"A Study in Sherlock" by Rebecca McLaughlin

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Abstract/Description

In 2010, the BBC launched its newest series, Sherlock. The show was an instant success in the UK, Europe, and the United States. In early 2012, Season Two aired with even greater success. But we might ask why, nearly 120 years after he was first introduced, the character of Sherlock Holmes, along with his companion Dr. John Watson, still captures the attention of TV audiences? My study examines the representation of this fictional male friendship as a popular culture phenomenon both at the turn of the twentieth century and today. Focusing on the representation of domesticity and unmarried men, homosocial bonding, and professionalism in the television series, I hope to illuminate parallels between late Victorian and contemporary cultural anxieties about masculine identity.

Note on the Author

Rebecca Mclaughlin is a senior, graduating May 2013, with a major in English and a minor in Communication Studies. This excerpt, taken from her Honors Thesis, began as part of an Adrian Tinsley Summer Research project, under the mentorship of Dr. Kathleen Vejvoda. This work was presented at the 2013 Popular Culture Association Conference in Washington, D.C.

Recommended Citation

McLaughlin, Rebecca (2013). A Study in Sherlock. Undergraduate Review, 9, 105-109.
Available at: https://vc.bridgew.edu/undergrad_rev/vol9/iss1/22

Rights Statement

Articles published in The Undergraduate Review are the property of the individual contributors and may not be reprinted, reformatted, repurposed or duplicated, without the contributor’s consent.

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