MASARYK UNIVERSITY BRNO
Faculty of Education
English Department THE PORTRAIT OF ENGLISH SOCIETY IN SELECTED NOVELS OF AGATHA CHRISTIE
Bachelor thesis
Author: Eva Blažková Supervisor: Mgr. Lucie Podroužková, Ph. D. Brno 2006
Declaration
I declare that I have compiled this final thesis by myself and that I have used only the sources listed in the bibliography.
………………….. List of Contents
1. Introduction...... 1 2. Whodunit...... 3 3. Women and Women’s Issues...... 4 4. Family Life...... 11 5. Servants...... 18 6. Conclusion ...... 30 7. Resume...... 32 8. Bibliography...... 33 9. Appendix...... 34
1. Introduction
The detective stories by Agatha Christie are my big love. I have read almost all her novels and short stories, I even dreamed about becoming a great detective. I just could not decide, whether I would be more like Miss Marple or Mr. Poirot, her two most popular detectives. What makes me like them so much? The character of the great detective, who comes and solves everything at the end of the book by intellectual thinking, exposes the evil and represents the order, is a phenomenon which brings security into our lives and leaves us with the hope for justice. Although the main motive of crime novels is money, the background of these stories is much more diverse. It is the society itself, its relationships and delicate invisible web of consensus and rules which must be obeyed as well as the character and temperament of the people, which forms the complete picture of a crime story. As the title of my thesis indicates, I would like to focus and more deeply comment on some interesting features of the English society as reflected in the works of Agatha Christie. My work is based on the information gathered from her novels Crooked House (1949) , There is a Tide (1948) , Hercule Poirot´s Christmas (1939) , Five Little Pigs (1942) , The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1920) and The Moving Finger (1942) . Agatha Christie is the best selling author of any genre and of all time. Her books have sold over two billion copies in the English language and another billion in over 103 foreign languages. She is famously known as the “Queen of Crime” and is the most important and innovative writer in the development of the English detective fiction. She published over eighty novels and stage plays, many of these featuring one of her main series characters – Hercule Poirot or Miss Marple. Most of her books and short stories have been filmed, her play The Mousetrap holds the record for the longest run ever in London and it is still running in 2006 after more than 20,000 performances. In 1971 she was granted the title of Dame Commander of the British Empire. I consider her one of the most successful women in the world. Her private life was not that happy. Her father died when she was only a child, her first marriage was an unhappy one and was divorced in 1928. However, they had a daughter Rosalind, named after one of Shakespeare’s heroines. During World War I Agatha Christie worked in a hospital and then a pharmacy. This job influenced her
1 detective stories, as many of the murders in her books are committed with the help of poison. Her life carries one big mystery – her disappearance for eleven days in 1926. Her car was found abandoned and in the end she was discovered in a hotel in Harrogate, she herself later claimed to have suffered amnesia due to a nervous breakdown following the death of her mother and her husband’s infidelity. A fictionalised version of the disappearance was recreated in a film Agatha (1971) , starring Vanessa Redgrave as Christie and Dustin Hoffman as a journalist who finds her. In 1930 she remarried to Sir Max Mallowan, a British archaeologist, who was fourteen years younger. This marriage was very happy, although even nowadays the relationship between an older woman and a younger man is seen as something very suspicious and unconventional. I see in this her big courage as well as independent spirit. They visited together the Middle East and several of her novels took place there. She died in 1976 at the age of eighty five and is buried at St. Mary’s Churchyard in Cholsey, Oxon. The aim of this thesis is to examine social aspects of British society between the two world wars as described in her novels, especially the role and nature of the family, the role of women and portrait of social classes and to compare the social background depicted in Agatha Christie’s novels with the available historical facts. I divided my work into four chapters, which concentrate on the typical features of English society between the World War I and World War II. In the first chapter “Whodunit” I want to introduce the classical detective story of “Golden Age” of detective fiction, the typical setting – the English countryside and society which is described it the novels, mainly upper class and upper middle class and also the two main detective characters – Miss Marple and Mr. Poirot. Agatha Christie knew these classes and she depicted very precisely the main features of them – strong sense of possessiveness, deep prejudices and hypocrisy. In the chapter “Women and the Women’s Issues” I would like to discuss the role of a woman in the society and the changing attitude towards women in the first half of the twentieth century. This chapter will also introduce some women characters depicted in Christie’s novels. The third chapter “Family Life” will deal with the picture of a family in Agatha Christie’s books. The family is considered a foundation stone of the society, and the change from the Victorian model of the family to a modern one as we know it nowadays is very interesting. Next chapter, “Servants”, will show the working class – teachers, maids and governesses, their role in Christie’s novel and changes in the society connected with them.
2 2. Whodunit The question “who has done it” is a basic concept of the detective novel from so called Golden Age Mystery novel, where the puzzle itself is the most important thing and where the reader gets many clues from which the murderer can be identified before the solution is revealed in the final pages of the book. The character of the great detective and the mystery which he is solving is the central motive of the detective story, the rest around is reduced to a minimum. (Hilský 1992: 165) The return of a natural and lawful order of the countryside life is the end of the narrative. In the Golden Age of detective novel the writers followed some clichés, which later became unacceptable and ridiculed, for instance very popular was a locked room mystery. It is a particular kind of whodunit, where the crime is committed under impossible circumstances a where the victim was found in a room which was at the time of crime impossible to enter and leave without being seen by the others. The writes also followed distinct rules, where some topics like increasing unemployment, the General Strike of 1926, the Great Depression of the 1930s, the rise of European dictatorships or sexual relationships between the characters of the story are totally excluded (Hilský 1992: 165). Accordingly, the famous rules published in 1929 by Ronald Knox, known as Ten Commandments , Christie followed only partly. In some stories she did not comply with them at all, like in her famous novel The Murder of Roger Ackroyd , where the narrator of the story is revealed to be the murderer itself. The rules were following: 1. The criminal must be mentioned in the early part of the story, but must not be anyone whose thoughts the reader has been allowed to follow. 2. All supernatural or preternatural agencies are ruled out as a matter of course. 3. Not more than one secret room or passage is allowable. 4. No hitherto undiscovered poisons may be used, nor any appliance which will need a long scientific explanation at the end. 5. No Chinaman must figure in the story. 6. No accident must ever help the detective, nor must he ever have an unaccountable intuition which proves to be right. 7. The detective himself must not commit the crime. 8. The detective is bound to declare any clues upon which he may happen to light.
