A Study in Scarlet is written in a realistic, heavily descriptive style used in many 19th-century novels. It is characterized by the first-person narration of Dr. John Watson. His journal serves as a frame for this first part of the novel. He carefully documents dialogue, as well as describing the settings and characters of the story in meticulous detail. One notable feature of Part 1’s style is the detailed descriptions of settings, including settings where murders have been committed. In Part 1, Chapter 3, for example, Watson gives a detailed description of the room where Enoch Drebber’s body has been discovered:
It was a large square room, looking all the larger from the absence of all furniture. A vulgar flaring paper adorned the walls, but it was blotched in places with mildew, and here and there great strips had become detatched and hung down, exposing the yellow plaster beneath. Opposite the door was a showy fireplace, surmounted by a mantelpiece of imitation white marble. On one corner of this was stuck the stump of a red wax candle. [There was a] thick layer of dust which coated the whole apartment.
The inventory-like details in this description not only create a vivid picture of the room for the reader, but also allow the reader to participate in the investigation alongside Sherlock Holmes. They get to play the role of the detective, looking at each detail in the room in turn and asking themselves, “What here is important? How can I piece this information together to solve the crime?” This inclusion of the reader in the mystery-solving process is key to building suspense and curiosity in murder mysteries and makes the ending—when the solution is finally revealed—all the more rewarding.
Watson also uses descriptions to reveal information about himself and his feelings. In Part 1, Chapter 1, for example, when he first meets Sherlock Holmes, Holmes is experimenting in the chemical laboratory of a hospital that Watson has visited many times before. He describes the hospital as being dull, familiar, and painted in drab colors—but once he enters the laboratory, the ceilings get higher and there are many interesting, colorful things to look at, like test tubes and Bunsen lamps burning on bright blue flames. This reveals the color and excitement that his new friendship with Sherlock Holmes is going to bring to his hitherto dull and monotonous life. He also describes the rooms that they rent together in Part 1, Chapter 2, giving details that grant insight into their relationship:
They consisted of a couple of comfortable bed-rooms and a single large airy sitting-room, cheerfully furnished, and illuminated by two broad windows.
This description could be read as a representation of their friendship: they are connected by the common ground of enjoying observation and investigation, which is represented by the two large windows (their two separate but complementary points of view). That he describes the room as “airy” and “cheerfully furnished” also reveals that their friendship is going to bring some freshness and new enjoyment into both of their lives.
A Study in Scarlet is written in a realistic, heavily descriptive style used in many 19th-century novels. It is characterized by the first-person narration of Dr. John Watson. His journal serves as a frame for this first part of the novel. He carefully documents dialogue, as well as describing the settings and characters of the story in meticulous detail. One notable feature of Part 1’s style is the detailed descriptions of settings, including settings where murders have been committed. In Part 1, Chapter 3, for example, Watson gives a detailed description of the room where Enoch Drebber’s body has been discovered:
It was a large square room, looking all the larger from the absence of all furniture. A vulgar flaring paper adorned the walls, but it was blotched in places with mildew, and here and there great strips had become detatched and hung down, exposing the yellow plaster beneath. Opposite the door was a showy fireplace, surmounted by a mantelpiece of imitation white marble. On one corner of this was stuck the stump of a red wax candle. [There was a] thick layer of dust which coated the whole apartment.
The inventory-like details in this description not only create a vivid picture of the room for the reader, but also allow the reader to participate in the investigation alongside Sherlock Holmes. They get to play the role of the detective, looking at each detail in the room in turn and asking themselves, “What here is important? How can I piece this information together to solve the crime?” This inclusion of the reader in the mystery-solving process is key to building suspense and curiosity in murder mysteries and makes the ending—when the solution is finally revealed—all the more rewarding.
Watson also uses descriptions to reveal information about himself and his feelings. In Part 1, Chapter 1, for example, when he first meets Sherlock Holmes, Holmes is experimenting in the chemical laboratory of a hospital that Watson has visited many times before. He describes the hospital as being dull, familiar, and painted in drab colors—but once he enters the laboratory, the ceilings get higher and there are many interesting, colorful things to look at, like test tubes and Bunsen lamps burning on bright blue flames. This reveals the color and excitement that his new friendship with Sherlock Holmes is going to bring to his hitherto dull and monotonous life. He also describes the rooms that they rent together in Part 1, Chapter 2, giving details that grant insight into their relationship:
They consisted of a couple of comfortable bed-rooms and a single large airy sitting-room, cheerfully furnished, and illuminated by two broad windows.
This description could be read as a representation of their friendship: they are connected by the common ground of enjoying observation and investigation, which is represented by the two large windows (their two separate but complementary points of view). That he describes the room as “airy” and “cheerfully furnished” also reveals that their friendship is going to bring some freshness and new enjoyment into both of their lives.
