Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson are two of the most iconic literary characters ever created. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle first introduced the brilliant consulting detective Sherlock Holmes and his trusted friend and chronicler Dr. John H. Watson in his 1887 novel A Study in Scarlet. This marked the beginning of a hugely successful literary franchise that spanned 4 novels and 56 short stories before Conan Doyle killed off Sherlock Holmes in 1893’s The Final Problem.
Why did Conan Doyle kill off Sherlock Holmes?
By 1893, Conan Doyle had grown weary of writing Sherlock Holmes stories. He felt that the character limited his creativity as a writer and overshadowed his other, more serious literary works. In killing off Holmes in The Final Problem, Conan Doyle hoped to focus his energies on more meaningful projects. However, there was massive public outcry over the death of Holmes. Readers wore black mourning bands and thousands canceled their subscriptions to the magazine Strand which carried the Holmes stories.
How was Sherlock Holmes resurrected?
Due to overwhelming public demand, Conan Doyle reluctantly brought Sherlock Holmes back to life in 1903’s The Adventure of the Empty House. He explained Holmes’s miraculous return by revealing that only Moriarty had fallen to his death at Reichenbach Falls while Holmes had faked his own demise. Doyle continued chronicling new Sherlock Holmes adventures throughout the early 20th century, often to his own frustration. In total he penned 56 short stories and 4 novels about the ingenious investigator and his trusty biographer Dr. Watson.
When and how did Sherlock Holmes ultimately die?
Conan Doyle never actually wrote a story depicting the true death of Sherlock Holmes. He considered Holmes’s fate definitively settled in the 1893 story The Final Problem. However, it seems likely that Holmes lived a full life and eventually died of old age sometime in the 1910s or 1920s, as most of the Sherlock Holmes stories are set between 1880 and 1914.
While Conan Doyle himself grew tired of Sherlock Holmes and wished to move on creatively, he understood how deeply Holmes had resonated with the public. He once famously said that “if I had never touched Holmes, who has tended to obscure my higher work, my position in literature would at the present moment be a more commanding one.” Nevertheless, the author recognized that “I have no reason to be otherwise than proud of having invented him.”
Top ways Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson impacted literature and pop culture
Though Conan Doyle tried to distance himself from Sherlock Holmes, the legendary characters had an undeniable influence that long outlived their creator. Some of the most notable ways Holmes and Watson changed storytelling include:
- They launched the detective fiction genre – Stories focusing on crime investigations proliferated after Sherlock Holmes.
- They were trailblazers for forensic science – Holmes used innovative methods like fingerprinting and blood analysis to solve mysteries.
- They introduced the eccentric genius archetype – Holmes’s brilliant but odd personality became a template for countless literary detectives to follow.
- They highlighted the power of partnerships – Holmes and Watson’s formidable teamwork showed how pairing complements strengths.
- They inspired an entire pop culture niche – Sherlock Holmes directly spawned hundreds of films, TV shows, and literary spinoffs over the decades.
Most notable Sherlock Holmes adaptations and spinoffs
The characters of Holmes and Watson have been reimagined countless times across various media. Some of the most prominent Sherlock Holmes adaptations and spinoffs include:
| Title | Year | Type | Key Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Hound of the Baskervilles | 1939 | Film | Classic horror film starring Basil Rathbone as Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Watson. |
| The Seven-Per-Cent Solution | 1974 | Novel | Bestselling book by Nicholas Meyer that teams up Holmes and Sigmund Freud. |
| Young Sherlock Holmes | 1985 | Film | Steven Spielberg-produced film starring Nicholas Rowe as a teenaged Sherlock. |
| Sherlock | 2010-2017 | TV series | BBC modern adaptation starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman. |
| Enola Holmes | 2020 | Film | Netflix movie focusing on Holmes’s teen sister Enola played by Millie Bobby Brown. |
Most memorable Sherlock Holmes quotes
Sherlock Holmes is renowned for his incisive deductions and immortal turns of phrase. Here are some of the most unforgettable quotes from the Sherlock Holmes stories:
- “When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.”
- “There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact.”
- “My mind rebels at stagnation. Give me problems, give me work.”
- “The game is afoot.”
- “Elementary, my dear Watson.”
- “Come, Watson, come! The game is afoot. Not a word! Into your clothes and come!”
Conclusion
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes is one of the most enduring and influential characters in literature. Though Conan Doyle tried to permanently end Holmes in 1893, readers emphatically demanded the detective’s return. Holmes and his friend Dr. Watson directly inspired countless mystery stories and larger-than-life pop culture icons. Through countless reinventions on the page, stage and screen, these brilliant Victorian characters continue captivating the public imagination over a century later. Their unique partnership and eccentric-genius detective style laid groundwork for an entire literary genre. Sherlock Holmes lives on as an archetypal figure who shaped modern storytelling and popular culture.