"Watson Was a Woman" by Rex Stout

[med_cat]

Watson was a Woman?

Maybe. Or so runs the theory by Rex Stout, the mystery author who wrote tales about his detective Nero Wolfe. Stout first proposed his famous theory that "Watson Was a Woman" at a Baker Street Irregulars meeting in 1941, but his tongue-in-cheek humour did not fare well in that venue. Months later his speech was

Comments

[lovemoony4ever]

"The chief thing to note of this excerpt is that it not only reinforces the conviction that Watson was a lady--that is to say, a woman--but also it bolsters our hope that Holmes did not through all those years live in sin."

The best line, hands down;)

Thanks for sharing! It's certainly an interesting theory...too bad it makes little to no sense. It's quite hilarious to read how he reasoned out "her" name though!

"I believe that all he said, after Watson recovered from the faint, was this, "My dear, I am willing to try it again," for he was a courteous man. And it was Watson, who, attempting to cook up an explanation, made such a terrible hash of it."

I hope I'm not the only one who finds this passage slightly offensive? It's one thing to say that Holmes was too great a genius to make this sort of mistake, but when this person spends no time discussing Watson's presumably lesser gifts it seems like he suggests "she" made a hash of it only because "she" was female. Not to mention the idea of Watson taking him back if Holmes said

[med_cat]

Well, one must, of course, consider the fact that the entire essay is very much tongue-in-cheek ;) The acrostic of the name-reasoning alone...XD

And yes, that passage is rather offensive, on second thought...you've a good point there.

[duleslop]

Great read! I wish you could follow up to this topic

[med_cat]

Very glad you enjoyed! It is an interesting and amusing bit of speculation, isn't it? :P
That's the only essay on the topic I've come across, though, so...no follow-up is available.