It is indeed possible that Dr John Watson is bisexual, in this essay I will
Okay, serious mode on. You know it's serious when I use proper capitalization instead of silly typing in all lowercase, lmao. Anyway.
Over the few months I've been into Sherlock Holmes, I have been especially interested in queer readings of the stories. I mean, come on - have you read them?? And a popular take I've encountered is that Holmes himself is some sort of asexual, maybe even aroace. I agree! But this is not what this rant is about.
Because I've also had the experience of encountering people reading Holmes as aroace while at the same time calling Watson a completely heterosexual man, and respectfully, I disagree.
I don't know where the idea stems from. I suppose it does make sense to write him off as such without second thoughts, considering the times the canon was written in. But then, if you're contemplating Holmes, why not extend the queer lens to Watson? A man who, over years, nay, decades, has lived with another man, dedicated his life to writing about him while describing his eyes as "dreamy" and cannot go two pages without writing about his fingers?
But I digress. Here is why I think Watson is bisexual, step-by-step.
1. "But Watson has a wife!"
Yes. Yes, he did marry Mary in SIGN. Hear me out, though: This does not make him less bisexual - which, sadly, is a take I've noticed in queer spaces these days; that people in straight-presenting relationships somehow lose their queer identities simply by marrying or being with someone of the opposite sex.
I have no doubt that Watson was happy with Mary, and I do not want to claim the opposite, for this would be too much of a stretch. Watson was quite taken by her in SIGN and indeed married her, but that is, my friends, not an argument against his potential bisexuality, I'm afraid. It's called bisexuality because you are attracted to people of both the male and female sexes, and preferences within that label exist, as well. Pulling the "but he had a wife!" card simply does not work as a sufficent argument against Watson being bi. You can headcanon him as you wish, of course! However, this kind of point is disrespectful and ignorant towards bi people with opposite-sex partners, and you're going to have find better rebuttals to convince me that Watson is fully het.
With that point out of the way (which is often raised first), let me continue to what I'm basing my claim on other than speculating.
2. How Watson talks about Holmes
Watson is a writer, and if writers are enamored or in awe by someone or something, they will describe it to make the reader resonate with them. Especially writers of fiction or writers recalling events in a style that is typically reserved for fiction, such as our dear doctor is doing here.
Back to Mary, this is how he talks about her, just for good measure:
I have never looked upon a face which gave a clearer promise of a refined and sensitive nature.
[...] with the sweet face of Mary Morstan looking down upon me.
Both of these quotes are from SIGN, because that's the only story Mary Morstan actually appears in, aside from a few lines in later ones.
What about Holmes, though?
His eyes were sharp and piercing, save during those intervals or torpor to which I have alluded; and his thin, hawk-like nose gave his whole expression an air of alertness and decision. His chin, too, had the prominence and squareness which mark the man of determination. His hands were invariably blotted with ink and stained with chemicals, yet he was possessed of extraordinaty delicacy of touch, [...] (STUD)
All the afternoon he sat in the stalls wrapped in the most perfect happiness, gently waving his long, thin fingers in time to the music, while his gently smiling face and his languid, dreamy eyes were as unlike those of Holmes, the sleuth-hound, [...] (REDH)
[...]whom I shall ever regard as the best and the wisest man I have ever known. (FINA)
[...]the man whom above all others I revere. (THOR)
Holmes leaned forward and laid his long, thin fingers upon the womanβs shoulder. He had an almost hypnotic power of soothing when he wished. (REDC)
[...] for a moment I saw something in his eyes which was nearer to tenderness than I had ever seen. (BRUC)
A flush of colour sprang to Holmes' pale cheeks, and he bowed to us like the master dramatist who receives who receives the homage of his audience. It was at such moments that for an instant he ceased to be a reasoning machine, and betrayed his human love for admiration and applause. The same singularly proud and reserved nature wich turned away with disdain from popular notoriety was capable of being moved to its depths by spontaneous wonder and praise from a friend. (SIXN)
What about Holmes, indeed.
Now, this is probably by far not everything, and not all of these can probably be interpreted as romantic without skewing the context. One thing is clear, however - Watson loves to describe Holmes. He admires and is devoted to him, and let's be real, what's the point of telling us how Holmes' fingers felt when they closed upon Watson's wrist in SPEC?
3. But this is just Holmes. What about other men?
There was a portrait within of a man strikingly handsome and intelligent-looking, [...] (YELL) (Note: This is followed by "but bearing unmistakable signs upon his features of his African descent," which obviously is a "but" rooted in unfortunately period-typical racism. Not cool, Watson, which is why I suppose this can optionally count? But decide yourself.)
The son, on the other hand, had dropped all that jaunty, dashing style which had characterized him, and the ferocity of a dangerous wild beast gleamed in his dark eyes and distorted his handsome features. (REIG)
He was flaxen-haired and handsome in a washed-out negative fashion, with frightened blue eyes and a clean-shaven face, with a weak, sensitive mouth. His age may have been about twenty-seven; his dress and bearing that of a gentleman. (NORW)
He was a tall, handsome, swarthy fellow, clad in a suit of grey flannel, with a Panama hat, a bristling black beard, and a great, aggressive hooked nose, and flourishing a cane as he walked. (DANC)
His dark, handsome, aquiline features were convulsed into a spasm of vindictive hatred, which had set his dead face in a terribly
fiendish expression. (ABBE)
You get the idea. Watson calls other men handsome a LOT, and not to mention the other descriptions of men's features that Watson felt drawn to while writing. It's not only Holmes whom he finds visually interesting.
4. Why I think Watson loves Holmes in particular
I've gone over visual descrptions of Holmes, but what convinces me even more is the way Watson acts towards him. My favorite examples include, but are not limited to:
Watson crossing the English Channel and making it all the way to Lyon within a single day (mind you, this was 1887) in less than 24 hours to get to a sick Holmes as soon as possible (REIG),
Him dragging Holmes off to the country to recuperate (several occasions, most notably DEVI),
Him playing along with Holmes' plan in DYIN despite not liking it at all
Patching Holmes up and threatening to track down the men who hurt Holmes in ILLU
Finding strengh while quite literally going mad and possibly dying in DEVI when thinking of Holmes suffering the same fate and dragging that man out of the contaminated room
And let's not forget the following, absolutely insane passage in DYIN:
[...] There is just room behind the head of my bed, Watson.β
βI fear there is no alternative, Watson. The room does not lend itself to concealment, which is as well, as it is the less likely to arouse suspicion. But just there, Watson, I fancy that it couldbe done.β Suddenly he sat up with a rigid intentness upon his haggard face. βThere are the wheels, Watson. Quick, man, if you love me!"
What does Watson do? Correct. He hides behind the bed.
5. What is the point of this rant?
I disagree with the statment that Watson is straight. He is into women, yes. He's also described lady clients as attractive, as I'm sure is known to most of you, which is why I did not add a section about that. That's not the part people typically tend to have issues with. But he is also very much drawn to men.
is he equally drawn to men as he is to women? Eh. I don't know. There's not enough facts to make an assumption, and "you should never theorize without data, Watson!". But there is data that Watson might be, and is in my opinion, bisexual.
Why is this rant on the johnlock website? Well, I had to rant somewhere, didn't I? I suppose I hope that some of you will understand where I'm coming from, and that there is nothing wrong with headcannoning Watson as hetero, but that I do not like when book authors or video creators on YouTube talk about thinking (emphasis on "I think", "This is my opinion", etc.) Holmes is ace/aro/both and then just state that Watson is straight as if this was not up for debate. Because I think it very much is.
Thank you for coming to my TED! talk. Time to study for my exam, whoops.
