“The devil’s agents may be of flesh and blood”: Apollonian-Dionysian dichotomy in Victorian Sherlock Holmes
| Authors |
| Shinjini Ghoshal |
| Date of Publication: December, 2025 |
| Volume: XXV, No.- XXVIII |
| DOI:10.65734/tgi.ssei.avp.ijcsss.ti.25.28.1 |
| Abstract |
| Victorian England was a locale well known for sensational beliefs. Doyle used the fear and fascination of the age-old superstitions, and wove the plot of some of his famous stories. In the canon, Holmes is portrayed as this perfect embodiment of the Apollonian calm and reserve; however, he often indulges in Dionysian excesses like hallucinogens and the playing of the violin at late hours of the night. This shocking clash of the two different sets of values finds a recluse in Holmes. Nietzsche, in The Birth of Tragedy, believed that the clash between both the forces may apparently be destructive, but the duality needs to be inextricably unified for artistic enterprise: it is the source of creativity and procreation. The article seeks to problematise this narrative, and analyse how the ‘popular’ discourse of the famous detective can be deduced from two critical standpoints, the Apollonian and the Dionysian. |
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