3 9. The stupid friend of the detective, the Watson, must not conceal from the reader any thoughts which pass through his mind; his intelligence must be slightly, but very slightly, below that of the average reader. 10. Twin brothers and doubles generally, must not appear unless we have been duly prepared for them. According to Knox, a detective story "must have as its main interest the unraveling of a mystery; a mystery whose elements are clearly presented to the reader at an early stage in the proceedings, and whose nature is such as to arouse curiosity, a curiosity which is gratified at the end.” In this chapter I would like to deal with some specific attributes of Christie’s books: typical setting, her famous detectives and the typical society which she writes about in her novels. The British countryside is a term which brings in the mind places away from the influence of large cities and towns, a typical village with a church, full of local people interested in gossips, a typical English gentleman in tweed, large green fields, lakes and woods. Surely our concept of living in the country is also influenced by reading the books of queen of crime, whose stories are very often closely connected with the countryside. What does this typical village of English country look like? We can assume from the description in The Moving Finger : Lymstock had been a place of importance at the time of the Norman Conquest. In the twentieth century it was a place of no importance whatsoever. It was three miles from a main road – a little provincial market town with a sweep of moorland rising above it. Little Furze was situated on the road leading up to the moors. It was a prim, low, white house with a slopping Victorian veranda painted a faded green. (p. 8) The society living there is also a typical one for Christie’s novels, and its description perfectly fits into our image of upper middle class society and living in the country, which is totally different from living in the city. The comparison of habits of people from the city and the ones from the country is often funny, but probably very true. In The Moving Finger, the narrator of the story moves from London to a tiny town Lymstock to recover after the accident a bad flying crash and comes to live there with his sister Joanna, who represents a young modern woman from the city, determined to
4 assimilate, but her trying is influenced by her ideals about living in the country. The manners of people from Lymstock are totally unexpected for her: As soon as we had been given e few days to settle down, Lymstock came solemnly to call. Everybody in Lymstock had a label _ “rather like happy families” as Joanna said. There was Mr. Symmington the lawyer, thin and dry, with his querulous bridge playing wife. Dr. Griffith – the dark, melancholy doctor – and his sister who was big and hearty. The vicar, a scholarly absent minded elderly man and his erratic eager faced wife. Rich dilettante Mr. Pye of Prior’s End, and finally Miss Emily Barton herself, the perfect spinster of village tradition. Joanna fingered the cards with something like awe. “I didn’t know,” she said in an awestruck voice, “that people really called – with cards !” “That,” I told her, “is because you know nothing about the country.” (p. 9) Not only the behaviour what is expected is strange to Joanna, also her looks does not fit there. She is trying hard to assimilate, but because she has always lived in a city, her trying is influenced by fashionable magazines. Her brother makes fun of her: Joanna is very pretty and very gay, and she likes dancing and cocktails and love affairs and rushing about in high powered cars. She is definitely and entirely urban. “At any rate,” said Joanna, “I look all right.” I studied her critically and was not able to agree. Joanna was dressed (by Mirotin) for le sport. The effect was quite charming, but a bit startling for Lymstock. “No,” I said. “You’re all wrong. You ought to be wearing an old faded tweed skirt with a nice cashmere jumper matching it and perhaps a rather baggy cardigan coat, and you’d wear a felt hat and thick stockings and old well worn brogues. Your face is all wrong, too.” I added. What’s wrong with that? I’ve got on my Country Tan Make Up No. 2.” “Exactly,” I said. “If you lived here, you would have just a little powder to take the shine off the nose and you would almost certainly be wearing all your eyebrows instead of only a quarter of them.” (p. 9) As it was said, the description of the village life may seem funny, but it holds deep truth inside, the country is less spoiled than a city. In Christie’s stories its peace is disturbed by a crime, which is then revealed by a detective who is basically restoring the
5 natural and lawful order of country innocence (Story, Childs, 1997: p.11) It means, that when in The Moving Finger the town is taken by surprise by the anonymous letters and later on with the death of one of the ladies from upper middle class, a detective amateur – Miss Marple appears and solves the mystery. Miss Marple was the second detective created by Agatha Christie, she appeared for the first time in the novel The Murder at the Vicarage in 1930 and then proved her intelligence and knowledge of human characters in another eleven novels and twenty one short stories. She is described as a tall, thin elder lady with pink and wrinkled face, blue eyes and white hair, always knitting. Her looks is puzzling, and it often misleads people who do not know her, because she is using her spinster stereotype to her advantage. She is living in a small village of St. Mary Mead, and the life there brings her the opportunity to observe every evil trait in human nature. (Reddy, 2003: 193). Agatha Christie once said that when creating her, she used some characters of her grandmother’s friends and also the grandmother’s character itself. She said about her: “She expected the worst of everyone and everything and was with almost frightening accuracy, usually proved right.” So Miss Marple, drawing parallels between the lifetime stories she witnessed through her life and the crime which she, usually by accident, investigates, and at the end she finds out the truth. Her appearance at the place of the crime is usually explained by one sentence, she is often visiting some of her numerous acquaintances or family friends. Our afternoon at the vicarage was really one of the most peaceful we had spent. It was an attractive old house and had a big, shabby, comfortable drawing room with faded rose cretonne. The Dane Calthopes had a guest staying with them, an amiable, elderly lady who was knitting something with white, fleecy wool. We had very good hot scones for tea, the vicar came in, and beamed placidly on us while he pursued his gentle erudite conversation. It was very pleasant. I don’t mean that we got away from the topic of the murder, because we didn’t. Miss Marple, the guest, was naturally thrilled by the subject. As she said apologetically: “We have so little to talk about in the country!” She had made up her mind that the dead girl must have been just like her Edith. “Such a nice little maid, and so willing, but sometimes just a little slow to take in things.” Miss Marple also had a cousin whose niece’s sister in law had had a great deal of annoyance and trouble over some
6 anonymous letters, so that, too, was very interesting to the charming old lady. (p. 135) The female detectives were not at all common, in fact Christie’s first detective was a well known Mr. Poirot, it means a male. He was introduced in her very first detective novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, which was published in 1920, while Miss Marple was created ten years later. The reason may be following the stereotype of a male detective or awareness of not a big success of detective stories with a female one. (Reddy, 2003: 193) It is remarkable, that Christie got really tired of Mr. Poirot and wanted to get rid of him, but the readers liked him and so she kept on writing about him. I have not found any similar remark about Miss Marple. In any case, Hercule Poirot is not an ordinary man: Firstly, he is not English, but Belgian, he is not a hero type of detective, but small, elderly little man, he does not uses his muscles, but his “little grey cells”. Before his escape to England during WWI, Poirot, a retired Belgian police officer, was a celebrated private detective in Europe. During these years he became acquainted with Arthur Hastings, an Englishman, who would later become his trusted friend and the occasional narrator of his investigations and plays the role of “Dr. Watson”. Poirot’s appearance is really remarkable; the description of him is given by Hastings himself in The Mysterious Affair at Styles :
Poirot was an extraordinary looking little man. He was hardly more than five feet, four inches, but carried himself with great dignity. His head was exactly the shape of an egg, and he always perched it a little on one side. His moustache was very stiff and military. The neatness of his attire was almost incredible. I believe a speck of dust would have caused him more pain than a bullet wound. Yet this quaint dandyfied little man who, I was sorry to see, now limped badly, had been in his time one of the most celebrated members of the Belgian police. As a detective, his flair had been extraordinary, and he had achieved triumphs by unravelling some of the most baffling cases of the day. He pointed out to me the little house inhabited by him and his fellow Belgians, and I promised to go and see him at an early date. Then he raised his hat with a flourish to Cynthia, and we drove away. "He's a dear little man," said Cynthia. "I'd no idea you knew him."
7 "You've been entertaining a celebrity unawares," I replied. And, for the rest of the way home, I recited to them the various exploits and triumphs of Hercule Poirot. (p….)
Although the characters of Miss Marple and Mr. Poirot may seem totally different, their methods have similar elements: asking a lot of questions, watching people and their behaviour as well as their knowledge of human thinking and nature help them to find new connections between what has been said and what has been done. I see their resemblance also in their extraordinary characters, but while Poirot is an outsider, using his knowledge of psychology and analytical way of thinking, Miss Marple is an integrated member of the community and solves the crime with the folk wisdom, an ordinary understanding of human nature, because all the crimes she investigates resemble the events and gossips from her home, the village of St. Mary Mead. As it was said, the novels take place very often in the country, in the society called upper middle class. This is a term from sociology that describes wealthier and more privileged members of the middle class. Because Christie herself came from the same class, she knew it very well and could give us a vivid picture of it. It can be defined as a class consisting of well educated professionals with graduate degree and comfortable income. But in England, the personal wealth is not a necessary criterion of belonging to upper middle class, but accent, language, education – usually in a good public school, family background and certain expected behaviour and taste became the defining characteristics of this class. In one word, the member of this class can be described as a gentleman, although he does not come from a landowning family. Very often its members have the occupation as a scientist, a lawyer or a medicine doctor, but the occupation can be also not traditional at all, so very often they are writers or painters. The resemblance of upper middle class and upper class in Britain is obvious, but while one can actually become a member of upper middle class, it is almost impossible in Britain to attain upper class status, except by marriage or, in some circumstances, the granting of the title. Traditionally the term “upper class” is only accorded to the British and continental titled aristocracy and landed gentry, it means that their wealth and position were based on property and title. In other words, a bankrupt, even homeless lord would stay upper class, while a plain, uneducated millionaire with a working class background would stay a working class, despite his or her money. (www.wikipedia.com) Even nowadays the rich, brilliant entrepreneurs, who have truly earned their money by hard work, are considered outsiders by the upper
8 class. (Story, Childs: 2003: 215). The example of one upper class family is by the solicitor of the Crales from Five Little Pigs :
“Our firm, of course, has known many generations of the Crales. I knew Amyas Crale and his father, Richard Crale, and I can remember Enoch Crale – the grandfather. County sqires, all of them, thought more of horses than human beings. They rode straight, liked women, and had no truck with ideas. They distrusted ideas. But Richard Crale’s wife was cram full of ideas – more ideas than sense. She was poetical and musical – she played the harp, you know. She enjoyed poor health and looked very pitoresque on her sofa. She was an admirer of Kingsley. That’s why she called her son Amyas. His father scoffed at the name – but he gave in. Amyas Crale profited by his mixed inheritance. He got his artistic trend from his weakly mother, and his driving power and ruthless egoism from his father. All the Crales were egoists. They never by any chance saw any point of view but their own.” (p. 39) From this short extract we can point out some typical features of the upper class, which is a strong sense of possessiveness and selfishness. But their lives were not only hunting, races and horses. To posses a land, to live there and take care of the property is a characteristic attribute for aristocracy, and this feature was also adopted by upper middle class society as well as their prejudices against new people and their reluctance to accept them. In There Is a Tide , the daughter returning from the World War II home is faced with the fact that her old uncle married a young woman, which was totally unexpected, unwelcome and unacceptable for the rest of the family, who was totally prejudiced against her: Lynn smiled. Ever since she could remember, Gordon Cloade’s secretaries, hosekeepers, and office staff had been subjected to the closest scrutiny and suspicion. She asked curiously, “She’s good looking, I suppose?” “Well, dear,“ said Adela, “I think myself she has rather a silly face.” “You are not a man, Mums!” “Of course,” Mrs. Marchmont went on, “the poor girl was blitzed and shocked from blast and was really frightfully ill and all that, and it’s my opinion she’s never really quite recovered. She’s a mass of nerves, if you know what I mean. And really, sometimes, she looks quite half witted. I don’t feel she could ever have made much of a companion for poor Gordon.”
9 Lynn smiled. She doubted whether Gordon Cloade had chosen to marry a woman years younger than himself for her intellectual companionship. “And then, dear,” Mrs. Marchmont lowered her voice, “I hate to say it, but, of course, she’s not a lady!” “What an expression, Mums! What does it matter nowadays?” “It still matters in the country, dear,” said Adela placidly. “I simply mean that she isn’t exactly one of us!” (p. 23) Also the possessiveness, typical feature of the upper middle class can be illustrated easily in Christie’s works. Money is seemed as something unimportant when you have it, something what is not polite to speak about, but as soon as it comes to sharing it, it becomes important and may become a strong motive of hate. In Crooked House , after the last will of the grandfather of the Leonides family had been read, conflict occurred immediately: “What about me?” said Eustace. I had hardly noticed Eustace until now, but I perceived that he was trembling with some violent emotion. His face was crimson, there were, I thought, tears in his eyes. His voice shook as it rose hysterically. “It is a shame!” said Eustace. “It’s a damned shame! How dare Grandfather do this to me? How dare he? I was his only grandson. How dare he pass me over for Sophia? It’s not fair. I hate him. I hate him. I’ll never forget him as long as I live. Beastly tyrannical old man. I wanted him to die. I wanted to get out of his house. I wanted to be my own master. And now I’ve got to be bullied and messed around by Sophia, and made to look a fool. I wish I was dead…” (p. 181) It the first chapter of my thesis I wanted to introduce shortly the Golden Age of mystery novel and also to contrast the two best known detectives of Agatha Christie, Mr. Poirot and Miss Marple. I wanted also depict the English countryside in the novels and the society living there with their characteristic features.
10 3. Women and the Women’s Issues
It is the matter of fact that in the ninetieth century to think of a wife and daughters as a property of men was normal and lawful. For women it was almost impossible to achieve a divorce – even for those who were rich enough to pay for the legal costs. The law was very strict with women, until 1882 a woman had to give up all her property to her husband after the marriage, and it was not against the law to beat the wife with a stick “no thicker than a man’s thumb” (Robson 1983: 162) and to lock them up in a room. After 1870, the situation began to improve. Women were allowed to vote and to be elected to borough and county councils and also their way to higher education opened. A very small number of women started to study at Oxford and Cambridge in separate women’s colleges, although they could not reach the degree at the end of their study. Middle class women started to fight for equal rights, especially for the right to vote in the national elections. Within ten years these women, called suffragettes, had become famous for “the extreme methods they were willing to use” (McDowal, 1989: 162) in order to demand their rights. Many politicians who agreed with their opinions and aims were disgusted by these methods and stopped supporting them. The World War I was a breaking point in the question of women rights, because the country was unable to continue the war without women who took up men’s places in the factories and by the end of the war 29% of the working class was female. (McDowal, 1989: p. 163) In 1918, some women over the age of 30 gained the right to vote, and in 1928 the total equality of voting rights was won and the women’s voting age lowered to 21. But the liberation of women had also other forms – they started to wear lighter clothing, cosmetics, shorter hair, began to smoke in public and ride cars. Women started to work as shop assistants, in offices, as unskilled and semiskilled workers in the new light industry. There was also the possibility of university education. The posts of teachers and nurses were traditional occupations for women, but between the wars the society started to accept also the other occupations and so first lady doctors, university professors and scientists occurred. (Robson, 1983: 172) This type of emancipated, confident woman is Angela Warren from Five Little Pigs . Even though she carries a stigma because of her sister, who was accused of murdering the husband and died in a prison, even though she has a disfigured face
11 because of an injury from the childhood, she is still able to overcome the difficulties and become a happy woman and a recognized expert in archaeology: Now, in Angela Warren – that young creature handicapped by disfigurement and its consequent humiliation, Poirot believed he saw a spirit strengthened by its necessary fight for confidence and assurance. The undisciplined schoolgirl had given place to a vital and forceful woman, a woman of considerable mental power and gifted with abundant energy to accomplish ambitious purposes. She was a woman; Poirot felt sure, both happy and successful. Her life was vivid and eminently enjoyable. She was not, incidentally, the type of woman that Poirot really liked. Though admiring the clear cut precision of her mind, she had just a sufficient nuance of the femme formidable about her to alarm him as a mere man. (p. 129) Her old governess, Miss Williams, who knew her when she was a teenager, is speaking about her at the other place of the book with pride: She was a most interesting girl – one of the most interesting pupils I have had. A really good brain. Undisciplined, quick tempered, most difficult to manage in many ways, but really a very fine character.” She paused and then went on. “I always hoped that she would accomplish something worth while. And she has! You have read her book about Sahara? And she excavated those very interesting tombs in the Fayum! Yes, I am proud of Angela. I was not at Alderbury very long – two years and a half – but I always cherish the belief that I helped to stimulate her mind and encourage her taste for archaeology. (p. 119) Although Miss Williams is years older and should be praising Angela for her good behaviour, her family and house or her beauty and kindness, she is appreciating her cleverness and achievements at work, which is a big progress in woman thinking. Also Cynthia from The Mysterious Affair at Styles, Christie’s very first novel, represents the new type of a working woman. She is educated, brave and witty, natural and not afraid of men. Cynthia has got a responsible job: she is working in a pharmacy in a hospital, so has an access to medicines as well as to poisons. In spite of it, she is able to joke about her work:
