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Position:Home>Books & Authors> Watson and Holmes- age difference?Question: Watson and Holmes- age difference!? According to The Canon, just how much older is Watson to Holmes!? Or!.!.!.Holmes to Watson!?
In most movie adaptations, it seems that Watson is often painted to be rather old (white-haired, the added paunch of age, etc)!. Is this factual!? (Please forgive me for my ignorance, Canon lovers! I have to confess to never reading any Sherlock Holmes Adventures!.!.!.though I am seriously reconsidering such a grave mistake! )Www@QuestionHome@Com Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: -chuckle- Most movie adaptations are, ah!.!.!. how shall I put this!? A touch of base, shall we say!? The age difference between Holmes and Watson is really only a handful of years; Watson, I believe, being the elder of the two!. I would have to double check, but I believe the two were in their late twenties when they first meet at St!. Bart's (ah, it seems so long ago!)!. I have a bit a of a bias towards Sherlock Holmes film portrayals!.!.!. as brilliant as dear Basil is, I cling to the Granada series featuring Jeremy Brett!. Watson is NOT the bumbling, moronic fool that he is portrayed as in the Basil version!. He's actually, well!.!.!. I suggest you read and see for yourself!. Never read!? Not a problem! I (Lord forgive me) actually read "The Hound of the Baskervilles" in the first grade and despised it; I only came to appreciate the adventures in my more recent years!. I highly recommend it! Hum, I seem to have rambled on a bit!.!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com From 2 Wikipedia Sources: Holmes was born in 1854 and Watson in 1852!. So Watson was older by 2 years!. Their ages areactually not mentioned but by reading all the stories you can deduce various dates keeping in mind the various refrences and quotes in several other stories!. TW KWww@QuestionHome@Com Here's what I know about the ages of Holmes and Watson!. From my reading of the canon, their ages are never given explicitly!. Watson tells us in "A Study in Scarlett" that he received his M!.D!. in 1878!. I have no idea how getting an M!.D!. in England back then worked, but if we assumed Watson was 25 when he got it, we can guess he was born around 1853!. In "His Last Bow", Holmes is given as sixty!. As this took place on the eve of the First World War, that places his birth around 1854!. (Note: Holmes was a master of disguise, and the third person narrator of "His Last Bow" was describing the age of Holmes' undercover persona!.) So Holmes and Watson were probably around the same age, with Watson maybe being a few year older!. My guess is that movie portrayals of Watson as white-haired with the added paunch of age are stereotypes of an English doctor!. You should read through the Sherlock Holmes canon and see if you can find anything more specific!. It's well worth the read!Www@QuestionHome@Com Holmes is older than Watson!. Though, it wasn't direectly said (their ages) in their stories!.Www@QuestionHome@Com |