I've been thinking about literature again. Once in a while something in my deliberations causes the proverbial light bulb to switch on and I'm inspired to jot it down. Of course, since I have a blog, it makes sense to put it here and share my discoveries with you! I hope in some way it can shed a bit of unexpected light on these timeless classics whose ability to inspire us seems inexhaustible!
What do the sparkling Regency novels of Jane Austen have in common with Sherlock Holmes and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's foggy Victorian London? More than I had ever fathomed until now.
"How could I possibly join them on to the little bit (two inches wide) of ivory on which I work with so fine a brush, as produces little effect after much labour?" Jane Austen
"Their most trivial action may mean volumes, or their most extraordinary conduct may depend upon a hairpin or a curling tongs." Sherlock Holmes, The Adventure of the Second Stain
Just like Sherlock Holmes, Jane Austen finds importance in the little things, what other people see as trivial and unimportant. In the tales of the detective the conclusion of a case often hangs on a suspect's choice of words or the cleanliness of their shirt because Sherlock tucks away every single word and action in his mind until they add up to form a watertight case.
With Jane Austen we are meant to play the detective and store up all the little facts so we can construct a case for each character and for our understanding of the story.
Emma is perhaps the most thoroughly investigative novel, since we experience the story from the point of view of one character, which is of course Emma Woodhouse, and we make judgments along with her. In a way this presents a greater challenge to us as detectives than any Holmes faces in his mysteries because we are influenced by Emma's thoughts upon everything we see and everything that happens, whereas Holmes is always able to view the facts through his own eyes. It is possible to make unbiased judgments when reading Emma, but it is a delicate business trying to follow the thread to the right conclusion without being as unwittingly confused by Emma's perception as she is.
What do we make of Mr. Elton's wanting Emma to paint Harriet's portrait? Or of Frank Churchill's teasing Jane Fairfax about the piano? Or his tardy visit to Highbury? Or his getting his hair cut? Or Mr. Knightley walking with Harriet at Donwell Abbey? They all seem like unremarkable things until you have finished the novel and can look back to see how they really told you a lot about what was going on and what would follow, and about which characters were truly admirable.
You think, "Oh, of course! How could I not see that?" – just like in a Sherlock Holmes mystery. He tells you how he knew Watson decided not to invest in South African gold or that it was the wife who stole the secret documents. It was because he observed what he saw – everything that he saw – and put it all together to deduce the true story.
In my opinion this is one overlooked aspect that gives both Jane Austen's novels and the stories of Sherlock Holmes such enduring appeal. Instead of relying on sensational visuals like violence in epic sagas or the exaltation of love in romances, they seek to understand how the mind works. They are studies in people and what really makes them tick. They expose human weakness and exemplify their strengths by placing people in ordinary places, and offering them apparently insignificant choices that will end up changing the courses of their lives.
In short, they show that it is the small things that make up life, and that it pays off to see their significance, especially when they relate to people.
So there it is! Do you think I'm on to something? Or are there any other connections that you've found between the stories?
© Anna Morton 2016
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