“silhouettes which our grandparents loved to frame” [EMPT]
In "The Empty House," Sherlock Holmes surprises Watson with the life-like bust of himself, silhouetted against the blind. Watson describes the situation:
“The shadow of a man who was seated in a chair within was thrown in hard, black outline upon the luminous screen of the window. There was no mistaking the poise of the head, the squareness of the shoulders, the sharpness of the features. The face was turned half-round, and the effect was that of one of those black silhouettes which our grandparents loved to frame. It was a perfect reproduction of Holmes. So amazed was I that I threw out my hand to make sure that the man himself was standing beside me. He was quivering with silent laughter.”
Sherlock Holmes responded seemingly enigmatically:
“I trust that age doth not wither nor custom stale my infinite variety.”
What is the significance of this quote and what did Holmes mean?
This was a paraphrase of a line from William Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra, when Enobarbus described the allure of the Queen of the Nile to the Roman leader:
“Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale
Her infinite variety”
In the play, it meant that Cleopatra's charms were so endlessly varied that Antony could never tire of her.
In our case, Holmes meant that even after a three-year hiatus, he still retained the power to surprise Watson. It is a pattern that repeated many times throughout their association in the Canon. And to readers, it never gets old.
The boys at Baker Street Elementary are learning something about aging this week...
Baker Street Elementary follows the original adventures of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson, as they and their friends work through the issues of elementary school in Victorian London. An archive of all previous episodes can be viewed at the Baker Street Elementary website.
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