A Scandal in Bohemia
by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
✓

or to save your progress

A Scandal in Bohemia: Flashbacks 1 key example

Key Examples in A Scandal in Bohemia

Part 1
Explanation and Analysis—THE Woman:

In the opening and concluding sentences of "A Scandal in Bohemia," Watson refers to Irene Adler as the woman. This wording—with an italicized emphasis on the definite article—is a quotation of Holmes, and it becomes a motif that frames the short story. The initial sentences of the first part introduce Irene Adler without naming her: 

TO SHERLOCK Holmes she is always the woman. I have seldom heard him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses and predominates the whole of her sex.

Part 3
Explanation and Analysis—THE Woman:

In the opening and concluding sentences of "A Scandal in Bohemia," Watson refers to Irene Adler as the woman. This wording—with an italicized emphasis on the definite article—is a quotation of Holmes, and it becomes a motif that frames the short story. The initial sentences of the first part introduce Irene Adler without naming her: 

TO SHERLOCK Holmes she is always the woman. I have seldom heard him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses and predominates the whole of her sex.

Unlock with LitCharts A+