We were detained under suspicion by the hospital porter, until Cynthia appeared to vouch for us, looking very cool and sweet in her long white overall. She took us up to her sanctum,
12 and introduced us to her fellow dispenser, a rather awe inspiring individual, whom Cynthia cheerily addressed as "Nibs." "What a lot of bottles!" I exclaimed, as my eye travelled round the small room. "Do you really know what's in them all?" "Say something original," groaned Cynthia. "Every single person who comes up here says that. We are really thinking of bestowing a prize on the first individual who does not say: 'What a lot of bottles!' And I know the next thing you're going to say is: 'How many people have you poisoned?” (p. …)
In Agatha Christie’s novels the women characters are more vivid, interesting and somehow more alive than their male companions. Maybe because she was a woman, she could understand them better. The type of a woman which I would like to depict now is as old as humankind itself. It is a prototype of beautiful, selfish and self centred woman, who uses her looks to manipulate with people, to achieve what she wants at any costs, to impress, to win and get whatever or whoever just because it is they wish. This “femme fatale” is a frequent character in the detective stories of Agatha Christie, this person is even ready to kill if she does not get what she wants. We could describe her as a creature without any feelings, or possibly with the feelings which concerns only herself. Such is Elsa Greer from Five Little Pigs : “She fell in love with him, I suppose “ Miss Williams interrupted with a snort. Fell in love with him indeed. I should hope, Mr Poirot, that whatever our feelings, we can keep them in decent control. And we can certainly control our actions. That girl had absolutely no morals of any kind. It meant nothing to her that Mr Crale was a married man. She was absolutely shameless about it all – cool and determined. Possibly she may have been badly brought up – but that’s the only excuse I can find for her.” (p. 122) Elsa’s appearance in the Crale’s family is commented here from the point of view of the older generation, who sees her as a destabilizing element. The family is something what must be protected, Elsa can be seen as a representive of a new generation, but Christie keeps the rule and reveals her character, the reader founds out that Amyas Crale really loved his wife and that was why he had to die.
13 The picture of the girl would not be complete without her own description of herself, and if we go deeply inside, we must feel sorry for her. She is not able of any sympathy, is hurting everyone around her, spoiling the marriage of Crale’s and totally ruining it by killing Mr. Crale and then just watching innocent Caroline to be accused of the murder and then to die in the prison. If she can not have the man that she wants, nobody will have him. At the end of the book, Elsa speaks to Poirot, who discovered who the real murderer was: “Do you think I care in the least what my husband would feel?” “No, I do not. I do not think you have ever in your life cared about what any other person would feel. If you had, you might be happier.” She said sharply: “Why are you sorry for me?” “Because, my child, you have so much to learn.” “What have I got to learn?” “All the grown up emotions – pity, sympathy, understanding. The only things you know – have ever know – are love and hate.” Elsa said: “I saw Caroline take the coniine. I thought she meant to kill herself. That would simplify things. And then, the next morning, I found out. He told her that he didn’t care a button about me – he had cared, but it was all over. Once he’d finished the picture he’d send me packing. She’d nothing to worry about, he said. And she – was sorry for me… do you understand what that did to me? I found the stuff and I gave it to him and I sat there watching him die. I’ve never felt so alive, so exultant, so full of power. I watched him die…” (p. 232) The crime is solved, and the order is restored. Although Christie suggests that Elsa will not be punished, the reader feels that there is justice and that the world is fair after all. Not all these women are murderers. Some of them just use their looks to impress and make men to be interested in. Aware of their own beauty, they use it as a weapon. And one could ask, why not? They do not hurt anyone. Moreover, these interesting characters were added as a false scent in the story, to confuse the reader. In Crooked House , this role is given to Magda Leonides, who is beside her dramatic looks also an actress. She is acting even at home, when she is speaking to the members of her family:
14 She was smoking a cigarette in a long holder and was wearing a peach satin negligee which she was holding up with one hand. A cascade of Titian hair rippled down her back. Her face had that almost shocking air of nudity that a woman’s has nowadays when it is not made up at all. Her eyes were blue and enormous and she was talking very rapidly in a husky rather attractive voice with a very clear enunciation. “Darling, I can’t stand it – I simply can’t stand it – just think of the notices it isn’t in the papers yet, but of course it will be – and I simply can’t make up my mind what I ought to wear at the inquest – very very subdued? Not black though, perhaps dark purple…” (p. 41) Always lovely and glamorous, men are always captured by her looks; and she is plying her role very well. She is even able to change from a beautiful, affected creature to a serious but still beautiful woman, when she is going to be interviewed by police: The Titian hair was piled high on her head in an Edwardian coiffure, and she was dressed in a well cut dark grey coat and skirt with delicately pleated pale mauve shirt fastened at the neck by a small cameo brooch. For the first time I was aware of the charm of her delightfully tip tilted nose. (p. 53) The last woman type which I want to highlight is a character of a married woman, totally devoted to her husband, who sees her happiness only in the marriage and a family. These women are strong characters, ready to fight for their husbands; they want to see them happy and they would do anything to achieve it. Usually the man is even more important for them than the child, although it does not mean that they do not like their children! The example can be Caroline Crale from Five Little Pigs . Miss Williams, the former governess in their family, describes Caroline this way: “But there is another aspect. One does occasionally find a husband and wife who are so all sufficient to each other, so wrapped up in each other, that the child of the marriage hardly seems very real to either of them. And in those circumstances I think a child comes to resent that fact, to feel defrauded and left out in the cold. You understand that I am not speaking of neglect in any way. Mrs Crale, for instance, was what is termed an excellent mother, always careful of Carla’s welfare, of her health – playing with her at the right times and always kind and gay. But for all that, Mrs Crale was really completely wrapped up in her husband. She existed, one might say only in him and for
15 him.” Miss Williams paused a minute and then said quietly: “That, I think, is the justification for what she eventually did.” (p. 118) It is not only her loyalty to the former employer; it is also her admiration and something like a mother love to a young woman. This relationship helps Miss Williams to forgive Caroline her alleged crime. In Crooked House , this loving and determined type of woman is Clemency Leonides, a scientist and a very clever and strong woman. She is absolutely devoted to her work and to her husband, never thinking about herself, she is not eager for money which they could have inherited, she sees just their relationship and life together: “Haven’t you seen, Charles, that I’m fighting all the time? Fighting for my happiness. For Roger’s. I’ve been so afraid the family would persuade him to stop in England. That we’d go on tangled up in the minds of them, stifled with family ties. I was afraid that Sophia would offer him an income and that he’d stay in England because it would mean greater comfort and amenities for me. The trouble with Roger is that he will not listen. He gets ideas in his head – and they’re never the right ideas. He doesn’t know anything. And he is enough of a Leonides to think that happiness for a woman is bound up with comfort and money. (p. 190) It is not only irony what can be decoded from her speech. She knows Roger the best and knows that he would do anything to ensure a secure and easy life for her; even it would mean his own unhappiness. She is not willing to let him to do it, because she loves him so much, when he is happy, she is happy too: But I will fight for my happiness I will. I will get Roger away and give him the life that suits him where he won’t feel a failure. I want him to myself away from the all right away…” (p. 190) There are many interesting women types in Christies’ novels. The pioneers of emancipation, beautiful and determined women as well as devoted and loving wives are all depicted with deep understanding of women thinking and with sympathy. Her
16 characters of new, modern educated women were the response to changes in the society, which had just started to become used to seeing women in the occupations which some time ago belonged only to men.
