Critical Analysis
Critic Peter Marrow wrote: "As it stands, the story's ending makes no sense – forcing one to try to look for something left unsaid. Far from Windibank's conduct not having broken any law, he has left himself wide open to Miss Sutherland suing him for breach of promise and certain to win – as the proposal had been made by a man who was already married, and her step-father at that. Yet Holmes does not advise to his client this obvious course. This could, however, make sense on the assumption that Windibank was not only interested in Miss Sutherland's money but also in her person; that the bogus engagement covered an illicit and effectively incestous attaction which might have been mutual, even if not consumated ; that Miss Sutherland on at least some level knew all along who 'Hosmer Angel' truly was; and that Holmes was acting in her best interest in not bringing all this out in the open and avoiding a traumatic and shattering breakup of her family in the glare of sensational publicity. It can be assumed that Doyle's readership in the 1890s was aware of these undercurrents and tended to agree with Holmes' decision."
Read more about this topic: A Case Of Identity
Famous quotes containing the words critical and/or analysis:
“Good critical writing is measured by the perception and evaluation of the subject; bad critical writing by the necessity of maintaining the professional standing of the critic.”
—Raymond Chandler (1888–1959)
“Analysis as an instrument of enlightenment and civilization is good, in so far as it shatters absurd convictions, acts as a solvent upon natural prejudices, and undermines authority; good, in other words, in that it sets free, refines, humanizes, makes slaves ripe for freedom. But it is bad, very bad, in so far as it stands in the way of action, cannot shape the vital forces, maims life at its roots. Analysis can be a very unappetizing affair, as much so as death.”
—Thomas Mann (1875–1955)