(no subject)

[telegramsam]

They need to work this scene from "The Sign of the Four" into the next series of Sherlock somehow:

'Look here, Watson; you look regularly done. Lie down there on the sofa, and see if I can put you to sleep.'

He took up his violin from the corner, and as I stretched myself out, he began to play some low, dreamy, melodious air--his own, no doubt, for he had a remarkable gift for improvisation. I have a vague remembrance of his gaunt limbs, his earnest face, and the rise and fall of his bow. Then I seemed to be floated peacefully away upon a soft sea of sound, until I found myself in dreamland, with the sweet face of Mary Morstan looking down upon me.


HOW FUCKING ADORABLE IS THAT? X3

(well not so much Watson's crush on Mary Morstan because who cares about her really but anyway)

Comments

[telegramsam]

I just put up a whole diatribe on why that sociopath thing is absolute bullshit over on the livejournal bbcsherlock comm actually. And it is. He was just fucking around with Lestrade et al.' heads because they deserve it. :P

Sherlock was actually quite sweet at times in the books, in his own weird little way. I think he was a tad bit afraid of women but I suppose nobody's perfect.

[aithine]

Heh, yeah, saw that. *g* Sherlock's totally fucking with them because he can. Lestrade doesn't believe it, but the others don't know what to make of him, so it's easy enough to screw with their minds. *g*

Holmes can be amazingly sweet in the books. *g* He's just not demonstrative about it, generally.

I don't think he's afraid of women, he just doesn't know how to deal with them. Presumably the only women he's been close to in his life are his mother, who we know nothing about, and Mrs. Hudson, who is not an intimate acquaintance as such. He's familiar with her, certainly, but she definitely doesn't react to him the way most other women of the time would to Holmes and his eccentricities. He grew up a man of his times--i.e. largely separated from women of his class--and he's simply more interested in solving the problems that come his way than he is in a relationship with any woman.

[telegramsam]

Well, misunderstanding often manifests as apprehension/fear, frankly.

One quote from Sherlock from the same book as the above:

"I would not tell them too much. Women are never to be entirely trusted—not the best of them."

Watson calls it an "atrocious sentiment" in his narrative but fails to comment on it, but like you said - product of the times, both the characters and the author (though Doyle's treatment of women the Holmes stories is relatively progressive for the turn of the century, I will give him that much credit).

[mresundance]

I don't think he's not afraid of women. He treats them the way men of his class were expected to at the time as you noted, though he does have a misogynistic streak (also noted!). And I don't think it's much to do with not knowing how to deal with them. I think he doesn't always handle people in general well, because he is so . . . focused.

He's that way with everyone but Watson, really. In 'A Scandal in Bohemia', for instance:

All emotions, and that one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but admirably balanced mind. . . . He never spoke of the softer passions, save with a give and a sneer.

Of course, he shows emotion at times. Concern towards clients, etc. But what I will call 'real emo for Holmes' stuff seems reserved pretty much for Watson. The rest of the time, other people . . . I think Holmes is such a keen, cold observer he's rather distanced from other people in some ways.

[mresundance]

I think Holmes, even canon Holmes, is a bit on the boinkers side, but not necessarily sociopathic.

[telegramsam]

LOL, boinkers, yea he's a tad batshit but that's why he's FUN. :P

[mresundance]

Haha, or SCARY, depending on the circumstances.