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The Adventure of the Copper Beeches - a Sherlock Holmes Short Story
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Sherlock Holmes 2025: Week 04/Story 06 - Adventure of the Copper Beeches, The
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The Adventure of the Copper Beeches (The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes)
Discussion Questions
1) Through the eyes of Holmes, what is the relationship between the countryside and the law?
2) Do you think Holmes’ ideas of crime in the city vs. the country could still apply today? If so, why?
3) In what way does the mistreatment of animals (the child mistreating small creatures) and the Rucastle’s mistreating the dog) relate to what happens in the story?
4) When Holmes says, “Data! data! data! [...] I can’t make bricks without clay.” — what does this suggest about Holmes’ desire for concrete evidence before coming to a conclusion?
5) When female characters act to progress to the plot, it is often described as “woman’s instinct.” What does this suggest about gender roles of the time?
6) So you find it ironic that Mr. Rucastle survives, but is “kept alive solely by the care of his devoted wife.”
7) If this crime were to have taken place in the city, how could it have unfolded differently?
Holmes's speech on the dangers of the countryside is one of his more famous proclamations, I believe. While it's probably difficult to argue that the country is more dangerous than the city, it does seem obvious that someone wishing to do harm to another is less likely to be observed in the country.Jane Jacobs famously made the argument for "eyes on the street" as a form of public safety in 1961. Holmes is a precursor of that!
This story had a certain creep factor that I enjoyed. It was obvious from the beginning that the nanny was being hired to impersonate the daughter, but I wasn’t sure why. That the daughter was imprisoned in the attic and why a man was watching the house were surprising revelations. I know the client needed money and a job, but the strange requirements of her employers would have sent me running away from that job before I even said “no” to their demands.
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^^This. Creepy indeed both parents came across as strange to me. (Especially when we watched the episode.) I've had long hair virtually my entire life and I wouldn't cut it short for anyone, not even for a job.
I think what I like about the story is it shows the fundamental instability of life for people like Violet Hunter (or the Stockbroker's Clerk in a later story) that they will take jobs that are so clearly a bad idea. In this story it's particularly bad due to the creepiness of being asked to cut her hair. But what is she to do? She has struggled to find work, has various small debts, will fall afoul of the agency if she turns it down and there is no social safety net to catch her. And all he's asking is for her to cut her hair and wear a blue dress....
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This is so true of the poorer/lower class then as it is now. So many folks have limited options that they take the option based on what is the "least" bad option.
I couldn’t work out why the daughter‘s hair was cut off as the plan was to make believe that all was well to her suitor who stalked outside the house. I have the illustrated edition and there is a sketch of Watson shooting the dog in the head at such a distance that he could easily have killed the man was trying to save!
Neil wrote: "I couldn’t work out why the daughter‘s hair was cut off as the plan was to make believe that all was well to her suitor who stalked outside the house. I have the illustrated edition and there is a ..."I think the daughter's hair was cut off as she had "brain fever," and everyone knows hair is bad for that. Haha. Presumably the fiancé knew she'd survived but they wanted to convince him she'd had a change of heart.
Emily wrote: "Neil wrote: "I couldn’t work out why the daughter‘s hair was cut off as the plan was to make believe that all was well to her suitor who stalked outside the house. I have the illustrated edition an..."Brain fever, never thought of that, but can I be devils advocate and wonder why on earth they kept the remnants of her hair locked up in a drawer? Is the plot too deep from my understanding or perhaps the author may have lost his way a little?
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It was quite common (and probably still is) for women who have to cut off long hair to keep the braid that is chopped off-as Violet herself does and so is able to compare the two braids. Foolish though to leave it in the room of her "impersonator", even if it was locked up.
This story would have never happened if both Violet Hunter and The Rucastles were not ‘money fevered.’ Both could have existed, albeit poorly, on less money but the lure of the extra cash was just too much of a temptation. Violet was right to maintain high expectations of herself but the job (and money) at Copper Beeches was always to good to be true. Interesting that she ended up well off as the head of a prestigious school. I can envisage her, probably still with short hair, sternly addressing her students on the dangers of tempting offers that seem too good to be true.That temptation led Violet into danger, despite Holme’s warning, but it was also money that turned the Rucastles into monsters in the way they subjected a member of their own family to degrading imprisonment.
Was it illegal to imprison your daughter in Victorian times? It should have been. I think the daughter had reached adulthood. Even though Mr. Rucastle was savaged by his own dog, shouldn’t he and his wife have been prosecuted as well?
Not sure what to make of the drunken servant and his wife. If they were really on the daughter’s side surely they could have sorted something out for her without being implicated themselves, well before Holmes had to get involved.
Trev wrote: "This story would have never happened if both Violet Hunter and The Rucastles were not ‘money fevered.’ Both could have existed, albeit poorly, on less money but the lure of the extra cash was just ..."I think it was the wife of the servant who was on the daughter's side, and not her loutish husband.
I can't agree that Violet Hunter was "money-fevered." My god people, have you never been one paycheck away from serious money troubles?
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And it was even more dire then with no "social safety net" so it would mean the poor house or prostitution for a young woman.
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This short story has a great gothis vibe. Until you reach the ending, it feels quite gothic.
The Adventure of the Copper Beeches (The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes)
Availability - The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1661
Background Information
"The Adventure of the Copper Beeches", one of the 56 short Sherlock Holmes stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is the last of the twelve collected in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. It was first published in The Strand Magazine in June 1892.
Publication History
"The Adventure of the Copper Beeches" was first published in the UK in The Strand Magazine in June 1892, and in the United States in the US edition of the Strand in July 1892. The story was published with nine illustrations by Sidney Paget in The Strand Magazine. It was included in the short story collection The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, which was published in October 1892.
A Short Review
By the time "The Adventure of the Copper Beeches" was published, Sherlock Holmes had dealt with a wide range of criminal cases, including murder, theft and blackmail. Intermixed with these criminal cases, though, were cases that were not necessarily criminal, including the likes of "The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor." It seemed that "The Adventure of the Copper Beeches" would fall into this latter, non-criminal case, with the client simply reporting some strange requests made of her by a potential employer, but there is a darker side to the story, something that goes beyond the eccentricities of an employer.
"The Adventure of the Copper Beeches" contains no great mystery for Sherlock Holmes or the reader, and as a result, the story is simply one where the narrative is allowed to run its course. The lack of mystery, though, doesn’t make the story a bad read, and in its own way is a memorable Sherlock Holmes adventure.
"The Adventure of the Copper Beeches" has been dramatized by both the BBC and Granada. In 1965, Douglas Wilmer would appear as Holmes in an episode of Sherlock Holmes, whilst 20 years later, Jeremy Brett would reprise the role in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
Note:
Next week we start The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes.