Man with the Twisted Lip

The Man with the Twisted Lip and London Bridge

~ Lizzie Gruhl
Photographer unknown, 1890s London Bridge

london bridge

The London Bridge, the first stone bridge to be built in England across the Thames from the city of London to Southwark. The bridge has been rebuilt numerous times over the years it has been around (Victorian Web).

 

 

FullSizeRender

Although many versions of this bridge have been built, the bridge designed by John Rennie and built by his sons John and George Rennie would have been the one that was mentioned in Sir Authur Conan Doyle’s work (Victorian Web).

london bridge

 

In the particular story, The Man with the Twisted Lip , we see the London Bridge when Watson is in search for one of his patients in an Opium Den. When Victorians read this story they would have known that around the London Bridge, Opium Dens would be present. Opium was always associated with people of the east (from Asia) and sailors. Surrounding London Bridge were many docks. Opium Dens popped up around these docks because of the association of opium and sailors/Asians. Doyle makes it ironic in the fact that the man out of his mind in the opium den is an “upstanding” patient of Dr.Watson.

Opium dens were perfectly legal at this time however  “good” men were known to get lost in them. These men changed as soon as they stepped into the den. For instance Mr. Neville St. Claire who has “disappeared” has actually changed his whole persona into a beggar. The reader can then see the London Bridge as a turning point. Once the men have crossed that bridge and made their way to the dens, they are changed themselves.

Another inference that could be made is the bridge is a symbol. The bridge, as said before, has changed numerous times.From tinder to stone to being moved a few yards.. Although Victorians may have not seen the recent changes, they would have known of a few that have happened over time and  may have witnessed one themselves. The characters are crossing a bridge that has changed numerous, to be “changed” themselves.

 

 

Sources

http://www.victorianweb.org/victorian/art/architecture/feist/30.html

http://www.victorianweb.org/graphics/fearnside/47.html

http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/english/currentstudents/undergraduate/modules/fulllist/special/endsandbeginnings/twistedlip.pdf

http://www.britannica.com/topic/Old-London-Bridge

 

Swan Lane- The Man with the Twisted Lip

~ Heather Ryan

Upper Swandom Lane, or Swan Lane as it was actually known, is the location of the opium den in the Sherlock Holmes story, “The Man with the Twisted Lip” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It is from this den that Neville St. Clair supposedly disappears. It is the last place that his wife sees him and foul play is suspected by his family, the police, and Holmes. Eventually it is revealed that St. Clair was not missing at all, simply living his double life as a successful beggar from his base above the opium den.

In real life, Swan Lane is a street adjacent to London Bridge on the north side of the River Thames. As seen from the Victorian google map, the southern end of the lane juts against the river and is sometimes underwater at high tide. This becomes a plot point in the Holmes story as Mr. St. Clair throws his coat out the window and into the river when he hurriedly transforms into his beggar self. This action leads the police to believe that Neville St. Clair has met a terrible fate.

SwanLane

As can be seen from the Booth Poverty Map of the region, this street was one of the poorest in London. It is little wonder an upstanding citizen disguised as a beggar would make his base here as he would blend in so well with the surrounding socioeconomic environment. No one who knew St. Clair would ever think to look for him amongst the riffraff hanging around the docks.

SwanLakeCharlesBooth

Shown by the black marks on the map, Swan Lake was also a hotbed of criminal activity. It is little wonder then that Dr. Watson runs into Holmes investigating a crime on the street or, as Holmes notes, that it is so common for people to disappear from the very opium den in question.

Doyle, Arthur Conan. The Man with the Twisted Lip. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.

“Booth Poverty Map & Modern Map (Charles Booth Online Archive).” Booth Poverty Map & Modern Map (Charles Booth Online Archive). N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Oct. 2015.