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The Sign of Four key quotes: every quotation analysed
30 quotations from The Sign of Four (Arthur Conan Doyle), each with its speaker and scene, what the words are doing, the techniques at work and how to use it in a AQA GCSE English Literature essay. By character: Sherlock Holmes (12), Dr John Watson (6), Mary Morstan (6), Jonathan Small (6). Indexed by theme below.
A quotation is worth marks only when it is exact and doing work. The Sign of Four is examined on 8702 Paper 1, Section B — The 19th-century novel (closed book; a printed extract, then the novel as a whole), and what scores is the analysis. Every entry here gives the analysis first: read the quotation, then the line on what it is doing, then close the page and say it back. The character studies linked from each section carry the readings and essay arguments the quotations serve; the Grade 9 Notes hold the whole text.
By theme
Love and reason (14) · Reason and deduction (11) · Greed and treasure (5) · Empire, race and the 1857 rebellion (3)
Sherlock Holmes — 12 quotations
Sherlock Holmes: character analysis, readings and essay arguments →
“a seven-per-cent solution”
Holmes (to Watson) · Chapter 1
What it is doing. Holmes names the cocaine he is injecting.
Techniques. Precise detail
In an essay. Open any essay on Holmes's restlessness.
Themes: Reason and deduction
“My mind rebels at stagnation.”
Holmes · Chapter 1
What it is doing. Without problems, his mind turns on itself.
Techniques. Declarative
In an essay. Show genius as a kind of hunger.
Themes: Reason and deduction
“Give me problems, give me work”
Holmes · Chapter 1
What it is doing. He craves intellectual challenge above everything.
Techniques. Repetition · Imperative
In an essay. Pair with the cocaine to show his need.
Themes: Reason and deduction
“I abhor the dull routine of existence.”
Holmes · Chapter 1
What it is doing. Ordinary life is unbearable to him.
Techniques. Hyperbole
In an essay. Show his isolation from ordinary life.
Themes: Reason and deduction
“Detection is, or ought to be, an exact science”
Holmes · Chapter 1
What it is doing. His creed: detection as scientific method.
Techniques. Scientific diction
In an essay. Central evidence for reason as an ideal.
Themes: Reason and deduction
“cold and unemotional manner”
Holmes · Chapter 1
What it is doing. Detection should exclude feeling entirely.
Techniques. Adjectives
In an essay. Link his method to his coldness.
Themes: Reason and deduction · Love and reason
“A client is to me a mere unit”
Holmes · Chapter 2
What it is doing. He treats Mary as part of a problem.
Techniques. Dehumanising abstraction
In an essay. Contrast with Watson's view of Mary.
Themes: Love and reason
“The emotional qualities are antagonistic to clear reasoning.”
Holmes · Chapter 2
What it is doing. Feeling, he says, damages judgement.
Techniques. Abstract diction
In an essay. Central evidence for reason against love.
Themes: Love and reason
“when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth”
Holmes · Chapter 6
What it is doing. His principle of elimination in the locked room.
Techniques. Aphorism · Balanced syntax
In an essay. Show his method at its most confident.
Themes: Reason and deduction
“love is an emotional thing”
Holmes · Chapter 12
What it is doing. He sets love against reason at Watson's engagement.
Techniques. Antithesis
In an essay. Show what Holmes refuses when Watson marries.
Themes: Love and reason
“I should never marry myself, lest I bias my judgment”
Holmes · Chapter 12
What it is doing. He chooses reason over marriage for himself.
Techniques. Self-definition
In an essay. Contrast his choice with Watson's engagement to Mary.
Themes: Love and reason
“there still remains the cocaine-bottle”
Holmes · Chapter 12
What it is doing. The novel ends with his emptiness.
Techniques. Circular structure
In an essay. Conclude any essay on Holmes.
Themes: Reason and deduction
Dr John Watson — 6 quotations
Dr John Watson: character analysis, readings and essay arguments →
“morphine or cocaine?”
Watson (to Holmes) · Chapter 1
What it is doing. Watson's weary question shows Holmes's habit.
Techniques. Question
In an essay. Show Watson as anxious friend and doctor.
Themes: Reason and deduction
“risk the loss of those great powers”
Watson (to Holmes) · Chapter 1
What it is doing. He warns Holmes the drug may ruin his mind.
Techniques. Persuasion
In an essay. Show Watson's care for his friend.
Themes: Reason and deduction
“There is something positively inhuman in you at times.”
Watson (to Holmes) · Chapter 2
What it is doing. Watson judges Holmes's coldness about Mary.
Techniques. Judgement
In an essay. Central evidence for Holmes's coldness.
Themes: Love and reason
“her expression was sweet and amiable”
Watson (narrator) · Chapter 2
What it is doing. His first admiring description of Mary.
Techniques. Idealisation
In an essay. Show his love beginning at once.
Themes: Love and reason
“Thank God!”
Watson · Chapter 11
What it is doing. His relief that the treasure is lost.
Techniques. Exclamation
In an essay. Show Watson setting love above greed.
Themes: Greed and treasure · Love and reason
“The division seems rather unfair”
Watson (to Holmes) · Chapter 12
What it is doing. Watson notices Holmes gains nothing from the case.
Techniques. Understatement
In an essay. Frame the ending's unequal rewards.
Themes: Love and reason
Mary Morstan — 6 quotations
Mary Morstan: character analysis, readings and essay arguments →
“a firm step and an outward composure of manner”
Watson (narrator) · Chapter 2
What it is doing. Mary is controlled and dignified on arrival.
Techniques. First impression
In an essay. Show the ideal of composed womanhood.
Themes: Love and reason
“small, dainty, well gloved, and dressed in the most perfect taste”
Watson (narrator) · Chapter 2
What it is doing. Her appearance described in admiring detail.
Techniques. List of adjectives
In an essay. Show Mary seen through Watson's eyes.
Themes: Love and reason
“her expression was sweet and amiable”
Watson (narrator) · Chapter 2
What it is doing. Her character is valued above her looks.
Techniques. Description
In an essay. Discuss how she is idealised by Watson.
Themes: Love and reason
“A client is to me a mere unit”
Holmes (of clients like Mary) · Chapter 2
What it is doing. Holmes reduces Mary to part of a problem.
Techniques. Abstraction
In an essay. Contrast the two men's views of her.
Themes: Love and reason
“Thank God!”
Watson (to Mary) · Chapter 11
What it is doing. The lost treasure makes Mary reachable for Watson.
Techniques. Exclamation
In an essay. Show Mary freed from the treasure.
Themes: Greed and treasure
“I think she is one of the most charming young ladies I ever met”
Holmes (of Mary) · Chapter 12
What it is doing. Even Holmes admires Mary's qualities.
Techniques. Praise
In an essay. Show her intelligence recognised by Holmes.
Themes: Love and reason
Jonathan Small — 6 quotations
Jonathan Small: character analysis, readings and essay arguments →
“the sign of the four”
Paper found among Captain Morstan's things, and again at the murder · Chapters 3–6
What it is doing. The mark of the four men's pact over the treasure.
Techniques. Title motif
In an essay. Link the title to greed and vengeance.
Themes: Greed and treasure
“The Tragedy of Pondicherry Lodge”
Chapter title · Chapter 5
What it is doing. The death Small's return brings to the Sholtos.
Techniques. Chapter title
In an essay. Show the cost of Small's revenge.
Themes: Greed and treasure
“The End of the Islander”
Chapter title · Chapter 10
What it is doing. Tonga is named only by his origin, never as a person.
Techniques. Chapter title · Dehumanisation
In an essay. Name how the novel denies Tonga personhood.
“The Great Agra Treasure”
Chapter title · Chapter 11
What it is doing. The fortune is named by its imperial origin.
Techniques. Chapter title
In an essay. Trace the treasure back to empire.
