This document discusses how women's roles and social status changed in Britain during the Victorian era from the early to late 19th century. In the early Victorian period, women were largely confined to the domestic sphere and expected to obey their fathers and husbands. However, industrialization allowed some working-class women more opportunities outside the home. By the late Victorian era, more women were literate and worked in various jobs like teaching and typing. One Sherlock Holmes story, "The Speckled Band", depicts a woman, Helen Stoner, who seeks independence from her controlling stepfather with Holmes' help, reflecting the changing social norms for women.

1. The Change of women’s Consciousness for her Position through Sherlock Holmes
Stories
The era when the story of Sherlock Holmes unfolded was so acute that senses of
value and social state of affairs had been drastically changed. The century Arthur
Conan Doyle, who is the creator of Sherlock Holmes, lived was Victorian dynasty that
the British experienced the most evolved time and the anxieties about shrinking their
culture. As having been industrialized, lower classes such as labor got chances to get
more money, and consequently they became higher classes such as middle classes.
Before being industrialized, wealth had been occupied by aristocrats but lower class
won the opportunities to influence politics to be democratized gradually in Victorian
era.
The background of lower classes having suffrages, as written before, was the factor
that they succeeded in earning huge profit from industrialization, and then they came
to own their factories. In this atmosphere, their offspring could be educated because
their wealth contributed to the offspring taking educations. Of course, the British’s
literacy would increase for the sake of education, and this brought the changes that not
only aristocrats had books but also lower classes did. That enabled their family
including women to be more literate. At the same time, women were democratized as
lower classes were in similar ways.
Moreover, being literate influences the patterns of women’s life, that is working was
included in their schedule. The department of women’s work varied in the late of
Victorian era; they were engaged in office clerks, governess, teachers and typist (関谷).
These works are difficult for non-literate people because the tasks they do were dealing
with vast piles of papers. These imply women in the late of Victorian era were quite

2. literate and they were unbounded from their house more than in the beginning of
Victorian era.
In 1825, one activist, whose name is Anna Wheeler, appeal to British politics the
importance of gender equalities in her policy political equalities can bring to women’s
guarantee of hers during conference of electoral reform (富田, 292 ). It can be considered
there had been movement of suffrage for women in early Victorian era, and this should
be taken into account if research involves with feminism in British literature.
Taking that in to consideration, the characteristics of women seems to be different
as comparing the women in the beginning of Victorian era with the ones in the end of
that era. In the beginning, men used to go outside for work, and women are supposed to
be inside of their house to keep it and wait for their husband’s coming back.
Man for the field, and woman for the hearth;
Man for the sword, and for needle she;
Man with the head, and woman with the heart;
Man to command, and woman to obey;
All else confusion. (Tennyson 245)
This is poem Alfred Tennyson wrote, and it describes what British families were like in
the beginning of Victorian era. Man for the field and man for the sword implies that
men always go outside and make money or some benefit to make a living for family.
Women, however, mainly play roles in supporting men as Tennyson said in the poem
quoted above; “and, woman for the hearth” and “and, needle for she”. It is impressing
that woman supports her husband’s mentality though she was subject under his power
and suppressed. If man suppresses women with power, she would not be good partner
with tender. In that era, men’s going outside almost everyday is stressful because, as

3. Tennyson mentioned by using sword, capitalization had boosted, and they had to live
busy life with merchandise. According to Lytton Strachey, Victoria’s way of living with
her husband was model for British family, which attaches importance on virtues and
familism. As for virtues, it was unnatural for couple to divorce because this was against
general moral. This atmosphere prevailed over Britain, many couples might be stuck to
keep good relationship to avoid being divorced. From the standpoint of women, if they
were divorced, they could not be inherent properties from her father and her husband,
and this led to dropout from British society. It was critical problem for women to find
good husband and to keep good family to avoid being divorced. From the standpoint of
husband, they worked in the stressful environment, and if they do not have good
relationship, they would be suffered with another stress. In this era, divorcing was
immoral so that divorced couples were to be blamed, so there were the cases the couple
tried not to divorce although they had never loved each other. From the standpoint of
familism in the case of Victoria, they search for times spend with her husband even if
she was busy in official business. This posture might bring to general people that they
consider family as significance in their whole life. Her husband was from Germany, and
it took quite a few times to let himself adapted to British environment. Both Victoria
and her husband were so busy and their stress accumulated. To relieve them, they try to
find times to be with each other. Also, she tried to respect his standpoint; she spoke
German and she celebrated Christmas which is the culture of German to console his
hollowness. This Victoria’s posture impressed the British, and this established the ideal
of family as one of the virtues. As looking back the poem; “man with the head, and
woman with the heart; man to command, and woman to obey” makes sense in that
woman gave her husband good treatment with tenderness although they were in the

4. hard position against men. As comparing the beginning with the end, the
characteristics of women was different to be more independent, because they became
literate to go out for work.
Not all women, however, were independent to go out for work because it was not
necessarily for some women to do it. They tended to consider that working was for
workers class and if aristocrats worked by themselves, it meant they were fallen out
from upper class to lower class. The reason they consider not working as the token of
upper class was that they had vast amount of money from real estate which aristocrats
owned so they could earn money automatically although they did not work. Inside of the
house, they employed many servants and this bestowed with title of upper class.
Also, women in the upper class were supposed to obey father before her marriage
and her husband after it, as Tennyson wrote in his poem; “man to command, and woman
to obey”, but something changed in her characteristics that women had desire for being
intellectual partners with her husband, not desire for obedient servant for him.
According to Houghton in The Victorian Frame of Mind, 1830-1870,
What is meant by “distinctive womanhood” and what defect in man the
woman should fulfill are only implied by Tennyson. The answers are spelled
out in Ruskin’s important lecture “Of Queen’s Gardens” in 1865. There he
begins by rejecting the notion both that woman is “the shadow and attendant
image of her lord, owing him a thoughtless and servile obedience,” and that
she has a feminine mission and feminine rights that entitle her to a career in
the world like man’s. Her true function is to guide and uplift her more
worldly and intellectual mate: “His intellect is for speculation and invention;
his energy for adventure, for war, and for conquest, wherever war is just,

