The Major Characters of a Study in Scarlet

First published in 1887 a Study in Scarlet was the first of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories. A complete story in its own right, it was also the story that introduced the major characters that would be found in subsequent stories.

Cover of a Study in Scarlet - David Henry Friston - PD-life-70

-Dr Watson

The first of the major characters to appear in a Study in Scarlet is Dr John Watson, an army doctor invalided out of the army, having been injured in the Anglo-Afghan War. Watson is in need of reasonable priced accommodation in London, and it is for this reason that he is introduced to Holmes who is in the same predicament. Watson is recovering for his wounds, but this relative immobility gives the doctor ample time to wonder about his housemate, which ultimately leads to him in joining Holmes at a crime scene.

Watson is quickly identified as being the voice of right and wrong, giving emotion to a tale, where Holmes would be cold and calculating. Watson might not be as smart as Holmes but offers energy instead.

Dr Watson would of course become the chronicler of Holmes’ adventures, as well as his friend, confident and often a co-conspirator.

-Sherlock Holmes

A Study in Scarlet was the work that introduced Sherlock Holmes to the world, and most people will know all about the detective. It is in a Study in Scarlet that the attributes and traits of Holmes were first identified though, traits which changed little in subsequent stories.

Holmes is a Consulting Detective, a man who other detectives and members of the public consult to solve mysteries, often without the need to leave the rooms of 221B Baker Street. Watson identifies him as a many of immense knowledge, but this knowledge is often specialised and selective, knowing the fantastic but ignoring the mundane.

Holmes is a man who does not seek the limelight, willing to let others take the credit, but rejoicing in the knowledge that he has been tested.

-Gregson and Lestrade

A Study in Scarlet centres around two murders in London, so of course the police are involved, and specifically Inspectors Gregson and Lestrade. Holmes would consider Tobias Gregson and G Lestrade to be the best of the capital’s police force, but in this story and in subsequent ones it would become apparent that they were reliant on the skills of Holmes to solve their problems. Both ambitious in their own right, Gregson and Lestrade happily take all of the credit for the solving of the murders in a Study in Scarlet and in their other cases.

The characters above are of course present in other stories, aside from a Study in Scarlet. Other important characters in the book though are central to the story and so even an overview of them is going to give away elements of the story. The below may spoil a Study in Scarlet if you have yet to read it.

-Enoch Drebber and Joseph Stangerson

Drebber was the first murder victim, found dead with the words Rache written in blood beside him. Subsequently Joseph Stangerson is also found dead in similar circumstances. Both were Mormons and had come from America together. Both were though hardly upstanding members of society.
-John Ferrier and Lucy Ferrier

The Ferriers were father and daughter who had been rescued by the Mormons in Utah, and adopted into the religion. John Ferrier has been given land and made a success of it. Lucy would fall in love with a stranger, a non-Mormon which would prove to have dramatic repercussions.

-Jefferson Hope

Jefferson Hope and Lucy Ferrier were in love, but the Mormons could not allow the marriage, and there forced separation would also see Hope travel to England, where he would become the central character of a Study in Scarlet.

When a Study in Scarlet was written it wasn’t certain that there would be further novels in which Sherlock Holmes would serve, this story therefore does much to establish the characteristics of Holmes and Watson especially. It also means that it is the one Sherlock Holmes story that has to be read to ensure that the others make perfect sense.

Copyright - First Published 10th November 2011