Mary Morstan is Dr. Watson's wife. Characters in the Sherlock Holmes stories

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Unlike Irene Adler, Sherlock Holmes' lover, Dr. Watson's wife, Mary Morstan, very little space is given in the stories about the adventures of the most famous detective in the world. Why did this happen and what is the fate of this woman?

Mary's early years

Mary Morstan was born in 1860 (according to other sources, in 1861) in the family of the British military Arthur Morstan. The exact place of her birth is not specified. Most likely, this is India, where Captain Morstan served.

Judging by the appearance of Mary, who is described as a pretty blue-eyed blonde, her mother was European or English, but not Indian. Although such marriages were not uncommon among the British military in the XIX century. This woman was probably not in very good he alth, which was aggravated by the climate of India: Mrs. Morstan died when Mary was very tiny. Or maybe it was some kind of hereditary disease that subsequently killed Mary.

The girl's father was not a rich man, although his military career in India went uphill. And he had no we althy friends or relatives. After the death of his wife, he had no one to leave his daughter with, so hesent her to Edinburgh, to a private boarding house.

The fate of Mary after the death of her mother, before meeting her future husband

All her childhood years, until 1878, Mary Morstan spent in a boarding school. She had not seen her father until that time.

The story does not exactly indicate the reason why it was in 1878 that Captain Arthur Morsten decided to take a vacation and, after many years of absence, return to his homeland and demand his share of the treasure from Major Sholto. Probably his daughter was the culprit. After all, by that time she had turned 17 - and at that age girls leave boarding schools. Most likely, Morsten planned, having got his share of the money, to take care of his daughter during the year of vacation. This was hinted at by his telegram to Mary. If this happened, Miss Morstan would become one of the richest brides in the UK.

However, fate in an instant deprived the girl of all hope. Arriving at her father's hotel, Mary Morstan finds out about his disappearance.

Left without a beloved father and having no relatives who could provide for an orphan, the girl was forced to get a job as a companion to Mrs. Cecil Forrester. Although the woman was sympathetic towards her, she paid Mary very little, because of which the girl was very poor.

4 years after her father disappeared, Mary found out that an unknown person was looking for her through an ad in The Times. Telling this man her address, Miss Morstan began to receive a large and very expensive pearl every year.

6 years later, the same stranger sent Mary an invitation to meet. However, the girl got scared.go to a meeting alone and turned to the private detective Sherlock Holmes.

Story "The Sign of Four": First Encounter with Miss Morstan

Arriving at 221-b Baker Street, the girl met Sherlock Holmes and his biographer, Dr. John Watson. It is with this that the events of Arthur Conan Doyle's story - "The Sign of the Four" begin.

Having learned Mary's story, Sherlock and John agree to help her. It is worth noting that Watson immediately liked Miss Morstan, and Holmes noticed this and reacted rather negatively to this.

Arriving at a meeting with Tadeusz Sholto, the future wife of Dr. Watson learned the truth about her father's death. It turns out that while in India, Morsten and Sholto conspired with a prisoner named Jonathan Small. He told them where the treasures of the Rajah of the northern provinces were, and in return asked them to organize an escape for him and his three friends.

However, Sholto was stingy and mean: he single-handedly took possession of the valuables and left with them for England. After some time, Morsten visited him and demanded his share. During the quarrel, the captain became ill and died, and Sholto, fearing that he would be considered a murderer, hid the body and only on his deathbed told his sons about what had happened.

Since the major died before he could tell where the treasure was, his 6-year-old children could not find it. At this time, they sent pearls to Mary so that she would not need anything. When the treasure was found, the Sholto brothers wanted to meet the girl and give her a third of the treasure.

But the deceived convict Jonathan Small managedreturn to England. Together with his assistant, a native from the Andaman Islands, Small stole a treasure chest. When Sherlock and the police got on his trail, he threw the jewels into the Thames.

Thus, for the second time in her life, Mary lost her chance to get rich. However, fate had mercy: upon learning that she was poor, Watson confessed his feelings to her and made an offer. Soon Dr. Watson and Mary Morstan got married and began to live separately from Sherlock.

