sign of the four

• " my mind rebels at stagnation” - Sherlock, Ch1


  He is saying that he needs to be busy, he needs to be trying to solve something.

  Reinforces the ideas shown at the end of the play (cyclical ending) where solving the case is the only thing that will keep him happy.
• “ give me the most abstruse cryptogram”- Sherlock, Ch1

  Reinforcing that Sherlock needs problems to keep himself sane- he lives for his work

  Imperative verb used- “give”
• "I crave mental exaltation "- Sherlock, Ch1


  Another point towards him needing to be busy, and this hints towards him needing the "morphine or cocaine?” to keep himself occupied to stop being miserable when the case is done.
• “I abhor the dull routine of existence“- Sherlock, Ch1


  He finds the real world boring, as this is narrated by John, who sees things from a more romantic perspective, we note that this means he finds these ideas particularly dull and monotonous.
• “It is cocaine, 7 percent solution“- Sherlock, Ch1


  AO3- Cocaine wasn't illegal in those times, and morphine and other opioids were available over the counter until 1868.

  Sot4 was written in 1890, so 22 years after cocaine was made illegal.
• “Consider, count the cost”- Watson to Holmes, Ch1


  Watson seems to care for his friend in a way Holmes doesn't throughout the book.

  He worries about him taking drugs as it may damage his mind.
• “I speak not only as one comrade to another, but as a medical man”- Watson, Ch1


  We see Watson’s admiration for Holmes, and that he truly must care.

  The noun ‘comrade’ could also remind us that Watson was a soldier before being injured, but also shows that he thinks of Sherlock as a friend.
• “The world’s only consulting detective”- Holmes, Ch1


  Arrests were mainly for petty crimes, and many officers were illiterate, and had never done courses in criminal law and procedure. Corruption within the police was uncovered from time to time.

  Famous cases (eg: Jack the Ripper murders) remained unsolved.

  Therefore, it’s not all that surprising that Holmes is that world’s only consulting detective.
• “You have attempted to tinge it with romanticism”- Sherlock, Ch1


  Holmes comments on Watson’s pamphlet on their latest case.

  Here we see the clash between Watson‘s romantic ideas and Holmes’ exact science of deduction.
• “Deduction is ought to be an exact science”- Sherlock, Ch1


  Holmes comes across as condescending when he tells Watson why he doesn’t like his romantic pamphlet- this is because Watson is a character that acts as the audience. He receives information so we aren’t left confused reading it, which is why everything must be explained.

  This is the ‘sidekick’ trope that would continue into television and books in present day.
• “Specially designed to please him”- Watson, Ch1


  Watson is clearly trying to prove his worth to Sherlock, perhaps because he suspects that Sherlock sees him as less than a friend, or because Watson is shown to value friendships more than Sherlock does.
• “That every line of my pamphlet should be devoted to his own special doings!”- Watson, Ch1


  This implies that Sherlock does enjoy listening to the tales of his cases, but only enjoys Sherlock discovering who did it and why. He prefers the science, and Watson believes it to be narcissism because the science is what Sherlock does.
• “Untrimmed and unbraided”- Watson about Mary, Ch2


  Shows Miss Morstan is classy, but not rich.
• ‘Her lip trembled, her hand quivered and she showed every sign of intense inward agitation”-Watson about Mary, Ch2 


  Example of Victorian valued- Miss Morstan is not expressing her feelings in any way, as was expected of her, she is meant to be plain and simple with few opinions. However, she is presented as afraid here, which is perfect as the ‘big, strong men’ can save her as they’re supposed to (damsel in distress).
• “I believe I was of some slight service to her”- Sherlock about Ms Cecil Forrester 


  Holmes refused to take credit for his own cases, which supports the idea that he doesn’t do it for credit or wealth, but only because he needs the cases to keep him entertained.
• “I can hardly remember anything more strange, more utterly inexplicable”- Mary Morstan


  Mary begins to build up tension for the reader, as they become more exited to hear the case amd discover what’s going on.
• “Like all humankind , they flitted the gloom into the light”


  A connection between Holmes’ view that he is superior to all humans (‘humankind feels detached from humanity’) but also shows a contrast between the ways Holmes and Watson observe and deduce- Holies focusses on things related to the case, whereas Watson takes time to describe the facts of the people and the weather (typically romantic traits).
• “To this day she declares”-Watson about Mary, Ch4

  Watson is a hindsight narrator- he is narrating after the case has been solved.

