A scandal in Bohemia The play A scandal in Bohemia, written by Arthur Conan Doyle represents Sherlock Holmes, the emblematic

detective of the Victorian society, as being the most gifted and complete detective that ever existed. His abilities and skills in solving crimes and noticing clues where nobody would, made his name became an allegory for the detective occupation. From an archetypal point of view, the story groups a series of classic symbols met also in the ancient literature and not only, and also throughout all previous writings. The story has been filled with all sort of hidden meanings and mysteries which Sherlock Holmes easily reveals. The narration is being made from a double point of view, because in the beginning of the play Dr. Watson is the one who speaks up his mind. Along the story, Sherlock takes up Watsons place, narrating his own actions, and in the end the one who concludes is the doctor again. This fact renders to the play a nature of circularity. The story begins depicting Sherlock alone in his room, meditating under the effect of the cocaine, he had taken before. Then, when Watson came in the detective shown him the letter from Bohemia, this being the moment that triggered the actions to follow. Sherlock Holmes is depicted as the classic gentleman of the Victorian society, classy and stilled, but with a special characteristic of the mind that took him out of the ordinary. The way he thinks and uses his logic charms everybody even though not everybody understands his methods. Through his intellect he proves to be the type of the mentalist being able to see things invisible for the others. Watson is the archetype of the escape goat and also of the disciple, because he always has to help Holmes with his investigations, and when the situation asks for it he has to take Holmes out of any trouble. The doctor is fascinated by the intellect of his friend and never stops in helping him even though he knows that the detective seeks deliberately for the problems, to elucidate his cases with all cost.

These two archetypes combined form another, similar to the one from the Mesopotamian myths: Gilgamesh and Enkidu, in which Gilgamesh always did things wrong and Enklidu had to support the consequences in order to preserved a balance and to ensure the continuity of the world. The Archetype of the hero is present in the play, through the presence of Sherlock Holmes, because hes the one who is depicted as the only one in the world who could solve the mystery of the hidden love letters, sent by the king of Bohemia. He is not the classical type of a hero and has his own tactics and procedures but he succeeds in bringing the peace of Wilhelm, allowing him to marry with a woman of a proper stature. The King is being depicted as the victim of a blackmail whose only hope is detective Holmes. The woman who tries to ruin his life is Irene Adler, a piano singer to whom he fell in love in his early youth and who is trying to take advantage of his former weakness. The secret love between the two is another symbol, found in literature. The love shared by two characters separated by social criteria and who could be together only in a world governed by pure love. The archetype of the secret mistress or lover is the one which marks the story because the investigation begins because of the stubbornness of the woman. Money is involved in the story, the king thinks hell get rid of the letters only with the use of them, but Irene seemed to conduct her existence beyond these materialistic principles. When contacting Sherlock Holmes, Wilhelm promises large quantities of gold money only to see the woman away from his new marriage. In the end well see that not the money were to ones who solved the problem, but the woman whose feelings didnt let her to destroy the kings life only for the pleasure of doing it. Irene Adler is depicted as the type of the fatal woman, who could charm anyone she wanted to. Beautiful in body and spirit and with a sharp mind she succeeds in charming the king easily, making him do things he later regretted. She is so beautiful and smart that she even made Holmes fall in love with her, a man who wasnt so keen in charming women. The fact that she out played our brilliant detective

proves her over average intellect, fact that probably impressed Holmes mostly. Another archetype is the bond between two souls. The Christian element of sacredness encountered in the play which represents even from the ancient times the bond between Jesus Christ and his Church, is depicted by the secret marriage between Irene Adler and the lawyer Norton. Holmes is the only witness at that wedding, dressed as a common citizen to spy on Irene in order of finding out the place of the letters. The mask archetype is twice encountered with Holmes in the play, because this is the way in which Sherlock manages to enter in to the womans house. After creating a diversion, he pretends to defend her against the gang who wanted to robe her. In the end of the play Irene applies to the same tactics used by Holmes throughout the story, by disguising her into a man and passing near him thus proving him, hes not the only one with an ace in his sleeve. In the and of the play Irene leaves England for the continent with her husband, Norton and in the process she throws out into the water the picture and the troubled letters, hoping thus for a new and better life in another country. The water archetype is primary one and is the symbol of life and of the new beginning. The voyage to the continent is like a transition from the old troubled life to the new one and the water is the element that makes the connection between those two environments . The play A Scandal In Bohemia reveals not only the characteristics on an ouvre dart , written by sir Arthur Conan Doyle from the point of view of the waste area of symbols and complex narrative techniques, but the existence of such a controversial character like Sherlock Holmes is the main quality. The mixture of archetypes with the psychoanalytic perspective create from the persona of Sherlock a giant of the classic literature in the field of detectives and crimes solving situations.

Toica Irina Anul 2,Romana-Engleza