Arthur J. Raffles (usually called A. J. Raffles) is a fictional character created in 1898 by E. W. Hornung, brother-in-law of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes. Raffles is, in many ways, an inversion of Holmeshe is a "gentleman thief", living at the Albany, a prestigious address in London, also rents an art studio as his own fence after jobs, playing cricket as a gentleman (or "amateur") for the Gentlemen of England and supporting himself by carrying out ingenious burglaries. He is called the "Amateur Cracksman" and often, at first, differentiates between him and the "professors"professional criminals from the lower classes.
As Holmes has Dr. Watson to chronicle his adventures, Raffles has Harry "Bunny" Mandersa former schoolmate saved from disgrace by Raffles, whom Raffles persuaded to accompany him on a burglary. Raffles is an expert thief and like Holmes, he is a master of disguise. Raffles's adventures have been adapted across various media, the character played by a number of popular actors including Anthony Valentine and John Barrymore and David Niven.
Inspiration Hornung was inspired by the Sherlock Holmes stories of his brother-in-law Arthur Conan Doyle and dedicated The Amateur Cracksman to Doyle: "To A. C. D. This Form of Flattery".Hornung (2003) , "Introduction" by Richard Lancelyn Green, p. xxxv. It has been suggested that Raffles's name may have been inspired by the title of Doyle's 1891 novel The Doings of Raffles Haw. Richard Lancelyn Green points out that Raffles shares his first name with Conan Doyle and with Hornung's son, Arthur Oscar Hornung. Raffles's initials are those of Hornung's housemaster at Uppingham School, A. J. Tuck and reversed, those of J. A. Turner, the cricket captain at Uppingham during 1882, Hornung's first year.Hornung (2003) , "Notes" by Richard Lancelyn Green, p. 142.
The model for Raffles was George Ives, a Cambridge-educated criminologist and talented cricketer, according to Andrew Lycett. Hornung and Ives played cricket for the Authors Cricket Club. Ives was privately homosexual and although Hornung "may not have understood this sexual side of Ives' character", Raffles "enjoys a remarkably intimate relationship with his sidekick Bunny Manders". Owen Dudley Edwards writes that Raffles and Bunny are "an imitation of Holmes and Watson which is very obviously homosexual", while C. P. Snow, in a 1975 review, describes their relationship as juvenile and innocent but with homosexual undertones.Hornung (2003) , "Introduction" by Richard Lancelyn Green, p. xlv. Raffles is also shown to have romantic relationships with the Neapolitan girl Faustina (in "The Fate of Faustina") and a woman artist using the name Jacques Saillard (in "An Old Flame"). Biographer Peter Rowland notes that these relationships are not shown until the second Raffles story collection, The Black Mask.Rowland (1999), p. 137. "The latent homosexuality, it should be added (and as Owen Dudley Edwards has pointed out), is played down in the two subsequent volumes of short stories. In The Black Mask Raffles tells Bunny about his romance with the ill-fated Faustina and later re-encounters an old flame in the shape of Jacques Saillard".
Rowland writes that Raffles and Manders were also fictionalised versions of Oscar Wilde and his lover, Lord Alfred Douglas.Rowland (2004). Characters in Hornung's 1896 short story "After the Fact" were prototypes for Raffles and Bunny. In "After the Fact", which is set in Australia, a young man, Bower, discovers that the man he used to fag for at school, Deedes, is a burglar. Hornung explained in an interview with Tit-Bits in 1909: A good many years ago I wrote a story about a public-school villain; he committed a terrible crime in Australia, and was met by his old fag, who shielded him. Unfortunately, I killed the villain at the end of the story. One day my brother-in-law, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, to whom I owe a very great deal, said to me, 'What a pity you killed that fellow! A public-school villain would be a new figure for a series. Why not revive him?' 'I don't believe I could write such a series to save my life,' I replied. However, I was advised to think the suggestion over. I did so, and the eventual result was a variation of the type in the shape of Raffles.Hornung (2003) , "Introduction" by Richard Lancelyn Green, pp. xx–xxi.
"After the Fact" was inspired by Hornung's travels in Australia and by his only experience with a real burglar, which occurred while the author was living at Teddington, England. Hornung described the incident to Tit-Bits in 1909 when discussing Raffles, though the burglar was unimpressive and nothing like the gentleman thief character. Hornung had been asked by a house's caretakers to help them catch a burglar, who tried to hide in a space under the kitchen floor but was ultimately apprehended by a policeman.Hornung (2003) , "Introduction" by Richard Lancelyn Green, p. xix. Quote from Hornung: "[The policeman] peered underneath the floor with his lantern, at which the burglar began throwing bits of builders' chips. Suddenly the policeman beamed upon us all. 'He hit me on the leg!' he cried. 'I'll charge him with that!' They had to pull up the whole floor before they unearthed a wizened half-starved creature, who whiningly exclaimed, 'I ain't been doing nothing. I only came in to 'ave a smoke!' The poor little performer got two months, but I never heard how much of it was for assaulting the six-foot constable with a missile perhaps the size of a pea!"
