“Scandal in Bohemia”

To Sherlock Holmes she [Irene Adler] is always the woman. I have seldom heard him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses and predominates the whole of her sex.

Arthur Conan Doyle

Irene Adler is featured in Arthur Conan Doyle’s “Scandal in Bohemia.” She is beautiful, smart and most importantly, the only woman to have outwitted Sherlock Holmes. She is referred to a THE woman, which places her above all others. While Holmes was most assuredly fascinated by her there was no love, no romance. Sherlock Holmes did not understand the concept of love. It did not fit with his outlook of the world. Love makes you stupid, and stupid is not a word that describes Sherlock Holmes.

Doyle also tells you at the very beginning of this story that there will be no future romance. Watson calls her “the late Irene Adler” which indicated she is deceased.