Everybody lies. At least according to ace diagnostician Gregory House, head of the diagnostic department at Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital. House proves to be a misanthropic, cynical, highly intelligent, altogether aloof man. Due to an unfortunate mishap several years before the audience is introduced to the mostly friendless doctor, House is generally seen walking with a cane and constantly popping one Vicodin after another to help with his pain. Strangely (or maybe not so strangely), this sounds quite a bit like the famous Sherlock Holmes – another aloof drug addict who is interested only in the truth and reason. Although over 100 years have passed between their creation, the similarities between the Victorian Sherlock Holmes and the modern-day House are striking. The stories that include Holmes in them were written in the Victorian period (1847-1901), where reason was valued over most things, but the supernatural still played a role, and where induction and deduction are paramount and emotion fuels thought – where the working class finally finds their voice. Likewise, House is the embodiment of these Victorian values. He believes that all things must have a reason behind them and isn’t satisfied until he’s able to discover whatever reason happens to be there. At times – much like Holmes – House is spurred on by Dr. Wilson, an oncologist at the same hospital: PPTH – who takes the place of Dr. Watson and gives House his insights that seem illogical in the ways House is able to draw his connections. Much like Holmes, House often leaves before fully voicing his somewhat mystical realization to everyone and solves the case. Therefore, the Victorian thought is much more alive and popular than most people think the notion would be, and the way the Victorian idea is best illustrated is through a comparison of Sherlock Holmes and Gregory House as well as a study of the Victorian idea to House M.D.
The most common themes of the Victorian culture that are still prevalent and popular today include a preoccupation with childhood and innocence – although the common practice was for children to be seen and not heard (an altogether far too common occurrence in certain social classes still today – i.e. the rich who would rather send children away to a boarding school rather than spend any amount of time with them; however, not all those who have been fortunate enough to have money are like that, for some genuinely enjoy their children) as well as ambition that’s usually somehow misguided – including romantic, monetary, and other types(Frick). Also included is a focus on domestic drama both within and outside of the family as well as a feeling of domestication regardless of the fact that the government had long-reaching fingers all around the world(Frick). Perhaps, however, the most still-controversial subject that has its roots in Victorian ideology is the struggle of classes – rich man, poor man, live man, dead man – as well as the matter of money and inheritance(Frick).
And, of course, there’s the “supernatural” set of themes that encompasses many things including the interconnectivity of things – that one thing is the result of another is the result of another and so on.(Frick) Although reason is greatly valued over mostly everything else, the idea of the spider’s web – or just a web in general – was and still is highly popular(Frick). All things were woven together, and this still includes reason in this web of abstractions(Frick). Perhaps, however, the most supernatural subject is the sudden grasp of emotion and sentimentality (sometimes called ‘sense’ in some circles) that grips characters at one point or another (Frick). Also, there’s the idea of death – which is sometimes heroic but usually somehow pathetic or anti-climatic(Frick). The flights of fancy that sometimes overcome characters is another splendiferous example that embodies the supernatural subject in which the Victorian audience as well as the modern-day audience is so interested in and so heartily devours(Frick).
Hence, as a character, Gregory House is mostly like Sherlock Holmes, but as an idea or concept, House M.D. is the quintessence of the great Victorian machine. Although most people don’t realize how much the “droll” Victorian novel is like the wildly popular series House M.D., could this fact be the reason why House M.D. has attracted such a large audience? Have the 21st Century people become the next class of Victorians – the neo-Victorians – that carry on many of the same ideas and values that were created more than 100 years ago, be said ideas and values slightly modified to fit the advancements and ideology of today? Could Dr. Gregory House be compared in another 100 years to the next version of House, and through this link, will the Victorian Holmes (as well as way of life and principles) be kept alive for future generations to know and study as people today have been privileged?