In his book Raffles and His Creator, Peter Rowland states that Deedes is Raffles's prototype, but also differs significantly from Raffles. While Raffles and Deedes are both charismatic, Raffles has a code of honour and "is not really evil at all" according to Rowland, whereas Deedes "turns very nasty indeed" after Bower tries to get him to return the money he stole. Rowland writes that "Hornung (having passed the midway point of his story) had realised that he was on very dangerous ground and had speedily de-glamorised Deedes. Morality had been asserted at the eleventh hour, and justice had to be administered without further ado.... After experimenting with his new concept in 'After the Fact', Hornung was aware that his amateur cracksman would have to be a thoroughly decent chap even if he is a bit of a law-breaker."Rowland (1999), pp. 128–129. Furthermore, Raffles views burglary as a sporting challenge and has a prominent position in society (as a gentleman cricketer), unlike Deedes, who is only after money and is a social outcast.Rowland (1999), pp. 129–130.
Fictional biography History
Raffles has a sister.Hornung, E. W. "The Return Match", The Amateur Cracksman. 706. "I don't say much about my people, Bunny, but I have the best of sisters married to a country parson in the eastern counties. They always make me welcome, and let me read the lessons for the sake of getting me to church." At his public school, Raffles played cricket and was captain of the eleven. He also played rugby football. He attended the same public school as Bunny, who was Raffles's fag (a junior student who does menial jobs for an older student). In "The Ides of March" Bunny says that Raffles was kind to him at school. In turn, Bunny would help Raffles sneak out of their dormitory at night, pulling up the rope after him and later letting it down for him to climb back in. Raffles stole at least one policeman's helmet while at Oxford according to the short story "A Costume Piece", but was a member of the Cambridge cricket team according to "The Field of Philippi". Raffles eventually becomes a gentleman cricketer. At one point, he goes to Australia to play cricket and commits his first burglary there, as he tells Bunny in "Le Premier Pas". He uses the prestige of his sporting fame to maintain his standing in London society, while secretly supporting himself with burglary. Raffles plays for multiple cricket clubs and teams, including I Zingari, the Gentlemen against the Players, the Middlesex eleven,Hornung, E. W. "The Chest of Silver" and "The Rest Cure", A Thief in the Night. and the English team.Hornung, E. W. "A Bad Night", A Thief in the Night. 2098. He lives in the Albany, a prestigious residential building in London.
Ten years after they were at their public school together,Hornung, E. W. "The Ides of March", The Amateur Cracksman. 706. Exactly," said Raffles, nodding to himself, as though in assent to some hidden train of thought; "exactly what I remember of you, and I'll bet it's as true now as it was ten years ago. Raffles meets Bunny again when they play baccarat with others in "The Ides of March". Raffles saves Bunny from disgrace and suicide, and Bunny becomes his accomplice. "The Ides of March" takes place in March 1891 (according to biographer Peter Rowland).Rowland (1999), p. 122. Raffles and Bunny act as "amateur" (gentleman) thieves and rob wealthy members of London society while appearing respectable. They encounter a rival thief, Crawshay, in "Gentlemen and Players" and again in "The Return Match". Scotland Yard detective Inspector Mackenzie, who is first mentioned in "A Costume Piece" and is first seen by Bunny in "Gentlemen and Players", is suspicious of Raffles. Inspector Mackenzie ultimately exposes Raffles and Bunny as burglars in "The Gift of the Emperor" on a passenger liner. Raffles jumps overboard, and is believed to have drowned, while Bunny is arrested and serves a term of eighteen months in prison.
Raffles survives and goes to Italy, where he endures hardships, as he later tells Bunny in "The Fate of Faustina". Raffles returns to England, and in "No Sinecure", set in May 1897, Raffles, now in disguise so that the police will not realize he is alive, reunites with Bunny. They become "professional" thieves and no longer have their old positions as respectable gentlemen in society. Initially, Raffles pretends to be an invalid named Mr. Maturin living under a doctor's supervision in an Earl's Court flat, with Bunny as his nurse. After Raffles fakes his death a second time in "An Old Flame", they move to a cottage owned by a genial landlady on the edge of Ham Common, where Raffles pretends he is Bunny's brother Ralph. In December 1899, Raffles and Bunny become interested in the Boer War. In 1900, they decide to volunteer for service in the war, leaving England in February and enlisting in South Africa. Six months after first taking an interest in the war, Raffles is killed in battle. Bunny, wounded in battle, eventually returns to England and writes about his adventures with Raffles.
Appearance
At the start of the series, Raffles has piercing steel blue eyes, curly black hair, pale skin, an athletic build, a strong, unscrupulous mouth, and is clean-shaven.Hornung, The Amateur Cracksman, chapter "Nine Points of the Law", p. 160.Hornung, The Amateur Cracksman, chapter "The Ides of March", p. 11. As Raffles tells Bunny, after recounting his first burglary: I used to have rather a heavy moustache," said Raffles, "but I lost it the day after I lost my innocence.Hornung, The Amateur Cracksman, chapter "Le Premier Pas", p. 146. He is some years older than Bunny, who is thirty years old in "An Old Flame", which takes place sometime after Raffles and Bunny reunite in "No Sinecure".
After returning from Italy, Raffles's appearance is considerably aged due to his hardships abroad. His face is more wrinkled and pale than before, he appears weakened, and his hair has turned completely white. His sharp eyes and strong mouth, however, are unchanged.Hornung, The Black Mask, chapter "No Sinecure", p. 17. His physical strength later returns to him when he and Bunny move to live in the suburbs, where Raffles also wears clouded spectacles during the day to partially conceal his face.Hornung, The Black Mask, chapter "The Wrong House", pp. 214–215.