Sherlockian.Net: Irene Adler

[Irene Adler]

She is always The Woman

To Sherlock Holmes she was always The Woman. Some readers see more than meets the eye in Irene Adler of "A Scandal in Bohemia", the first of the Holmes short stories. A native of New Jersey, she could captivate the King of Bohemia, so why not a detective?

  • View from the Adventuresses of Sherlock Holmes
  • Character Analysis
  • Roleplaying, Castle Falkenstein
  • La Scala in Milan, where she sang (contralto)
  • Novels about Irene Adler by Carole Nelson Douglas
  • Clips of Lara Pulver as Irene Adler, 2012
  • Koshe-Art cartoon porn
  • "The Adventuress", by ACD's friend Jerome K. Jerome
  • The Women: a talk by Lyndsay Faye (video)
  • Destiny (Irene Adler) in Marvel Comics
  • "Good Night, Irene"
  • The Women: Sex and Success in the Canon, Warner Bros, and BBC Sherlock, by Lyndsay Faye
  • How to Butcher a Brilliant Woman Character
  • Why Can't Any Recent Adaptation Get Her Right?

    Possible originals of Irene Adler

  • Lillie Langtry
  • Sarah Bernhardt
  • Nordica (Lillian Norton)
  • Lola Montez . . . and Ludwig II
  • Adah Menken (but this site seems to have “borrowed” my photo of Irene without asking permission)
  • Jarmila Novotna

    As portrayed with a few recent Holmeses . . .

    [Eyes closed in passion] [Eyes wide open in surprise] [On the verge of a kiss] [A look of suspicion]

    Heavy breathing: Matt Frewer as Sherlock Holmes and Liliana Komorowska as Irene Adler in "The Royal Scandal", Hallmark Channel, 2001; Jeremy Brett as Holmes and Gayle Hunnicutt as Adler, Granada Television, 1984; Robert Downey, Jr., as Holmes and Rachel McAdams as Adler, 2009; Benedict Cumberbatch as Holmes and Lara Pulver as Adler, BBC, 2012.

    Did they have an affair?

    There's a Sherlockian tradition that Sherlock Holmes and Irene Adler met again (don’t know where, don't know when: maybe Montenegro, 1892) and enjoyed a dalliance. They may even have produced a son, who became Nero Wolfe, Rex Stout's great New York detective. Imaginative writings have resulted from this hypothesis, but that's all they are: imaginative.

    Another popular tradition is that Irene Adler was in reality the "Aunt Clara" who figures in the 1920s song "We Never Mention Aunt Clara", as sung to the Baker Street Irregulars by Jim Montgomery. It's rather fun to think so. The White Ghost Shivers perform the song in April 2012.

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