本論文旨在以男性研究的角度來探討愛倫坡和柯南道爾的偵探故事。文中指出兩位十九世紀的偵探小說作家於創作時期都面臨到了男性意識的危機。 愛倫坡因身處經濟拮据的環境亦為弱勢的南方作家，因而使他無法符合美國十九世紀初以男性為主要背負家庭生計角色的標準；柯南道爾雖然位居醫生的職位卻無法擁有相當的財富，也讓他無法達到維多利亞時代對於男性的標準。為了重塑自己的男性尊嚴，兩位作家不約而同在他們的小說中創造一個全知全能、如神一般的男性偵探角色。藉由小說中的偵探展現出專屬於男性的特質：以理性思考的能力來勝過他們的友人，警方以及罪犯，成為故事中保有最崇高地位的人，愛倫坡和柯南道爾都想要藉此男性偵探人物來重建自己的男性意識。最終，這兩位作家都成功地於故事中重塑自己的男子氣概。但只有柯南道爾在後來真實的人生中完成了這項任務，而愛倫坡終其一生卻都十分貧困甚至死無善終。反之，隨著福爾摩斯故事的廣受歡迎，柯南道爾不但重塑了自己的男性意識，甚至進而成為英國男性意識的代表人物。也因如此，在後來的福爾摩斯故事中，道爾將他的偵探塑造為英國男性意識的保護者來阻擋其受各種威脅的侵襲。 This thesis endeavors to study Edgar Allan Poe’s and Arthur Conan Doyle’s detective stories from a male study approach. I will argue that, for personal as well as social reasons, both nineteenth century detective fiction writers face “Masculinity Crisis” when they write their detective stories. Poe didn’t meet the standard of early nineteenth century American manhood as a breadwinner because of his financial inability and his status as a southern writer, whereas Doyle also failed to become the ideal Victorian man for his insufficient income as a doctor to be a provider and protector of his family. In order to reconstruct their manliness, both of them create their detectives as omnipotent, god-like men. With their detectives exercising masculine characteristics such as reasoning skill in outwitting over their friends, the police and the criminals, and thus hold the supreme position in the literary world, Poe and Doyle attempt to rebuild their male identities in the real world. At the end, both detective writers had successfully reconstructed their masculinities in their detective stories; however, only Doyle had reclaimed his manliness in his real life later. While Poe died miserably and remained poverty-stricken for his whole life, Doyle not only rebuilt his male identity with the success of his Sherlock Holmes narratives, he even turned into an icon for British masculinity. That is why, in Holmes’s later adventures, Doyle’s detective further becomes the protector of British manhood to prevent it from the danger of various threats.
