In Critical Practice: New
Accents Catherine Belsey argues that the main theme in Sir Arthur Conan
Doyle’s The Adventure of Charles Augustus
Milverton (CAM) is that most heinous criminals deserve to die at the hands
of their victims and that these acts of vengeance are above the law (110). But
are Doyle’s females characters really victims? The female characters in CAM are
sexually driven, deceitful, and capable of murder. These qualities demonize the
women and rank them in similar immoral character as Charles Augustus Milverton
himself. Furthermore, Watson’s descriptions of Holmes reacting to Milverton
suggest they have a personal history, which questions Holmes’ motives for
taking the case so seriously. It is because of the portrayal of these women as
such deceitful figures and Holmes’ obvious hatred of Milverton that the ethical
implication of Holmes’ allowing Milverton’s murder is actually quite ambivalent.
With this in mind, is the true
reason Holmes denies assistance to inspector Lestrade, not because the ethical
implications of a criminal receiving his comeuppance at the hands of his
victim, but actually that the household is familiar with both his and
especially Watson’s appearance?
There
are three female characters present in the story and several others, which are
briefly alluded to in dialogue. It is true, “The sexuality of these three
shadowy women motivates the narrative and yet is barely present in it” (Belsey 111);
however the women’s sexuality is one of the key illustrations of their guilt. The
first of the female characters in CAM is the Lady Eva Blackwell, who appears as
a damsel in distress hiring Holmes as her confidante and mediator in
negotiations with Milverton. We are never given details of the content of
letters being used against her by Milverton, but Watson’s curiosities are
appeased by Holmes description of them as “imprudent… nothing worse” (Doyle 374).
Milverton on the other hand describes them as “sprightly, very sprightly” (Doyle
375). Both men agree that the content of the letters would put an end to the
Lady’s betrothal or else they would not be negotiating, “to avoid scandal in so
delicate a matter” (Doyle 375). The content of the letters is reckless and
vigorous, no doubt of a sexual nature, else the matter would not be “so
delicate.” So the morality of the Lady’s character is compromised by both her
sexuality and deceit of her fiancé, especially when placed in historical
context.
It
is due to contemporary thought that, “The classic realist text had not yet
developed a way of signifying women’s sexuality except in a metaphoric or
symbolic mode whose presence disrupts the realist surface” (Belsey 115).
However the presence of that symbolic mode in CAM is also greatly responsible
for ambiguating the ethical message that Belsey argues is so obvious. The
second figure of female sexuality is Milverton’s housemaid, Agatha, whom Holmes
becomes engaged to after only, “some days,” of acquaintance (Doyle 376). Holmes
also says that he has been meeting with Agatha, “the last two evenings,”
therefore the guard dog that roams the grounds at night will be locked up to,
“give [Holmes] a clear run” (Doyle 378). Once again, because of Agatha’s
sexuality, her character furthers the demoralization of women in the text. Aside
from the brief allusion to Agatha’s strong sexuality, she has performed all of
the necessary benefactions for Holmes to plan burglary of Milverton’s home,
without which his plan would be left entirely to chance and criminal trespass.
Therefore she is equally guilty of deceit as the Lady Eva Blackwell.
The
third, and final, female figure is the most heinous and, as Belsey points out,
“the only one with an active role in the story”. She is a creature of
hysterical anger, who in disguise meets with Milverton under false pretenses
and murders him because he divulged adulterous correspondence to her husband
who in turn died of broken heart (Doyle 381). This woman is the earliest victim
of Milverton in the text, one of many sexually charged women in the story.
Milverton claims to have, “eight or ten similar cases maturing” (Doyle 375) and
with every sexually charged woman in the story their sexuality grows more
apparent and empathizing with them becomes more complicated. The fact that this
woman is the only one to have an active role and that she is a deceitful
adulterating murderess demonizes her character completely and negates her
status as an innocent victim of Milverton. It would have been especially
difficult for contemporary masculine readers of such a male dominated society
to empathize with this woman on any level.
Holmes’
dubious treatment of the case raises further ethical questions and in so doing
convolutes the ethical implications of the text. We are never given any
explanations of Holmes prior dealings with Milverton, but Holmes does allude to
having done business with Milverton before. Holmes also appears especially
agitated by Milverton, in such a way that causes the reader to suspect what
personal connections if any the two may have. Holmes curious explanation of
Milverton’s character to Watson suggests that Holmes has had some personal
involvement with Milverton in the past:
I've had to do with fifty murderers in my
career, but the worst of them never gave me the repulsion, which I have for
this fellow. And yet I can't get out of doing business with him… I happen to
know that he paid seven hundred pounds to a footman for a note two lines in
length, and that the ruin of a noble family was the result. (Doyle 373)
We see Holmes’ opinion of Milverton is worse than that of a
murderer and his use of “I happen to know” makes it sound like there is a
personal connection between Holmes and the noble family that was ruined. Holmes
continues to say, “If ever he blackmailed an innocent person, then indeed we
should have him, but he is as cunning as the Evil One. No, no, we must find
other ways to fight him” (Doyle 374). Holmes himself has just admitted that
Milverton’s victims are not innocent,
which is why the law cannot be evoked to control him.
Returning
to Holmes’ motives for this rivalry with Milverton we can look to the character
Agatha, whom Holmes’ betrothal is sure to end in heartbreak, though he claims
not to be worried because he has, “a hated rival, who will certainly cut [him]
out the instant that [his] back is turned” (Doyle 377). Why is Holmes so
nonchalantly able to allow the breaking of one woman’s heart in order to save
the breaking of another? In his own words he, “Wanted information” (Doyle 376).
This reads like a game of chess, in which Holmes has just sacrificed his rook
to save his queen in a match against Milverton. As readers we are not given any
further detail of this betrothal or of Agatha, but it seems a reckless and
heartless abuse to use a person in such a way.
Earlier
in the text Holmes exhibits an uncharacteristic anger for such a master of
disguise when negotiating the terms of Lady Eva’s transaction. Watson describes
him as meeting Milverton with “a face of granite” (Doyle 374), which becomes a
“baffled look” (Doyle 375) when Milverton pokes at Holmes’ acquaintance with
the Earl betrothed to the Lady, and upon Milverton’s readiness to leave
negotiations Holmes is, “gray with anger and mortification” (Doyle 375). Surely
a private detective as accomplished as Sherlock Holmes is more adapt at hiding
his emotions when negotiating with a criminal. Thus this display of emotion
suggests that Holmes has had prior, likely failed, encounters with Milverton
because of which it seems Holmes’ motives for success in this case are driven
by something outside of the text, unknown to the reader.
The
questions that arise from the descriptions of Holmes, as well as the, “shadowy,
mysterious [women]… contradicts the project of explicitness, transgresses the
values of the texts, and in doing so” (Belsey 115), clouds any ethical
implications that may be drawn from the text. The tale ends with Holmes and
Watson running through the streets to where Holmes knows there is a picture of
the murderer. As readers we are left to wonder whether Holmes intends to
continue investigations into the Lady’s life, which furthers the text’s ambivalence
of its’ only obvious ethical question. So much so, that the only truth that can
be accurately drawn from the text, without hesitation or doubt, is that
blackmail only leads to disruption.
Bibliography
Belsey, Catherine. Critical Practice: New Accents. Methuen
& Co. Ltd. New York, USA. Second Edition. 1987
Doyle, Arthur Conan. The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton.
The Strand Magazine: an Illustrated Monthly. George Newnes, Ltd. London.
Vol. 27 (Apr. 1904) etext: http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=DoyChar.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=1&division=div1
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