Yellow Face - Discussion Post
This week, terrifying faces at windows, distrustful spouses, and a surprise twist.
I would have gotten away with it, too...
1. Ahem, so, to go straight for the elephant in the room: the treatment of race in this story. Firstly, how does it strike you as a modern person? How do you think it would have struck the Victorian reader?
2. Secondly, still on the treatment of race: How would you compare it to other contemporary treatments? Especially, think about the recent controversy over The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and why no-one is trying to censor this work. Is it anything to do with the actual views presented, or is it simply a matter of terminology?
Moving right along:
3. What does 'The Yellow Face' tell us about Victorian views on women? What was Doyle trying to tell us, or was he trying to tell us anything at all? Consider the keeping of secrets, and the reaction to it (keep this in mind for 'The Dancing Men')
4. Holmes was wrong. Badly wrong, because he jumped to conclusions without having all the facts; a practice he has warned against before. Why would Doyle choose to have him do it, then? Was it a simple case of showing him to be fallible, and if so, was it done well, or poorly? If not, what was it?
And because this is all terribly serious:
5. Did Watson go on to abuse his newly-found safeword powers? How?
I would have gotten away with it, too...
1. Ahem, so, to go straight for the elephant in the room: the treatment of race in this story. Firstly, how does it strike you as a modern person? How do you think it would have struck the Victorian reader?
2. Secondly, still on the treatment of race: How would you compare it to other contemporary treatments? Especially, think about the recent controversy over The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and why no-one is trying to censor this work. Is it anything to do with the actual views presented, or is it simply a matter of terminology?
Moving right along:
3. What does 'The Yellow Face' tell us about Victorian views on women? What was Doyle trying to tell us, or was he trying to tell us anything at all? Consider the keeping of secrets, and the reaction to it (keep this in mind for 'The Dancing Men')
4. Holmes was wrong. Badly wrong, because he jumped to conclusions without having all the facts; a practice he has warned against before. Why would Doyle choose to have him do it, then? Was it a simple case of showing him to be fallible, and if so, was it done well, or poorly? If not, what was it?
And because this is all terribly serious:
5. Did Watson go on to abuse his newly-found safeword powers? How?