Some notes on The Red Circle—not much to say this time, except Holmes’s almost hypnotic power to soothe people, his partiality to flattery and even more so to kindliness (no wonder Watson won his heart), his art for art’s sake and Watson anchoring him by staying practical. They also do quite a bit of crouching together in a confined space.
Mrs. Lucca reads her husband in the same way Watson reads Holmes—even expressions are the same: “I who knew him so well”, “with a face which told me”, etc. The Red Circle society punishes people by hurting not only their persons, but those they love as well—I think Moriarty’s organisation operated in a similar way.
And lastly, it’s one of those cases which finishes with a date at the opera. For the record, it is speculated that Wagner’s operas have special appeal for homosexual men.
In the period Wagner’s greatest popularity—from the 1880s to World War I—he served as a gay icon [...]. Essentially, if someone asked in the right tone, in the right place, “Do you enjoy Wagner’s music?” that was a code for asking if the person was gay. (source)
In his time the composer's 'dangerously stimulating' music was blamed for melancholy, hysteria, hypnosis and even triggering orgasm. [...] Critics even suggested that Wagner's music was sickly and feminine, a suspicion that prompted a popular link to be made between Wagner and homosexuality – viewed then as a medical condition – which was said to be connected to the erotic power of music. (source)
