John H. Watson: Mary's Trial

Was Dr. Watson a good husband? Last month "James" left no doubt that the answer was in the affirmative. But now, "Agatha," the uxorial half of this duo, has her day in court with . . .

Could Watson have been anything but a good husband? Indeed he could. No, he was not a wife-beater or a philanderer (all such rumors to the contrary). Even the old familiar allegations of his being a habitual drunkard will be ignored for the moment. But to say that he was without vice (save smoking), that he was a model husband, is certainly to exaggerate.

By best estimate, Watson was married to Mary Morstan nearly seven years, from 1887 to 1893 or 194. The many occasions during that time on which Watson abandoned his wife with scarcely a moment's notice should not be brushed over lightly. Whenever Holmes sent word of a case, Watson was out the door -- often before the ink on his hastily scribbled note to poor Mary had dried, or with his hurried goodbye still echoing in the now-emptier house. And it does not stop there. Some nights he slept at Baker Street instead of returning to his own home and waiting wife. In BLUE he spends an evening out drinking beers with Holmes (and in the holiday season!). In REDH he not only spends all of the late evening tagging along with Holmes, but is still with him "in the early hours of the morning," drinking whiskey and soda at 221B.

It can be argued that Watson's outings with Holmes were so infrequent as not to present any obstacle to the couple's marital happiness. But is it not true that a deep enough injury, no matter how seldom incurred, can bring enough pain to be long remembered? Furthermore, Holmes was not the only influence that stole Watson away from his wife. The doctor must have had to work doubly hard between adventures to make his medical practice a success. As others have pointed out, Watson preferred the British Medical Journal to conversations with his wife at the breakfast table -- hardly a firm foundation for marital harmony. And we must not forget that he also had his literary career to keep him busy.

Small wonder, then, that Watson had little time to think of poor Mary. With very few exceptions she remains a shadowy figure in the Canon after their marriage -- often not mentioned at all.

If there is a parallel to be drawn between Watson's marital life and his character as exemplified in the rest of the Canon, it lies in his extraordinary imprecision and absentmindedness. So little attention did Watson pay to his wife that he not only kept minimal track of her day-to-day activities, but had no recollection of even the simplest facts about her. In FIVE, for example, Watson reports that Mary is away on a visit to her mother's. He probably even told Holmes so at the time of that case, and so Mary herself eventually learned of this blunder. Two years later, she was still calling her husband "James" to mimic his own absent-mindedness –- and he still had not noticed.

Although it is ordinarily not the province of this column to delve into personal matters of a delicate nature, thorough scholarship demands that no facts be kept hidden. In CROO we find that Watson, "a few months" after his marriage, is inexplicably postponing his bedtime, although Mary has already gone upstairs; that Holmes, upon arriving, observes that Watson looks "relieved"; that although Holmes several times offers to leave, Watson prolongs his stay as much as possible. Whether this state of affairs continued throughout the marriage we cannot say . . . . But enough of such matters.

It is true that in Watson's accounts, Mary (when she makes a rare appearance) sometimes seems quite agreeable to Watson's frequent leave-takings. But after all, we are getting our facts from Watson. Although it is possible that he altered the facts to make the situation look better, it seems more likely that he simply failed to observe the true tone behind Mary's words. "You are always so interested in Mr. Sherlock Holmes's cases," she says in BOSC, probably with more than a little sarcasm.

Of course, no matter what Mary Morstan Watson's innermost feelings on the matter, the fact remains that she did allow her husband to pursue his avocation as companion to Sherlock Holmes. That she complained as little as she did in the midst of these trying circumstances is all to her credit. But it is not really surprising, for SIGN stands as evidence of their mutual love. Watson was not a model husband, but neither was he the world's worst husband. The Watsons' marriage endured to the last because it was founded on mutual devotion -- and because Mary Morstan was a patient woman.

(Printed in Plugs & Dottles, September 1983)