Lopez 1 Katia Lopez Dr.

Haas Writing 37 18 February 2014 Drugs in the Victorian Era and Now There are key elements that make up the mystery genre; those elements draw suspense throughout the novel/film and keep the audience on their toes. It causes the audience to wonder through the whole novel/film whom the culprit is. The mystery genre always has a detective who is trying to solve the mystery. The detective in the novel is always the smartest person in the room and 99.9 percent of the time solves the case alone. The very eccentric detective must always have a foil character that contrasts his personality in order to highlight the qualities of the detective; in the Sherlock Holmes novels, Dr. John Watson is that character. These conventions did not magically appear one day; they were developed over time. When Conan Doyle first began writing mysteries, he was in the primitive stage of his genre because his audience did not know what to expect from this particular genre. Once his audience becomes more familiar with his genre and decides they like it, it becomes extremely popular and the genre is now considered to be in its classical stage. After the hype dies down, the genre moves to its parodic stage. By this time, the stage has become so well known that audiences know what to expect from this type of genre. In order to surprise their audience like they did in the primitive stage, authors then move to the revisionist stage where they try to revitalize their work by changing up the conventions of their genre (Film Topics). A convention that has been used in Arthur Conan Doyles novels that is still interpreted in the 21st century versions of the novel is the use of drugs. In three modern day interpretations of the Sherlock Holmes novels (Elementary, House M.D, Sherlock)

Lopez 2 drugs are a major part of the detectives life. In Elementary, Sherlock is a recovering addict; in House M.D, Dr. House is addicted to vicodin; and BBCs Sherlock was once addicted to cocaine/morphine (he prefers cigarettes and nicotine patches now). Drugs play a massive role in both the original Sherlock Holmes novels and modern interpretations. Drug use in the Victorian Era was not illegal nor a problem, therefore, were considered to be a part of the every day life of someone living in the Victorian Era. People who used drugs were not frown upon like they are now. This is shown in the modern day interpretations. These updated shows have plenty of scenes that exhibit the relationship between the modern Holmes and drugs; this relationship is completely different than Conan Doyles Holmes and his drug of choice. CBSs Elementary is based on the life of a modern day Holmes who has moved from London to New York to escape his past drug issues he had in London. While in New York, Sherlock Holmes is assigned by his father a sober companion, Dr. Joan Watson in order to help him stay off the drugs-note that sober companions did not even exist during the Victorian Era. A sober companion was put into this show because drugs are a problem in the 21st century and those who are sick need to be watched over in order to help them stay clean. Sherlock Holmes and his sober companion developed a friendship quickly that resembled the original Sherlock Holmes relationship with Dr. John Watson. Elementary is a modern-day revision of Conan Doyles Sherlock Holmes stories, updating genre conventions for its 21st century audience; in particular, the conventionSherlocks use of illegal drugs is an update of Conan Doyles display of drugs in his novels and how they were part of the Victorian Era norm, with specific revisions such as Sherlocks stint in rehab (Elementary) and Sherlocks self-medication routine (The Sign of the Four). In an episode of Elementary, season one, episode 15 "A Giant Gun, Filled with Drugs" the audience is able to understand and see for themselves why and how the use of drugs have

