Dr. Cuddy and Inspector Lestrade
For those who don't know, Inspector Lestrade was a Scotland Yard plod ("the professionals" as Watson called them) who frequently crossed paths with Holmes and Watson while they were on criminal cases.
Holmes rather looked down his nose at Lestrade with vague amusement but did take advantage of his services in several stories.
While noodling about character relationships in House/Holmes I ran it this way: House/Holmes, Wilson/Watson, the Ducklings/the Baker Street Irregulars, Vogler/Moriarty (he was for a while...until "No Reason") and Cuddy/Lestrade.
Lestrade represents the Establishment....complete with all of its rules and regulations, attention to duty and Victorian properness.
In the same way, Cuddy represents the Establishment at PPTH by virtue of being the Dean of Medicine. She's part and parcel of the "system" that runs PPTH. She reins House in and enforces the Clinic duty hours on him. She is a workaholic and understands her duties well. As for Victorian propriety? Okay, she dresses provocatively but, quite honestly, with all the frills and skirts, she really dresses rather fussily for a Dean of Medicine. She pays close attention to her appearance.
So, I'm reading "The Adventure of the Cardboard Box" and come across this description of Lestrade: "A shower of rain fell while we were in the train, and the heat was far less oppressive in Croydon than in town. Holmes had sent on a wire, so that Lestrade, as wirey, as dapper, and as ferret-like as ever, was waiting for us at the station."
Now, I'm the last person to call the glorious Lisa Edelstein "ferret-like" but she is thin and angular. So, the comparison remains apt. (That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.)
Holmes rather looked down his nose at Lestrade with vague amusement but did take advantage of his services in several stories.
While noodling about character relationships in House/Holmes I ran it this way: House/Holmes, Wilson/Watson, the Ducklings/the Baker Street Irregulars, Vogler/Moriarty (he was for a while...until "No Reason") and Cuddy/Lestrade.
Lestrade represents the Establishment....complete with all of its rules and regulations, attention to duty and Victorian properness.
In the same way, Cuddy represents the Establishment at PPTH by virtue of being the Dean of Medicine. She's part and parcel of the "system" that runs PPTH. She reins House in and enforces the Clinic duty hours on him. She is a workaholic and understands her duties well. As for Victorian propriety? Okay, she dresses provocatively but, quite honestly, with all the frills and skirts, she really dresses rather fussily for a Dean of Medicine. She pays close attention to her appearance.
So, I'm reading "The Adventure of the Cardboard Box" and come across this description of Lestrade: "A shower of rain fell while we were in the train, and the heat was far less oppressive in Croydon than in town. Holmes had sent on a wire, so that Lestrade, as wirey, as dapper, and as ferret-like as ever, was waiting for us at the station."
Now, I'm the last person to call the glorious Lisa Edelstein "ferret-like" but she is thin and angular. So, the comparison remains apt. (That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.)
3 Comments:
As an owner of ferrets, I'm moved to mention that I wouldn't call them thin and angular at all - I'd say their most prominent visual feature is having very large backsides, since they're kind of a long pear shape (and I haven't paid enough attention to M(r)s. Eldstein to make any comments on that likeness). They do have a kind of constant energy and alertness that might bear comparison, though.
Do you think that's what Doyle was getting at?
I have a wonderful friend who owns a ferret and she's rather angular. The ferret. Not the friend.
;-)
The other problem with comparing Cuddy to a ferret is that ferrets are very musky (at least my friend's is) and I just can't imagine Cuddy being "musky"...I don't care ~how~ athletic she is.
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