Gregory House is most like Sherlock Holmes through personality. House tends to be crude, rude, and altogether unfriendly to his patients. He only wants to take cases that are interesting to him – meaning people who present with unusual symptoms such as Lucille Palmerio, a woman who appears in “The Socratic Method”, episode 6 season 1 of House M.D. (Wikipedia 5) Although her first symptom is easily enough diagnosed, House realized that – although everyone thinks she’s schizophrenic – her sanity was never a matter of question, for she was perfectly sane the whole time; however, she was misdiagnosed with the illness.(Wikipedia5) House is able to correctly diagnose her with Wilson’s Disease, in which the main symptom is copper-colored rings around the corneas of the eyes due to elevated copper levels in the body.(Wikipedia5) However, viewers also see the side of House that cares.(Wikipedia5) What causes House to conclude that Lucille is sane is when she places a call to Social Services for them to remove her 15-year-old son.(Wikipedia5) House, not wanting her son Luke to find out that it was his mother who called, told the boy that he had his boss, Lisa Cuddy, administrator and Medical Dean at PPTH, call Child Welfare for him.(Wikipedia5) Likewise, if House is unable to figure out an illness that a patient has, he becomes both frustrated and even more determined and driven to find out the cause of the illness. In season 3, episode 3, an elderly man, Dr. Ezra Powell, a well renowned pioneer in medical research, collapses and, after several failed attempts at diagnosing him, Powell demands to be euthanized.(Wikipedia5) House, devious as ever, agrees to Powell’s demands, much to the chagrin of most of his team.(Wikipedia5) However, unbeknownst to his fellows, instead of assisting in Powell’s suicide, House puts the elderly researcher into a chemically induced coma so that he’s able to figure out what’s wrong with Dr. Powell.(Wikipedia5) Oddly enough, House gets his answer from red thong-underwear which he dubs as “Congo-red” and credits as his “muse” to the diagnoses.(Wikipedia5) Powell has sub-type AA amyloyidosis, which is fatal.(Wikipedia5) In this episode, House also surprises views when he tell his female fellow, Dr. Cameron, that he’s proud of her for doing what she thought was right (assisting Powell in his euthanization after finding the doctor had a terminal disease).(wikipedia5) It’s one of the few times early in the series that fans see House reaching out to one of his distressed fellows which he usually keeps at arms’ length.
House’s motto is “Everybody lies”, which is repeated throughout the show because House chooses to believe in the pessimistic world. Perhaps he’s projecting his inner-cynicism on others, but generally House is right, and patients lie in one form or another(wikipedia5). When, in the first season, Dr. Eric Foreman, another of House’s fellows, asks whether or not the reason they became doctors was to treat patients, House replies with, “No, treating illnesses is why we became doctors. Treating patients is what makes most doctors miserable.” (wikipedia5) This not only shows his intolerance to people, but also his obsession with finding the answers to the puzzle or mystery.(wikipedia5) House doesn’t care who he insults, how dangerous or unlawful a procedure may be, or really whether or the patient lives or dies as long as he’s able to figure out the cause for the illness – as long as he’s able to get the answer before the disease takes the patient’s life(wikipedia5). This is also the reason House hates clinic duty, because the cases that he deals with offer no intellectual challenge to him. Also in the first season, House walks into a clinic room as the patient is ready to leave, and the following conversation transpires:
“I should go.”
“You think it’s going to come out on its own? Are we talking bigger than a bread basket? Because, actually, it will come out on its own, which for small stuff is no problem – it’s wrapped up in a nice soft package and plop. Big stuff – you’re going to rip something, which, speaking medically, is when the fun stops.”
“How did you –”
“You’ve been here half an hour and you haven’t sat down; that tells me its location. You haven’t told me what it is; that tells me it’s humiliating. You have a little birdie carved under your arm, and that tells me you have a high tolerance for humiliation, so I’m figuring it’s not hemorrhoids. I’ve been a doctor for twenty years. You’re not going to surprise me.”
“It’s an MP3 player.”
“Hmm is it… is it because of the size or the shape… or is it the pounding bass line?”
“What are we going to do?”
“I’m going to wait.”
“For what?!”