Themes: Greed and treasure · Empire, race and the 1857 rebellion
“The Strange Story of Jonathan Small”
Chapter title · Chapter 12
What it is doing. The novel gives its last chapter to Small.
Techniques. Embedded narrative
In an essay. Discuss how his voice complicates guilt.
“there still remains the cocaine-bottle”
Holmes · Chapter 12
What it is doing. After Small's story, Holmes returns to emptiness.
Techniques. Juxtaposition
In an essay. Contrast Small's passion with Holmes's emptiness.
Themes: Reason and deduction
The quotations by theme
Love and reason (14)
Love and reason in The Sign of Four, taught in full →
- “cold and unemotional manner” — Sherlock Holmes, Chapter 1
- “A client is to me a mere unit” — Sherlock Holmes, Chapter 2
- “The emotional qualities are antagonistic to clear reasoning.” — Sherlock Holmes, Chapter 2
- “love is an emotional thing” — Sherlock Holmes, Chapter 12
- “I should never marry myself, lest I bias my judgment” — Sherlock Holmes, Chapter 12
- “There is something positively inhuman in you at times.” — Dr John Watson, Chapter 2
- “her expression was sweet and amiable” — Dr John Watson, Chapter 2
- “Thank God!” — Dr John Watson, Chapter 11
- “The division seems rather unfair” — Dr John Watson, Chapter 12
- “a firm step and an outward composure of manner” — Mary Morstan, Chapter 2
- “small, dainty, well gloved, and dressed in the most perfect taste” — Mary Morstan, Chapter 2
- “her expression was sweet and amiable” — Mary Morstan, Chapter 2
- “A client is to me a mere unit” — Mary Morstan, Chapter 2
- “I think she is one of the most charming young ladies I ever met” — Mary Morstan, Chapter 12
Reason and deduction (11)
Reason and deduction in The Sign of Four, taught in full →
- “a seven-per-cent solution” — Sherlock Holmes, Chapter 1
- “My mind rebels at stagnation.” — Sherlock Holmes, Chapter 1
- “Give me problems, give me work” — Sherlock Holmes, Chapter 1
- “I abhor the dull routine of existence.” — Sherlock Holmes, Chapter 1
- “Detection is, or ought to be, an exact science” — Sherlock Holmes, Chapter 1
- “cold and unemotional manner” — Sherlock Holmes, Chapter 1
- “when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains…” — Sherlock Holmes, Chapter 6
- “there still remains the cocaine-bottle” — Sherlock Holmes, Chapter 12
- “morphine or cocaine?” — Dr John Watson, Chapter 1
- “risk the loss of those great powers” — Dr John Watson, Chapter 1
- “there still remains the cocaine-bottle” — Jonathan Small, Chapter 12
Greed and treasure (5)
Greed and treasure in The Sign of Four, taught in full →
- “Thank God!” — Dr John Watson, Chapter 11
- “Thank God!” — Mary Morstan, Chapter 11
- “the sign of the four” — Jonathan Small, Chapters 3–6
- “The Tragedy of Pondicherry Lodge” — Jonathan Small, Chapter 5
- “The Great Agra Treasure” — Jonathan Small, Chapter 11
Empire, race and the 1857 rebellion (3)
Empire, race and the 1857 rebellion in The Sign of Four, taught in full →
- “The End of the Islander” — Jonathan Small, Chapter 10
- “The Great Agra Treasure” — Jonathan Small, Chapter 11
- “The Strange Story of Jonathan Small” — Jonathan Small, Chapter 12
Think you know them?
Knowing a quotation is the start. On Incandio a character or theme counts as mastered only once you have taught it back and defended your reading of it against Arthur Conan Doyle — the two things a quotation list cannot ask of you.
- Teach Sherlock Holmes · Defend your reading against Conan Doyle
- Teach Dr John Watson · Defend your reading against Conan Doyle
- Teach Mary Morstan · Defend your reading against Conan Doyle
- Teach Jonathan Small · Defend your reading against Conan Doyle
- Grade 9 Notes: The Sign of Four · The Sign of Four on Incandio · Every set text
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