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A Critical Study of Agatha Christie's Wo © March 2021| IJIRT | Volume 7 Issue 10 | ISSN: 2349-6002 Female Sleuths and Edwardian New Woman: A Critical Study of Agatha Christie’s Women Athira Anilkumar English Literature, Postgraduate, former Assistant Professor of Soka Ikeda College Abstract - The traditional gender roles assigned to women entertain the readers, she was criticized for anti- in literature were crushed by many women writers who feminist characters in her writings. But a close reading depicted women in unconventional roles and a major of her works reveals very strong and independent writer among them is Agatha Christie. In detective female characters that were capable of breaking the fiction, majority of leading characters have always been norms of Victorian society. men and women used to be the victims of the crime. But Agatha Christie broke away from this conventional The 1900’s witnessed a drastic change in the condition trend in crime fiction and created intelligent female of women and with the right to suffrage, inherit detectives. She gave heroic attributes to women property and earn wages brought freedom into their characters and proved that they are also capable of then restricted lifestyle. The Post World Era which achieving the goals like men. She fought Victorian strengthened their willpower saw the emergence of the literary conventions, which depicted women as weak and iconic new woman of 1920’s. The roaring twenties dependent on men, to bring out females with sharp and saw a sudden change of society into modern brilliant minds. But she was strongly criticized by her consumerism and hot gender debates. The new contemporaries for her stereotypical female characters. empowerment was evident in the way of dressing and This paper analyses the effective portrayal of the strong and independent female detectives and new women of style. The image of a flapper with a bob hairstyle and 1920’s in Christie’s work. This paper also aims at finding short skirts or the androgynous look with shirt and the feminist traits in Christie’s women characters and trousers became a symbol of Edwardian new woman. their role in shattering the conventional stereotypes of This image of the modern woman created a gender women in crime fiction. revolution and negotiation. Agatha Christie who started her writing career around this turbulent period Index Terms - detective fiction, female detectives, 1920’s was evidently influenced by the social scenario of the new woman, gender revolution, gender, feminism, time and mended her characters accordingly. flapper, sleuth, stereotype, surplus woman, spinster. In her works, one can find a wide array of women characters ranging from submissive wives, INTRODUCTION compassionate mothers, naïve young women and intelligent sleuths to ambitious career woman, Agatha Christie, popularly known as “Queen of inquisitive spinsters, modern flappers, unmarried Mystery or Queen of Crime”, is a best-selling author mothers, charming mistresses, and malicious of detective fiction. She, along with Arthur Conan murderers. She was often criticized for the traditional Doyle, is regarded as one of the chief exponents of gender stereotypes and villainous women characters in Golden Age of Detective Fiction. Agatha Christie is her novels. Critics targeted her for overt sexism and remembered for her creation of extraordinary her for being not a feminist. The diverse unconventional and innovative characterization of characterisation of Christie revealed an audacious detectives. Though she was a prolific author, popular notion that women are capable of doing anything and among the literary circle and admired by both male no way inferior to men. The virtuous and vicious and female readers, the critics undervalued her works women of Agatha Christie were a realistic portrayal of as ones with no literary merit. But, during 1990’s, the innate ability of the women in a patriarchal society. critics started studying her as a serious and genuine Consciously or unconsciously, Christie created some writer of fiction and one of the major figures of marvelous bold characters who, when analysed popular literature. Even if her female characters IJIRT 150915 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INNOVATIVE RESEARCH IN TECHNOLOGY 269 © March 2021| IJIRT | Volume 7 Issue 10 | ISSN: 2349-6002 through the feminist lens, broke away the societal she is a jaunty young woman who doesn’t want to norms and stopped acting as the angel in the house. please or follow the customs of being a good There are many examples for new women in housewife and is not afraid of constant criticism from Christie’s works like Lady Eileen “Bundle”Brent, Ann the older ladies. Mrs Summerhayes of Mrs McGinty’s Beddingfield and Henrietta Savarnake. They are Dead is another example for woman who enjoys a adventurous, free-spirited women who