Social Scandals in the Mystery Genre

The short story“The Necklace” by Gui de Maupassant follows Madame Loisel and her husband who are living in the middle-class during the rise of the middle class in Paris, France.There are many different examples of irony throughout the short story, demonstrating Maupassant's talent at commenting on the society in which he was immersed in. The theme of “The Necklace” is revealed through the character Madame Loisel, irony, and symbolism.

Grenouille is further conveyed as a victim of social decay when upper class supposedly high ranked and highly respected people are portrayed as fools and almost idiots. Through Comic Irony Father Terrier is seen as an uneducated fool and childish when using the phrase “poohpeedooh”. The repetition of this phrase further illustrates the foolish nature of a highly respected person showing social decay. Moreover, presenting the upper class in France as silly and foolish shows the decay of society and how even foolish people such as Father Terrier are respected and looked up to making Grenouille a victim to this social decay as well as an outsider as he does not respect these foolish upper class people and does not follow the demands of society.

There are several types of mystery stories, one in particular, is known as hard-boiled mysteries. This specific genera was originated in the 1940s, they were created to veer away from the typical mysteries that dominated this era. This particular mystery genera is quite different from another mystery story, especially when it comes to the characters in the story. Within the hard-boiled mystery genera, there are several different articles and stories. Some of these include, “Red Wind”, “Three Dot Po”, “Film Noir and the Hard-Boiled Detective Hero”, other articles come from “detnovel.com.” Furthermore, within these articles and stories there are several ideas and themes discussed and introduced. However, there is one idea present in all,

Natalie Zemon Davis’ The Return of Martin Guerre tells the true story of a peasant named Martin Guerre, who was at the center of a famous case of imposture in France in the sixteenth century. Davis takes the facts of this famous case from two primary sources including a book written by one of the trial judges of the case in Toulouse, Jean de Coras, called Arreste Memorable and one by a lawyer, Guillaume La Sueur, called Admiranda Historia. Davis uses other secondary sources to add details about peasant life including information about marriage, family, economics, religion, village social structure, as well as the political structure of the time. Davis moves beyond the facts and tries to interpret and understand the motivations of the characters in the story. For example, she assumes that Bertrande silently agreed to the fraud of Arnaud du Tilh because she wanted a husband and could not remarry after her husband abandoned her. This seems more believable to me than Bertrande just being stupid or naive and not knowing the difference between her husband and a stranger. In the preface of the book she admits she was “generating not proofs, but historical possibilities” (Davis, viii). I

In his novel Hugo addresses the need for social reform and change in the crumbling and corrupt streets of French society. He specifically emphasizes improvement in education, the justice system, and the attitude of society towards women, and their political impact on French culture. Hugo does this particularly through Fantine, a woman who resorts to prostitution after being dismissed from her job as a factory worker; in addition to the existence of her illegitimate daughter, Cosette, her blemished reputation disables her from working in another reputable place. Because of Fantine’s shortage of an education and of society’s negative view of women abused by noble men, she is representative of the social injustices against women during this time. She’s illustrative of the gulf in France’s hierarchical system. Her condemnation to a life as a prostitute after being used by an aristocratic man highlights the social shortcomings present in the nobility’s attitude towards the lower classes, which continued to suffer. The misfortune that falls on Jean Valjean, an innocent man who only stole bread to help his dying sister, also represents the crookedness of France’s justice system. Valjean is likened to a habitual criminal and thrown in jail for nineteen years, an absurd sentence for only a loaf of bread. What’s worse is that he’s

During Flaubert’s lifetime, the Revolution of 1789 and the autocratic reign of Napoleon were recent memories. With the revolution came the end of the feudal system and a rise to a new group: the bourgeoisie. This group was made up of merchants, capitalists, and other professionals who did not inherit their fortune and were not born into the nobility. Emma and her husband belonged to this group. Her disappointments in life stemmed from her dissatisfaction with the lifestyle of the French bourgeoisie. She aspires to be a part of the aristocratic lifestyle of the nobility; a lifestyle more sophisticated, refined and glamorous than her own. The bourgeoisie craved the same treatment as the nobility, and were constantly attempting to exhibit their wealth creating tastes that were often characterized as gaudy. As a member of the educated elite with inherited money, Flaubert despised the moral conservatism, rough manners, and unsophisticated taste of this new class. Frustrated by the mediocracy of rising middle class, Flaubert uses Emma’s disgust with her lifestyle to convey his own dislike for the bourgeoisie. Emma felt the full suffering of the middle class as "the appetites of the flesh, the craving for money, the melancholy of passion, all blended together in one general misery” just like France’s

