Two female characters mentioned in the title appear to be key figures in unveiling the mystery in the detective stories by the ‘founding fathers’ and leading writers of the detective genre – by Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie. Irene Adler and Christine Vole can be regarded as a perfect match and even rivals in wit and keen insight to their male counterparts and protagonists in the stories under consideration. However, these women, though sharing a set of features, still differ in core human values: level of integrity and dignity.
Summarizing the plot of “A Scandal in Bohemia,” Irene Adler is shown as a danger to the King of Bohemia, threatening him to revenge for his rejection and intention to marry another woman of his royal level. Irene menaces with publishing the photo, depicting her and the King together when they had an affair. Sherlock Holmes is employed by the Majesty to get hold of the photo and to secure the King’s political future and family happiness. To put it briefly, the first description of Irene Adler is as a hurt and vindictive woman. The story saves up an intriguing surprise till the very end, keeping the true character of Irene unknown to the reader.
Considering the character of Christine Vole or Romaine Heilger, her Austrian name from the book version of the detective story, the reader is presented to a mysterious woman and remains in the dark as to her true feelings and motifs till the closing dialogue between her and Mr Mayherne. The letter is a solicitor of Christian’s husband, Leonard Vole, who is charged with a murder of Mrs French. Through Mr Mayherne’s perception, the reader gets the impression that Christian hides something and that her figure is of prime importance in Vole’s case: “The lawyer’s feeling of alarm grew stronger and stronger. […] This is going to be the devil of a business. […] Extraordinary, the whole thing. An extraordinary woman. A very dangerous woman” (Christie 110-11). Thus, both female protagonists are seen by their male counterparts as dangerous, mainly because their intentions and, moreover, their train of thought remains unclear till the dénouement.
Irene Adler seems to be inferior to Sherlock Holmes’ deductive logic and mastery of disguise. When the reader follows the lines that describe how detective finds out where Irene hides a targeted photo, it is suffice to say that the woman appears to have no chance to outsmart Holmes. However, she succeeds in unmasking detective’s plan. In the letter Irene left to Holmes when fleeing, Irene explains her logic: “Until after the alarm of fire, [she] had not a suspicion. But then, when [Irene] found how [she] had betrayed [herself], [she] began to think. [She] had been warned against [Holmes] months ago” (Dole 25). To outwit Sherlock, Irene uses not only her logic, but her acting talent: she disguises herself as a young man to find out about Holmes’s intentions. The same trick is played by Christine Vole who is even more sophisticated …