Reasoning through madness: the detective in Gothic crime fiction

Abstract The Gothic era dealt in fear and the unknown, with early nineteenth century Gothic fiction being characterized by the macabre and influenced by the Enlightenment. The scientific and industrial revolutions of the eighteenth century brought forth advanced scientific theories and modes of reasoning, which found their way into the narratives of Gothic works. The public’s fascination with horror and the morbid extended from the Gothic era into the Victorian Gothic era, and tales of mystery and crime became intertwined with death and the monstrous. Literature of the Victorian Gothic era continued to explore the fears and anxieties of society, and was supplemented by knowledge obtained through developments in science, criminology and the criminal justice system. Elements of Gothic horror, scientific reasoning and crime are presented throughout various works of Edgar Allan Poe and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Such works include Poe’s stories of ratiocination in both his tales of horror and mystery; Poe’s stories featuring the detective C. Auguste Dupin; Doyle’s tales of mystery and the supernatural; and a selection of Doyle’s adventures of Sherlock Holmes. In these works by Poe and Doyle, the investigative prowess of the narrator, along with the methods of observation and interpretation, are utilized to explain the macabre and unknown. This essay introduces the reader to specific techniques of reasoning and the utilization of scientific methodology, specifically observation, to look beyond madness and mystery to arrive at logical conclusions for observed phenomena. The purpose of this essay is three-fold: first, to correlate the works of Poe and Doyle to the prevailing discourse of the nineteenth century, considering advances in epistemology, criminology and criminal investigations; second, to draw attention to the role of ratiocination and various forms of reasoning in solving crimes and the resolution of the fear of death and monster through the works of Poe and Doyle; third, to evaluate Poe and Doyle’s ideas regarding the police, crime solving and the intersection of science and crime as expressed through their stories.