Sir
Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Adventure of
Charles Augustus Milverton (CAM) was
first published as a serial in The Strand
Magazine, a popular illustrated monthly and family favorite, in 1904. The
story presents the reader with three ideologies: the overtly obvious ideology
that wanton criminals get what they deserve; the apparent, but contradictory
views of marriage; and the subtle portrait of distrust worthiness and sexuality
of women. The story follows Sherlock Holmes and his sidekick Watson as they
negotiate with extortions expert, Charles Augustus Milverton, to protect the
marriage and sexuality of Lady Eva Blackwell. There are three female characters
in CAM and several others are briefly
alluded to in dialogue, each one sexually driven and presumably deceitful. Thus,
we are presented with an ideology that suspects and fears women as sexual
figures. Holmes and Watson are acting to protect women’s sexuality, while
Milverton is acting to promote women’s sexuality to public knowledge. Furthermore,
the ideology of marriage is questioned as the basis of the case is to protect
Lady Blackwell’s marriage, but in doing so Holmes’ enters into a false
engagement directly contradicting the protection of marriage and calling into
question classist ideology. The hierarchy of voices in the text, Watson as
narrator with other characters as secondary voices having their own lives and
histories unknown to Watson, suggests that Holmes and Milverton have a personal
history. This questions Holmes’ motives for taking the case so seriously as to
commit burglary and to allow the murder of Charles Augustus Milverton by the
unknown Lady.
Holmes
and Watson protect the sexuality of the female characters in the story. Even
their femininity is veiled by the masculinity of Watson’s narrative. 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 distrust worthiness. 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, 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, or the matter would not be “so delicate.” Thus the Lady’s character is
compromised by both her sexuality and deceit of her fiancé. This justifies the
negative contemporary ideology shared by men who worried about the prospect of
women’s suffrage as a gateway to their liberation. It is due partially to this ideology
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 interpellating the reader. Because these women are presented in
such a mysterious and suspect way the reader inhabits the worries of Doyle’s
contemporaries and comes to understand that Milverton’s moral error is in
promoting these women’s sexuality to public knowledge.
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). Aside from the brief allusion to
Agatha’s strong sexuality she has performed all the necessary benefactions for
Holmes to plan and commit burglary of Milverton’s home, without which his plan
would be left entirely to chance and criminal trespass, making her equally
guilty of deceit as the Lady Eva Blackwell. For the time, it was considered inappropriate
for a man and woman of no relation to occupy a room without a chaperone, but to
rendezvous, especially if that rendezvous takes place at night and in private
company was detestable. Most readers today would not find their meeting
suspicious, but would question their meeting at night and Agatha’s carelessness
in leaving the home unguarded to allow Holmes’ access. Thus, whatever their
rendezvous activities, Agatha’s sexuality and innocence are compromised and her
character furthers the negative ideology of women in the text.
For
a sense of Holmes’ motives for this rivalry with Milverton we can look to
Agatha, whom Holmes’ betrothal to 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. This directly contradicts the
ideology of marriage in the text, which is previously built upon Holmes’
protection of marriage even when its participants are adulterous. This
treatment of Agatha also raises questions of classism within the text because
Holmes is prepared to forsake the heart of this lowly housemaid in order to
protect the heart of a lady.
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.
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. However Holmes allows
her to kill Milverton, even stopping Watson from intervening. At the end of the
story, Holmes has a flash of brilliance and his photographic memory drags he
and Watson to s shop front where there is a debutante ball photograph of the
woman in the window. She too is a noble woman and Holmes puts his finger to his
lips signaling to Watson that they are not to discuss her (383). This not only
illustrates their protection of another woman’s sexuality, but that they are
willing to protect a murderess member of high society, furthering notions of
classism within the text.
The
case is presented to the reader as if Holmes has taken a stand to protect the
sexuality of Lady Blackwell. However Holmes’ dubious treatment of the case
questions whether he is truly working to protect the sexuality of the women, or
to pursue a personal vendetta against Milverton. We are never given any
explanations of Holmes prior dealings with Milverton, but Holmes does allude to
having done business with Milverton before. This raises suspicions of the personal
connections the two may have, “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… 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” alludes to the possibility of a
personal connection between Holmes and the case of the noble family that was
ruined. This questions whether Holmes’ motives for helping Lady Blackwell are
for her benefit or vengeance. 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 clearly
admits that Milverton’s victims are not
innocent, which is why the law cannot be evoked to control him. Holmes also
exhibits an uncharacteristic agitation and 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), a solid description of
what can be assumed is Holmes’ poker face. However, it 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, whose sole purpose in the case is
to facilitate successful negotiation, is more adapt at hiding his emotions and
maintaining “a face of granite” when negotiating with a criminal. Thus this reckless
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; therefore the ideology of protecting women’s sexuality presented to the
reader through Holmes’ handling of the case is erroneous.
The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton
is an interrogative text, presenting the reader with conflicting messages and
various avenues through which we can arrive at our own interpretive claim. Catherine
Belsey claims the main theme of the story is that most heinous criminals
deserve to die at the hands of their victims and these acts of vengeance are
above the law (110). This common sense reading is erroneous because Doyle’s
female characters are not victims. Watson’s descriptions of Holmes, as well as
the presentation of women as such “shadowy, mysterious”, and immoral
characters, “contradicts the project of explicitness, transgresses the values
of the texts, and in doing so” (Belsey 115), negates the ethical theme that
constitutes Belsey’s common sense reading. It is because of this that the ideology
of the text implicates negative opinions of women and marriage.
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