[Scene change: House walks out of the clinic]
“Okay. It’s 3 o’clock; I’m off. Could you tell Dr. Cuddy there’s a patient in exam room 2 that needs her attention? And the RIAA wants her to check for illegal downloads.” (wikipedia5)
House is able to tell exactly what’s wrong with the clinic patient just by walking into the exam room – the patient had something stuck in his rectal-cavity – and there was no “medical” exam that needed to be done.(wikipedia5) House was able to induce what was wrong just by studying his surroundings; there was no mental challenge.(wikipedia5) To make things more interesting to him as well as to anger Cuddy enough to release him from clinic duty, he waits until his shift is over and passes the case onto Cuddy. (wikipedia5)
And, much like Holmes and most of the Victorian people, House is a drug addict. Throughout 5 of the 6 seasons, he’s seen popping Vicodin and other drugs in an attempt to relieve pain in his leg due to muscle death – which is also the reason he walks with a cane. (wikipedia5) In the very first season, viewers are exposed to his drug addiction when House declares to the clinic:
Hello, sick people and their loved ones! In the interest of saving time and avoiding a lot of boring chitchat later, I’m Doctor Gregory House; you can call me ‘Greg’. I’m one of three doctors staffing this clinic this morning…. This ray of sunshine is Doctor Lisa Cuddy. Dr. Cuddy runs this whole hospital, so unfortunately she’s much too busy to deal with you. I am board…certified diagnostician with a double specialty of infectious disease and nephrology. I am also the only doctor currently employed at this hospital who is forced to be here against his will. But not to worry, because for most of you, this job could be done by a monkey with a bottle of Motrin. Speaking of which, if you’re particularly annoying, you may see me reach for this: this is Vicodin. It’s mine! You can’t have any! And no, I do not have a pain management problem; I have a pain problem… but who knows? Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe I’m too stoned to tell. So, who wants me? (wikipedia5)
This not only illustrates his sarcasm and wit, but also shows his indifference to the fact that he is, indeed, addicted to drugs. House seems to have no problem with this fact. His addiction plays a role into bringing in the supernatural aspect later in the series after two characters die – Amber and Kutner – at the end of season 4 and the near-end of season 5.(wikipedia5) Just after Kutner’s suicide – which has no apparent reason, and that irks House because he can’t find a reason for Kutner’s death – House begins to see hallucinations of Amber and occasionally of Kutner. (wikipedia5) These prove to be drug-induced visions from his usage of Vicodin, which House justifies by saying several times through the seasons, “If I’m in a buttload of pain, I need a buttload of pills.”(wikipedia5)
Much like House, Holmes proves to be rude – although it’s not in the sense of rude as people think of it today, rather very much the Victorian sense of rude in that he says what he thinks and doesn’t care what people think, really. Holmes wouldn’t be the gallant Victorian gentleman, but he’s still quite the unusual hero. In The Hound of Baskerville, while Holmes is questioning Mrs. Lyons/Stapleton about her true identity, Holmes says what exactly he has induced much to the distress of the Lady. (Doyel1) She “sprang from the chair” and once she was seated again, as she raged on in a lady’s fashion, Holmes simply “shrugged his shoulders” and continued with his great induction.(Doyel1) Further in the inquisition, Holmes says much to her respite, “I have come prepared to do so,” as she demands proof.(Doyel1)
Holmes also frustrates those around him by coming to a deduction and not telling anyone about the answers he was able to suddenly draw. Watson writes:
“One of Sherlock Holmes’ defects – if, indeed one may call it a defect – was that he was exceedingly loth to communicate his full plans to any other person until the instant of their fulfillment. Partly it came no doubt from his own masterful nature, which loved to dominate and surprise those who were around him. Partly also from his agents and assistants. I had often suffered under it…”(Doyel1)
This is much like what poor Dr. Wilson would say about how House is able to draw his own deductions from their conversations. Often House leaves Dr. Wilson in the middle of a conversation without telling anyone what conclusion he’s come to; he simply gimps off to treat the patient with the deduced cure.(Doyel1, wikipedia5) Here, Dr. Watson shares sentiments that are very similar to Dr. Wilson’s complaints, both great thinkers rushing off to put their plans into motion. (Doyel1,wikipedia5)
And, much like Dr. House, Holmes was a drug addict. His main drug of choice was cocaine, however he also uses morphine – which later becomes very similar to Vicodin, for both are opiates.(Doyle 1-3, wikipedia6) Also, what should be noted between the two forms of abode – one being named House, and the other being named Holmes – is that they both use methods that would generally be looked down upon in most circles: things like lying and breaking into others’ homes(Doyle 1,2 wikipedia6 ).
