The Readers Review: Literature from 1714 to 1910 discussion
This topic is about
The Adventure of The Red Circle
The Complete Sherlock Holmes
>
The Complete Sherlock Holmes - The Adventure of the Red Circle
date
newest »
newest »
Mod
The Adventure of the Red Circle (His Last Bow)
Discussion Questions
1) What clues can you pick out, retrospectively, that the tenant may have been a woman?
2) How do you think the members of the Red Circle found out Emilia and her husband had been staying at Mrs. Warren’s house?
3) Why wouldn’t Mr. and Mrs. Warren have called the police after Mr. Warren was kidnapped?
4) How did Emilia and Gennaro end up in New York? London?
5) Why didn’t Emilia and Gennaro go to the authorities, considering their situation? Do you think it was because they feared being seen in public, or because they thought some of the authorities may be involved with the Red Circle? Why or why not?
I had forgotten this one, so got to experience all the twists and turns in real time. Really enjoyed it!I suppose the clue to the tenant's gender was in the cigar not having been smoked by someone with a moustache (that and the quick, light step) but I just assumed it was a fake beard -- there are so many in these stories!
I also enjoyed the newspaper announcements, the code, Holmes's theorizing that the tenant was a foreigner, and the quite exciting denouement, complete with Holmes using the code to summon the lady. I did remember the line "O, Dio mio, you have killed him."
As for why Emilia and Gennaro didn't go to the authorities, I suspect they had no confidence in them. They probably weren't considered trustworthy themselves as recent immigrants in 19th century New York, and Gennaro was actually a member of the circle.
That old ploy of Conan Doyle’s when the landlady is paid double the going rate (100 shillings not 50) for her rooms and ends up with a whole heap of trouble on her doorstep. At least the killing took place across the street. Holme’s deductions were clever and I remembered the mirror trick from the TV episode.
My thought at the end was that the couple might have to keep on running and hiding from other members of the red circle gang. How sad that such criminality can become so powerful.
The Adventure of the Red Circle (His Last Bow)
Availability His Last Bow: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2350
Background Information
"The Adventure of the Red Circle" is one of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories written by Arthur Conan Doyle. It is included in the anthology His Last Bow.
Publication History
"The Adventure of the Red Circle" was first published in the UK in The Strand Magazine in March–April 1911, and in the United States in the US edition of the Strand in April–May 1911. The story was published with three illustrations by H. M. Brock and one by Joseph Simpson in The Strand Magazine, and with the same illustrations in the US edition of the Strand. It was included in the short story collection His Last Bow, which was published in the UK and the US in October 1917.
A Short Summary
"The Adventure of the Red Circle" is a compelling Sherlock Holmes short story where a landlady seeks Holmes' help after a mysterious lodger, later revealed to be a woman, exhibits strange behavior, leading to a thrilling investigation into a dangerous criminal organization.