17 4. Family Life
In the late nineteenth century, the roles in the family were strictly determined. Men took care of the economical security of the family; women stayed at home and looked after the children and home. The family was an important value in Victorian times. Queen Victoria enjoyed the respect and affection of her people and when she wrote the book Our Life in the Highlands, where she described the life with her husband, Prince Albert, the citizens were pleased. The book had a great impact particularly on the growing middle class. At that time, it became normal to get married for personal happiness, not for money, but the wives were still not the equals of the men and they were discouraged from going to work, unless it was economically necessary. A woman was legally a man’s property, until nearly the end of the century. (McDowal, 1989: 137). Some of the Christie’s novels act as social studies; the picture of the family is very vivid and shows us the double morale of society which tolerates the infidelity of the man and expectations which the society had towards the women in this question. To present this feature of the society, I chose the novels Five Little Pigs and Hercule Poirot’s Christmas. In both books, the infidelity of men leads to the murder. Amyas Crale from Five Little Pigs is an artist, a painter, whose lifestyle kills him at the end. Although he loves his wife a lot, he has many relationships with other women, after which he returns to her. He never left her and she tolerated all this, because she knew that these women had no importance for him. For me personally this attitude is unbelievable, because how you can really love somebody and at the same time hurt him or her so much? This situation lasts up to the final relationship of his with Elsa Greer. This young girl really falls in love with him and he does not realize how dangerous it is: “His wife was actually the only person he cared about at all. He wasn’t worrying much about her. She’d only got to put up with thing for a few days longer. He was furious with Elsa for blurting out things to Caroline, but he still optimistically thought it would be “all right”. Caroline would forgive him as she had done so often before, and Elsa – Elsa would have to “lump it”. So simple are the problems of life to a man like Amyas Crale. But I think that that last evening he became really worried. About Caroline, not about Elsa. Perhaps he went to her room and she refused to speak with him. At any rate, after a restless night, he took her aside after breakfast and blurted out the truth. He
18 head been infatuated with Elsa, but it was all over. Once he’d finished the picture he’d never see her again. And it was in answer to that that Caroline Crale cried out indignantly: “You and your women!” That phrase, you see, put Elsa in a class with others who had gone their way. (p. 227) Mr. Crale would probably change his way of life, but it was too late, Elsa was too humiliated, by accident she had overheard the discussion, and killed him. In Hercule Poirot’s Christmas , the head of the family, Mr Simeon Lee, is a prototype of a capable, cruel and unscrupulous man. His character enabled him to earn fortune in his youth and with his wife he brought up five children, four boys and a girl. But his behaviour to his wife was absolutely cruel; he deceived her with other women and has got plenty of illegitimate children all over the country. Even his children must witness his behaviour to their mother, his shouting at her and his infidelity. The youngest son could never forget about it: “She was so sweet, Hilda, and so patient. Lying there, often in pain, but bearing it – enduring everything. And when I think of my father” – his face darkened – “bringing all that misery into her life – humiliating her – boasting of his love affairs – constantly unfaithful to her and never troubling to coneal it.” Hilda Lee said: “She should not have put up with it. She should have left him.” He said with a touch of reproof: “She was too good to do that. She thought it was her duty to remain. Besides, it was her home – where else should she go?” “She could have made a life of her own.” David said fretfully: “Not in those days! You don’t understand. Women didn’t behave like that. They put up with things. They endured patiently. She had us to consider. Even if she divorced my father, what would have happened? He would probably have married again. There might have been a second family. Our interests have gone to the wall. She had to think of all those considerations.” (p. 34) These two extracts provoke a question, how many things have changed. Of course today young women are really different, independent economically and definitely more self confident, but still the society doesn’t consider the infidelity of men and women equally. Also, men have often love affairs outside from their marriage and still live happily with their families, women considering happiness of their children in such
19 situation and more likely to leave the family when they find somebody else, not capable of having two relationships at once. As already stated in the previous chapter, the right to vote and the First World War changed many things. Married women tended to have smaller families – so called nuclear families, which consist of a mother, a father and children. Women were untied from the burden of large families, had a much higher standard of living, could afford to dress more fashionably and as a result of the First World War the factory work for women became common all over Britain, women worked also in the shops or offices. (Robson, 1983: 174). In Christie’s novels, the nuclear families do not appear very often. However, very frequent are extended families and families without children. The extended families the members act as a close knit community and can include parents, children, grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles. The best example of such family can be the Leonides family in Crooked House , which is living together in one big house – the old Mr Leonides with his young wife, his sister Miss de Haviland and his two sons from the first marriage with their families: “Your brother and yourself came here to live. That was not the result of any financial – difficulties?” “Certainly not. It was a mere matter of convenience. My father always told us that we were welcome to make a home with him. For various reasons this was a convenient thing for me to do. “I was also,” added Philip deliberately, “extremely fond of my father. I came here with my family in 1937. I pay no rent, but I pay my proportion of the rates.” “And your brother?” “My brother came as a result of the Blitz when his house in London was bombed in 1943.”(p. 48) Although this narrative and their family life seem to be happy and Mr. Leonides supports all his relatives financially, there is tension between the members of the family, who never aligned with the marriage of the old Mr. Leonides with young girl called Brenda. The whole family disapproves with it. After his death, when his will is being read, antipathy between the both sons and also their disappointment reveal, because the responsibility for the family and also the right to decide about money is given to Mr. Leonides’ granddaughter Sophia:
20 There were a few moments of silence, a realization that the family circle was alone with itself. Then Philip got up stiffly. “I must go to the library,” he said. “I have lost a lot of time.” “Father “Sophia spoke uncertainly, almost pleadingly. I felt her quiver and draw back as Philip turned cold hostile eyes on her. “You must forgive me for not congratulating you,” he said. “But this has been rather a shock to me. I would not have belived that my father would so have humiliated me – that he would have disregarded my life – time devotion – yes – devotion.” For the first time, the natural man broke through the crust of icy restraint. “My God,” he cried. “How could he do this to me? He was always unfair to me – always.” “Oh, no Philip, no, you mustn’t think that,” cried Edith de Haviland. “Don’t regard this as another slight. It isn’t. When people get old they turn naturally to a younger generation….I assume you it’s only that….And besides, Aristide had a very keen business sense. I’ve often heard him say that two lots of death duties “ “He never cared for me,” said Philip. His voice was low and hoarse. “It was always roger – Roger. Well, at least “an extraordinary expression of spite suddenly marred his handsome features, “Father realised that Roger was a fool and a failure. He cut Roger out, too.” The theme of one man leading the whole extended family occurs also in the novels Hercule Poirot’s Christmas and There Is a Tide . In the first one, the family is not living together, only the oldest son with his wife are taking care of the oldest Mr. Lee, who earned all the family fortune and is supporting with his money the family – his two sons and their wives. He is convinced that this gives him the right to rule over all of them. Two of his younger sons have escaped: One got married and lives with his wife, completely separated from the family and not in touch with his father at all. The other one ran away from home, after he had defrauded some money. Also the only daughter escaped from home with her lover and was living in abroad. When the family is reunited during the Christmas, the conflict arises – money, return of the expelled son, appearance of the only granddaughter of the family, everything is an excuse for it. In There Is a Tide , the situation is similar. All the members of the Cloades family depend on the money of the oldest Gordon Cloade, who is very generous and supportive. He is supporting the families of his brothers and sister but has no children of his own. Everything is “spoilt” when he marries his second, much younger wife:
