In an essay for Lit Hub, Megan Volpert says perfume is an overlooked literary device for communicating character, relationships, theme, and emotion.
“A perfume can create avenues for deception, subterfuge, transgression, deviance and so on,” Volpert says, noting that the villains in mystery novels are often associated with perfume or cologne. In Louise Penny’s All the Devils are Here, specific scents communicate personality, suggest that a murderer is near, and later provide a clue to the killer’s identity. Meanwhile, the hero detective smells of an unnamed sandalwood and is no expert on fragrance.
In contrast, the notably odd and slightly sinister (depending on the portrayal) Sherlock Holmes has an acute sense of smell and vast knowledge of fragrances. “There is something about Sherlock that leaves a reader uneasy,” Volpert writes. “Subsequent film and television portrayals of him have leaned heavily on his interest in fragrance as a mark of his intellectual giftedness and equally a sign of his darkness.” Perfumes are also the calling cards of femmes fatale and gay libertines.
