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.
This opening passage is interesting for a number of reasons. In the position of witness, close confidant, and narrator, Watson reproduces Holmes's own diction and syntax when introducing one of the story's main characters. The first three sentences are all about Irene Adler—she is even the grammatical subject of the story's very first sentence. However, she remains unnamed until the fourth sentence. The reader understands from this diction that the story will be about a woman, but that it won't follow her perspective. Irene Adler's character is shrouded in mystery, an aura that remains through to the end. Holmes's fascination is transferred to the reader by way of Watson's narration. This opening passage also foreshadows later events in the story, as the reader comes to expect that Irene Adler will do something capable of impressing Holmes.
On the one hand, Irene Adler lacks agency and remains inaccessible to the reader. The reader always engages with her either through the filter of Watson's perspective or Watson's reiteration of Holmes's perspective. On the other hand, she holds a great degree of power, as her intelligence and deftness evidently destabilizes and preoccupies Holmes. Watson underlines this point in the final sentences of the third part:
He used to make merry over the cleverness of women, but I have not heard him do it of late. And when he speaks of Irene Adler, or when he refers to her photograph, it is always under the honourable title of the woman.
Watson only refers to Irene Adler as the woman twice. Throughout the story, he and those he quotes evoke the character by her name. This is because Holmes only begins to call her the woman after the story's events have taken place. Watson mostly narrates in the past tense, but he begins and ends the story in the present tense. Thus, a majority of the story is a flashback that is sandwiched between two portions of reflection from his time of writing. When Watson comes back to his opening thought at the very end, Doyle cements "the woman" as a motif.
In addition, this moment indicates that the entire short story essentially serves as an anecdote to explain why Holmes refers to Irene Adler in these terms. In his eyes, she is singular. Unlike many other Sherlock Holmes stories, "A Scandal in Bohemia" is less aimed at following Holmes as he solves a complicated crime in an impressive way and more aimed at showing how he was upstaged by his feminine match. While this experience doesn't change his opinion of women overall, it does throw him off balance and awaken his fascination for this striking woman, Irene Adler.
At the end of the story's second part, as Holmes and Watson return to Baker Street, a stranger bids the former goodnight. Holmes notes that the voice is familiar to him, but he can't figure out who it was. In this moment, Doyle foreshadows that Holmes has been outsmarted:
He was searching his pockets for the key when someone passing said:
“Good-night, Mister Sherlock Holmes.”
[...]
“I’ve heard that voice before,” said Holmes, staring down the dimly lit street. “Now, I wonder who the deuce that could have been.”
The two men are coming back after carrying out an intricate scheme that allowed Holmes to enter Irene Adler's house with her unsuspecting consent. Certain that he was successful and avoided giving himself away, Holmes has just explained the plot and his takeaways to Watson. Holmes talks as though he has completely solved the crime, telling Watson that their "quest is practically finished." All that remains, in his mind, is a simple retrieval of the photograph the next morning.
The quoted passage comes from the very end of the second part and hints that Holmes may not have been as successful as he thinks. After the character has rather arrogantly explained his genius plan to Watson and declared the case more or less closed, Doyle introduces an element of uncertainty through the stranger's "good-night." Holmes usually seems to know and notice everything, but in this moment he can't figure out the identity of the youth.
As the story progresses to the third and final part, the detail with the familiar voice remains in the back of the reader's mind. Despite what Holmes may think, all is not resolved after all. At the end of the third part, Holmes finds the letter from Irene Adler, in which she reveals that she had followed him and overheard everything he explained to Watson. Holmes's arrogance led him to be incautious and ultimately results in his failure to retrieve the photograph. Assuming that Irene Adler is naive and oblivious, he lets his guard unduly down after she lets him into her house. In the end, her disguise is more successful and her plan is more clever than anything Holmes comes up with in the story.
Although the reader can't know exactly how the story will turn out when Holmes admits that he's unable to place the voice, it does prepare them for an outcome that is more complicated than Holmes thinks. Taking Irene Adler as an unsuspecting dupe sets Holmes on the path to be outsmarted.
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.
This opening passage is interesting for a number of reasons. In the position of witness, close confidant, and narrator, Watson reproduces Holmes's own diction and syntax when introducing one of the story's main characters. The first three sentences are all about Irene Adler—she is even the grammatical subject of the story's very first sentence. However, she remains unnamed until the fourth sentence. The reader understands from this diction that the story will be about a woman, but that it won't follow her perspective. Irene Adler's character is shrouded in mystery, an aura that remains through to the end. Holmes's fascination is transferred to the reader by way of Watson's narration. This opening passage also foreshadows later events in the story, as the reader comes to expect that Irene Adler will do something capable of impressing Holmes.
On the one hand, Irene Adler lacks agency and remains inaccessible to the reader. The reader always engages with her either through the filter of Watson's perspective or Watson's reiteration of Holmes's perspective. On the other hand, she holds a great degree of power, as her intelligence and deftness evidently destabilizes and preoccupies Holmes. Watson underlines this point in the final sentences of the third part:
He used to make merry over the cleverness of women, but I have not heard him do it of late. And when he speaks of Irene Adler, or when he refers to her photograph, it is always under the honourable title of the woman.
Watson only refers to Irene Adler as the woman twice. Throughout the story, he and those he quotes evoke the character by her name. This is because Holmes only begins to call her the woman after the story's events have taken place. Watson mostly narrates in the past tense, but he begins and ends the story in the present tense. Thus, a majority of the story is a flashback that is sandwiched between two portions of reflection from his time of writing. When Watson comes back to his opening thought at the very end, Doyle cements "the woman" as a motif.
In addition, this moment indicates that the entire short story essentially serves as an anecdote to explain why Holmes refers to Irene Adler in these terms. In his eyes, she is singular. Unlike many other Sherlock Holmes stories, "A Scandal in Bohemia" is less aimed at following Holmes as he solves a complicated crime in an impressive way and more aimed at showing how he was upstaged by his feminine match. While this experience doesn't change his opinion of women overall, it does throw him off balance and awaken his fascination for this striking woman, Irene Adler.
