victorian Era for Men and Women."  The Victorian Era England Facts.  Victorian-Era.org, Mar. 2019.

Ridgeway, Cecilia L. and Tamar Kricheli-Katz.  “Intersecting Cultural Beliefs in Social Relations:  Gender, Race, and Class Binds and Freedoms.”  Gender and Society, vol. 27, no. 3, 2013, pp. 294-318.
Sherlock.  BBC 2010-2016.