Doyle's A Scandal in Bohemia follows the story of the famous detective Sherlock Holmes on his adventures to retrieve a disgraceful photograph of Irene Adler and the King of Bohemia. The king, now engaged to a different woman, is fearful that Adler may use the photo as blackmail. In A Scandal in Bohemia, the apparent role of women is minuscule. The only female emphasis is on one woman, who is the object of Holmes' detective inquiries. In A Scandal in Bohemia, society places women at a subordinate level, pushing them to the background and therefore never allowing the reader to fully understand their character.

The woman rejects any motion that she lost her identity due to fear of admitting her fault. Ironically, the woman turns to find comfort in the shallowness and wealth of others even though the upper class values have never made her truly happy. Furthermore, the woman’s “meanings lost in manner” (27) force her to remain “alone in brilliant circles” (28). The woman desires to find some happiness and comfort in the rest of her life, but she’s only accustom to finding it in trivial wealth. Through imagery, the reader understands that the woman has completely lost her personal value in the manners of the upper class and remains in the lifestyle that beckons her with its material, flashy

In the Sherlock Holmes stories “The Red-Headed League” and “A Scandal in Bohemia” Sir Arthur Conan Doyle explores mysteries through the eyes of Dr. Watson, Sherlock Holmes’s assistant. Holmes is able to amaze the people around him with his deductive abilities and can quickly determine aspects of a person’s life by just looking at them. This allows him to solve mysteries that others cannot wrap their heads around. He uses his skill to first help the King of Bohemia recover a picture of him with a former lover. Next, he investigates the disappearance of the Red-Headed League. In both of these mysteries he experiences a unique challenge due to the intelligence of his opponents and the unusual situation surrounding the case. The cunning and cleverness of Holmes, Irene Adler and the conspirators of the Red-Headed League are shown in the stories “The Red-Headed League” and “A Scandal in Bohemia”.

In “A Scandal in Bohemia” by Arthur Conan Doyle, social classes took a big influence on who avoided punishments. Irene Adler, a strong and intelligent women accused Sherlock Holmes and the King of Bohemia with serious charges. Sherlock Holmes is a man who loathes being apart of society and keeps to himself. He is a detective well known with intelligent skills. The King of Bohemia is Holmes client, and former lover of Irene Adler. In attempt to recover a photograph that is crucial to the king of bohemias reputation, Sherlock Holmes as well as the King of bohemia are both charged with stalking and attempted robbery. In addition to this, further investigations take action and deduce charges of possession and the use of drugs against Sherlock Holmes, as well as plotting to throw a smoke bomb through Irene Adler’s window. As for the King of Bohemia, he is also charged with treason.

As the novel continues, red wine has become pedestrian and belongs to the deprived people, because the poor have usurped the power of France by initiating the start of the French

The Roles of Women and the Differences in Lifestyles in A Scandal in Bohemia and The Speckled Band

This paper argues that the presentation of Bluebeard and his wife in Perrault's story is a reflection of the unjust conceptions of social value during the French Rennessaince. The story begins by presenting Bluebeard as a dominant proprietor who was "so unlucky as to have a blue beard, which made him so frightfully ugly that all the women and girls ran away from him" (6). However, Bluebeard's unfortunate appearance and wickedness of heart are not an obstacle when it comes to acquiring his desires. Perault's description of Bluebeard associates this character with power, influence, and wealth- all which were characteristics attributed to men. Bluebeard's wife, on the other hand, is depicted as "perfect beauty" who was unable "to bear the thoughts

In the story “A Scandal in Bohemia,” we get a glimpse of Holmes’s character, a natural mastermind, through John Watson's narration. As with any narrated scene, our perception of Holmes

In his novel, Les Miserables, Victor Hugo identifies the principle social evils of French society through the actions and qualities of his characters. By depicting each of his characters’ struggles through destitute and oppressed measures, Hugo is able to identify the social errors of 19th century France. The fact that characters such as Valjean, Javert, Fantine, and Cosette, attempt to rise above poverty and redeem themselves indicate that such inequalities did, and still do, exist to this day. Through the use of feminist ideals and the criminal injustice system, Hugo attacks the principle social evils that each of his characters face in Les Miserables.