21 Yes, they had all depended on Gordon Cloade. Not that any of the family had been spongers or idlers. Jeremy Cloade was senior partner in a firm of solicitors; Lionel Cloade was in practice as a doctor. But behind the workday life was the comforting assurance of money in the background. There was never any need to stint or to save. The future was assured. Gordon Cloade, a childless widower, would see to that. He had told them all, more than once that that was so. His widowed sister, Adela Marchmont, had stayed on the White House when she might, perhaps, have moved into a smaller, more labor saving house. Lynn went to first class schools. If the war had not come, she would have been able to tak any kind of expensive training she had pleased. Checks from Uncle Gordon flowed in with comfortable regularity to provide little luxuries. Everything had been so settled, so secure. And then had came Gordon Cloade’s wholly unexpected marriage. (p. 22) As I have already stated, the nuclear family does not appear very often in Agatha Christie’s works. But I found one interesting example of such family in The Moving Finger, where the mother after her divorce marries for the second time and has children with her new husband. Megan, her daughter from the failed marriage, became suddenly “an extra”: She was Symmington the lawyer’s stepdaughter, Mrs. Symmington’s daughter by a first marriage. Nobody talked much about Mr. (or Captain) Hunter and I gathered that he was considered best forgotten. He was reported to have treated Mrs. Symmington very badly. She had divorced him a year or two after the marriage. She was a woman with means of her own and had settled down with her little daughter in Lymstock “to forget,” and had eventually married the only eligible bachelor in the place, Richard Symmington. There were two boys of the second marriage to whom their parents were devoted, and I fancied that Megan sometimes felt odd man in the establishment. (p. 18) The extract is interesting from two points: First, it refers to a divorce. The novel was published in 1942 when the divorce was not a stigma anymore, because from 1923 women were allowed to use the same grounds for divorce as men. The second, it brings up an interesting sociological feature – a child from a divorced family in a newly formed family unit. The family is not behaving unfriendly or bad to
22 Megan, she is just somebody who does not fit in, and they do not know what to do with her when she returns home from school. But the solution is found at the end of the book and it is the easiest and most conventional one, Megan gets married. From the beginning of the book the reader can observe growing sympathy between the narrator of the story, the newcomer into the village, and Megan. The marriage is a symbol of a new beginning; Megan is saved and can form her own, more happy family. Very frequent phenomenon in Christie’s books is a childless family, which is rather interesting and brings the question why it is so. These couples are depicted usually as very well off, so the reason could not be economical. Children are never discussed between them, so we can only guess what the reason is and why this feature occurs so often. Perhaps the solution is that the children did not fit into the detective stories which I chose for my thesis, because the only one which is mentioned is little Caroline Crale from Five Little Pigs , who comes to detective Poirot as a young women asking him to find the truth about the murder of her father and to confirm or refute guilt of her mother, and her aunt Angela, at the time of the murder at her teens. A big exception among all Christie’s stories is Josephine from Crooked House , who turns out to be a murderer at the end of the book. Her deviation is explained by a mistake in her character, in fact by insanity, and the author solves her punishment by letting her die. Her aunt reveals her and chooses to kill herself together with Josephine in the car accident. In this chapter I wanted to examine some interesting features of families and the relationship between a man and a woman depicted in some of Christies’ books. I wanted to highlight especially the different attitude of the society towards men and women in view of the love affairs. The most frequent types of family in Christies’ novels are the extended family, which is very often controlled by the oldest member of the clan and the money which he or she posses. Although the nuclear family is not depicted very often, interesting feature is very frequent appearance of the childless families.
23 5. Servants The theme of this chapter is a working class in Christie’s novels. Although Christie’s interest was to write about and for middle class society, she could not omit the people who were part of so called working class. The term working class has usually been used for those who are physically working and are paid wages, usually monthly or weekly. The person belonging to the working class is simply selling his work. In Christie’s novels the working class is represented by servants. Servants have always been an important part of English society; they were part of the household: “The household consisted of Mr and Mrs Crale, Angela Warren (then a girl of thirteen), and three servants, all of whom had been with the family many years.” (Christie, Five Little Pigs , p. 181) It is remarkable that basically three people employed as domestic servants three other people, but for upper class and upper middle class this was a necessary thing, because they usually possessed a big house, large enough to be regarded as a mansion, with a garden in the immediate neighbourhood of the house, and a larger park beyond the garden. (www.wikipedia.com) The WW1 changed the position of women as well as men in domestic service dramatically. The number of female domestic workers, as they are referred to, decreased from 12 percent of the female population in England and Wales to fewer than eight percent. The war opened new employment opportunities for the women, because they had to substitute the men who were away in the war. The advantages of these alternative employments over domestic service for women were obvious: their wages were higher; they worked less hours and had more independence. The decline of domestic workers was accompanied also by the rise of domestic appliances, such as cookers, electric irons and vacuum cleaners. (www.bbc.co.uk) Domestic workers performed typical domestic chores such as cooking, ironing, washing, cleaning the house, buying foods and drinks, accompanying the female head of the household for grocery shopping, taking the family dog for a walk, and taking care of the children. The well off households, running a large house, could afford to employ even more servants; their number signified the wealth of the family. In Hercule Poirot’s Christmas , Poirot is acquainted with the members of the rich Lees family and also with the members of the household staff:
24 “Then for the servants: Edward Tressilian, butler. Walter Champion, footman. Emily Reeves, cook. Quennie Jones, kitchenmaid. Gladys Spent, head housemaid. Grace Best, second housemaid. Beatrice Moscombe, third housemaid. Haoan Kench, betweenmaid. Sydney Horbury, valet attendant.” (p. 117) It is obvious that even such a small group of people, who were working together, established a certain hierarchy. The valet was a personal male servant and performed personal services such as maintaining his employer's clothes, running his bath and, especially when his employer was older and ill, took complete care of him. In the Lees family there is Mr. Horbury, who is a personal servant of the head of the family. However, he is not popular with the rest of the family, living in the house together with old Mr. Lee: Horbury made one little step, it was a mere ghost of movement but it stopped Lydia’s rapid progress automatically. “Excuse me, madam, but Mr Lee is having his afternoon sleep. He asked specifically that he should not be disturbed.” “I see,”said Alfred. “Of course we won’t disturb him.” “Thanks you, sir.” Horbury withdrew. Lydia said vehemently: “How I dislike that man! He creeps about the house like a cat! One never hears him going or coming.” “I don’t like him very much either. But he knows his job. It’s not so easy to get a good male nurse attendant. And father likes him, that’s the main thing.” (p. 27) It is obvious that although Alfred and Lydia know that Horbury is a great help for the old Mr. Lee, they feel that they have no privacy in the house. They do not like his behaviour, but can not dare to say anything to him, because they need him and in fact he is employed by Mr. Lee, not by them. The other remarkable servant in the family is Tressilian, the butler. Tressilian is an elderly man, who has been with the family for a very long time and knows all its members very well. He is the senior staff member; in charge of the other male servants, responsible for a dining room and a wine cellar: “Hock or claret?” murmured Tressilian in deferential whisper in Mrs George’s ear. Out of the tail of his eye he noted that Walter,