  This is the first major evidence that he is doing so; he is suggesting that the relationship between him and Mary will continue to develop throughout the book (he foreshadows their eventual marriage).
• “I lost my bearings… Holmes is never at fault”- Watson about Holmes, Ch4


  Reinforcing how much Watson admired Holmes, though this could be taken as resentment, looking at how intelligent Watson is in comparison with Holmes.
• “Besides, it would have been such bad taste to have treated a young lady in so scurvy a fashion”- Thaddeus Sholto, Ch4


  Shows Thaddeus is a fairly decent man who doesn’t really want to hurt Mary, diffusing the tension that the setting created by his odd mannerisms and appearance.
• “I feared that she was about to faint…”- Watson about Mary, Ch4


  Watson shows his compassion and caring for Mary, while Holmes is more focussed on the case and on what Thaddeus has just told him about Cpt. Morstan.
• “It was maddening… hiding place was on his very lips… moment of his death“


  Thaddeus Sholto is explaining that their father, Major Sholto, had a large share of a treasure, and hit it somewhere- he was going to tell Thaddeus and his brother, but died before he could.

  This highlights the greed for money that exists between Bartholomew and Thaddeus.
• “She might never feel destitute”


  Here we see the contrast between Thaddeus and ‘Brother Bartholomew’- Bartholomew wanted the money for himself, while Thaddeus made sure that Morstan’s daughter would never be in poverty, as some of the treasure had been her father’s.
• “Brother Bartholomew”


  The repetition of this and the announcement of Thaddeus’ kinship with Bartholomew builds tension for the reader and antagonises Bartholomew
• “deathly silence where the moonshine strikes”

  Victorian Gothic motifs- builds tension
• “There is no light in his window, I cannot understand it”


  Foreshadowing- points it there being something wrong with Bartholomew
• “Even in our darkest our… our hands instinctively sought for each other”


  Theme of love.

  Most romance we see- the Victorians didn’t like graphic depictions of love so handholding was the furthest C-D could go.

  Shows how genuine and innocent Watson’s love for her is.
• “All his limbs were twisted and turned in the most fantastic fashion”


  Bartholomew is dead, and the descriptions are meant to make the reader feel disgusted and horrified.
• “It grows darker instead of clearer” -Watson

  “On the contrary, it clears every instant”- Holmes


  Contrast between W+H- W plays the role of the reader, who doesn't understand what’s happened. He is demonstrating the normal response when they see a dead body.

  H on the other hand is rather cavalier about the whole thing, showing his unfeeling nature.
• “Stern facts here, no room for theories”


  Both men are competing for intelligence- Jones is insulting Sherlock’s work because he feels insecure being a member of the police who are often made fun of and insulted.
• “Oh, this is hardly a case for me to theorise over”


  Sherlock seems more competent than the police, and people rely on him more for help.
• “Carboy of acid… one of these appeared to leak acid in a wicker basket“ “littered over with bunsen burners“


  Depiction of science in Victorian literature always seems to be a little sinister- in this case, it is in the room of a man who has been painted in an antagonistic light, and who has now been murdered.

  This is an example of science being used in the wrong hands, as it‘s ‘littered’ everywhere.
• Sherlock as inhumane:


  “there is something positively inhuman in you at times“

  ”you are an automaton”

  ”trained bloodhound picking out a scent”
• “Mr Theorist”


  Jones calls Sherlock this, implying that he believes the police are superior to Sherlock.

  Proleptic Irony- Jones wouldn’t have said that if he had known Sherlock would wind up solving the case.

  Dramatic Irony- all know Jones is wrong about everything.
• “Mare‘s nest”

  Complex, difficult situation- this is how Sherlock describes Jones’ case (just as birds would bring home twigs and sticks to build a a nest, Jones is building a closed off case of himself).

  Mares are actually too big for nests, implying that Jones is cramming too much information into a verdict that won’t fit.

  Mares also don’t lay eggs, which is the purpose of a nest, so Holies if saying that Jones’ case won’t [roducr results.
• “Was it fair, was it honourable?”


  Because Watson doesn’t view Mary as an object, he shows the reader he genuinely loves her and so doesn’t want to take advantage of her and the money that the treasure could eventually provide her.
• “Ugly, long-haired, flop-eared creature”


  Irony- Toby the dog is meant to be what helps them solve the case
• ”The main thing with people of that sort”


  Homes is very discriminatory of the middle class, implying they are easily manipulate, which he does by being nice to Mordecai Smith’s wife and child.
• “Savage, distorted creature“ “a brown, monkey faced chap”


  Blatant racial prejudice of even the most educated of characters.

  Tonga is described as less than human, which not only creates a binary opposite between him (being uncivilised and only doing things for loyalty) and Jonathan Small (being intelligent enough and have a ridiculously long backstory that explains why he’s there)

  Also implies Tonga is less than human because of where he is from, a place where the natives are described as cannibals and strict hunter gatherers.