​221B Baker Street

 

Thesis:

         Influencing by Industrial Revolution in Victorian era, Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes novels were able to become the most influential literature due to its compacted and predictable framework which exclusively accommodates the rapid social changes and the innovation concept.

 

Fifth Paragraph:

         On the other hand, Industrial Revolution, which not only hastes the pace of production and lifestyles but also shortens distances and time, is one of the major factors that bolster the success of Conan Doyle’s detective novels. The workplace became an arena for competition and companies hiring cheap labors instead of skilled craftsmen (Gunning 17). The literary critic Gunning expresses, “The speed of such industrial transformation made it appear magical, occluding the unskilled labor regulated by the factory system to perform repetitive and limited tasks” (16). In Victorian era, workers no longer compete with their skillful ability; they compete with long working hours and with their physical durability. Consequently, people sacrifice their leisure, which means sitting for hours to readtedious classical literary became difficult for them. In the early Victorian era, the habit of reading is only for aristocrats; however, education gradually became an essential factor for success in the working class. In order to earn a higher social status during the era, working class has to obtain higher education levels. As a result, short and fast-paced stories rise up as the new writing style. Instead of sacrificing working hours to read, most middle class people decide to choose the novella to achieve the goals of both education and entertainment.  The Sign of the Four by Conan Doyle only has approximately 100 pages, which is fairly short compares to other classical literature, but it is suitable for middle class who do not have time to read  long stories in one setting. The literary critics, Dove emphasizes the opinion of David Grossvogel that “the tale of detection is ‘optimistic and self-destructing,’ and its mode is to ‘create a mystery for the sole purpose of its effortless dissipation’ (41)” (2). Majority of people at the time adapts the perspective of new literature form because they were already stressed out from their work; therefore, they seek literature that requires less effort to read. Gradually, readers abandon the profound classical literary and turn to the “effortless” detective stories. In conclusion, people seek transitory, easy to read, and most importantly, attractive novels.