The married life of the Watson couple

Not much is known about Mary's years of marriage. It is mentioned that she gave birth to a son to Watson, and in 1893 (or in 1894) both mother and child died.

After the death of Mary Watson, he returned to Holmes again and continued to be his partner.

As for the mention of this heroine in the works of Conan Doyle, after The Sign of Four, Mrs. Watson appeared in two more stories: The Hunchback and The Boscombe Valley Mystery. By the time The Norwood Contractor was released, she had passed away.

Cause of death of Mary Watson

Why John Watson's wife and son died is not really explained in the books. A popular version is that the cause of this was some kind of infectious disease. At the same time, the true reason why Conan Doyle "killed" Watson's young wife is widely known.

The fact is that writing stories about Holmes periodically bothered the writer. He was more willing to write fantasy stories a la HG Wells. However, detective stories were paid significantly more than others.works by Conan Doyle. Therefore, although he twice tried to complete the series of stories about Sherlock Holmes, first by killing his hero and then marrying Watson, later the writer returned to him again.

After the wedding, it became necessary to return the doctor to Holmes on Baker Street. And for this, the author had to "bring to the grave" the unfortunate Mary and her child.

The fate of Mary Elizabeth Morstan according to the creators of the series "Sherlock"

Unlike Irene Adler, Mary's character does not appear in all adaptations of Arthur Conan Doyle's stories. But even if she is shown, as a rule, the girl’s biography is not changed much.

However, in the modernized British film adaptation - the series "Sherlock", Mary is given a lot of attention, and her biography is quite changed. What is she like?

As in the original, in the series the heroine is an orphan, only her name is Rosamund Mary. Having matured, the girl chooses the profession of a mercenary, and soon becomes very successful. Together with her 3 colleagues, she formed the AGRA group and performed various tasks for the elimination and rescue of people for money.

Once, on a mission for the British government, AGRA was betrayed. As a result, only Rosamund managed to survive. She abandoned her past and, taking on the new name "Mary Morstan", began working as a nurse in a London hospital.

Here she met John Watson and they began an affair. Six months later, the lovers got married, and Mary became pregnant. The all-powerful blackmailer Charles Magnussen found out aboutpast Mrs. Watson and began to pursue her. But Sherlock and John, having learned the truth, helped Mary escape punishment.

After 9 months she gave birth to Watson's daughter Rosamund. But it soon became clear that one of her comrades from AGRA was also alive and, considering Mary a traitor, wanted to kill her.

Sherlock manages to find out that Vivian, an employee of the British government, was the culprit. Exposed, she tried to kill the detective, but the bullet accidentally hit Mary and she died.

Thus, just like in the book, Watson is back on Baker Street again.

Other important female characters in the Sherlock Holmes stories

In addition to Mrs. Watson, there are 2 more important characters in the book: this is Sherlock's beloved - the swindler Irene Adler, and the mistress of the detective's apartment - Mission Hudson. What is known about them?

Irene Adler, unlike book Mary, was not only a brilliant beauty, but also an adventurer. She was born in New Jersey (USA) in 1858. Possessing not only beauty, but also a fantastic voice, the girl managed to make an excellent career as an opera singer in Italy and Poland.

While touring in Warsaw, Adler became the mistress of the King of Bohemia. And some time after breaking up with him, she left the stage and moved to London. Here she meets British lawyer Godfrey Norton and secretly marries him.

Being a very practical person, Irene hides a photo she shared with the king, which can be used to blackmail the monarch. Sherlock manages to find the cache, but Adlerunravels his plan and, together with her husband, manages to escape, taking a photo. In her farewell letter, she promises not to blackmail the king unless he tries to harm her.

Irene died somewhere in 1888-1891. The details of her death are unknown.

Mrs. Hudson is another woman that Sherlock Holmes appreciated. The biographies of Mary Morstan and Irene Adler are more or less detailed in the books. But there is no such detailed information about the life of Mrs. Hudson, it is only specified that she is a widow. Moreover, smart, economic and very clean. Also, the book does not mention her name, however, as well as her appearance.

Although Mrs. Hudson is hard to get along with Sherlock, his politeness and generosity to her compensate for his antics. In addition, she understands that her tenant is doing a good deed, and sometimes she helps him.