25 the footman, was handing the vegetables before the gravy again – after all he had been told! (p.92) It is visible that Tressilian knows his work very well, he is also able to control the other servant, who is in fact his subordinate. During the dinner, we can follow his thoughts about the gowns which the ladies are wearing. He is very class conscious, maybe even more than the ladies. It is obvious that he has got strong opinions and a good knowledge of propriety and impropriety of dresses which they should wear at the dinner: Mrs Alfred, he noted, had got on her new flowered black and white taffeta. A bold design, very striking, but she could carry it off, though many ladies couldn’t. The dress Mrs George had on was a model, he was pretty sure of that. Must have cost a pretty penny. He wondered how Mr George would like paying for it! Mr George didn’t like spending money – he never had. Mrs David now: a nice lady, but didn’t have any idea of how to dress. For her figure, plain black velvet would have been the best. Figured velvet, and crimson at that, was a bad choice. Miss Pilar, now, it didn’t matter what she wore; with her figure and her hair she looked well in anything. A flimsy cheap little white gown it was, though. (p. 92) Funny as it may seem, but this description gives us an inside view into his thoughts, which declares that these people were not only “robots” performing certain activity without any thinking. But there is another remarkable thing; his ideas help to shape the reader’s image of individual characters of these women. And this is one of the main purposes of servant’s appearance in Christie’s books, their comments, their discussions and their thoughts help to form the image of the main characters and make the picture of the society more vivid and colourful. In The Moving Finger , Jerry and Joanne Burton, a brother and a sister are coming from London to live in a village of Lymstock. Together with a rented house they also hire a maid called Partridge, who has her own strong opinions of the servants’ behaviour. Because she comes form the “old school” of maids, these notions unfortunately cause misunderstandings and a stress for her new employer, Joanna. Joanne just does not understand why Partridge should ask for her permission to invite a friend to the house or why she is apologizing for being phoned:
26 “I must apologize, Miss, for being rung up on the telephone. That is to say, the young person who did so should have known better. I have never been permitting my friend to ring me up on it, and I’m very sorry indeed that it should have occurred, and the master taking the call and everything.” (p. 74) Joanna is surprised, but Partridge informs her bout the customs of the house: “It is not the kind of thing that has ever been allowed in this house. Miss Emily would never permit it. As I say, I am sorry it occurred, but Agnes Woddell, the girl who did it, was upset and she’s young too, and doesn’t know what’s fitting in a gentleman’s house.” (p. 74) Partridge, representing the old Victorian era, is simply not able to recognize the changes in the society, where the behaviour towards the servants was changing and their work started to be really valued because the servants were becoming rare. She has got her way of thinking and does not realize that she is rather rude to Joanna. In Christie’s works the servant can sometimes become a victim of the crime, usually the second one in the book. It is often due to their eavesdropping, either deliberate or accidental, as well as their misfortune to spot something which can lead to the revelation of the murderer. Even though they do not necessarily know how important thing they have seen or overheard, the event has fatal consequences for them. In The Moving Finger , a maid is murdered because she had unfortunately seen something unusual. She is not sure, what was exactly wrong with that. As Mrs. Marple said: “It would take her some time, being slow, to realize that that was very odd …” (p. 183). But surely it was, because it cost her life: Joanna said: “And he killed Agnes? But surely that was quite unnecessary?” “Perhaps it was, but what you don’t realize, my dear (not having killed anyone) is that your judgement is distorted afterward and everything seems exaggerated. No doubt he heard the girl telephoning to Partridge, saying she’d been worried ever since Mrs. Symmington’s death, that there was something she didn’t understand. He can’t take any chances – this stupid foolish girl has seen something , knows something.” (p. 185)
27 The death of Agnes is commented on much more than the first death in the book, the alleged suicide of Mrs. Symmington. But Mrs. Symmington did not commit suicide, she was murdered, and because Agnes saw something strange, she must die, too. The murder of her is seen as something really immoral; everyone feels that it was the coincidence and Agnes’s bad luck and that she did not deserved it. The last servant position which is to be discussed is a governess. Governesses took care of education of the children in a family; to have one was a sign of wealth. Governesses were single, middle class women who had to earn their own living. In Victorian times, their position was ambiguous, they were not considered as servants, but similarly they were not treated as the members of the family. In Agatha Christie’s novel Five Little Pigs a striking character of a governess, Miss Williams, is depicted. She is one of five “pigs”, the witnesses of the crime which had happened years ago. In the book, there is not a slightest remark of Miss Williams’ inequality with the others. She was a very good teacher, liked her pupils, and was firm as well as just. She is an archeotype of English governess: For Miss Williams had what every successful child educator must have, that mysterious quality – authority! When Miss Williams said “Go up and wash your hands, Joan,” or “I expect you to read this chapter on the Elizabethan poets and be able to answer my questions on it,” she was invariably obeyed. (p. 115) She is also a strict judge of the events in the Crales family, who she is working for. Her comments are accurate and apposite, although influenced by her sympathy with Mrs. Crale and dislike of her husband and Elsa Greer, his mistress. But these comments are full of wisdom and surprisingly, quite modern views: “I certainly did not like Mr Crale. Nor did I approve of him. If I were his wife I should have left him. There are things that no woman should put up with.” “But Mrs Crale did put up with them?” “Yes.” “You though she was wrong?” “Yes, I do. A woman should have a certain respect for herself and not submit to humiliation.” (p. 119)
28 Indeed, this speech bears an unexpected sign. Women in Miss Williams’ point of view are not subordinated to men; they are equal and should demand better treatment from the society. In the last chapter of my thesis the servants, who represent the working class in Christies’ works, are discussed. Domestic workers symbolise the old, Victorian times, which are slowly vanishing and the servants due to the social changes are becoming more and more rare. They are often depicted as more vivid and funny characters than their wealthy employers, their comments of other people and situations are spontaneous and accurate and make the story become more human and realistic.
29 6. Conclusion
This thesis compares the picture of society in selected works of Agatha Christie with historical sources. The early 20 th century brought wide range of changes into many aspects of social life in England and some of them I wanted to discuss. In the individual chapters of my work I examined her description of upper and upper middle classes, English countryside, changing position of women in the society, the picture of the family and also the role of servants in her books as well as decline of domestic workers in Britain after the World War I. Although these topics are of course marginal, because everything is concentrated on the plot of the story, the great detective and the solution of the mystery, it is possible to deduct many remarkable things from the dialogues of the characters, their behaviour, relationships, and their way of life. Christie is one of the best selling authors in the world, in fact the best selling author of any kind second to William Shakespeare. Consequently my question was “Why?” Why people even nowadays enjoy reading her stories, why her books are published again and again? She came from upper middle class family, had a great narrator talent and gave us a lively and true picture of the upper and upper middle class society. Her characters of great detectives Mr. Poirot and Miss Marple are irresistible and became one of the most famous in the world. Although the society in her books is changing, she is not sorry for passing Victorian era. She feels that the social class can survive only when it is transformed and modernized. (Rowland, 2001: 40) But still, the society in her books is conservative and it takes time to get used to all changes as, for example, the decline of servants after the WWI. And indeed, the servants are often portrayed as those who cling to old values and manners more than their employers and it is almost impossible for them to change their way of thinking. The most interesting feature of Christie’s books that I have chosen for my thesis I see in her subtly feministic descriptions of some women characters. The word “subtly” should be pointed out because these women are depicted as extraordinary, educated characters, respected by the society, but they are never portrayed as a disturbing element in it. Their disparity and originality is sociably acceptable, they are part of the society, bringing something new, but not destabilizing the community. The
30 other character of extraordinary, strong woman, who comes to destroy one of the roots of the society a family, is totally unacceptable, because the family represents a confirmed value in her books and Christie criticises the double moral of the society towards the infidelity in a marriage. To pay respect to Agatha Christie was also one aim of my thesis, I admire her as an accomplished woman and I wanted to show that although her works are considered a light genre literature, they can hide many unwritten connection between them and reality. The popularity of her books derives from human longing for better world, rightful, fair and unspoiled. And so are her stories: the murder is always solved, the clever detective always finds the truth and there is always a punishment for the culprit. The world returns afterwards into just and innocent order, as it was before the crime. And this is the world, where everyone would love to live.
