What do the scholars have to say about why the detective genre blossomed

with Conan Doyle in the Victorian Era?

Use Convention of having a sidekick (Watson to Holmes, Robin to

The book The Hound of the Baskervilles written by Connon Doyle during the Victorian Period set a
convention of how detective genres are to be written today.

According to some literary scholars, the detective genre began during the Victorian Era and targeted the
middle class man.
Dove, The Different Story
Four qualities of the tale of literary detection set it apart, in the opinion of critics past and present,
from other popular fiction: the detective story is transitory, without long-range goals or purposes ; it is
fundamentally an intellectual undertaking; it is recreational, intended primarily to relax; and it is a
disciplined, delimited literary form.
The recreational value of detective fiction has always been recognized by the reading public, and a
veteran reader can testify to the pleasure of curling up with a good "whodunit" in the evening
The role of the reader is both recreational and intellectual ; the reader voluntarily accepts the limits
(agrees to the rules), in order to permit the game to be played.
Panek, Doyle
In Doyle, people accept the fact that whenever a crime occurs, the police will be involved, and in the
stories both the powerful and the humble seek out Holmes and Watson to air their problems before
them. In Doyle, too, we get away from crime among the aristocrats. Holmes takes a high hand with the
nabobs and robber barons who come to him and, in general, concentrates on the problems of the
modest middle-class. Finally, Doyle, through his fictional narrator, takes it as a given that the public has
a right to know about crime, criminals, policemen, and detectives.

At the time I first thought of a detective...I had been reading detective stories, and it struck me what
nonsense they were, to put it mildly, because for getting to the solution of the mystery, the authors
always depended on some coincidence. This struck me as not a fair way of playing the game, because

the detective ought really to depend for his successes on something in his own mind and not on merely
adventitious circumstances which do not, by any means, always occur in real life.

At the time I first thought of a detective...I had been reading detective stories, and it struck me what
nonsense they were, to put it mildly, because for getting to the solution of the mystery, the authors
always depended on some coincidence. This struck me as not a fair way of playing the game, because
the detective ought really to depend for his successes on something in his own mind and not on merely
adventitious circumstances which do not, by any means, always occur in real life. (Loc 852)

At the time I first thought of a detective...I had been reading detective stories, and it struck me what
nonsense they were, to put it mildly, because for getting to the solution of the mystery, the authors
always depended on some coincidence. This struck me as not a fair way of playing the game, because
the detective ought really to depend for his successes on something in his own mind and not on merely
adventitious circumstances which do not, by any means, always occur in real life. (Loc 2415)

According to some literary scholars, the detective genre began during the Victorian Era and
targeted the middle class man. The detective genre was not only able to take off during this period
because of the excitement of genre, but because of the industrialization occurring at the time, and the
ease of obtaining books. This period of time brought many contributing elements that allowed Conon
Doyles Hound of the Baskerville and its initiation of the detective genre to begin.
The availability of books helped Doyle obtain the middle class as a targeted audience. According
to Paneks Doyle, the detective genre began due to changes in the world, including innovations such
as electric lights, telephone, and most importantly, the printing press. Besides technological advances,
views on the world were also changing. Society changed to become more egalitarian and open.

Panek, Leroy. An Introduction to the Detective Story. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State University
Popular Press, 1987. Print.
Dove, George N. The Reader and the Detective Story. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State
University Popular Press, 1997. Print.

According to some literary scholars, the detective genre began during the Victorian Era.

Our literature, too, echoes back over the "once upon a times" of countless generations.(1)
-Beginnings
Once a new genre is born, it sets its precedents to what future generations will come to know. It
represents the time period of when the genre was born, and gives perspective to the setting of that
time. For example, the way Sherlock is written, you can tell they live in a different society in that which
we do.
Going as far back as possible, some people hold up two episodes from the
Apocryphal books of the Old Testament as the earliest examples of the detective
Story(2)
-Beginnings
Some authors believe that the detective genre has been around since ancient times. Although that may
be true, the detective genre we know today with its specified structure started in the Victorian Era.

One of them deals with the special significance of the unique form of the
detective story itself, white the second is a notion about why the theme of crime
and detection has become increasingly important on a global level.
-Bourgeois Democracy and the Double Plot

Not only did the unique structure of the detective genre matter, but also its
setting. In the Victorian Era there were lots of crimes with little to be able to be
solved. Because of this, the detective genre was helped increase in popularity.

His career has been an extraordinary one. He is a man of good birth and excellent
education, endowed by nature with a phenomenal mathematical faculty. At the age
of twenty-one he wrote a treatise upon the Binomial Theorem, which has had a
European vogue. On the strength of it he won the Mathematical Chair at one of our
smaller universities, and had, to all appearances, a most brilliant career before him.

According to literary scholars, the detective genre was born during the Victorian
Era. Although there is proof of detective-like genres to have existed long ago,
including in the Old Testament, the detective genre we know today started in the
Victorian period.
Although stories of detective-like genres existed back then, theyre not the
detective stories we know today. The detective stories today have a defined
structure with certain precedents we have come to know. Like Panek said in
Beginnings, Our literature, too, echoes back over the once upon a times of
countless generations(1). That means that literature as a whole is what connects us
to the past, the present, and the future. It gives ideas and a basic template to what
our detective genre is today. The Victorian Era was also a prime time to have the
detective genre started due to the condition they were in. They were so used to
other crime stories where they taught moral lessons and the good guy always wins,
but, like in The Final Problem, no lesson was learned, and Sherlock paid the price,
which captivated the audience of the Victorian era.
Panek, Leroy. Beginnings. An Introduction to the Detective Story. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green
State University Popular Press, 1987. PDF File.

Doyle, Arthur Conan. Adventure 11: The Final Problem. The Memoirs of
Sherlock Holmes. Lit2Go Edition.1894.Web.