Lopez 3 changed in this version of Sherlock Holmes. The episode is about Sherlock Holmess ex-drug dealer Rhys going to Holmes and asking him for help in finding his kidnaped daughter. In the scene, Holmes is sitting in his study room when Rhys approaches him. Rhys has begun to lose patients because he is being pressured by the kidnappers to transfer the money and needs Holmes to locate his daughter as soon as possible because Rhys does not have the money needed to pay for the ransom. Rhys believes Holmes was a better detective when he was still using drugs therefore when he goes to speak to Holmes he offers him assistance (drugs). Holmes angrily pushes Rhys down and asks him to never do that again. This scene occurs in the middle of the episode. By the end of the episode, Holmes has had enough of Rhys presences that Holmes ultimately asks his own father for the money to pay the ransom. In this particular scene we have Holmes sitting in his living room. The lighting is dim and the there is no noise except for the tapes Holmes is viewing. Holmes is sitting in the center of his living room reviewing the ransom video the kidnappers sent to Rhys. There is only light on Sherlock until Rhys enters the room. The camera angle and the lighting then shift and turn to Rhys. Rhys begins to talk to Holmes and reminds Holmes about the old days when he used to consume drugs and how he was able to solve a case in no time. Rhys then takes out a small bag of cocaine and waves it at Holmes. Holmes is outraged when Rhys offers him the drug and pushes him down. Holmes is very angry with Rhys because Rhys knows Holmes is done with that chapter in his life. Holmes is a recovering addict and recovering addicts are prone to have relapses. Dr. Watson then enters the room asking what the commotion was about and Holmes very calmly says, I need some time Watson, I will be in touch. Holmes needed to remove himself from that stressful situation because stress is not good for a recovering addict (The Steps to Complete Drug and Alcohol Recovery 4). This scene is important because it

Lopez 4 demonstrates how delicate it can be to be for Holmes to be a recovering addict; just looking at the drugs he used to consume could have caused him to have a relapse. Drugs are not accepted in the 21st century and for Holmes to go back to that habit of his, he would be allowing himself to be ostracized once again. Drugs were the reason he left London in the first place and for him to start abusing again would be throwing all his progress out the window. In Conan Doyles Sherlock Holmes novels, he displays Holmes as someone who needs drugs to stimulate their mind. Using drugs does not make Holmes (Conan Doyle version) an addict because he knew how much he could handle. In The Sign of the Four, Dr. Watson describes Holmes daily routine of cocaine injections, Finally he thrust the sharp point home, pressed down the tiny piston, and sank back into the velvet-lined arm-chair with a long sigh of satisfaction. Three times a day for many months I had witnessed this performance (TSOTF 1). Dr. John Watson is not frightened for Holmes life the way Dr. Joan Watson is in the 21st century. He does not act the way Dr. Joan Watson acts because of the time period Sherlock Holmes and he live in. The drugs a modern day audience would consider illegal and harmful, audiences in the late 1800s would not. Victorian Era doctors prescribed substances such as cocaine, morphine, and alcohol because they believed they helped cure different illnesses. Cocaine was used for toothaches and morphine was used to help childrens cough (Vintage advertisements show just how far medicine and advertising have come 5). During the Victorian Era there were no regulations on foods or drugs therefore no one ever thought to themselves that maybe these forms of medications were not harmful. A sober companion did not even exist in the Victorian Era or Rehabilitation Center because drugs were not an issue back then; people were more worried about making it to adulthood. The issues people faced in the 19th century were incredibly different from the issues people from the 21st century face.

Lopez 5 I believe Robert Doherty designed the show exactly the way he did in order to fit a very precise audience. He set it in New York because anyone living in the 21st century is aware of where New York is. He made Dr. Joan Watson a female because in today's day and age a woman is capable of doing anything a man can do. Doherty also made Holmes a recovering addict because in the 21st century addicts are considered junkies and are frown upon by society but it can be said that drugs are an issue many individuals face today. If Doherty had made the Holmes character a current addict in his modern day interpretation, the Police Department would not have taken him serious. They would not have taken him seriously because in todays world, individuals who are addicts are looked down upon by society and are not to be trusted. Doherty had to make Holmes a recovering addict because if Holmes was not flawed, fewer audiences would be able to relate to him. Similarly, Holmes is flawed because in the 21st century, heroes have some sort of weakness. Work Cited: 1. Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan. The Sign of the Four. United Kingdom: The Strand Magazine, 1890. Print. 2. A Giant Gun, Filled with Drugs. Elementary. CBS. 7. Feb. 2013. Television. 3. Dictionary. Foil, 2014. Web. 21 Feb. 2014

4. Recovery. The Steps to Complete Drug and Alcohol Recovery, 2014. Web. 21 Feb. 2014 5. McQueeny, Kerry. Vintage advertisements show just how far medicine and advertising have come since the introduction of regulation. Mail Online. 2012. Print. 6. "Film Topics." Film Topics. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Mar. 2014.