31 7. Resume This work deals with the picture of English society and changes in the society in selected novels of Agatha Christie in comparison with historical information. Agatha Christie was a famous writer and a remarkable woman and as her books are amongst my most favourite ones I would like to pay my respects to her work. In the introduction I shortly presented the life of “queen of crime”, in the individual chapters of my bachelor thesis I discussed some characteristic features of selected Christies’ novels – setting, famous detectives and typical classes which she was writing about. I also examined the changing position of women in the society, the picture of the family and also the role of servants in her novels. Tato práce pojednává o anglické společnosti a změnách v ní ve vybraných románech Agathy Christie a srovnává je s historickými informacemi. Agatha Christie byla slavná spisovatelka a také pozoruhodná žena, a protože její knihy patří k mým nejoblíbenějším, chtěla jsem jí tímto vzdát poctu. V úvodu jsem představila krátce život “královny zločinu”, v jednotlivých kapitolách mé bakalářské práce jsem se zabývala některými charakteristickými znaky vybraných děl Agathy Christie – prostředím, slavnými detektivy a typickými sociálními třídami, o kterých psala. Zabývala jsem se také měnící se rolí ženy ve společnosti, obrazem rodiny a také rolí sloužících v jejích románech.
32 Bibliography : Christie, Agatha, Crooked House . New York: Simon &Schuster Inc., 1951 Christie, Agatha, There Is a Tide . New York: Dell Publishing Co., Inc., 1980 Christie, Agatha, Five Little Pigs . London: Harper Collin Publishers, 1994 Christie, Agatha, The Moving Finger . New York: Dell Publishing Co., Inc., 1972 Christie, Agatha, The Mysterious Affair at Styles . (Free Online Library, http://www.readprint.com/work 399/Agatha Christie) Christie, Agatha, Vlastní životopis . Praha: Odeon, 1987 Grym, Pavel, Sherlock Holmes & ti druzí . Praha: Vyšehrad, 1988 Hilský, Martin, Současný britský román . Praha: H&H Ve spolupráci s FF UK, 1992 McDowall, David, An Illustrated History of Great Britain. Harlow: Longman, 1989 Reddy, Maureen, Woman detectives. In Priestman, Martin, The Cambridge Companion to Crime Fiction . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003 Robson, W., 20 th Century Britain. O xford: Oxford University Press, 1983 Rowland, Susan, From Agatha Christie to Ruth Rendell . Houndmills: Palgrave 2001 Storry, Mike and Peter Childs, British Cultural Identities . London: Routledge, 1997 Web sites 1) Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopaedia. 31 Jun. 2006 < http://www.wikipedia.org> 2) The Mytsterous Affair at Styles,Free Online Library. 17 May 2006 < http://www.readprint.com/work 399/Agatha Christie> 3) The Official Agatha Christie Website. 14 Apr. 2006
33 Appendix
Appendix 1: Agatha Christie (15. 9. 1890 – 12. 1. 1976) Appendix 2: Agatha Christie’s Works 1920 The Mysterious Affair at Styles (her first book, which introduced Hercule Poirot, Chief Inspector Japp and Captain Hastings) 1922 The Secret Adversary (introduced Tommy and Tuppence) 1923 Murder on the Links 1924 The Man in the Brown Suit 1924 Poirot Investigates (eleven short stories) 1925 The Secret of Chimneys 1926 The Murder of Roger Ackroyd 1927 The Big Four 1928 The Mystery of the Blue Train ISBN 0425130266 1929 Partners in Crime (fifteen short stories) 1929 The Seven Dials Mystery 1930 The Murder at the Vicarage (introduced Jane Marple) 1930 The Mysterious Mr. Quin (introduced Mr. Harley Quin, short stories) 1931 The Sittaford Mystery 1932 Peril at End House 1933 The Hound of Death (twelve short mysteries) 1933 Lord Edgware Dies (also known as Thirteen at Dinner) 1933 The Thirteen Problems (Thirteen short mysteries, featuring Miss Marple) 1934 Murder on the Orient Express ISBN 0425200450 1934 Parker Pyne Investigates (twelve short mysteries) (introduced Parker Pyne and Ariadne Oliver) 1934 The Listerdale mystery (twelve short mysteries) 1935 Three Act Tragedy (also known as Murder in Three Acts) 1935 Why Didn't They Ask Evans? (also known as The Boomerang Clue) 1935 Death in the Clouds (also known as Death in the Air) 1936 The A.B.C. Murders (also known as The Alphabet Murders) 1936 Murder in Mesopotamia 1936 Cards on the Table 1937 Death on the Nile 1937 Dumb Witness (also known as Poirot Loses a Client) 1937 Murder in the Mews (Four short stories, featuring Hercule Poirot) 1938 Appointment with Death 1939 Ten Little Niggers, also known as Ten Little Indians and And Then There Were None ISBN 0312979479 1939 Murder is Easy (also known as Easy to Kill) 1939 Hercule Poirot's Christmas ISBN 0425177416 1939 Regatta Mystery and Other Stories (Nine short stories) 1940 Sad Cypress 1941 Evil under the Sun 1941 N or M? 1941 One, Two, Buckle My Shoe (also known as An Overdose of Death) 1942 The Body in the Library 1942 Five Little Pigs (also known as Murder in Retrospect) 1942 The Moving Finger 1944 Towards Zero 1944 Sparkling Cyanide (also known as Remembered Death) 1945 Death Comes as the End 1946 The Hollow (also known as Murder After Hours) 1947 The Labours of Hercules (twelve short mysteries featuring Hercule Poirot) 1948 Taken at the Flood (also known as There is a Tide) 1948 Witness for the Prosecution and Other Stories 1949 Crooked House 1950 A Murder is Announced 1950 Three Blind Mice and Other Stories 1951 They Came to Baghdad 1951 The Under Dog and Other Stories (Nine short stories) 1952 Mrs McGinty's Dead (also known as Blood Will Tell) 1952 They Do It with Mirrors 1953 A Pocket Full of Rye 1953 After the Funeral (also known as Funerals are Fatal and Murder at the Gallop) 1955 Hickory Dickory Dock (also known as Hickory Dickory Death) 1955 Destination Unknown (also known as So Many Steps to Death) 1956 Dead Man's Folly 1957 4.50 From Paddington (also known as What Mrs. McGillycuddy Saw) 1957 Ordeal by Innocence 1959 Cat Among the Pigeons 1960 The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding (Six short stories) 1961 The Pale Horse 1962 The Mirror Cracked from Side to Side 1963 The Clocks 1964 A Caribbean Mystery 1965 At Bertram's Hotel 1966 Third Girl 1967 Endless Night 1968 By the Pricking of My Thumbs 1969 Halloween Party 1970 Passenger to Frankfurt 1971 Nemesis 1971 The Golden Ball and Other Stories (Fifteen short stories) 1972 Elephants Can Remember 1973 Akhnaton A play in three acts 1973 Postern of Fate (final Tommy and Tuppence, last novel Christie wrote) 1974 Poirot's Early Cases (eighteen short mysteries) 1975 Curtain (Poirot's last case, written four decades earlier) 1976 Sleeping Murder (Miss Marple's last case, written four decades earlier) 1979 Miss Marple's Final Cases and Two Other Stories 1997 While the Light Lasts and Other Stories (also known as The Harlequin Tea Set and Other Stories) Appendix 3: Geraldine MC Ewan as Miss Marple in TV series Agatha Christie’s Marple David Suchet as Hercule Poirot in TV series Agatha Christie’s Poirot