As a show, House M.D. is very much like a Victorian novel. It has all the trimmings: drama, romance, wit and humor, suspense, struggle and reform, as well as mystery and reason.(Frick, wikipedia5)
The romance that takes place between Dr. Cameron and House that takes place during the first several seasons is often compared to that of Rochester and Jane Eyre from the book Jane Eyre. House plays the role of Rochester in the somewhat one-sided romance, for, like Rochester, House isn’t the typical type of aesthetic handsome that most people associate with the Victorian hero, and Cameron is the typical Jane; she’s plain and simple and often lets her emotions take over.(Wikipedia5, Bronte) She, like Jane, also sometimes flies into fits of emotion over moral issues such as the aforementioned case of euthanization. (wikipedia5, Bronte)
Likewise, some of House’s most touching cases involve children or child-like behavior, which is one of the themes of Victorian literature. (Frick, wikipedia5) Take the episode entitled “Half-wit” where a man – Patrick - was in an accident when he was a boy, turning him into an autistic-like savant, meaning that his innocence is preserved from childhood.(wikipedia5) This episode also shows some elements of supernatural elements in that Patrick – a man who has never had any musical training – becomes a piano prodigy after the accident because the right half of his brain shuts down, thus giving Patrick his mysterious gift for music.(wikipedia5) It’s also shown in this episode just how low House will go to get his drugs. He fakes brain cancer to have an experimental device inserted into the pleasure center of his brain to help with his depression – basically a constant flow of “happy drugs”.(wikipedia5) It also chronicles the amount of angst in which his team and friends are put through – Cameron going as far as kissing House to get a blood sample, Chase giving him a hug, and all three fellows being more concerned about House and finding a way to fix their boss rather than the patient as well as how Dr. Wilson, House’s only real true friend, is affected by this sudden turn of events.(wikipedia5) Wilson is concerned for his friend, and after he finds out that it’s all just a hoax from House to get more drugs, becomes increasingly agitated and finally says that, contrary to popular belief, people with family and friends are the least likely to suffer from depression; strange, considering House has friends and people to be around, his health, and yet he faked cancer and pushed everyone who cared away(wikipedia5).
Therefore, the Victorian method is still alive and well today in the 21st Century. Although most people today think about the Victorian novel and shudder, many don’t realize that it’s paramount in the television shows that are broadcasted around the world. The main program that embodies this concept is House M.D., where the ideology of the show is the ideology of the Victorians, and where Doctor Gregory House is most like the great Victorian detective Sherlock Holmes. Both are masters of induction and deduction as well as great fans of logic and reason. Both become frustrated when either element is present in a situation and always look for some way to have reason take center stage. Also, both come to conclusions through an interesting and nonconventional method of deduction in which the thought process is known only to their minds. Likewise, both men draw their deductions from a dear friend and confidant who often spur on their thoughts. Hence, the best way to represent the Victorian Era in today’s culture is through the television show House M.D., and the best representation of a Victorian Novel man is Doctor Gregory House – a modern-day representation of Master Detective Sherlock Holmes.
Works Cited
1 – Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan. “The Hound of Baskerville” The Strand Magazine vol. xxii No.128. August, 1901-April, 1902.
2 – Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan. “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes” The Strand Magazine. 1875.
3 – Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan. “The Return of Sherlock Holmes” The Strand Magazine vol.xxvi No.154. October, 1903 – December, 1905.
4 – Frick, Dr. Patricia. Class Lectures and Notes, fall quarter 2009 September 15-November23.
5 –Wikipedia. “House MD Summaries, Seasons 1-6” Updated November, 2009. http://www.wikipedia.com/housesummaries
7 – Bronte, Charlotte. “Jane Eyre” Smith, Elder & Co, England, 1847
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