Irene Adler

Outer characterization

Irene Adler is a main character in the story “A Scandal in Bohemia” by Arthur Conan Doyle. She is an American adventuress and former opera singer. She used to be a prima donna at the Imperial Opera of Warsaw. She now lives in London. Irene had an affair with the King of Bohemia, who has written her some compromising letters. At the end of the story, Irene Adler is married to Godfrey Norton, a lawyer, and leaves London. She is described as “the daintiest thing under a bonnet” and “a lovely woman, with a face that a man might die for”.

Inner characterization

Irene Adler is described as an “adventuress”, which creates the expectations that she is immoral and willing to do anything for profit. However, in the end, she chooses to keep the photograph of th...