Dr. John Watson Character Analysis

A medical doctor and close friend of Sherlock Holmes, Watson narrates “A Scandal in Bohemia” and assists Holmes in his investigation. He has also chronicled and published a number of Holmes’s cases, and clearly admires the detective for his extraordinary powers of observation and deduction. He used to live with Sherlock at 221B Baker Street, but recently got married and moved in with his wife; he had not seen much of Sherlock since then, and he begins “A Scandal in Bohemia” by coming to visit his friend, wherein he is swept up in Sherlock’s latest case. Watson is tolerant of Sherlock’s eccentricities because he truly believes in the detective’s genius, describing him as “the most perfect reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen.” He participates enthusiastically in the investigation, expressing to Holmes that he will gladly break the law and risk arrest for a good cause. While Watson is very intelligent in his own right, it is his admiration for his friend Sherlock that takes center stage in “A Scandal in Bohemia.”