5. wherever conquest is necessary. But the woman’s power is for rule, not for
battle, and her intellect is not for invention or creation, but for sweet
ordering, arrangement, and decision.” (Houghton 349 359)
It had still been atmosphere that women were subject to men’s power but women in
upper class sought for the way to be independent as well as the women in under middle
class.
Taking those social situations into consideration, the characteristics of women in
the serial stories of Sherlock Holmes is necessary objects to research. Some typists,
artists appeared in the stories, and this could be said this trait reflects the revolution of
women’s position.
As in “The Speckled Band”, this is one of the stories, which represent the traits of
woman in the late of Victorian era; she is Helen Stoner, who is the daughter of the
stepfather, Grimesby Roylott. He was the old saxon family of dissipated aristocrat to
become lower class than the governing class. In this story, there is strange incident
happened in Roylott family; Helen’s sister died before her marriage in the strange way
that, when she was about to die, she seemed to suffer with a convulsion by poison, she
screamed ‘O, my God! Helen! It was the band! The speckled band!’ (Doyle, 158). She
helped for Sherlock Holmes to solve this mysterious incident. He went to Roylott’s house
and investigated the incident to go staying bedroom where the incident happens for a
night instead of Helen. Then, speckled band appeared in the bedroom, and Holmes
attacked it because the band made a motion like creatures. It turns out to be a
poisonous snake, which went back to Roylott’s room to attack its owner. Through these
series of incident, the criminal was Grimesby Roylott, who killed Helen’s sister by using
snake.

6. There are critiques to “The Speckled band “in the feministic standpoint. Hennessy
& Mohan’s argue that women are posited in the social construction of gender and
patriarchal and capitalism system (1994). In their viewpoint of the story, Helen is
subject of patriarchalism from her stepfather, and his existence implies that woman is
the existence that she had been under man’s control ever. Then, Holmes unbounds
Helen from her stepfather’s spell by attacking the speckled band, which is the symbol of
a yoke for her not to be independent. For the sake of The Married Women’s Property Act,
Helen would be entitled to be inherent her stepfather’s properties, but he had scheme to
murder his daughter-in-law. In that point, as Holmes prevents Roylott from murdering
Helen, Holmes is considered as a liberator against patriarchalism.
Hennessy & Mohan (1994), however, deploy further discussion so that Holmes not
only save Helens but also suggest his masculine power over her by saving so Helens are
not actually unbounded from machismo. Helen is truly granted the right to own
properties as man does. Although women promoted their position to go out to make
money and to be inherent with properties, they were sheltered by law such as The
married Women’s Property Act constituted by politicians mainly consisted of man. This
law which represents the production resulting from women’s suffrage does not support
women completely because the owner of their properties inherited from their parents
need to have profession on financial law, so women could not administer their properties
by themselves without lawyer or other professional which was mostly occupied by men.
Historically, the women suffrage movement rendered possibilities to be equal to men
more difficult. In Hennessy & Mohan’s viewpoint, ruler had been changed from women’s
father and husband to social construction constituted by men.
This transformation of rulers to women does not necessarily implies that women

7. were under control from machismo because the chances and varieties of employment for
women had increased through Victorian era. Although women were controlled via law
instead of her father and husband, this can also implies that women could go to work
when they were single. It was slow step but women suffrage movement had gradually
recognized over Britain.
There is historical fact that first woman, whose name is Lily Maxwell voted in
Britain in 1867 after Anna Wheeler made movement for women suffrage in 1825.
Coincidently, women’s mentality had been changed as they casted off their husks of
obedience to man to be equal to man intellectually, that is women were greed for
intellectual partners with husband. To summarize, two aspects of women’s
independence progressed. Helen Stoner, certainly is under Roylott’s power, and she was
sheltered by Holmes as politician in real British social affair, but Helen might have
potential to be independent from men in this theory.
This conversation, however is the most outstanding in that Helen would obey
Holmes all.
“It is very essential, Miss Stoner,” said he, “that you should absolutely
follow my advice in every respect.”
“I shall most certainly do so.”
“The matter is too serious for any hesitation. Your life may depend upon your
compliance.”
“I assure you that I am in your hand.” (Doyle, 167)
Helen would not have desire to be independent, indeed, she is under machismo power
outside from her environment as women are under control of The Married Property Act.
After story, she will marry future husband, and she search for another man, who

8. controls herself. It cannot be found whether she wants to be an intellectual partner as
late Victorian women wanted to be, because the story of “The Speckled band” ended in
Roylott’s sudden death from his snake biting.
As taking Irene Adler, who outsmart Bohemian King by mean that she own
pictures with each other as the evidence of love affair, which can bring critical scandal
to the expedient marriage to the daughter of the King of Scandinavia. In this sense,
Irene Adler is so intellect as to threaten his ex-boyfriend. She is, in a sense idealize the
desire of women in Sherlock Holmes Stories. Both Bohemian King as an ex-partner and
Holmes as outside controller to women admit she is quite intellect to be menace as seen
the utterance from Holmes ”the woman” in the beginning of the “Scandal in Bohemia”
(Doyle, 32). Holmes may play a role in controller of women by saving her as well as he
can respect women, who are intellectual. To sum up, as Holmes behaves, women had
been being independent gradually as women suffrage movement progressed.