are not ready to happy married life but not entangled by the societal be tamed by the conservative society. They are always norm of being a good custodian of the household. ready to embark on an adventure all alone. The iconic Joanna Burton of The Moving Finger is a lively young flapper of 1920’s was notorious for smoking, drinking woman who is eager to get into married life but doesn’t alcohol, driving cars, and having affairs with men. But get along the traditional way of being a gentle, not all of them went to this extreme to celebrate their submissive prospective bride. She is a sprightly young newfound freedom and selfhood, and those kinds of empowered modern woman who rides cars, criticizes women are depicted in Christie’s novels. Bundle Brent the chauvinistic men around her and cannot be who appeared first in The Secret of Chimneys is a disciplined according to the ways of a conformist brisk and energetic young woman who with her lifestyle. courage and intelligence helps in solving mysteries. Tuppence Beresford is one of the famous female Like most of the new women she is a lover of driving sleuths of Agatha Christie. She is a representative and likes to ride her Hispano-Suiza car so fast to be figure of new woman. She is a professional woman called as a terrific rider. Likewise, Henrietta, an who chose a modern career, which was not much antagonistic mistress to a murder victim, in The sought after by women, to satiate an excited, eventful Hollow is very fond of driving alone so that she can life. This female detective, in her first appearance in enjoy her escapades to the fullest. She is a self-made The Secret Adversary, is shown as a young pert side woman, who is a professional sculptor and lives a life kick to the male lead investigator, later on swaps the on her own way. Anne, the protagonist of The Man in gender roles and becomes the superior figure. She the Brown Suit is a fearless young woman who makes marries the male detective Tommy Beresford but a daring quest to a strange foreign land to unite with a continues her career even after the marriage. Her man she loves. active feminine intuitive nature gets more attention All these young woman shatters the concept of than the passive masculine rationality of Tommy. marriage prevailed at that time. Anne and Bundle Being the active one among the detective duo she is Brent reject the socially elite proposals of marriage the initiator of the investigation and finds immense which were the ultimate goal of young women of the pleasure and excitement in unravelling a mystery. Edwardian conservative society to find their own self Though she assumes the role of a mother and wife as and identity. They smash the Victorian concept of well, she is not ready to get stuck into the home women being weak. There is an instance where Anne comforts. Tuppence rejects the idea of being inferior remarks that in the beginning the nomadic men and and wants to bring parity in her relationship with women were strong alike and she believes that Tommy. Tuppence does not like the idea of Tommy innately women are as strong as men. Although these looking after her; rather she wants to be self-reliant representative flapper figures are not portrayed as and treated as an equal so that they can solve the reckless, they are highly opinionated clever women mystery together. Serving as a nurse and driver during with a zest for life. the First World War made her a strong-willed woman There are some characters who entered or want to who does not want to be inferior to man in her abilities. enter in a successful married life, rejects the idea of This helps her cross the boundaries existed between being submissive in a liaison. They don’t succumb to the traditional detective duo of male being the the age-old ways of domesticity like acting as a good dominant and female being the subservient. Tommy caretaker of a house, tending a garden or even cooking and Tuppence appear in five works of Christie where scrumptious meals. The young wife, Griselda of The Tuppence at times becomes the leading investigator by Murder at the Vicarage, being a Vicar’s wife is finding a fair share of clues which Tommy could not. supposed to be a woman who follows the traditional Her spontaneous quick-witted nature and Tommy’s ways of looking after a household. On the other hand, deductive ability makes them solve the case and IJIRT 150915 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INNOVATIVE RESEARCH IN TECHNOLOGY 270 © March 2021| IJIRT | Volume 7 Issue 10 | ISSN: 2349-6002 complement each other as opposed to the usual power innocent and sociable image of a surplus woman of politics between a detective couple. 1920’s was seen in the later detective characters such While creating the crime fiction writer Ariadne Oliver, as Dorothy Sayer’s Miss Climpson, Patricia Agatha Christie tried to mirror herself.
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