Trouble in Bohemia by Arthur Conan Doyle

 

Trouble in Bohemia

Q. Short answer type questions:

(1) Why did the king want his letters and photograph back?

Answer: Irene Adler threatened the king to reveal everything to the princess who he was getting married. So he wanted his photograph and letters back .

(2) What were Sherlock Holmes disguises to solve the case?

Answer: First of all he disguised himself as a cab driver and moved around Irene Adler’s apartment to get more information about her. Later on he dressed himself as a priest.

(3) Where did Miss Irene Adler hide the letters and the photograph?

Answer: Miss Irene Adler had hidden the letters and the photograph in a secret place in one of the walls of her living room. Sherlock Holmes disguised as a priest was in the same room.

(4) Why did the king write letters to Irene Adler?

Answer: When the king was in Warsaw on a visit, he fell in love with a beautiful American actress Irene Adler. He wrote her some love letters later on.

(5) Why could letters not be proved false?

Answer: The letters were written on the king’s own private paper and in his own hand writing. So it was difficult to prove that the letters were false.

(6) Why was Sherlock Holmes interested in getting the letters and photograph at the earliest?

Answer: Irene Adler got married to a lawyer and Sherlock Holmes doubted that her husband might misuse the letters and photograph for his personal gain. So he wanted them to remove as soon as possible.

Q. Long answer type questions:

(1) What trick did Sherlock Holmes use to find the place where letters and photograph were hidden?

Answer: Sherlock Holmes was roaming near Irene Adler’s apartment disguised as a priest when Miss Adler arrived from her daily ride in the park. As she stepped out of the cab, Holmes pretended to faint; several people came to help him, and Miss Adler asked to take him to her living room.

As Holmes had directed, Watson stood waiting during all this times in the garden, just outside the living room window. He threw some lighted pieces of paper into the room through the window as he got a signal from Holmes. Servants cried “Fire! Fire!!” Naturally Irene Adler rushed to the place where the letters and the photograph had been hidden. Thus Holmes came to know the exact location of these articles.

(2) Discuss the character of Miss Irene Adler.

Answer: Irene Adler was a young and beautiful American actress. The king of Bohemia fell in love with her during his visit to Warsaw.  Later the king showed his inability to marry Miss Adler as she was not of royal blood. But Adler could not forget the king. She had the letters written to her by the king and a photograph with the king. The king was desperate to get these back from her. He contacted Sherlock Holmes to seek help in this matter. But during his investigation Holmes realised that she was as clever as him. Even the king admitted that she was not greedy. She was an expert in disguising as well as recognising people in disguised. She was of helpful nature that’s why she helped the priest when he fainted. Above all she was practical; she got married to a lawyer and when she realised that the letters and the photograph had no real worth she let them in her apartment so that Sherlock Holmes could obtain them.

(3) The story proves Sherlock Holmes to be less intelligent than Miss Irene Adler. Do you agree? Answer: Whenever Sherlock Holmes spoke of Irene Adler, it was in terms of great respect. She was always the Woman. This did not mean that he was in any way sentimental about her, but throughout his long career Miss Adler had been one of the few persons who had proven to be just as clever as Sherlock Holmes  himself.

Miss Adler was expecting Holmes any day following her to obtain the letters and the photograph. She recognised his disguise as a cab driver and then followed him to his apartment just to make sure it was him. She was disguised as a young man and wished him god night. She also recognised his little trick of gaining entrance to her house and forcing her to show him where the photograph was hidden.

It shows that if not more intelligent than Sherlock Holmes; Miss Adler was as intelligent as Sherlock Holmes.