15/12/2025
So why did Arthur Conan Doyle write Holmes this way?
Doyle was a doctor. He saw real suffering — including men who couldn't express it. The Victorian era's rigid masculinity was literally killing men through silence.
By making his hero struggle with:
Depression
Substance use
Social difficulties
The need for friendship
..Doyle gave readers permission to see these as HUMAN experiences, not moral failures.
Holmes could be brilliant AND broken.
Strong AND struggling.
Independent AND needing others.
The stories said: "Even the greatest minds have dark days. Even heroes need help."
For Victorian men reading these stories in secret, seeing themselves in Holmes? That might have been the first time they felt less alone.
Tomorrow: What Holmes teaches us NOW 🎯
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