Sherlock Holmes Research Paper

Sherlock Holmes is a prominent figure in Victorian literature as well as modern television and film. He is a renowned character as he uses his sharp intellect to solve many mysterious crimes alongside his partner, John Watson. Holmes has a darker side that is often overlooked by many fans. His long history of drug use as well as the possibility of mental illness. Psychopathy, and addiction. Psychopathy otherwise known as, Antisocial Personality Disorder, is characterized by: deceitfulness, irresponsibility, manipulativeness, risk taking, aggression, irritability and impulsivity. Addiction is a serious mental illness inflicting dependency and is caused by frequent drug use. Sherlock Holmes shows signs of frequent drug use and mental afflictions …show more content…
He has used it so much that he needs it for detective work. It is seen as a necessity in Doyle’s, The Man with the Twisted Lip. Holmes is seen having trouble with a case and tells Watson to leave him be as he needs to smoke for his ‘three pipe problem’.This exact scene is alluded to in the BBC adaptation but, instead of being three pipes, it is three nicotine patches. Susan Zeigar, a specialist on nineteenth-century British literature, writes that “ tobacco simultaneously frees Holmes’s mind to soar and encages him in the armchair, where nicotine in the blood will supply the answers he seeks. Holmes is part genius, part nicotine junkie ” ( Zeigar 24 ). He resorts to using one of his most trustful tools, drugs. Sherlock has a issue if he needs to smoke to help him function properly to solve his case. It is not normal for a person to be dependent on a substance to be able to work. He is so familiar with tobacco that in the novel, A Study in Scarlet, he is able to tell the brand of cigar from just its ashes. This extreme familiarity shows an underlying issue with our detective. If someone could tell the type of brand an alcoholic beverage, they would be deemed a drunkard. The same can be said for the tobacco connoisseur, Sherlock. Many readers of the stories should realize that, Sherlock Holmes has a drug dilemma. Holmes is not only well versed in tobacco, but also cocaine and heroin. Both of which are …show more content…
This however, is not the case. Sherlock is a psychopath which has differences than sociopathy. Ragnhild Sollid, a Norwegian university graduate, wrote a master’s thesis on Sherlock and his psyche. He argues for Sherlock leaning more towards him being a psychopath since they are more likely to overreact than sociopaths. Sherlock is seen many times reacting in anger or frustration in the adaptation. He also has a superior sense of self-worth. He thinks much more highly of himself compared to others. All of which, entail the likelihood of his psychopathic behavior. The term, psychopath, does not mean a murderous or insane person. It stems from antisocial personality disorder which Sherlock seems to